... The rise to power of the Papacy in the Roman Empire during the 6-9th centuries is crucial to the history of the church. There were many theories as to why the Papacy earned such central power. Included in these were the rise of the early church, and also the negative and positive effects of individuals related tot he government of the Roman Empire. Altogether it took many steps in a long process for the Papacy to gain such control. What is clear though is that the Papacy held firm control until the reformation. This paper will expand on the reasons for the rise of the Papacy in power, what allowed for it to thrive, and also negative and positive impacts on the empire and even the world. Fall of the Roman Empire There were many factors, and theories that are included when one is speaking of the fall of the Roman Empire. One of the first theories centers around disease and plagues. Some historians maintain that the Empire was crippled, as many diseases and plagues circled the Empire. They crippled families, workers and even members who were involved with the government. Another small factor may have been the decay of the army. The army say an increase in more German peoples, which may have altered the morale of the army, and even the size of the army itself. One large theory also centers around the government of the Empire. Many historians also believe that the Roman Empire set itself up for failure.(1) In the way that the government was structured...
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...religion. The Christian teachings are based on the life, teachings and death of Jesus Christ in the first AD century. The largest Christian groups include the Protestant churches, Eastern Orthodox, and Roman Catholic churches. There are numerous independent churches of Christians in the Eastern region such as Eastern Orthodoxy. Over the years, Christianity gained fame in Roman Empire after the introduction of Christian Roman emperors such as Constantine. The aim of this essay is to provide a description of the rise of Christianity during the Roman Empire. In the early centuries, the followers of Jesus spread Christianity throughout the Roman Empire. It is believed that Paul constructed a church in Rome. The majority of the first Christian groups were from the east, in Egypt, there was Alexandria as well as Jerusalem and Antioch. Due to Christianity teachings of the theology of love, caring for the orphans, widows, and sick, and stance against infanticide, abortion, and adultery it gained believers among...
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...Andrea Jaramillo Reflection Paper Christians in the Roman Empire Todays class lecture made me want to reflect on the persecutions on Christians during the Roman Empire and how they remained so strong to their religion. The persecution of Christians began with Caesar Nero in the year 64 d. C. The letter to Diognotes gives us more insight on the real thought of the Romans of the Christians: Christians are distinguished from the other inhabitants of the Roman Empire not by customs but for their behavior. So they stand out for their exemplary behavior. Also, he says that while living on earth, know that they will one day live in heaven. But it also tells us that they are insulted, persecuted and punished as if they were criminals. Christians however, following the teachings of Christ, loved his pursuers. There are reasons why Christians were prosecuted: - They refused to do military service. -They not involved in the terrible circus shows. -No worshiped the emperor and saw this as an affront to God. -Many people see Christians as strange beings who performed clandestine meetings of questionable content. -They were accused of infanticide (killing young children), of cannibalism (ie cannibalism) and grave moral disorder. -They were accused of going against atheists and Roman customs, because the Romans were polytheistic and monotheistic Christians. -They were accused of many things that did not as the famous fire of Rome in 64 d. C. -The intellectuals of the time...
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...that make and unmake emperors. Most emperors now no longer be of Roman origin. The Severan dynasty (Septimius Severus, Caracalla, Heliogabalus and Alexander Severus) from 196 to 235 is from Libyan and Syrian origins and is based on the army of Illyria (Yugoslavia). A period of fifty years of political anarchy succeeds, there are several emperors same time. In 284, Diocletian General (of Illyrian origin) takes power. In order to defend the empire and peacefully resolve the issue of the transfer of power, he imagines the system of tetrarchy (four people sharing power). But the system does not work after the resignation of Diocletian...
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...8 APOSTATES OR THE “LAPSED”…….………………………………………………… 10 MARTYRS AND CONFESSORS………………………………………………………… 12 CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………………………. 14 BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………………………………. 16 INTRODUCTION Certain tensions existed with the rise of Christianity within the Roman Empire. Prior to the advent of Christianity and even up to 200 AD, Rome was relatively tolerant of religions. Judaism was accepted into the mix of various pagan religions of the Empire, and in its infancy Christianity was simply considered a sect of Judaism, which seemed to pose no real threat to the Empire because Jews did not seek to proselytize. However, Christians were zealous in their worship of Jesus and their spreading of His message, so that in the third century Rome’s policy toward the Christians changed. Persecution, though it existed from the time of the apostles, was dramatically instituted as a means of eradicating the growing religion during the third century so that it is looked back on as the “age of martyrs.” Specifically, it was edict of Decius that created great upheaval for the church, both because of his edict and because of the fallout from it and the persecution following it under emperor...
