5.3

 Rome takes over Israel in 63 BC  The kings stay in control if Jerusalem Example Herod was tied to both the Jews and Romans, would rule like a Roman leader  After Herod died, the Jews revolted and fought for 10 years  Rome took complete control in 6 AD

 He was born in Bethlehem between 6-4 BC  He was both Roman and Jewish  He was raised in Nazareth  He was baptized by John the Baptist

 Started His ministry around the age 30  It was only for 3 years  He preached, taught, did good works, and performed miracles  He emphasized many Jewish traditions like Monotheism and the 10 Commandments There was a close tie between Christianity and Judaism

 He talked about God’s personal relationship to humans  Stressed the importance of people’s love for God, their neighbors, their enemies, and themselves  God was going to end all of the wickedness in the world, and establish an eternal kingdom for those who repented of their sins

 He gathered 12 disciples, or pupils (Later they would gain the title of Apostle): Peter, James and John, Andrew, Phillip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James, Thaddeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas  All of the information we have of the disciples are from the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John)

 As he continued to preach, his fame grew  He would gain more followers Many people believed he was the Messiah Who is the Messiah?  His message was well received by the poor

 His growth in popularity concerned both the Jews and Romans  When Jesus came to Jerusalem in 29 AD crowds greeted him as the Messiah The placed palm branches as he rode in on a donkey  The chief priests denied that he was the Messiah

 The priests brought up charges of blasphemy Which is punishable by death  The Roman governor Pontius Pilate has him crucified after giving them a choice: You can have Barabbas, a known killer and thief, or Jesus  He was sentenced to death by crucifixion  After his death he buried in a tomb

 The disciples were convinced that Jesus was the Messiah  Peter, the first apostle, was the Rock of the Church  He spread the teachings around all of Palestine and Syria

 He is the one that had the greatest influence on Christianity  He was a Jew named Saul, that was trying to kill all the Christians  While on his journey, he was blinded on the road to Damascus, saw Jesus and was asked why he was persecuting his people?  After this he spent the rest of his life spreading Jesus’ message He was able to do this because of the Pax Romana

 He preached, and wrote, 13 books or epistles Epistles are letters  All of the messages were translated into Latin and Greek Latin is official language of the Catholic Church  The main message that he had was of a savior came and died for all of the sins of the world  Also called for all people no matter their religion or heritage to come to Jesus

 There were a lot of problems in Jerusalem  In 66 AD a groups of zealots caused an uprising  In 70 AD Rome came and put it down, also destroying the the temple Only the west wall still stands  There was a group of Jews that stood at Masada until 73 AD

 In 132 the Jews attempted another uprising and over 500,000 people died in three years  Following this, the Jewish state no longer stands for 1800 years  Also the people were driven from their homelands, which is called a Diaspora  What is the difference between migration and Diaspora?

 The Christians refused to worship the Roman gods Which was a slap in the face of the Romans  The Christians were used as scapegoats When Nero was blamed for burning down Rome, he blamed the Christians and punished them Peter and Paul were both killed during this time  Following Nero there was not a push to kill the Christians

 When the Pax Romana was ending, the persecution began again  Most were exiled, imprisoned, or executed  They would crucified, burned, or killed by wild animals in the Coliseum  They were called Martyrs, or people that would die for their beliefs  Despite this there were millions of Christians in the empire by the 3 rd century

 Embraces all people  Gave power to the powerless  Appealed to those who were against the extravagances of Rome  Offered a personal relationship with a loving God  Promised life after death

 Locally you had priests They were in charge of the people in their city  Next there was the bishops They were in charge of many priests and congregations  Finally there was the Pope He was the head of the church  The center of the church was Rome

 In 312 AD, he was fighting against three other rivals for control  He arrived for battle at Milvian Bridge Here he prayed for divine help  He saw a cross in the sky that had an inscription that said “In this sign conquer.”  He had his artisans engrave crosses on all of the shields

 They were victorious in the battle, he believed it was the Christian God  In 313 he ended the persecutions  He issued the Edict of Milan, which declared Christianity to be one of the religions approved by the emperor It allowed Christians to freely follow the faith  In 380 Theodosius made it the official religion of Rome

 As the faith grew, disagreements also grew  Leaders called any issues that contradicted the basic church belief heresy  When the codified the Bible they put the end to many of the problems

 Happened in 325  Came up with the basic beliefs of Christians  The Trinity Father Son Holy Spirit

 Most important was St. Augustine Bishop of Hippo in North Africa  Wrote the City of God Teaches humans need the grace of God to be saved, God is merciful and gives grace freely