“How Rome becomes Christian?”



“How Rome becomes Christian?”

Introduction

The whole issue of Christianity begins with the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. This leaves a great character countless teachings entrusted to the apostles to preach and teach the people. This whole process is going to be very successful and will also have their casualties, as were the persecutions, which did not allow Christians to practice their religion freely. During all these sufferings are also characters with power, defending Christians, and ultimately manage to overcome and completely eliminate the persecution. Then Christian authorities appear to cause Christianity that regarded as the official religion of the empire (Baynes, 1999). I choose this topic because the story of Christianity's rise to prominence is a remarkable one, but the traditional story of its evolution from a tiny, persecuted religion to the establish religion in the medieval West needs some debunking.

Discussion

The religious situation in the Roman Empire

The political, social and economic decline of the empire was accompanied by moral laxity and religious disintegration. Some Romans returned with renewed fervor to worship their ancient gods: Jupiter, Mars, and Minerva. Others sought solace in Greek philosophy, above all, in Stoicism, which taught that man should settle their destination that seemed unfair and incomprehensible. Many were given to the mysterious oriental cults: the cult of the Egyptian goddess Isis and the Persian Mithras worship the god whose symbol was the bull.

These cults promised resurrection and eternal life of happiness. Throughout the empire it was imposed as the official cult of emperor holy worship. But none of these systems and rites could give an answer to the agonizing question of the meaning of existence and the ultimate goal of human life (Baynes, 1999).

Jesus and Christianity

Jesus was born during the reign of Augustus in the small town of Bethlehem in Judea. Some decades ago, Pompey had tax to Judea. Then the Romans imposed by King Herod, who left as infamous tyrant. Finally province Judea was made, being administered by Roman governors. At 30 years old Jesus left his home and began preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, eternal salvation and love of neighbor. Accompanied by twelve faithful disciples, the apostles toured the fields and villages of Palestine for three years (Pelikán, 2007).

For many centuries the prophets had foretold that one day God would send a Messiah, to create a new kingdom of Israel. Many Jews believed that Jesus was indeed the long awaited Messiah, but they saw him as a political leader who was leading the fight against the Romans to regain their independence and establish a powerful earthly kingdom. But Jesus did not think of a political rebellion, but a moral and spiritual liberation. Many Jews became disillusioned and turned against him. Jesus was condemned and handed over to the Roman authorities. The procurator Pontius Pilate did die on the cross (Eadie, 1971).

Propagation of Christianity

After the death of Jesus, the apostles continued preaching their doctrine. Most of them lived in Jerusalem, and made them preaching among the inhabitants of ...