Religion in the Empire

Mythology

• Early Italic cultures did not worship specific gods, but rather worshipped undefined spirits called numina

• Each place had its own numen: rivers and trees, groves, fields and buildings

• As the Romans came into contact with other cultures they adopted many new ideas and gods, they were very adaptive

• The di consentes, or twelve greatest gods and goddesses in the Roman state religion, paralleled the Olympian gods of Greek mythology

• Every Roman household was thought to have its own lares, or protective spirits, and penates, or spirits of the pantry

• A lararium (shrine) was often found in the atrium of the house, where the paterfamilias was responsible for honoring the family's lar on certain days each month

• A portion of each meal was thrown into the fire as an offering to both the lares and penates of the house, and their blessings were invoked before any special family event

• It was not unusual to find a small shrine ( compita ) set up where paths met — originally where country roads crossed, and later at city intersections — with four altars around it to honor the lares in each direction

• These gods also played an active role in the mythic history of Rome, so that Venus was said to be the mother of Aeneas, and therefore the divine mother of the Roman people. Mars was the father of Romulus and Remus, the founders of the city of Rome

• As the Empire expanded to include Egypt and the East, new gods spread throughout Roman territories. For example, the worship of the Egyptian goddess Isis spread to all corners of the Empire

• With many gods and goddesses from which to choose, Romans could select any deity to worship

• Contrary to many modern religions, Romans believed that a person's overall behavior and morality played little part in whether a god would answer prayers or not. What mattered most in cult worship was observing the rites perfectly in order to receive the approval and favor of a particular god

• The requests and prayers were presented to the gods as a quid pro quo; in other words, if the god does what is requested (the nuncupatio ), the worshipper promises to do a specific thing in return (the solutio )

• Sacred meals, which occurred as part of certain religious festivals, were special sacrificial banquets given in honor of a certain god (or goddess). It was assumed that the god himself would actually share in the meal; a place was set for him at the table, invitations were issued in his name, and a specific portion of the food served was set aside for the god to enjoy

Jews in Roman Times

• By the beginning of the first century AD, Jewish communities had spread from Judaea throughout the Mediterranean, with especially strong enclaves in Syria, Egypt, and Greece.

• Their differing religious beliefs were often unpopular, and in many towns a close-knit Jewish community was created to maintain their religious laws in the face of differing cultures and religious practices

• The Jewish community in Rome was established by the 2nd century BC. Both Julius Caesar and Augustus sponsored legislation that offered Jews protection to worship as they chose.

• Synagogues were classified as collegia to exempt them from Roman laws banning secret societies, and the Temple tax— paid yearly by all Jewish men for Temple maintenance — was allowed to be collected.

• Although Jews were banished from Rome on three occasions— in 139 BC, 19 AD, and during the reign of Claudius, although the reasons are unclear— they soon returned and continued their independent existence under Roman rule.

• While each Jewish community had its own synagogue, the Temple in Jerusalem remained the spiritual center of their worship

• The original Temple, built by King Solomon, had been destroyed in 587 BC by Nebuchadrezzar II of Babylonia

• A smaller Temple was rebuilt on the same spot in 515 BC, but over the years it had been plundered and desecrated by Judaea's foreign rulers

• Herod the Great began rebuilding the Temple to its former glory in 20 BC

• Judaea was annexed to Rome as a province in 6 AD. Judaea had been a Roman ally since the 2nd century BC, and was not a military or political threat.

As long as Jews were peaceable, then Rome certainly was not looking to make war on them all of the time and in fact tried, in fact bent over backwards, to make sure that they did enjoy freedom of worship. They were not persecuted for religious reasons, but simply because they were politically dangerous at specific moments in history. (Keith Bradley)

• Over time, however, Jewish unrest and discontent grew, due to tactless and inefficient management of the province, aggravated by famine and internal strife.

• Terrorist activities were followed by open rebellion in AD 66, and an army led by Vespasian and his son Titus marched in to crush the rebels.

