The Importance Of Christianity In The Roman Empire

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The 4th and 5th century AD proved to be a period of dramatic social, political and religious reform for the Roman Empire. Perpetual stress from war, famine, and economic plights destroyed the spirits of the Roman citizens. When governments can 't bring security to their people, citizens seek comfort in other sources, such as religion. Christianity offered the disheartened Romans a renewed reason to live: the hope of eternal life. Not without defiance, the traditional beliefs of Greek paganism and Roman gods began to diminish. Christianity progressed and expanded during the decline of Roman classism and became the chosen religion under Emperor Constantine and Theodosius I. The struggle of each individual to find truth and security through Christianity was reflected on by Saint Augustine in the Confessions. Saint Augustine’s extensive, wavering path to Christianity parallels the radically changing empire of his time. The Roman Empire experienced a traumatizing collapse in power and wealth in the 4th and 5th century AD that led citizens to search for security in a new religion. Fragmented, poor and steadily declining, Emperors Diocletian …show more content…

Christianity was a very personal religion, for it placed a great amount of stress on the individual. God cares for each individual; “he wants people to behave righteously and to enter heaven” (Perry 111). For a person to enter heaven, one must reject the world and be a devoted servant to God. This was not an easy task for the classical Roman who “valued active citizenship and active participation in wordily activities” (Perry 102). Each individual would encounter trials and triumphs in their own search for the truth. Rejecting the previous beliefs and accepting the fresh, ever-growing Christian world would prove to be a difficult task for even the most faithful Christian figures of all

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