Rome (Day 5)

- Worship of Gods practiced without emotion
- Empire grew so did Christianity
- Power spread to Judea
- Rome took control of Jewish kingdom in 6AD and made it part of empire
- Jesus born in town of Bethlehem in Judea
- Chief priests of the Jews denied he was the Messiah
- Body placed in a tomb and gone 3 days later
- Convinced apostles more than ever Jesus was the Messiah

- Followers of Jesus spread his ideas after his death
- Christianity spread slowly throughout Roman Empire
- Apostle Paul had a vision of Jesus and spent his life spreading his teachings
- Paul wrote letters called Epistles
- Pax Romana made travel very safe
- Spoke Latin and Greek

- 66 AD- band of Jews rebelled against Rome
- 70 AD- Romans stormed Jerusalem and destroyed Temple
- half a million Jews killed during rebellion
- 132 AD- Jews tried to break free of Romans again
- Another half a million Jews died over 3 years of fighting
- Jews driven from homeland into exile

- Christians were a problem for Roman rulers
- Refusal to worship Roman Gods was seen as opposition to Roman rule
- Second century- Pax Romana began to crumble
- Persecution of Christians intensified
- Thousands were exiled, imprisoned, burned, killed by wild animals, or executed
- Persecuted Christians as martyrs- people willing to sacrifice their lives for the sake of a belief or a case

Christianity grew cause it-
- Embraced all people
- Appealed to those who were repelled by Rome
- Offered a personal relationship with a loving God
- Promised eternal life after death

- 312 AD- Roman emperor Constantine fought three rivals for leadership of Rome
- Prayed for divine help and saw an image of a cross
- Put image of cross on soldiers shields
- Won the battle, giving all credit to God
- 313 AD- Constantine announced the end to persecution of Christians
- In the Edict of Milan he declared christianity one of the religions approved by the emperor
- 380 AD- Emperor Theodosius made it empire's official religion

- Peter became first bishop in Jerusalem
- Peter the "rock" on which christianity was built, according to Jesus
- Each major city eventually had its own bishop
- Rome was the capital of Empire and center of the church

- Belief that contradicted church teachings was called a heresy
- Nicene Creed clarified the beliefs of Christians
- Fathers of the church were early writers who were very influential
- Augustine was very influential
- Wrote the City of God
- Christianity rose while Roman Empire weakened

1. Jesus- A Jew born in the town of Bethlehem in Judea who is known as the Messiah in the Christian religion
Apostle- 12 men who were taught under Jesus
Paul- An apostle who had an enormous influence in Christianity's development
Disapora- The dispersal of the Jews
Constantine- Roman emperor who fought three rivals for leadership of Rome and won
Bishop- Someone who is also a priest and supervised several local churches
Peter- The apostle who traveled from Rome to Jerusalem and became the first bishop there
Pope- Father or head of the christian church

3. Jesus emphasized God's personal to each person in his early teachings.

4. Early Christians faced persecution from the Romans because they refused to worship Roman Gods and this was seen as opposition to Roman rule.

5. The Nicene Creed is important because it defines the basic beliefs of the church.