Christianity*

Introduction

• learn how a new religion, Christianity, spread through the empire
• followers of Jesus Christ
• put to death on a cross in the first century CE
• son of god, rose from dead
• many romans saw Christianity as a threat to Roman order and traditions
• several emperors tried to stop the spread of the new religion through violent persecutions
• 312 CE, emperor Constantine had a dream about Jesus the night before going into battle against rival
• had a vision of a cross hanging in the sky in front of the sun
• around the cross, “In this sign, you will conquer.”
• men into battle with the first two letters of the word Christ on their shields
• won a great victory at the Milvian Bridge
• Constantine favored the Christian God over all others
• 80 yrs later, became the official religion of the Roman Empire

36.2 Judea: The Birthplace of Christianity

• eastern end of Mediterranean Sea=Judea, once part of Israel
• jews devoted to homeland and belief in single god, belief and religious customs set them apart
• Judea is roman control in 63 BCE
• tried to govern by putting Jewish rulers who agreed with Roman ideas in charge
• groups of Jews rebelled
• put Herod in charge~not Jewish by birth but converted, rebuilt Temple of Jerusalem, Jews still didn’t trust him
• thought he was a puppet or controlled by the romans
• 4 BCE
• Herod died
• kingdom divided amongst three sons
• unrest
• sons replaced with prefect
• military governor
• kept order
• made sure Judea paid tribute
• left affairs to Jews
• council of Jewish leader
• Judea outwardly peaceful
• many jews hated romans
• sacred writings showed prophecies that God would one day send Messiah
• When will Messiah come?

Writings About the Life of Jesus

• most of the information about jesus comes from writings of his followers
• writings make up the New Testament of the Christian Bible
• among them are 4 gospels
• gospels means an account of the life and teachings of Jesus
• Gospels written by 4 of jesus’ followers
• matthew, mark, luke and John
• gospels = good news
• written to spread the news of jesus’ life and teachings
• statements and faith in jesus as the promised Messiah
• Messiah = Christos in greek
• gospels were written down from oral and written sources 30 to 70 years after he died
• tell many incidents in the life of jesus
• describe him as working miracles, healing the sick and befriending the poor and friendless
• also tell about his preachings (preached god’s mercy and love)

The Birth of Jesus

• Modern calendar dates start of common era which was year of jesus’ birth
• found out jesus was born in 6 B.C.E.
• gospel of Luke tells story of jesus’ birth
• Jesus’ mother, Mary, live in Nazareth roman territory Galilee
• an angel appeared and told her she would have a child that she should name Jesus
• around this time, emperor Augustus ordered count of all people in empire
• each man go to town of birth to be counted
• mary’s husband, joseph, set out on 90-mile journey to bethlehem in judea
• mary went with him
• bethlehem
• “city of David” after revered king who ruled Israel
• when mary and joseph arrived, forced to seek shelter in stable
• mary gave birth
• wrapped baby in cloth and laid him in a feel box for animals
• only humble shepherds came to see baby
• jesus’ family returned to nazareth after birth
• grew up in nazareth and learned carpentry
• spent long hours studying jewish law and religious writings
• at age of 12, astonished rabbis in great temple of jerusalem with his knowledge of jewish law
• at age 30, he was baptized in the jordan river by preacher called John the Baptist
• John was urging people to change their way of life because the Messiah was coming
• when Jesus was baptized, john identified him as the savior the jews has been waiting for
• after 40 days of praying in the wilderness, jesus returned to galilee and began to preach