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...of God on Earth” (Stark, 1996). During the emergence of Christianity, the emperor of Rome was ruler of Judea. The Jewish population was not happy being under Roman rule because they felt as though it represented a historical oppression. During the beginning stages of Christianity, “the religion focused on cleansing the Jewish religion of stiff rituals and arrogant leaders and had little to do with the Roman culture” (Stark, 1996). Due to this, Jesus aroused suspicion among the upper classes and leaders of the Jewish religion. Roman governors were persuaded that Jesus was a dangerous activist and as a result, Jesus was put to death. On the third day of Jesus’ death, his followers believed that resurrected which led them to further believe he was the Son of God. With the resurrection of Jesus, the religion was spreading amongst Jewish communities within the Roman Empire and further beyond. Paul, whose real name Saul, converted into a Christian in A.D 35. It was through Paul that Christian missionaries began to migrate from the strict Jewish law. He proposed that the new standards of faith be universal and open to all members who wished to practice whether or not they were Jewish. Paul’s conversion to Christianity was vital for the development of the religion. Born a Greek, he was Jewish and had the knowledge of Greco-Roman culture. Paul taught the basic beliefs of Christianity in such a way that other supporters would be able to understand. Paul took it upon himself to preach...
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...Constantine’s Importance in the Reign of the Church Emperor Constantine was the ruler of the Roman Emperor from 306 to 337. The reign of Constantine left a lasting impact on Christianity. Constantine began the process of making Christianity the religious foundation of Europe. (James Carroll, 2001, pg. 58-67), also known as Constantine the Great, was credited with converting the Roman Empire to Christianity. He was also the first Roman Empire to adopt Christianity. During the time of his rule Constantine was able to end the persecution of Christians and eventually converted to Christianity. “Constantine signed the Edict of Milan, which ensured religious tolerance for Christians. This edict returned all confiscated property back to the Christians; it also gave them the right to create dedicated churches.” (Herbermann) Another perk of The Edict of Milan was that it granted the freedom for all to worship whichever deity they pleased, as well as ending the Age of the Martyrs, which was when Christians were subject to empire-wide persecution. Constantine saw it as his duty to ensure that God was properly worshipped during his empire. After he brought a stop to the persecution of Christians in the empire, he was instrumental in their integration into both Roman society and government (Freeman, 2002, pg. 152). The Edict of Milan was not solely a victory for the Christians, but for Constantine as well. After Rome was unified Constantine rebuilt his seat of power, and renamed the town...
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...“On the Persecution of the Christians in the Roman Empire.” Latomus, T.30, Fasc. 1 (1971) 120-132. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41527858 (accessed August 25, 2015) Emperor Decius was the first emperor to formulate a plan and initiate a systematic persecution of Christianity. Decius was not necessarily focused on Christians, but on the abolishment of Christianity itself. The emperor believed Christianity threatened the Roman way of life and the religious order of the Roman state. Decius attempted to overcome the will of the Christians in all possible ways so they would renounce. This resulted in extensive trials, physical torture, moral torture, and long prison sentence. His goal was to have the Christians show allegiance to the Roman state: even in a diminutive way. Unfortunately, the policy set forth by Decius was adhered to by several more emperors, resulting in persecution escalating over fifty more years. Grafton, David D. "Mission paradigms in the Pax Americana." Currents in Theology and Mission 32.5 (2005): 348-354. http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA138144023&v=2.1&u=vic_liberty&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w&asid=aab99e6642abf232be6352b7a7dc83c3 (Accessed August 26, 2015) Alexander the Great began the development of implementing Greek culture into the regions of Gaul, Arabia, and the Persian Empire. Pax Romana used this Greek influence to help develop road systems for the areas governed by the Roman Empire. The...
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...Long essay How Christianity affected the empire * Think in term of centuries * Constantine Germans, army, borders * German influence lead to the end of the empire * Battle of Adrianople Germans beat romans * Start taking parts of Rome * Bad emperors in west * Bad economy lets Germans in Short essay The splitting of the empire * Why do they split * Why does the west fall * How are they different in culture, language * West has bad emperors * East pays people no to invade Emergence of absolute autocracy * Augustus * Power of the emperor Who is the most important person in second triumvirate * Augustus * Sets of empire * What world did he create with reforms * Makes it seem like he is going back to old time values Dates Edict of toleration 313 AD Founding of Constantinople 330 AD Fall of western Rome (fall of the roman empire) 476 AD Start of the empire 27 BCE When Germans sacked Rome 410 CE?? Study 11-5 to present Christianity Chronology 64 First persecution of Christians under Emperor Nero 274 Birthdat of Constantine 303 Great Persecution begins and Diocletion issues edict that bans the practice of christianity 312 Constantine embraces christianity after vision 313 Edict of Milan tolerates christians 324 Constantine is sole emperor of Rome 326 Edicts of Constantine against Christian heretics 330 Constantinople "New Rome" 341 Imperial...
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...the fourth century. The New Covenant: New Testament Canonization. After the death of Jesus, the apostles, and other followers, spread the word of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. The primary method of teaching was by way of oral communication, spreading the message by word of mouth. As time went by, and the Apostles started to die, the first efforts were made to capture their life with Jesus into written word. The dissemination of these works was a slow process due to the hindrance in transportation and the inability to mass produce the writings. The ability to capture and fully understand these divine works would require over 400 years of evolution to become a complete body of work, and recognized as the canon of the Christian church. To understand how the New Testament achieved canonization requires a study of history, politics, culture, and the dynamics of Christianities development over the four centuries following the death of Jesus. The development of the New Testament scriptures can be...