• The Temple was destroyed again in 70 AD this time by the Romans

• What we see happening with the destruction of the temple in 70 AD and the formation of rabbinic Judaism is a move that scholars call the move from Temple to Torah, the move from a sacrificial religion to a religion of the book. (Karen King)

• All that remains of Herod's great Temple today is the Western Wall in Jerusalem.

Christianity

• After the death of Jesus, word of his teachings spread to Jewish communities outside Palestine, but soon Paul and other apostles and missionaries began to preach to non-Jews as well

• Why was the spread of Christianity easier because of the Roman empire?

It would've been very difficult for Christianity to spread as dramatically and quickly throughout the ancient world as it did had Paul not been able to draw on the framework of communications that was there as part of the Roman imperial system. It was possible to travel throughout the ancient world fairly quickly... And it was possible for Paul to follow Roman roads and to go to Roman towns and Greek towns and communicate his message in a way that was probably impossible under any other previous imperial system. (Keith Bradley)

• How did Paul differ from Jesus?

• What was the end result of Paul’s teachings?

• What are the major differences between Jews and Christians?

There was a lot of variety in the early Christian movement. There weren't just twelve men, but there were a wide variety of men and women who were responsible for the formation of Christianity. We can chart in some ways some of the issues that were central to the formation of this group. And certainly one of those has to do with circumcision and food laws. These are taken up very directly by the letters of Paul. What's at stake? What's at stake in the question of whether when you become a follower of Jesus the Messiah, the Jewish Christ, you should take up circumcision and food laws or not. (Karen King)

• As the movement began to accept non-Jewish members, and began to move farther away from the strict religious requirements of Judaism, it grew into a separate and distinct religion.

• This was a process and for some time Christians were considered a sect of Judaism

• The Great Fire of Rome, in 64 AD, which lasted for six days and seven nights, destroyed all but four of Rome's fourteen districts

• Rumors began to arise among the people that Nero himself had started the fire to clear land for a new palace. These rumors were so widely believed that the Emperor decided to divert attention away from himself by offering up a scapegoat in Rome's strange new religious sect: the Christians

From a Roman point of view, the Christians at Rome in the middle of the First Century were a completely oddball, bizarre group of religious people. Their practices were very strange. Their central and most important ritual involved... what could only be regarded as a cannibalistic practice, that is drinking blood and eating flesh. That was simply unacceptable from a Roman point of view and had to be repressed. They also placed a heavy emphasis on an idea such as the brotherhood of man, which they celebrated through activities that were called love feasts... It seemed as if they were engaged in incestuous behavior, doing something that was sexually just not permissible. So it was easy for Nero, as a consequence of these misconceptions… to turn public opinion against them and claim that they as anti-social deviants had set fire to Rome. (Keith Bradley)

• Nero rounded up all the Christians in the city, and they were hideously tortured and executed in a grand public spectacle. Some were crucified, others were thrown to wild animals, and still others were burned alive as living torches

• Acceptance was a process

• An official Christian creed was being written and adopted by the end of the 2nd century AD, and in 313 AD Emperor Constantine issued the Edict of Milan accepting Christianity

• It became the official religion of the Roman Empire at the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD

• Did he exist?

• What did he look like?

• What do we know about his life?

• Was he the “son of God”?

The Historical Jesus

2 main sources:

• the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John)

• these are problematic

• non gospel sources ( Flavius Josephus, Suetonius, Tactitus, Pliny, Thallus, the Talmud, 'Acts of Pilate')

Did he exist?

What did he look like?

What do we know about his life?

Was he the son of God?

• The Historical Jesus

• www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/jesus/tikkun.html

• www.earlychristianwritings.com/theories.html

• www.wcg.org/lit/jesus/davis.htm

Historical Jesus- YouTube

• www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_dOhg-Fpu0 (lecture from Yale, 52 minutes)

• www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_dEzpIT_Ks (Lee Strobel, 7 minutes)