The Rise of Christianity

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The Rise of Christianity
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Setting the Stage

• 1. Christianity differed from the Roman religion
  in that it emphasized a personal relationship
  between God and people while the Roman religion
  was practiced without emotion.

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Jews Come Under Roman Rule

• 2. Jewish kings kept their independence by
  working as representatives of the Roman Empire.
• They allied with the Romans and accepted the
  Roman plans to Romanize Jerusalem.

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• 3. After King Herod died, the Jewish people
  began to revolt against the Roman occupation.
  This revolt lasted ten years.
• 4. The Romans gained control by giving control
  of religious matters and local affairs to the
  Jewish court called the Sanhedrin.
• 5. Zealots wanted to rid their homeland of the
  Romans and believed that the Messiah (promised
  savior) would restore the kingdom of the Jews.

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The Life and Teaching of Jesus

• Jesus was a Jew born in a land under Roman rule.
  He grew up in Nazareth in northern Palestine.
  At age 30, he began his public ministry.
• 6. For the next three years, Jesus emphasized
  Gods personal relationship to each human being
  and the importance not only loving God, but
  loving ones self, ones neighbors and ones
  enemies.
• He also taught that God had established an
  eternal kingdom for people after their death if
  they repented their worldly sins.

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Jesus Message

• 7. We know about the life of Jesus because of
  the four Gospels, the first four books of the New
  Testament of the Bible.
• 8. The 12 men who followed Jesus most closely
  are now known as the apostles.

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• 9. Jesus appealed to the poor because he ignored
  wealth and status. He told the people blessed
  are the poor as they shall inherit the earth.
• Many began to believe that he was the long
  awaited Messiah.

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Jesus Death

• 10. Jesus popularity concerned the Roman and
  Jewish leaders because the Romans saw him as a
  threat to their authority and the Jewish leaders
  believed his message to be blasphemous (as well
  as a threat to their authority in religious
  matters).

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Jesus Death

• 11. After Jesus arrived in Jerusalem, he was
  arrested by the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate.
  The charge against Jesus is that he challenged
  the authority of Rome. Jesus was sentenced to
  death by crucifixion ( a popular form of Roman
  execution).

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Christianity

• 12. According to the Gospels, three days after
  Jesus died, his body was gone from the tomb.
  This fulfilled his promise that he would rise
  from the dead on the third day.
• 13. The Apostles believed that Jesus had
  ascended into heaven, thus fulfilling the
  prophecy. It is from that belief that the name
  Christ was given to him by the Greeks.

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• 14. Peter led the apostles after Jesus death.
• The apostles spread the teachings of Jesus
  throughout Syria and Palestine. The cross on
  which Jesus was crucified became a symbol for
  their beliefs.

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Christianity Spreads Through the Empire

• 15. Paul, an enemy of Christians, reports seeing
  a vision on Jesus on his journey to Damascus,
  Syria. After this incident, he spent the rest of
  his life spreading Jesus teachings.

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• 16. Christianity spread easily and safely
  throughout the Roman empire because of Pax
  Romana, the excellent system of Roman roads, and
  the common languages of Greek and Roman spoken
  throughout the empire.

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• 17. Paul wrote letters, called epistles, to
  groups of believers.

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Jewish Rebellion

• 18. In 70 A.D., Romans stormed Jerusalem to put
  down a rebellion. The Temple of Solomon was
  destroyed once again.
• In 73 A.D.,Masada, a Jewish fortress,
  high on a mountaintop, was stormed by the Romans.
  When the Romans entered the fortress, they found
  that all of the Jews had killed themselves
• In 132 A.D., the Jews rebelled again. This
  time, the Romans put an end to the Jewish
  political state and most of the Jews were driven
  from their homeland into exile. This is known as
  a diaspora.

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Persecution of the Christians

• 19. Christians posed a problem for the Roman
  rulers because they refused to worship the Roman
  gods. Their refusal was interpreted as
  opposition to Roman rule.
• 20. Roman rulers used Christians as scapegoats,
  blaming the Christians for Romes political and
  economic troubles. Peter and Paul were both put
  to death by the Romans in this state sponsored
  persecution.

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• 21. As the Pax Romana, began to crumble, Roman
  exiled, imprisoned , or executed Christians for
  refusing to worship Roman gods. Thousands were
  crucified, burned or fed to wild animals in the
  circus arenas.

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A World Religion

• 22. Christianity appealed to so many people for
  the following reasons
• Christianity embraced all people.
• Gave hope to the powerless
• Appealed to those repelled by the extravagances
  of imperial Rome.
• Offered a personal relationship with God.
• Promised eternal life after death.

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Early Christian Church

• 23. The early church was structured much like
  the Roman hierarchy.
• a. Priests served at the local level- who led a
  small
• group of Christians.
• b. A Bishop supervised several local churches.
• c. The pope supervised all of the bishops.
• 24. The apostle Peter was the 1st pope.

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Constantine Accepts Christianity

• 25. In 312 A.D. (300 years after the death of
  Jesus), the Emperor Constantine prayed for divine
  help in his battle against his two rivals. At
  stake was the Roman throne. He reported having
  seen a cross of light with the inscription In
  this sign, conquer. At that moment, Constantine
  converted to Christianity. He won the battle,
  gained the throne of Rome and upon his return to
  Rome announced the end of the persecution of the
  Christians. He then recognized Christianity as
  one of the religions approved by the emperor.
• Eventually (in 380 A.D.), Christianity became
  the official religion of the Roman Empire

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Discord and Harmony

• 26. In an attempt to end conflicts within the
  Church, leaders sought to set a single official
  standard of belief. These beliefs are contained
  in the New Testament.

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Conference of Nicaea

• 27. In 325 A.D., the emperor Constantine
  attempted to end the disputes and disorder within
  the Church by calling Church leader to a
  conference in Nicaea, Anatolia.
• 28. It is at Nicaea where the Church leaders
  wrote the Nicaea Creed, which defined the beliefs
  of the Church.

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Critical Thinking

• 29. The people of the Roman Empire were
  receptive to the Christian religion because it
• 1. embraced all people, gave hope to the
  powerless,
• 2. appealed to those who were repelled by the
• extravagances of imperial Rome,
• 3. offered a personal relationship with God,
  and
• 4. promised a life after death.
• For Roman citizens, this was a much better deal
  than the one they had as a citizen of Rome.

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• 30. The Spread of Christianity was made easier by
  the network of roads throughout Rome and the
  peace and prosperity of the empire during pax
  romana.
• Scoring Each question is worth 3 points apiece!

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The End