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When did Christianity become the official religion of the Roman Empire?
When did Christianity become a legal religion in Rome?
Who declared Nicene Christianity the state religion of the Roman Empire?
Why was Christianity allowed in the Roman Empire?
- Nero (37-68) The first, worst and best-known of the psychopathic Caesars, it didn’t hurt his successors that he’d committed such atrocities, as it made them easier to re-institute, or simply to continue with the carnage.
- Vespasian (69-79) Another emperor whose legacy included not only the persecution of Christians but the demolition of the beloved Temple of Jerusalem in AD 70.
- Domitian (81-96). Almost every major writer of the time from Pliny to Suetonius claims that Domitian, who wound up ruling longer than almost any other Roman ruler in that period, was a tyrant.
- Trajan (98-117) According to the ancient writer Pliny, Trajan was at best a monarch, at least an autocrat, and at worst a tyrant. Even-handed in dealing with the Roman Senate during his lifetime — no small feat, as the emperors had at best a “stressed” relationship with that once-august body — the senators officially deified him upon his death, hence the famous “Trajan’s Column” in Rome, which stands to this day.
- Overview
- Beginnings of Christianity
- Christianity and Rome
- Rome becomes Christian
- Conclusion
•Christianity developed in the province of Judea out of Jewish tradition in the first century CE, spread through the Roman Empire, and eventually became its official religion
•Christianity was influenced by the historical contexts in which it developed
Christianity developed in Judea in the mid-first century CE, based first on the teachings of Jesus and later on the writings and missionary work of Paul of Tarsus.
Originally, Christianity was a small, unorganized sect that promised personal salvation after death. Salvation was possible through belief in Jesus as the son of God—the same God the Jews believed in. Early Christians debated whether they should only preach to Jews, or if non-Jews could become Christians, too. Eventually, Christianity gained followers not only from Jewish communities, but from throughout the Roman world.
Stop and consider: How might the fact that Christianity developed out of Judaism have affected its spread?
[Explanation]
In the decades after Jesus's death, the Apostle Paul wrote many letters that are now part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. Paul was a Roman citizen and sent these letters to small communities of Christians living throughout the Roman Empire. The letters show us that Paul and his fellow Christians were still figuring out exactly what being a Christian meant. Issues related to the exact relationship between Judaism and Christianity, and between Christianity and the Roman government, were prominent topics of discussion.
Stop and consider: What do Paul's letters tell us about Christianity in the mid-first century CE?
Choose 1 answer:
Choose 1 answer:
•(Choice A)
Christianity was fully formed as a new religion at this time
In 313 CE, the emperor Constantine issued the Edict of Milan, which granted Christianity—as well as most other religions—legal status. While this was an important development in the history of Christianity, it was not a total replacement of traditional Roman beliefs with Christianity.
In 325, Constantine called the Council of Nicaea, which was a gathering of Christian leaders to determine the formal—or orthodox—beliefs of Christianity. The result of this council was the Nicene Creed, which laid out the agreed upon beliefs of the council.
In 380 CE, the emperor Theodosius issued the Edict of Thessalonica, which made Christianity, specifically Nicene Christianity, the official religion of the Roman Empire. Most other Christian sects were deemed heretical, lost their legal status, and had their properties confiscated by the Roman state.
Stop and consider: How did the Roman Empire shape early Christianity?
The Roman Empire did not become Christianized overnight. Roman religious beliefs changed slowly over time. At the time the Western Roman Empire fell in 476 CE, Christianity was still spreading. It is also important to remember that Christianity itself did not appear suddenly or fully-formed. Christianity grew out of Jewish traditions and was shaped by Roman cultural and political structures for several centuries.
To take one lasting example, the head of the Roman Catholic Church—the Pope—takes his title from the old Roman office of pontifex maximus—the high priest. Roman culture was not wholly replaced, but was often repurposed as it came into contact with other peoples and cultures.
Christianity was deeply influenced by both Judaism and Roman cultural institutions. We can't fully understand the development of the Christian religion without putting it into these contexts!
[Notes and attributions]
Feb 9, 2021 · The Edict of Milan was issued in 313 CE, making Christianity a legal religion throughout the Roman Empire. The Arenas. Rome did not have an established institution for convicted felons; there were no set periods of detention or a life sentence.
- Rebecca Denova
Persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire. The Christian Martyrs' Last Prayer, by Jean-Léon Gérôme (1883) Christians were persecuted, sporadically and usually locally, throughout the Roman Empire, beginning in the 1st century AD and ending in the 4th century.
The growth of Christianity from its obscure origin c. 40 AD, with fewer than 1,000 followers, to being the majority religion of the entire Roman Empire by AD 400, has been examined through a wide variety of historiographical approaches.
In the year before the Council of Constantinople in 381, the Trinitarian version of Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire when Emperor Theodosius I issued the Edict of Thessalonica in 380, [1] which recognized the catholic orthodoxy [a] of Nicene Christians as the Roman Empire 's state religion.
Summary. Historians of antiquity used to argue that, from the 6th century bce onwards, the religious traditions of Greek and Roman pagans became an empty shell maintained by elites who no longer had any belief in them except as a device for keeping the masses subservient.
