1. Rome, Jesus, and the Spread of Christianity
Two questions:
What are the basic facts about Christianity from a historical perspective?
How did Christianity go from an unknown, illegal movement to being one of the main driving forces behind western civilization?

2. Rome at the Birth of Christ
This is a rough approximation of the boundaries of the Roman Empire around the time Christianity began.

3. Rome at the Birth of Christ
This map gives a little more detail – The yellow shows when the Empire began with the rise of Caesar Augustus, the green is the territory Augustus added to the empire, and the Red shows the empire at the death of Marcus Aurelius in 180 AD. So you see
-the empire was growing during the rise of Christianity;
-Judea was a recent addition to the empire out on its eastern edge (POINT OUT WHERE JUDEA IS)

4. Rome: The Right time… The right place!!!
GEOGRAPHIC FACTORS
PHILOSOPHICAL FACTORS
POLITICAL FACTORS
QUICKLY – Geography, Philosophy, and Politics all paved the way for Christianity to spread. Christianity could not have expanded the way it did at any other time in history. But there are even more important factors than just the Roman culture:

5. Rome: The Right time… the right place!!!
RELIGIOUS FACTORS
Blending of Greek & Other Religious beliefs
Polytheism… Many Gods
Pagan
State recognition of Traditional Greek Gods
Emperor cult worship
Briefly describe paganism and the disillusionment that was going along with it.

6. Rome: The Right time… the right place!!!
GREECE
Culture
Language
Metaphysics

7. Rome: The Right time… the right place!!!
ROMAN ORDER
Transportation
“All roads lead to Rome”
Legal System

8. Rome: The Right time… the right place!!!
JEWISH RELIGIOUS FOUNDATION
Jewish Beliefs
Monotheism
One God
Hope for a Messiah

9. Christianity: Seizing the moment

10. Christianity: Seizing the Moment
Christ is born in 5 or 6 BC
Why not 0?
What the heck does AD mean?

11. The Appeal of Jesus His Ministry His Death His Claim
Y’Shua min Nazaret
…Jesus of Nazareth
His Ministry
His Death
His Claim

12. The Appeal of Jesus HIS MINISTRY Healing Preaching
Y’Shua min Nazaret
…Jesus of Nazareth
HIS MINISTRY
Healing
Preaching
“The Kingdom of God”
Harsh judgment or Loving Father?

13. The Appeal of Jesus HIS DEATH Pontius Pilate Scandal
Y’Shua min Nazaret
…Jesus of Nazareth
HIS DEATH
Pontius Pilate
Scandal

14. The Appeal of Jesus THE CLAIM Resurrection Available to Believers
Y’Shua min Nazaret
…Jesus of Nazareth
THE CLAIM
Resurrection
Available to Believers
Hope After Death

15. Key People & Actions foster the Spread of Christianity
PETER
Traveling Preacher
Later revered as “First Pope” or the “Bishop of Rome”
Martyred in Rome in mid-60’s AD
Going back in time – one of the key players: Peter – mostly told other Jewish people about Jesus throughout the Roman Empire
Killed by emperor Nero in 64 ad

16. Key People & Actions foster the Spread of Christianity
PAUL (Saul of Tarsus)
Jewish
Started Gentile Churches
Wrote letters which make up 1/3 of the New Testament
Martyred in Rome in mid-60’s AD
One critical piece to understand is how Christianity spread from being just a Jewish movement to non-Jews, or “Gentiles”
Paul is a key figure in this transition – he specifically went to non-Jewish people and told them that if they became followers of Jesus, they were acceptable to God

17. Key People & Actions foster the Spread of Christianity
THE JEWISH WAR
Destruction of the Jewish Temple in 70 AD
Clear Division between Jews & Christians
Josephus

18. Was this universally appealing?
“Alexamenos worships his god”
Graffito from Rome, late 1st or early 2nd century

19. Martyrdom -- POLYCARP
86 … hid in house outside the city … fixed meal for arresters …encouraged to worship Caesar, refused … voluntarily burned, then impaled …
IMPACT ON CROWD?

20. Key Resource for the Spread of Christianity
THE NEW TESTAMENT
Portable Translatable Religion
DaVinci Code???
Spawns other writings

21. Key People & Actions foster the Spread of Christianity
Constantine’s Edict of Toleration (313 AD)
Theodosius declares Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire (380 AD)
Augustine & the Rise of the Holy Roman Empire (d. 430 AD)