Transcript Christianity PPT - worldcultures2-bbs

A Brief History of
Christianity
Roots of Christianity in
Judaism
 ~ AD 6 Augustus
emperor of Rome
took over Judah –
renamed it Judea (it
is the mountainous
southern part of
Palestine)
Roots of Christianity in Judaism
 Jews were allowed to practice their religion but were
treated cruelly by Romans
 Many Jews hoped for a savior (called a “messiah” / “one
anointed by God”) to restore Jewish independence
 One Jew – Jesus – traveled though Judea from AD 30–33
saying that God’s rule was close at hand & people should
repent for their sins
 Some Jews thought Jesus was the messiah
Roots of Christianity in Judaism
 Because the Jews in Judea disagreed about Jesus’
messiah status, there was much internal Jewish conflict
 The Romans were afraid that if Jews accepted Jesus as
the messiah it would de-stabilize Judea – thus they
arrested Jesus
 Jesus was crucified – the typical Roman method of
punishing criminals
What was crucifixion?
 A method of execution – very painful and gruesome – nails
inserted into feet & above wrists
 Death possibly came through suffocation – victim would
have trouble exhaling while holding himself up (particularly
after his legs were broken)
 Other possible causes of death: whipping (loss of blood),
dehydration, exhaustion
What happened next?
 Some of Jesus’ followers said that he had risen from the
dead & appeared to them
 Those who believed became known as Christians
 People like Paul and Peter helped spread the Christian
message throughout the Mediterranean region
Why were Christians
persecuted?
 Christians refused to honor the Roman emperor as a god
 Some Christians refused to provide military service – this
led to charges of treason
 Some Romans also feared the wrath of their own deities
because Christians rejected them
 As a result, Romans killed some Christian who would not
give up their beliefs
How does the story end?
• Christianity spread – especially in cities
 In AD 312 the
Roman general
Constantine had a
vision of a flaming
cross in the sky
before a battle
How does the story end?
 Constantine had the soldiers paint crosses on their shields
and when they won, he attributed his victory to the
Christian God
 When Constantine became emperor of Rome, he issued
the Edict of Milan, granting freedom of worship to all
religious groups
 80 years later (AD 392), Emperor Theodosius made
Christianity the official religion of the Empire and banned
older religions