Midterm

The rise of Christianity The rise of Christianity began during highly chaotic time; the Herodian period. The teachers of the law (rabbis) for their own interests, mostly ignored the occurrence, even though, early Christianity started as a Jewish religion with all its founders being Jewish. The rabbis ignored early Christianity as a method of dealing with early Christians. Secondly, Josephus wrote several vast historical works such as Contra Apion, Antiquities of the Jews etc. Nonetheless, the works of Josephus finally fell in the hands of the then Catholic church and several scholars concur that the Christological references used were not in the initial version of Josephus. The books were, in other words, tampered with, making it difficult to really know what the original books said. However one thing is for sure; Christianity rose during a very chaotic era, a period when the world of Jewish was caught between the heel of an immoral and brutal Roman culture, as well as plagued by groups and movements which not only split it further, but also did so under the pretence of saving Jews.
Saint Peter was declared the rock upon which Christ would build His church. He surfed martyrdom under the reign of Nero and crucified, head downwards in 64 AD, claiming he was not valuable to die the same way as Christ did. Peter is traditionally is considered as the 1st bishop of Rome. Saint Paul of Tarsus on the other hand is considered a noteworthy Christianity founder. After his miraculous conversion on his way to Damascus to persecute Christians, Paul started travelling as well as preaching about Christ in the synagogues in Damascus. Paul was a crucial interpreter of the teachings of Christ and most Christians regard him as the most significant disciple of Christ; actually next to Jesus himself.
Constantine made an official declaration of freedom of religion and legalized Christianity as well. Theodosius accepted baptism and got healed, and was more susceptibly likely to influence the church and in 391 AD he closed officially all the temples in his empire; forbidding pagan cults and practices. Christianity saved civilization after the collapse of Roman Empire. Roman Empire was split in eastern and western empires disorder and civil war was widespread, there was rebelling from German Barbarians. Constantine, due to this, decided to unite the Roman Empire via a religion that would be politically correct for everybody. Thus Christianity was restated on 25th of December.
Julius Caesar was tasked with public entertainment in Roman Empire; a very important post since Romans expected quality entertainment. Caesar in 58BC, was also appointed a consul to Gaul (France), and served as a governor. Constantine was the emperor of Rome as well as one of the greatest Christianity defenders. His rule precipitated a plethora of events that completely changed Christianity’s course of history. Theodosius is one of the most notable Roman Emperors and earned the title “ Great” since he was a devout Christian. Theodosius closed pagan temples and forbid pagan worship. Theodosius defeated his political enemies and by 394, he had united the whole empire. The pope claimed full secular and religious authority over each human being. The pope is also the bishop of Rome; a very revered title in Christendom. Finally, the Pax Romana was an era of relative peace in the whole of Roman Empire and is generally attributed with Gaius Julius Caesar, the first governor of Rome. During this period, there was prosperity, power, and peace. This meant that travel was possible (it was safe and comfortable to use roads) making it easy for missionaries to spread the gospel to non-believers.