Outline the Roman Empire’s attitude to Christianity Essay

Q Outline the Roman Empires office to Christianity until the end of the first century.The Christian church from its asideset has faced more challenges as a result of external influences one of the most alpha of these influences was the persecution of the Christian people by the Roman Empire. From the year 64AD onwards the church was persecuted by the Roman authorities in an intermittent and sporadic manner, non on account of their beliefs, but was a result of chance and circumstance. Christianity was born(p) out of Judaism and appeared as an entity after the death of Christ. Of course Jews of the time felt threatened by the emergence of Christianity as a faith, and so the early persecutions of Christians occurred at the hands of Jewish Sadducees, who branded Christians blasphemous.Indeed it is suck up that the Jews played a part in persecution of Christians as late on as AD156 in the persecution of Polycarp. The persecution of Christians in the first century by Jews merely were minimal in comparison to the much more widespread and imperious persecutions by the Roman authorities from the year AD64 onwards. Before this date Christians were recognized as a national sect of Judaism, and therefore they enjoyed the status of religio licita- a lawful or tolerated faith. The Roman Empire even protected more Christians against Jewish attack in the early years. This all changed however in the year 64AD, during the govern of the emperor Nero.See more 5 paragraph essay format 64AD was by general concurrence of early Christians, the reservoir of lofty repression of Christianity. This fact was supported by early Christian writers much(prenominal) as Tertullian, Eusebius and Sulpicus Severus. This date coincides with the fire of capital of Italy, a devastating blaze which washed-up almost half of the city.The pagan writer Tacitus reports to us in cxv of the fact that Despite Neros efforts the accusation that the fire was ordered could not be quashed. The mo unting suspicion had a disastrous effect on Neros popularity (which had been very high before then), so Nero set or so searching for a scapegoat. Christians were perfect candidates for a number of reasons they were a relatively new group that were small in number and there was already an air of suspicion surrounding allegations of anti social behaviour. However the substantial circumstances may ease up been more complex than will never be understood by ourselves, as banks points outThe reasons behind the persecution of Christians include religious,political and social factors which were so inter-related and inter-dependantthat it would be historically misleading to dismantle them out as isolatedissues. there are however nearly other opposing views on the exact circumstances of the fire of Rome. Critics such as Frend have argued that it is assertable that Nero originally put blame on the Jewish community, who in turn blamed Christianity. Yet other critics have also suggested that the fire may well have been started by Christian extremists, anxious to fulfil apocalyptic prophecies.The first persecuted Christians were charged with arson and as Tacitus tells us, immense in number, this charge apparently changed to a charge of plague for the human race. This in itself indicates the immense suspicion of the Roman universe towards Christianity and the ability of Roman authorities to exploit this. Wand indicates to us the posit of Roman perceptions of Christianity after Neros reignBy the end of the reign of Nero the state had settled vote out to an attitude ofsuspicion towards the church.The persecutions themselves were reported to be gruesome and perverse in nature by Tacitus among others. They were deliberately devised to bring into being amusement for the public as well as humiliate the incumbent. Accounts include victims being covered with the hides of dogs and beasts and set upon by dogs, being crucified and being employ as streetlights to illuminate the darkness. Even Tacitus the most ardent of anti Christian writers, could not help but feel pity for them. on that point is much dispute over the impact that Neros persecution had on the Christian church. Some feel that it represents the beginning of Christianitys status as an smuggled religion, and that it set the precedent for a further 2 centuries of imperial persecution. What is current is that the church lost m whatsoever of its influential early leaders during Neros reign, including St Peter and St Paul as reported by Eusebius. Some commentators retrieve that without the writings of early evangelists, the Christian faith may have disappeared altogether. afterwards on Neros removal from office there was a period of extensive civil unrest within the Roman Empire, and therefore Christians were not seen as an important priority.It was not until the reign of Domitian that persecution of Christians began in earnest. This time though the persecutions were contrary in nature in that he did not search out the Christian community as a group but desire out individuals by stealth. Domitian is described by Bernard asA greedy 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 instal of mind. The ancient writer Suetonius writes of the Gladiator Glabrio who was executed by Domitian on Christian charges, although the real reason was the Emperors apparent jealousy of his abilities, underlining the unstable nature of Domitians personality.It is widely regarded by many critics such as Banks that a possible source of conflict between Domitian and the Christian church was his enthusiasm for the imperial cult, and therefore he persecuted them because of their refusal to accord him divine honour s. However it still cadaver 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 doubt 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 claim that it has actually hindered the churches growth. Tertullian observes the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. I count that because of the limited nature of early persecutions they did not seriously slow down the expansion of Christianity. What is certain though is that the persecuti ons at the hands of Nero and Domitian set a precedent for future Christian persecution.