Jesus’ Teachings

• Jesus began his ministry in towns and villages of Galilee
• career of teaching, healing and service to others
• at first, preached in synagogues (jewish places of worship)
• as his reputation spread, larger and larger crowds came to hear him
• jesus began teaching in open areas - streets, hillsides, by the sea of Galilee
• Jesus had many disciples
• disciples were mostly
• simple, plain-spoken people (laborers & fisherman)
• jesus spent time with ordinary,sick,poor people more than wealthy & rich
• based his teachings on traditional jewish beliefs
• gospels say he put special emphasis on love and mercy
• Jewish laws (2 most important)
• 1. “you shall love your God with all your heart and all your soul”
• 2. “You shall love your neighbor as yourself”
• Told his followers that kingdom of God was coming soon
• kingdom was not an earthly kingdom of power and riches (according to jesus)
• instead, it meant a time when people would live according to God’s will
• one of his favorite ways of teaching
• was through parables (simple stories with moral or religious messages)
• When jesus was asked “who is my neighbor?”
• he told the parable of the good samaritan
• once a traveler was beaten and robbed on the road. two people passed by and ignored him but the good samaritan helped him.
• in another parable, he described the happiness of a man who had found one lost sheep
• teachings shocked and angered some of jesus’ listeners
• some jews thought it was wrong and dangerous
• others worried that jesus’ growing following would stir up trouble for with romans
• but jesus did not preach revolt against the romans
• still easy for ppl to call jesus troublemaker though

The Crucifixion and Resurrection

• Jesus went to Jerusalem for the Jewish festival Passover after a year or two of traveling and preaching
• celebrated God’s rescue of the Jews from Egypt
• thousands of Jews came to jerusalem to celebrate Passover
• soldiers kept eye out for anyone who might start a demonstration against Rome
• Jesus was welcome into the city
• saw the traders and money-changers who were allowed to do business in the outer court
• drove them from the Temple; “This is a house of prayer but you have made it into a den of thieves!”
• enraged temple’s priest
• knew that his enemies would come together to destroy him and that he would be killed
• Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus’ handpicked disciples, betrayed him
• after a final meal, the Last Supper, with his disciples, Jesus went to pray in a garden
• Judas reported where he could be found
• led away under guard->disciples ran away
• gained a large following in Jerusalem
• feared that Jesus’ supporters might stir up trouble
• Jesus might lead such a revolt
• end threat-> he must die
• Pontius Pilate, Roman governor, found him guilty and ordered that he die a rebel’s death
• outside the city walls on a hill, they nailed him to a cross and left him to die between two other condemned men
• few hours, He died--faithful followers took his body and buried it that Friday in a tomb carved out of rock
• Sunday, Jesus rose from the dead (resurrection)
• followers convinced Jesus’ disciples that he was the son of God
• left later to join Father in heaven
• disciples then found the courage to begin spreading the news of his life and teaching

The Missionary Work of Paul

• when Jesus’ followers began preaching that he was the son of god
• people ran into fierce oppositions
• Saul
• came to tarsus(modern day turkey)
• greek speaking jew, roman citizen
• thought the new belief was wrong + dangerous
• began arguing against it
• according to new testament
• he was riding on his horse to the town of damascus
• but fell off horse because was blinded by light from heaven
• light said “saul, saul, why do you persecute me?”
• finally became a christian and spreaded the jesus teachings
• Saul made a special mission
• to convert non-Jews (aka Gentiles) to the new religion.
• Saul’s greek name = paul
• Saul preached throughout Asia Minor, Greece and Rome
• some visits cause riots when angry Jews protested what they consider blasphemous teaching
• for a time, jailed in rome, continued to write letters to other Christians
• traditions say, romans cut off head about 65 CE
• beginning to persecute Christian believers

Persecution and Triumph

• 60's C.E , The Christians began to attract the notice of romans
• preachers traveled along the roads of the empire
• winning converts to their new religion
• Paul and Peter preached in Rome
• christians don’t worship other Roman gods
• wouldn’t admit that the emperor was a god
• their way of life insulted roman customs
• instead of wealth and fineries, they preferred simplicity
• wouldn’t serve in the army because of peace and love
• number of christians grew
• romans saw them as a threat to roman order and patriotism
• declared christianity as illegal
• emperors made examples of christians
• died in cruel and painful ways
• crucified
• burnt
• gladiators
• did not destroy Christianity
• instead won admirers
• faced death bravely
• it offered people a sense of purpose and hope
• told the poor and slaves they could have a better life after death
• People of all classes adopted the religion
• 300 CE about 5 millions christians in roman controlled lands of Europe, North Africa, western Asia
• 313 CE
• constantine allowed christians to practice their religion freely
• 392
• Theodosius banned all pagan sacrifices
• 395
• official religion of Roman Empire