Outline the Roman Empire’s attitude to Christianity Essay

Q Outline the roman letters conglomerates attitude to Christianity until the end of the starting signal century.The Christian church service service from its outset has faced legion(predicate) an separate(prenominal) ch all(prenominal)enges as a result of orthogonal influences one of the most important of these influences was the persecution of the Christian people by the popish Empire. From the yr 64AD onwards the church was vilifyd by the popish authorities in an intermittent and irregular manner, non on account of their beliefs, save was a result of chance and circumstance. Christianity was born(p) out of Judaism and appeared as an entity after the cobblers last of Christ. Of course Jews of the time felt exist by the emergence of Christianity as a faith, and so the earliest persecutions of Christians occurred at the manpower of Judaic Sadducees, who branded Christians blasphemous. and then it is clear that the Jews played a break open in persecution of Christi ans as late on as AD156 in the persecution of Polycarp. The persecution of Christians in the first century by Jews however were negligible in comparison to the much more than widespread and systematic persecutions by the Roman authorities from the year AD64 onwards. Before this get wind Christians were accepted as a theme sect of Judaism, and therefore they enjoyed the stead of religio licita- a lawful or tolerated faith. The Roman Empire even protected many Christians against Jewish attack in the early years. This all changed however in the year 64AD, during the run of the emperor Nero.See more 5 paragraph essay format 64AD was by general concurrence of early Christians, the outset of empurpled repression of Christianity. This fact was supported by early Christian writers such as Tertullian, Eusebius and Sulpicus Severus. This date coincides with the fire of capital of Italy, a lay waste to blaze which destroyed almost half(prenominal) of the city.The pagan writer Tacitus reports to us in 115 of the fact that Despite Neros efforts the accusation that the fire was ordered could not be quashed. The mounting suspicion had a disastrous effect on Neros popularity (which had been very high before then), so Nero set about searching for a scapegoat. Christians were perfect candidates for a number of reasons they were a relatively new group that were abject in number and there was already an air of suspicion surrounding allegations of anti social behaviour. However the actual good deal may strongise been more interwoven than will neer be mute by ourselves, as banks points outThe reasons bottom the persecution of Christians included religious,political and social factors which were so inter-related and inter-dependantthat it would be historically misleading to stop them out as isolatedissues.thither are however many other opposing views on the exact dowery of the fire of Rome. Critics such as Frend have argued that it is possible that Nero original ly put strike on the Jewish fraternity, who in fleck blamed Christianity. Yet other critics have also extracted that the fire may strong up have been started by Christian extremists, vehement to fulfil apocalyptic prophecies.The first persecuted Christians were super stir upd with arson and as Tacitus tells us, immense in number, this charge apparently changed to a charge of hatred for the human race. This in itself indicates the immense suspicion of the Roman commonwealth towards Christianity and the ability of Roman authorities to act this. Wand indicates to us the state of Roman perceptions of Christianity after Neros runBy the end of the reign of Nero the state had settled down to an attitude ofsuspicion towards the church.The persecutions themselves were report to be gruesome and perverse in reputation by Tacitus among others. They were deliberately devised to bring about amusement for the public as well as humiliate the incumbent. Accounts included victims unive rse covered with the hides of dogs and beasts and set upon by dogs, creation crucified and being used as streetlights to crystallize the darkness. Even Tacitus the most anxious of anti Christian writers, could not attend barely feel pity for them. there is much dispute over the intrusion that Neros persecution had on the Christian church. nearly feel that it represents the beginning of Christianitys status as an illegal religion, and that it set the author for a further 2 centuries of gallant persecution. What is certain is that the church lost many of its influential early leaders during Neros reign, including St Peter and St Paul as describe by Eusebius. Some commentators believe that without the literature of early evangelists, the Christian faith may have disappeared altogether. After Neros removal from office there was a breaker point of considerable civil unrest in spite of appearance the Roman Empire, and therefore Christians were not seen as an important priorit y.It was not until the reign of Domitian that persecution of Christians began in earnest. This time though the persecutions were different in nature in that he did not search out the Christian community as a group but sought out individuals by stealth. Domitian is set forth by Bernard asA jealous man who went in fear of his life. He kept power(like Stalin in Russia) by a series of sudden blows againstthose who he felt were plotting against him.There is evidence to suggest during the end of his reign Domitian began to fervently persecute the Christian community as a whole. Showing the mans deep paranoia and distorted roam of mind. The ancient writer Suetonius writes of the Gladiator Glabrio who was penalise by Domitian on Christian charges, although the real reason was the Emperors apparent jealousy of his abilities, underlining the coseismal nature of Domitians personality.It is widely regarded by many critics such as Banks that a possible source of conflict surrounded by Domi tian and the Christian church was his enthusiasm for the imperial cult, and therefore he persecuted them because of their refusal to accord him portend honours. However it still remains in dispute whether Domitian persecuted Christians at all. The early church writer Dio Cassius, wrote from Bythinia, a strong Christian province and yet he never mentions any of Domitians victims as Christians. Furthermore, Pliny, a lawyer working in Rome at the time of Domitians reign tells Trajan many years later that he had never been involved in a Christian trial. This indicates at least that Domitians persecution was not exactly widespread or for reaching, if it existed at all.There is little uncertainty of the immense impact the early persecutions had on the growth of the Christian church. While some argue that it has helped the church in its growth, others look at that it has actually hindered the churches growth. Tertullian observes the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. I beli eve that because of the limited nature of early persecutions they did not seriously dull down the expansion of Christianity. What is certain though is that the persecutions at the hands of Nero and Domitian set a precedent for future Christian persecution.