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...time, the ancient Romans worshipped hundreds of gods and goddesses. Many of those deities came from foreign lands that the Romans had conquered. As different faiths sprang up across the ever-expanding empire, they were more or less tolerated. Such open attitude, however, was not the case for Judaism and Christianity. Both religions pointedly refused to honor Roman gods and to idolize Roman emperors. As a result, the Jews and Christians endured centuries of hardship. That was until Constantine took control of Rome introducing tolerance throughout the empire. Throughout this paper the research will show how Constantine’s conversion to Christianity shaped and has continue to shape how Christianity spread throughout the World. Christian Life Before Constantine Before we can dive into how Constantine shaped the Christian world we need to talk about the life of a Christian before Constantine was emperor. A Christian’s life was not fully marked with persecution, as it is commonly believed. While Diocletian was sole emperor Christians lived in relative peace with the Roman government. Eusebius who described the time with extraordinary terms “the glory and the liberty with which the doctrine of piety was honoured” documented this fact. It was not until Diocletian shared the throne with Galerius that the empire began persecuting Christians again. The two of them convened in Nicmedia in 302 AD, and decided that Christianity needed to be suppressed throughout the empire. From this meeting...
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...BURNING OF ROME On the evening of the July 18, 64, a great fire erupted in a shop at the end of Circus Maximus (merchant district), selling flammable goods. This fire sparked outrage in the community in the days ahead, as Tacitus reported the fire spread quickly are burnt for five days. The Roman community by this time was wearing thin of Emperor Nero’s actions, as a diversion Nero supposedly set fire to the city as he wanted to make way for his planned villa, Domus Aurea. Due to the mass loss of property with four out of Rome's twelve districts being completely obliterated and seven of them suffering from huge loss, Emperor Nero opened up his home for a relief for the homeless. During this relief stage Nero used his personal funds to supply and deliver food to prevent starvation among survivors. Once the people had time to process the fire and the momentous loss that came with it, speculation shifted to the origin of the fire. Various historical figures report Nero taking the fire with great happiness, with Dio...
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...Old Testament is broken down into five categories: the Torah meaning the “Law” containing the five books of Moses,” History: the book of Joshua to the book of Esther, Wisdom: the book of Job to the book of Song of Solomon, Prophetic Books: the book Isaiah to the book of Daniel and the last twelve books are the Minor Prophets: the book of Hosea to the book of Malachi. The Old Testament books are pivotal to the birth of the New Testament because if God did not keep his promises to the Old Testament patriarchs Christianity would have not been born. In this research I will focus on early Christianity and how it began. Next I will speak upon how the gospel went from Judaism to a world religion. I will then talk about the persecution of the Jewish people by Christians. Lastly I will discuss the conflict between the two. Early Christianity In the first century there were four main religious sects made up of the Palestinian Jews: the Sadducees, Pharisees, Essenes, and the Zealots. The Sadducees were religious conservative priest and wanted to maintain the authenticity of the Hebrew teachings, they also did not believe in the resurrection of the dead or an afterlife. The Pharisees unlike the Sadducees took a more liberal mindset towards the Mosaic Law, they allowed multiple interpretations of the Torah, they accepted oral tradition of the Torah (the passing down of the Mosaic Law by word of mouth from generation to generation), and they believed in the afterlife. The Essenes...
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...Nero, persecutions came and went and were frequently quite unorganized. However, as Rome started to decline in aspects of military affairs and politics, more and more cases of persecutions took place. Emperor Domitian, who reigned from 81 CE until 96 CE, decided to hold persecutions of his own. During this persecution, Apostle John was exiled to Patmos. During Marcus Aurelius's rule, many Christians suffered as a result of Aurelius giving permission to the governor of Lyon to either behead those Christians who were Roman, or throw them to the beasts. Emperor Commodus, reigning from 180 until 192 CE, who at first persecuted Christians by assigning them to hard labor in mines, then allegedly stopped for the sake...
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...spread of Christianity, the Roman Empire saw the new religion as a threat to their power. Christianity, in the eyes of the empire, broke tradition and disobeyed laws. In fact, Christians were openly disobedient. Christianity further challenged the ideas of the popular stoicism which believed in earthly pleasures. The rise of these new religions were so worrisome that two emperors, Decius and Diocletian, led major persecutions against Christians. Romans were mostly polytheistic. They had many main gods and goddess’, household cults, and the emperors were considered to be deity’s, someone having divine status. Throughout the calendar year, there were many games and celebrations all across the Roman Empire. While not all in the empire had the same beliefs as the Romans, they all were required to partake in the celebrations. The Christians and Hebrews did not participate in the...
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