Transcript Christianity

Christianity
One of the most important
characteristics of the Pax Romana
Christianity VS Roman Gods
• Christianity was seen as a threat to the
Roman Gov’t because Christians went
against traditional Roman beliefs. (Same
as Jews- but Jesus shook things up)
• Romans were polytheistic like the Greeks
Founder
• Jesus Christ 4bc31ad (approximately)
• Born in Bethlehem
• At about 30 years old
Jesus started
preaching
• Jesus had many
followers called
Disciples/Apostles
Teaching
• Believed in one God
• Believed he was the Son
of God – the Messiah
• He would bring spiritual
salvation and eternal life
to all who believed in him.
• Preached forgiveness,
love, the poor would be
rewarded in heaven
Sacred Text
• Jesus’ teachings were
based on the Jewish
faith thus the old
testament of the Bible
• After Jesus’ death his
apostles and disciples
wrote down the
accounts of his life
and his teachings.
New Testament
Spread of Christianity
• Started by Jesus’
apostles
• Paul was a large
contributor
• It took a long time to
spread throughout the
Roman empire
because it was seen
as a threat to the
empire.
Persecution of Christians
• Christians were persecuted because they
refused to worship Roman gods or/and
emperors
• Thousands of Christians became Martyrs
• Despite the persecutions Christians
practiced secretly and it continued to
spread.
Why did it continue to spread?
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Appeal to all people
Incorporated Greek philosophy
martyrs
Women
Triumph
• The persecution of
Christians end in 313
AD
• Constantine issued
Edict of Milan
• Christianity got
stronger the empire
got weaker