It was hardly surprising that a series of emperors ordered savage empire-wide persecutions of the Christians. Thus the classic test of a Christian’s faith was to force him or her, on pain of death, to swear by the emperor and offer incense to his images, or to sacrifice to the gods. But there was no ‘triumph’, no one moment where Christians had visibly ‘won’ some battle against pagans. So if Nero blamed followers of the Christos for the fire it wasn’t necessarily the Christos who preached loving your enemies and turning the other cheek. What you will discover will change your outlook on life – Heaven and Below – Book 1 of Spiritism – The Spirit World Revealed to an Anglican Vicar. A document written in the late 2nd century A.D. called The Octavius of Minicius Felix describes a debate between a Christian and a pagan at the Roman port of Ostia. Later, in the arena, he was asked by the governor to swear an oath by the ‘luck of Caesar’. The emperor of the Roman, the emperor of the Roman Empire has converted to Christianity, and it's a legalized religion. Other important links: Corvinus speaks of the early church’s communication with the spirit realm; “Heed the Master’s teaching and a new light will shine in your soul. What was different about Constantine’s ‘conversion’ was merely the particular cult to which he turned – the Christ-cult – where previous emperors had sought the support of pagan gods and heroes from Jove to Hercules. Chief among these were the spiritual and religious climate of the time, the zeal of the early Christian proselytes and the eventual sponsorship by the court of the Roman Emperor. Romans were polytheists believed in many Gods, they had the God of sun, moon, rain, etc… But it was after the third century when Christianity started to form part and get a place in the Roman Empire. G. Vale Owen in England in the early 1900’s. Christianity was able to spread so efficiently through the entirety of the Roman Empire for at least three main reasons. Pagans were probably most suspicious of the Christian refusal to sacrifice to the Roman gods. In the book, a Roman Patrician exclaims, “I cannot accept a faith that annuals pride and valor!”[7] From the Roman point of view, Christianity was no mere cult attracting the dregs of society. The Romans saw Christianity as a threat, because their beliefs were so different than most religions. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so. Your email address will not be published. Trials are a salutary remedy. Christianity began with the birth of Christ and the teachings of Jesus. The cults of Bacchus and of Magna Mater had also been suppressed. ‘Toleration’ is a distinctly modern, secular idea. The force of the ideals of Christianity was a real threat to the Empire. Furthermore, the Christian refusal to offer sacrifices to the emperor, a semi-divine monarch, had the whiff of both sacrilege and treason about it. The very history of Christianity and Judaism in the empire demonstrates that there were limits to how accommodating Roman religion could be, and these were not the only cults to be singled out for persecution. Emerging from a small sect of Judaism in the 1st century CE, early Christianity absorbed many of the shared religious, cultural, and intellectual traditions of the Greco-Roman world. They believe the fall of Rome simply came because the barbarians took advantage of difficulties already existing in Rome - problems that included a decaying ci… The whole persecution myth is largely Christian propaganda. The last emperor of the Western Roman Empire was Romulus Augustus. The Roman Empire was the dominant political and military force during the early days of Christianity, with the city of Rome as its foundation. It is not easy to pinpoint what exactly caused a decline of an entire empire, especially one so large as the Roman Empire. Secondly, the rise of Christianity to imperial-sponsored dominance in the fourth and fifth centuries, although surprising, was not without precedent, and its spread hardly as inexorable as contemporary Christians portrayed it. Follow NWSpiritism by clicking below: Live Streaming on Sundays and Tuesdays night around 5 pm est, 2 pm pst – We always discuss a different aspect of Spiritism. All in all, Christianity arose as a religion of the oppressed masses that have lost confidence in the possibility of a better life on earth and sought salvation in the arrival of the messiah. One such new religion was Christianity. Get Kardec Radio – for your iPhone or Android device, The group has been created to discuss Spiritism to those who seek understanding and knowledge about the Spirit World. In the book, Hail Christ!, a Roman Judge is berating a Christian prisoner; “You’re all just an old gang of liars! Land of Maps Remember that the Roman Emporers power came from saying they were gods themselves or chosen by the gods, therefore making them better than everybody else and giving them claim to the throne. Bacchic revels encouraged ecstatic drunkenness and violence, and the cult of Magna Mater involved outlandish dancing and music, and was served by self-castrating priests. Sophie Lunn-Rockliffe is a Lecturer in Roman History at King's College, London. Wikipedia. Read more. Claudius who preceded Nero had to expel Jews from Rome because of rioting caused by friction between them and other groups. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Think of an ancient version of ISIS terrorists. Christian Persecution. The cults of Bacchus and of Magna Mater had also been suppressed - by the Roman senate during the Republic, mainly because their behaviour was louche and ‘un-Roman’. Before the Edict of Milan, Christianity was forbidden by the Roman law. [7] XAVIER, Francisco C. Hail Christ!, EDICEI, p. 168 One way that Rome incorporated diverse peoples was by supporting their religious heritage, building temples to local deities that framed their theology within the hierarchy of Roman religion. This caused all the people in Rome to be terrified.They thought that if these people did not believe in the Gods, the Gods would take their anger out on everyone. Wikipedia – Religion in Ancient Rome. However, I've read a little bit about the beginning of Christianity, and I know a bit about the early Empire. In Lyon, many of our brothers and sisters communicate with the dead, who are simply those living in eternity. 2:22), and Judea was directed thereafter by Roman officers, which explains why Jesus’ sentence was given in Jerusalem by the Roman Pilate, who governed from A.D. 26 to 36. Bacchic revelry scene from the Villa dei Misteri, Pompeii, Italy, Gigantic head of Constantine in the Capitoline Museum. Retrieved from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_Christians_in_the_Roman_Empire One of the supposed watersheds in history is the ‘conversion’ of the emperor Constantine to Christianity in, or about, 312 AD. This is why for three hundred years, the entire might of the Roman government sporadically made repeated attempts to crush the early Christians. By Dr Sophie Lunn-Rockliffe Constantine's decision to cease the persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire was a turning point for early Christianity, sometimes referred to as the Triumph of the Church, the Peace of the Church or the Constantinian shift.In 313, Constantine and Licinius issued the Edict of Milan decriminalizing Christian worship. So, here goes ... and so it goes. To many historians, the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century CE has always been viewed as the end of the ancient world and the onset of the Middle Ages, often improperly called the Dark Ages, despite Petrarch’s assertion.

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