Discovering Christianity, Research Paper Example

The topic of discussion is about the spread of Christianity in the Roman Empire. From the Roman Empire, it quickly spread throughout the rest of the world and through the centuries that are outlined throughout the standard history textbooks. At first Christians were persecuted and hunted down as criminals, because they refused to worship the Roman Gods. (Vaage) However, the number of Christians quickly grew during the 3rd and 7th Century during the Late Antiquity. Many Romans began to convert to Christianity because the religion was depicted as nurturing, consisting of stable morals, and not on the principles of self-mutilation, or sacrifice much like was practiced by Caesar. Christians refused to participate in the Roman principles of declaring Caesar as Lord, or offering sacrifices to the monarch. (Lunn-Rockliffe 25)

The Christian conversion began with the poorer community as Christianity promised for those that lived right could go to heaven. Whereas in the Roman religion only the gods went to heaven, and everyone else was resigned to the underworld. Secondly, everyone was considered equal as even those in the noble caste were considered the same in the lower caste. Power of the Roman Empire was dwindling in the Mediterranean as many began to believe Christian ideologies as Latin began to become the language in the Christian movement and became popular with Roman citizens. (Pearce 44) As the new emperor Constantine came into power, he made Christianity legal, and it quickly became the dominate religion in Rome. From Rome it spread to Asia, Africa, and the central parts of Europe, Christianity spread throughout the world.

Works Cited

Lunn-Rockliffe, Sophie. “Christianity and the Roman Empire.”BBC. 2011. Web. 15 October 2014. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/romans/christianityromanempire_article_01.shtml

Lunn-Rockliffe offers a thorough examination of how Christianity rose to prominence during the Roman Empire. In a span of a few centuries, Christian went from being arrested, persecuted, and tortured for not believing in the Roman Pagan gods, they began to convert the Romans. In instances, Christians were rounded up like dogs and killed being burnt alive.  IT wasn’t until the 3^rd through the 7^th century were the Christian influence beginning to unfold. Lunn-Rockliffe details how and why Christians were persecuted as well as the conversion of Emperor Constantine changed the empire’s religion forever.

Vaage, Leif E. Religious Rivalries in the Early Roman Empire and the Rise of Christianity. Wilfrid Laurier University Press. 2006. http://muse.jhu.edu/books/9780889205369

Vaage also writes on the rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire, as well as how it rivaled with other religions during the time period. Divided into three parts, it details the rivalry of religions, Roman Paganism, Judaism, and Christian during the Antiquity. Vaage goes further in the past to discuss the early influences of Christians in Judaism with the apostle Paul. The final part Vaage divulges into the rise of Christianity, and the success it had over eclipsing its rivals to be the dominate religion in the Roman Empire.

Pearce, Brice T. “Christianity in the Roman Empire: Reformed Judaism to Official Religion.” 2004. IUP. Print.

Pearce writes in detail about the move from Judaism to Christianity during the Roman Empire. As he writes on the different perspective from the Judaism religion, and their conversion to the Christian religion. Many in the Jewish faith questioned the traditions of Judaism, as Christianity began to appeal to not only those in the Roman Empire but those that followed the Jewish faith. Pearce discusses the roles of Jesus, women, and the impact of martyrdom in Christianity in the Roman Empire.