Religion essay example: Challenges and Conflicts Christianity had to overcome from the time of Jesus to Official Religion of Rome
Christianity had to diversify itself a great deal because of challenges and conflicts, which confronted it during the period between its establishment with Jesus and the apostles to when it was accepted as the official religion of Rome.
The first challenge that faced Christianity
was converting itself from a small Jewish division in Palestine during the 1st century ad. To a faith that was more universal. Christianity started with Jesus’ Ministry in approximately 29ad and also to avoid the persecutions that followers of Jesus might have to endure. There were many conflicts that occurred at this time the worst being the persecution of Christians and the eventual persecution of Jesus himself. The death of Jesus was a loss for Christians at the time but it became one of Christianities most powerful assets. Christianity struggled at 1st with his death as his apostles had to go into hiding so that they would not be killed themselves. Jesus’ preachings attracted many people to follow and believe in him but with his death and resurrection many more would convert. Peter was seen as “the Rock upon which the church would be built”. Peter headed the new Christian church, moving its headquarters to Rome from Jerusalem. With this and Paul’s ideas to take Christianity from being a division of Judaism to its own faith in approximately 44ad. . When the ideas of Paul won through, the factions that wanted Christianity to remain Jewish faded out. Christianity had overcome its first real challenges in this period with the persecutions of Jesus and his followers to the spreading of Christianity into its own faith and church.
From approximately 48 to 49ad. The Council of Jerusalem (1st Christian Council) wrote up a doctrine regarding circumcision and dietary law. The apostles and presbyters agree on this doctrine, which was written in a letter to “The brothers of Gentile origin in Antioch, Syria and Cylicia”. This Council was a very important step for Christianity as it decided if Jewish traditions would be upheld in Christianity. The decision the council made would see Christianity take one of its early steps of braking free of Judaism and taking Christianity into a new realm. Paul had broke Christianity free from Judaism but many Jewish laws were still upheld in the Christian faith. According to the Bible the apostles and other elders of Christianity spent some time deciding wether or not to keep circumcision and laws of how food was handled and sacrificed, as Moses preached that. They finally decided to make the changes and with that Paul accompanied by Barnabas continued on his missionary journeys.
Another challenge that Christians had to face was the Great Fire of Rome in 64ad.
The Great fire of Rome was started by Nero and blamed on the Christians. Then to squelch the rumour, Nero created scapegoats and subjected to the most refined tortures those whom the common people called “Christians,” [a group] hated for their abominable crimes. The crimes that Christians were seen to do was that they refused to believe that the Caesar of Rome was a god. This was a big problem for Christians as this blasphemy to the roman church was seen as a direct insult to Rome and its Faith. With this many Christians were executed. Their name comes from Christ, who, during the reign of Tiberius, had been executed by the procurator Pontius Pilate. Suppressed for the moment, the deadly superstition broke out again, not only in Judea, the land that originated this evil, but also in the city of Rome, where all sorts of horrendous and shameful practices from every part of the world converge and are fervently cultivated. This was a hard time for Christians as they were being persecuted by the Romans for starting a fire that was actually lit by the emperor of Rome. Christians were forced into hiding so they could practice their beliefs safely, without the fear of the Roman army invading the sermon and everyone being arrested. It wasn’t until Nero committed suicide that the mass executions of Christians died down. The Roman heads still did not tolerate Christianity.
Some other challenges that Christians faced during this time: the decision that the Christian council made to determine the “official” date of Easter. This was a hard decision and it ended up causing the church to split into tow fragments the eastern and western churches. The translation of the bible into Latin and other languages happened. The Christians that didn’t want Christianity to split from Judaism were amongst the ones who protested the Bible being translated into other languages. With all the persecutions that were happening in Rome during this time the church decided to make all martyrs Saints. This was one way how the Christians overcame a challenge. The challenge being the persecution of Christians, and with this the church claimed that if you died for the church you would be seen as a saint.
Christians and the Christian faith have had to change the way it performed, from the time of Jesus to official religion of Rome. Majority of events that happened to Christianity in this time were difficult, but all of them ended up being important to the beliefs of Christianity today.
Like the death of Jesus, the persecution of Christians and the separation from Judaism.
At the time these occurrences would prove to bring grave consequences. But Christians overcame these obstacles and as a result the faith in Christianity grew stronger until the point where it was accepted as the official religion of Rome, a country that from the time Christianity moved to Rome was persecuting Christians now accepted it as its official religion.
Bibliography.
The English Versions of the Bible, Home Religious Bible.
-1.Mathew 16-18, Bible
2.Acts 15, Bible
3.Tacitus Annals 15.44;Marginal Jew; Meier;p.89-90
A chronology of Christianity, by Paul Harvey
http://www.cwo.com/~pentrack/catholic/chron.html, Chronology of Christianity from 1d to present.
Living Religion, Christianity.
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