Christianity in the Pax Romana
·
Begins with Jesus
o
All of what we know comes from Matthew, Mark, Luke,
and John
o
Gospel= good news
o
A wandering Jewish teacher in Judea
§ Set himself
apart from other Messiahs
o
Taught of Gods message and of love
o
Jesus is not what is usually depicted
§ Short
§ Beard
§ Short hair
§ Darker skin
·
(Not everyone is white, people!!)
o
Jesus followers thought he was the true messiah
§ He would
take the faithful to heaven
o
Jesus was both man and divine
o
Deemed a threat to Roman rule and they had him crucified
§ Raised from
the dead and ascended into heaven
o
Followers who went to spread the word were apostles
§ Paul of
tarsus was a Jew who became a follower
when he saw a vision on the road to Damascus
·
Paul was well- traveled
·
Helped found churches
o
Paul to the
§ Romans
§ Corinthians
§ Ephesians
§ Philippians
§ Colossians
§ Thessalonians
§ Hebrews
§ Etc.
·
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit he
earth”
o
Jews and Christians are montotheistic
§ Refuse to
worship roman gods
§ Sometimes
they were persecuted since monotheism contradicted the law
·
Exiled, imprisoned, executed, crucified, burned, or
killed by wild animals
§ When things
began to wrong in the roman empire a scape goat was needed
·
One who takes all of the blame
·
Appeal of Christianity
o
Embraced all
o
Gave hope to powerless
o
Appealed to those who were disgusted by imperial
Rome’s decadence
o
Offered a personal relationship with God
o
Promised eternal after life
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