ROMANS TURNED TO ONE CULT IN PARTICULAR THAT WOULD CHANGE THE EMPIRE AND THE WORLD FOREVER. THE DRAMATIC RISE OF CHRISTIANITY IN THE ROMAN WORLD WOULD CHANGE EVERYTHING, ESPECIALLY BECAUSE A CULT BASED ON THE SUFFERING OF ONE MAN CHALLENGED THE INTEGRITY OF AN ENTIRE EMPIRE. CHRISTIANITY'S MOST REVOLUTIONARY IDEAL WAS SPIRITUAL EQUALITY. IT WAS A DIRECT THREAT TO ROME'S BELIEF IN HIERARCHY AND SOCIAL DIVISION. - THEY COULDN'T ABSORB CHRISTIANITY BECAUSE IT WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO SACRIFICE TO OTHER GODS. IN PARTICULAR, CHRISTIANITY INVOLVES THE REJECTION OF THE CULT OF THE EMPEROR. AND BECAUSE THE CULT OF THE EMPEROR IS VIRTUALLY THE ONLY WAY IN WHICH THE WHOLE EMPIRE CAN EXPRESS ITS UNITY, THIS IS VERY DISRUPTIVE. narrator: A PROTEST MOVEMENT WAS QUICKLY GAINING MOMENTUM. CHRISTIANITY'S POPULARITY POSED A FUNDAMENTAL THREAT TO THE ROMAN WAY OF LIFE. BY THE MIDDLE OF THE THIRD CENTURY, ROME WAS CONSUMED BY DOUBT. [fire crackling, people yelling] AS CHAOS AND CONFUSION WRACKED THE EMPIRE, EVERYONE BEGAN QUESTIONING THE BENEFITS OF ROMAN RULE. BETWEEN 235 AND 270, MORE THAN 30 ROMAN GENERALS PROCLAIMED THEMSELVES EMPEROR. CIVIL WAR BROKE OUT AS LEGION FOUGHT LEGION, EACH TRYING TO INSTALL ITS GENERAL AS EMPEROR. ANARCHY GREW. ROMANS YEARNED FOR ONE OF THE GREAT EMPERORS OF THE PAST TO TAKE CONTROL: JULIUS CAESAR AND AUGUSTUS AND HADRIAN. THEY WONDERED HOW THEIR GREAT EMPIRE COULD HAVE FALLEN TO SUCH A SHAMEFUL STATE OF AFFAIRS. SOME BELIEVED IT WAS THE LONG-AWAITED FULFILLMENT OF THE SIBYLLINE ORACLES, A SERIES OF APOCALYPTIC PROPHECIES THAT HAD HAUNTED ROME FOR CENTURIES. BUT THERE WAS NOTHING MYSTICAL ABOUT THE CHAOS DURING THIS CENTURY. THE EMPIRE HAD BECOME UNMANAGEABLE BECAUSE THE EMPERORS COULD NO LONGER COPE WITH THE MONSTER THAT ROME HAD BECOME.
Christianity, a religion with roots in Judaism, rose at the very beginning of the empire (in the first century AD). Christianity is a religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, a Jew. Neither the Jews nor the Romans liked the Christians, and they even worked together to execute Jesus. Despite his death, Jesus' teachings continued to spread.
The Christian Bible is a collection of Jewish and Christian holy books. The Old Testament is all Jewish scriptures, and the New Testament is all Christian scriptures that relate the life of Jesus and teachings of Jesus and his early followers. Christians believed that Jesus was the Messiah (muh-SY-uh), or "God's anointed one." Jesus taught people to love God and to love other people. He taught the importance of treating all people with kindness and generosity, no matter how powerful or poor they were, or if they were friends, family, or enemies. Jesus also taught that if anyone believed in his teachings, that person could live in paradise after he or she died.
After Jesus was killed, his followers buried him. Three days later, they claimed that he came back to life. Christians refer to this as the Resurrection. Because of his Resurrection and triumph over death and evil, they claim that Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of God, capable of saving anyone who believes in him from evil and death. The Resurrection and Jesus' teachings about kindness were very appealing to many people in first century Rome.
Because Christians (like the Jews) refused to worship Roman gods, the Christians were outcast and Jesus was killed. For hundreds of years they were publicly persecuted and tortured, often in the arenas (like the Colosseum) where they would be killed for entertainment. Christianity continued to spread because Jesus's followers took his message throughout the empire. Paul of Tarsus (known as the Apostle Paul) was most influential of his early followers. Paul was an educated Jew who was a Roman citizen. Initially, he persecuted Christians and had them killed. Later, however, Paul became a Christian and persuaded thousands of other people throughout the Roman Empire to become Christians. The New Testament contains many letters written by Paul to groups of Christians in cities around the Empire. Paul, too, was executed by the Romans.
Despite persecution, Christianity continued to spread. In the 300s AD, the emperor Constantine became a Christian, and Christianity eventually became the official religion of the Roman Empire.
Question
If Romans worshipped the gods of so many other countries, why did the Romans dislike Judaism and Christianity?
