Christianity
and the
Roman
Empire
CHAPTER 9, SECTION 2
Vocabulary
Jesus: founder of Christianity; believed by
Christians to be the Messiah
Messiah: a savior in Judaism and Christianity
Disciple: a follower of a person or belief
Epistle: in the Christian Bible, letters written
by disciples
Martyr: a person who dies for a cause
The Rise of Christianity
Jesus founded Christianity.
In the beginning, its followers were mainly poor and slaves.
Christianity was one of many religions in the vast Roman Empire.
The empire included many lands with different languages, customs,
and religions.
The Romans were tolerant of the people in these lands and allowed
them to follow their own religions, but conquered people had to show
loyalty to Roman gods and to the emperor.
Unrest in Judaea
The Romans conquered the Jewish homeland of Judaea in 63 B.C. At
first, they respected the Jews’ right to worship their God, but many Jews
resented foreign rule.
Some believed that a messiah, or savior, would come to bring justice
and freedom to the land.
As opposition to Roman rule grew, the Romans struck back with harsh
punishment.
In 37 B.C., the Roman senate appointed a new ruler named Herod. It
was during Herod’s reign that Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem.
Unrest in Judaea, cont.
Stories about Jesus’ teaching and life are in the New Testament of the
Christian Bible.
After Jesus died, his disciples, or followers, told stories about his life and
teachings.
Between 40 and 70 years after Jesus’ death, people came to believe that 4
disciples – Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John – had each written a story about
his life. Their writings were called the Gospels.
Christian Beliefs
According to the New Testament, Jesus grew up in Nazareth and began
teaching at about age 30.
Much of what he taught was part of the Jewish tradition he learned as he
was growing up.
Like Jewish teachers, Jesus preached that there was only one true God, and
his teachings became known as Christianity.
According to the Gospels, Jesus taught that God was loving and forgiving.
Christian Beliefs, cont.
He said that people must love God with all their hearts.
He taught that people had a responsibility to love their
neighbors as they loved themselves.
Jesus promised that people who followed his teachings
would have everlasting life.
His followers believed that Jesus was their messiah.
Fears About Christianity
Jesus’ teachings alarmed many people. Some people complained to
the Romans that Jesus was teaching that God was greater than the
emperor.
The Romans feared that Jesus would lead an armed revolt and
eventually decided to have Jesus put to death by being crucified, or
put to death by being nailed to a large wooden cross.
The Gospels state that Jesus rose from the dead and instructed his
disciples to spread his teachings.
Christianity Spreads
The Greek word for messiah was Christos.
Many educated people of Jesus’ time spoke
Greek.
As the people accepted the teachings of
Jesus, they began calling him Christ and
his followers Christians.
After Jesus’ death, Christians spread the
religion from Jerusalem across the empire
and to Rome.
The Letters of Paul
One of the most devoted followers of Jesus’ teachings was a
Jew whose original name was Saul.
Greek was the common language of the eastern Roman
Empire.
Saul originally rejected the Christian message until he
believed Jesus spoke to him.
Saul changed his name to Paul.
Paul wrote many epistles, or letters, to Christian groups; some
epistles are a part of the Christian Bible.
Ways of Worship
Early Christians shared a common faith
in the teachings of Jesus and a common
way of worship.
Christians borrowed some practices from
Jewish worship.
They prayed, sang, and read from the
scripture or from one of Paul’s letters.
Christians set aside Sunday, the day they
believed Jesus rose from the dead, as
their day of worship.
Ways of Worship, cont.
Jesus instructed Christians to practice 2
rites: baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
For baptism, a believer was dipped in
water to wash away his or her sin.
With the Lord’s Supper, Christians
shared a sacred meal of bread and wine
in memory of Jesus’ last supper.
Rome Reacts
Thefast growing new religion alarmed the Roman
government. Christians refused to worship the Roman
gods and didn’t show the emperor the required respect.
Many Christians turned away from the responsibilities as
Roman citizens, and Roman emperors started seeing them
as enemies of the empire.
Rome Burns
Under the emperor Nero, the first official campaign against
Christians began in A.D. 64. It began with a fire one night in some
shops that spread and burned for 9 days and left much of the city in
ruins.
According to some, Nero blamed the Christians. He ordered the
arrest of Christians who were sent to their deaths.
Some were forced to fight wild animals in the Colosseum. Others
were soaked in oil and burned alive. Others were crucified. Paul
was imprisoned for 2 years and killed.
Treatment of Christians
Romans persecuted Christians at various times for another
250 years.
Persecute means to treat repeatedly in a cruel or unjust
way.
Itbecame a crime to be a Christian in the Roman world,
and the punishment for following the religion was death.
The Appeal of Christianity
Despite the persecution of its followers, Christianity
continued to spread throughout the empire.
The help that Christians gave to widows, orphans, and the
poor drew people to the new religion.
Itsmessages of love, forgiveness, and a better life after
death appealed to many.
The figure of Jesus also attracted followers.
The Appeal of Christianity, cont.
Jesuswas not a hero from myth. He actually lived among
people of the empire.
The Gospels helped spread Jesus’ teachings, and they were
written in a simple style that was easy to grasp and that
ordinary people used.
As the Christian religion gained more followers, emperor
after emperor tried to halt its spread.
The emperors, Domitian, Marcus Aurelius, Decius, and
Valerian took severe actions against Christians.
The Appeal of Christianity, cont.
Diocletian was determined to get rid of the new religion but
could not stop its growth.
He outlawed Christian services, imprisoned Christian
priests, and put many believers to death. (He still didn’t
accomplish his goal.)
Many Romans admired Christians and saw them as martyrs
and heroes.
A martyr is someone who dies for a cause.
By the A.D. 300s, about one in every ten Romans had
accepted the Christian faith.
