Lonnie Brookins
CHHI 301
8/30/16
Research Paper 1
1. Persecution of the Early Church- According to Emeka C. Ekeke, Department of Religious and Cultural Studies University of Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria, the Emperor Nero, the sixth emperor of Rome, was the first person to persecute the church. This was imparted due to “the Roman distaste for Christianity arose in a large part from its sense that it was not in line with ancient customs and that it was inappropriate for society.” At that time most of the people thought of the Christians as oddballs because of their religious practices such as Eucharist and what they called “love feast.” Many believed that the Christians practice of partaking of the body and blood of Christ was cannibalism. And
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Pax Romana is Latin for "Roman Peace" it lasted from about 27 B.C. (with Augustus) until the death of Marcus Aurelius in A.D. 180. Phillip L. Tite wrote “The basic root meaning of Pax, within a lexical discussion with pacisci, is evidently the concept of ending, or the state of a lack of, conflict.” That may not excite anyone unless you understand the Romans and their propensity for war. Before Pax Romana the Roman army was ruthless, conquering every foe with decisive results. But with Pax Romana, which lasted for approximately 266 years, there was unprecedented peace and economic prosperity throughout the Empire, which spanned from England in the north to Morocco in the south and Iraq in the …show more content…
Monophysitism is the Christological position that, after the union of the divine and the human in the historical Incarnation, Jesus Christ, as the incarnation of the eternal Son or Word (Logos) of God, had only a single "nature" which was either divine or a synthesis of divine and human. Although the triune or trinity is never mentioned in the bible, in Matthew 28:19 Jesus commanded His disciples to “baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” which clearly separates the natures of Jesus. Monophysitism began as the antithesis of Nestorianism. Whereas Nestorius had been accused of teaching a dual Christ, Eutyches, an archimandrite from Constantinople, offered a radically anti-Nestorian view, at the Council of Ephesus. Eutyches taught that Jesus’ humanity was essentially dissolved or obliterated by His divine nature, describing it as being “dissolved like a drop of honey in the sea” which is known as Eutychianism.” Nestorianism emphasizes the distinction between the divine and human nature of Jesus. Christians believe that God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are what makes up the
The Early Christians had numerous different practices. Some of them sacrificed animals, others held mass, and some even died in order to go with God. This helped with the spread of Christianity because it allowed people to attend mass and be forgiven of their sins. It also showed how cruel the Romans were and that religious freedom was being taken away from them.
The Imperium Romanum (Roman Empire) was a vast domain containing large territorial holdings in Europe and the Mediterranean. Beyond the empire however consisted of barbarous nations that were a constant threat to the Roman boundaries. For this reason, it was necessary for well-functioning frontier policies to be administrated and sustained to protect the outskirts of the empire from invasion. During the Julio-Claudian dynasty both Tiberius and Claudius established many effective frontier policies during their Principates. In addition to securing the frontiers, both also provided stability in the empire through the maintenance of the Pax Romana (the peace of Rome), which was established during the reign of Augustus.
One of the main principles of Christianity is the belief in both the divinity and humanity of Jesus, that these two natures are combined harmoniously in one being. In general, all modern Christians believe that Jesus was human, he was considered to be “The Word was made flesh” (John, I: 14). However, Jesus was more than just a human, despite being subjected to pain, suffering and death like all other human beings, he was sinless and also possessed the power to heal and to defy death in order to ascend, both body and spirit, into heaven. He was all man and all God, a combination of these two elements, remaining distinct but united in one being. The deity of Jesus is a non-negotiable belief in Christianity, which is referred to in many parts of scripture, “God was revealed in the flesh” (I Timothy, 3:16). The Christian faith does not perceive Jesus as God but rather a reincarnation of God, a mysterious deity who is the second person of the Holy Trinity. Throughout history, controversy has surrounded the issue of the humanity and divinity of Jesus, leading to the formation of Docetism, the belief that Jesus was fully divine but not fully human, Arianism, that Jesus was superior to all of creation, but less divine than God, and Nestorius, that there were two separate persons within Jesus. This the proportion of the divine and human within Je...
After the Pax Romana ended, the next 100 years were in political turmoil. In one 50-year period, at least 26 emperors reigned and only one died of natural causes. At the same time high taxes used to support the armies began to anger the people. During this Germanic tribes were attacking the outskirts of the Roman Empire.
The Roman Empire lasted for 500 years from the rise of Julius Caesar when he was named dictator for life by the Roman senate, to the last Roman emperor in AD 476. It controlled a vast amount of land surrounding the Mediterranean Sea, including northern Africa, western Asia and southern Europe. The society was prosperous, but as the empire continued to expand, citizens and subjects were faced with many elements that lead to the fall of the Roman Empire; which ceased to exist because of inconsistent leadership, poor military decisions and its sheer geographical size.
seating and the easiest access to the Colosseum. Even though many people think that the
Pax Romana was a period of time, between 27 B.C.E. and 180 B.C.E. when the Roman empire was living peacefully, and in prosperity. It was founded by none other than Gaius Octavius, who was the first emperor of the Roman empire. According to the Ancient History Encyclopedia, it stated, “the aim for Augustus and his successors was to guarantee order, law, and security within the empire”. which lasted for about two centuries. Pax Romana was important because everyone else surrounding the Roman empire was at peace with each other because everyone was under the Roman order, and it also expanded the Roman Empire, in both size and power.
