Rise Of Christianity Research Paper

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As time passed in the Roman Empire, Christianity slowly grew from something that was persecuted relentlessly by others to a philosophy that was practiced by all. Before Constantine, Rome was by majority polytheistic. When Christianity arrived from Judaea, it was recognized by most as an extremist cult, and wasn’t payed any attention until the emperor Nero massacred them because of their monotheistic beliefs. He felt threatened by Christianity because it preached that God was the highest power, which conflicted with the idea that emperors were the physical embodiments of gods and none were above them in rank. This was common behavior and shown through the Roman’s treatment of suspected Christians in court. In a letter correspondence between…show more content…
In those times, Christianity was punishable by death. This continued until Constantine, a devout Christian emperor who thought a shared belief in one god could unite Rome, made Christianity the primary religion. From then on, the cult that had been ignored for so long was finally recognized and accepted by all of Rome. No big issues arose until the death of Theodosius, who, before his untimely demise, allowed the Visigoths (Germanic people) to settle in Rome. Once he was gone, there was nothing stopping the barbarians from invading and taking over. They succeeded in storming Rome, which caused those who stayed to fight to flee in such numbers that Saint Jerome, a holy man in Bethlehem, wrote that he and the other residents had to welcome “…in this holy Bethlehem men and women who once were noble and abounding in every kind of wealth, but are now in poverty.” (Saint Jerome). Clearly, even though their homes were destroyed, their faith wasn’t. Those who survived the attack took solace in the birthplace of the Old Testament and in the arms of holy men and women, which just goes to show how important it had become to the Romans in the time since its

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