Section Three: The Rise of Christianity

I. The Life and Teachings of Jesus – Roman worship of gods was impersonal – Christianity, religion born of Judaism, stressed personal relationship b/w man and God, attracted many Romans – 63 BC- Rome had taken control of Judea, home of the Jews – Jews believed they would be saved by a “messiah” promised to them by God to restore the kingdom of the Jews – Many Jews believed that Jesus was this messiah

A. Jesus’ Message 4 BC- Jesus born in Bethlehem, Judea began public ministry at age 30 teachings consisted of Jewish traditions such as monotheism and principles of the Ten Commandments Stressed importance of ppl’s love for God Claimed he was son of Yahweh sent to estb a “new covenant” faith in Jesus= enter heaven

Jesus’ Teachings continued… Appealed to poor b/c ignored wealth, taught that God loved all ppl 12 special disciples, or students, later known as Apostles Most info. about Jesus written in Gospels= first 4 books of New Testament of Jewish Bible As his fame grew, it was thought that he was the long awaited Messiah

B. Jesus’ Death Jesus’ popularity concerned Roman & Jewish leaders Chief priests of Jews worried Jesus’ popularity threatened their power, denied Jesus was Messiah and labeled his teachings blasphemy (against God’s teachings) Chief priest persuaded Pontius Pilate to have Jesus arrested/crucified

Jesus’ Death continued… After death Jesus’ body put in a tomb According to Gospels, Jesus rose from the dead, ascended into heaven became known as Jesus the Christos - Greek meaning “messiah” or “savior”= Christianity Follower’s beliefs became stronger since Jesus had triumphed over death Peter and other apostles spread Jesus’ teachings throughout Palestine & Syria

II. Christianity Spreads through the Empire Jesus’ teachings did not contradict Jewish law so his first followers were Jews Followers created new religion based on Jesus’ teachings called Christianity, slowly began to spread through Roman Empire

A. Paul’s Mission Apostle Paul influenced Christianity’s dev. Spread and interpreted Christ’s teachings Travel made easy during Pax Romana; allowed Paul to spread his message Koine Greek allowed for spread too

Paul wrote letters to churches and followers all over the Roman Empire- letters eventually collected & combined w/ other written records of Jesus’ life to make New Testament of the Bible Paul stressed Jesus was God’s son and died for people’s sins Welcomed all converts Jewish or Gentile (non-Jew) universality allowed Christianity to become more than just a local religion

Spread of Christianity

B. Jewish Rebellion Much Roman attention focused on land of Jesus’ birth 66 AD Jews rebelled against Rome 70 AD Romans stormed Jerusalem, destroyed Temple complex Half a million Jews killed in rebellion 132 AD Jews rebel again- another half million killed Religion survived, political state did not After failure of 2 rebellions, Jews driven from homeland, scattering of Jews around the world= Diaspora

* Jewish Diaspora

C. Persecution of the Christians Romans had problem w/ Christians b/c they refused to worship Roman gods Used Christians as scapegoats, blamed them for any political or economic troubles in Rome Nero blamed Christians for a great fire in Rome (unclear who/how fire actually started)

Nero persecuted Christians, had apostles Peter and Paul killed Pax Romana began to fall apart, persecution of Christians intensified- Romans began to exile, imprison, execute Christians Those executed seen as martyrs-ppl willing to sacrifice their lives for their beliefs Despite persecution, Christianity became a powerful religious force 3rd century AD- millions of Christians in Roman Empire & beyond

III. A World Religion - Why did so many accept this new religion? A. Appeal of Christianity 1.embraced all ppl 2.gave hope to powerless 3.appealed to ppl repelled by extravagance of Rome 4.personal relationship w/ a loving God 5.promised eternal life after death - Which aspect is most appealing to ppl?

B. Early Christian Church Christians organized their religion similar to structure of Roman hierarchy Small groups led by a priest, w/ a bishop leading several small groups All major cities had their own Bishop Bishop of Rome was considered leader of whole Christian church= Pope Pope (Bishop of Rome) Bishop of other City Priest Bishop of other City Priest

C. Constantine Accepts Christianity conversion of Constantine, Roman emperor Constantine’s at war, prays for divine help claims he saw a cross, symbol of Christianity=ordered cross put on soldiers’ shields Constantine won battle, gave credit to Christian God 313 AD Constantine ordered end of persecution of Christians Edict of Milan- granted all men freedom to follow religion of their choice

D. Discord and Harmony As Christianity grew, disagreements about beliefs developed Any teaching that appeared to contradict basic teachings= heresy To end conflicts, Church leaders sought to create a single standard belief Eventually wrote Nicene Creed-defined basic beliefs of the Church As Christianity continued to grow/spread, the Roman Empire itself was weakening and beginning to crumble

Top Religions of the World ReligionMembersPercentage Christianity2.1 billion33.0% Islam1.5 billion21 Hinduism900 million14 Buddhism376 million6 Sikhism23 million0.36 Judaism14 million0.22 Bahaism7 million0.1 Confucianism6.3 million0.1 Jainism4.2 million0.1 Shintoism4 million0.0