Another factor, which many scholars believe to be the single most important in the spread of Christianity, is the Pax Romana. This saw a period of over two hundred years, between 30 b.c. and a.d. 193, in which there was almost total world peace, Antoninus Pius wrote in circa 150 a.d., " Wars have so far vanished as to be regarded as legendary events of the past". This peace brought great prosperity to the vast Roman Empire as money was not being spent on costly wars and so materialism became prominent, another consequence was that people now had more time to think about issues such as religion. Another benefit of the Pax Romana was that frontiers were removed and so early missionaries could travel between countries within the Empire with ease, "A man can travel from one country to another although it was his nature land" (Pius). Also, because of a "considerable civil service" (Frend) to police the roads, there was a great decrease in the amount of bandits on the main roads and so the missionaries travel was a great deal safer.
Ultimately, the Roman Republic’s downfall lay in its lack of major wars or other crises, which led to a void of honor and leadership. War united all of Rome’s people, and provided the challenge to its leaders to develop honor and leadership by their causes and actions. The lack of war allowed the Roman Republic to stagnate and become self-indulgent. By the end of the Punic Wars, which combined these elements, Rome was sure to fail. Without a common thread uniting its society, the Roman Republic unraveled because it had nothing left holding it together.
During the first half century after the crucifixion of Jesus, the Roman government including governors in the eastern provinces took no active measures against Christians. The attitude of the higher Roman authorities had always been that Christianity was merely a sect of Judaism, and as such, were entitled to share in its privileges as a recognized religion. In 64 A.D. this attitude suffered a severe alteration. On July 19, 64 A.D. occurred the great fire of Rome. Half a million people were left homeless. Popular rumor persistently asserted that the fire was started by incendiaries acting under the orders of the Emperor Nero. It was said that Nero wanted the city burnt down so he could build a new city which was to be re-named after himself. Nero felt that something must be done to deflect the public indignation against him. To do this he contrived that accusations should be brought against the Christians. So Nero began an aggressive persecution of the Christians in Rome. Those who confessed their guilt were brought to trail. During these trials a great number of other Christians were uncovered and were also brought to trial. Oddly enough, these people were not charged with starting the great fire of Rome, but rather for “hatred of the humankind.”
140 to 150 metres at its widest point. The fact that it was built in a
Christianity, originally, was thought of as an outsider religion, and wasn’t accepted by most Romans. The Romans could learn to live with other religions, but not when they were harmful to public order. At one point, Romans viewed it to be just that. Christians tended ...
Early Christian persecution, 30-250 CE, was not a universal event throughout the Roman Empire, but rather sporadic and local. In 64 CE, a massive fire destroyed almost the entirety of Rome, and in order to escape blame, Emperor Nero
With the decline and fall of the western empire, the classical age of Rome came to a close as disease, warfare and corruption conspired to bring about the downfall of an ailing empire that had once conquered the known world. Where once enlightened despots had ruled a debauched and unwieldy polity, now barbarians stood over the ruins of a once thriving metropolis. In its absence a new world would arise with new values and ideals. Turning their back on a pagan past the Christian children of these wild men from the north would spawn the greatest houses of future European nobility, and when they looked back for a legacy, they would not see their ancestors as pillagers picking at the bones of a defiled Rome, but instead as its trusted guardians, partnering with the Church to carry her legacy through the “Dark Ages”.
Four movements, now heresies, of the past each adopted one of these four views mentioned previously. They are: Nestorianism, Eutychianism, Apollinarianism, and Arianism. Nestorianism and Eutychianism fall under the controversy of the relationship between the two natures. The controversy of Nestorianism arose over the propriety of the term theotokos (“God-bearing”) as a description of Mary. At the Council of Chalcedon in 428 Nestorius gave his view of theotokos to which he held and overly dividing view of the two natures of Christ. Nestorius felt that the term was of doubtful propriety unless the term anthropotokos (“human-bearing”) was also used. Nestorius was later condemned when Cyril of Alexandria; who held the belief in Christ having one nature got involved. Nestorius’ pronouncement towards the birth of Christ caused Cyril to oppose him. Nestorius said that God cannot have a mother; no woman can give birth to God. Cyril of Alexandria suggested that Nestorius was proposing that Jesus has two natures joined in a purely moral union. After Nestorianism came Eutychianism. Eutyches who was repeatedly summoned to the standing Synod of Constantinople in 448, finally appeared and stated his position whereas Christ has two natures before the incarnation, that was but one afterwards. The result of the Synod was the Eutyches was deposed and excommunicated and the one- nature doctrine rejected.