Rise of Christiani
ty in Rome
The Teachings of Jesus
• Jesus born in the Roman province of Judea
• He was both a Jew and Roman citizen
Jesus’ Message• By age 30, he began preaching publicly
and for 3 years he:– Preached– Taught– Did good works– Performed miracles
• Contained many ideas of Judaism such as: Monotheism and the 10 Commandments
• He emphasized God’s personal relationship with each human being.
Jesus’ Message• Stressed importance of love for
God, neighbors, enemies and even their own selves.
• He gathered 12 apostles or pupils = disciples
• Main source of information about Jesus comes from the Gospels – the first 4 books of the New Testament of the Bible
• Gospels written by one or more of the apostles (disciples).
Jesus’ Death• The people called him
the Messiah which means King.
• This worried the Roman and Jewish leaders, Pontius Pilate a Roman governor arrested Jesus.
• Sentenced to be crucified or nailed to a cross.
Resurrection• According to
Gospels he rose from the dead and ascended to heaven
• One of the first apostles, Peter, spread the teachings of Jesus throughout Palestine and Syria
Christianity Spreads• Another apostle, Paul had
enormous influence of the development of Christianity
• Spread during the Pax Romana where conditions were safe for travel on the Roman Roads.
• Paul stressed that Jesus was the son of God who died for people’s sins.
Persecution of the Christians
• Christians would not worship Roman Gods = viewed as opposition to Roman rule
• Some Romans blamed bad economic conditions on Christians
• When a disastrous fire occurred in Rome, and Emperor Nero blamed the Christians and ordered them to be persecuted.
• Thousands were exiled, imprisoned, crucified, burned or killed by animals in circus arenas
A World Religion• Christianity still survived
because of widespread appeal:
– 1. Embraced all people
– 2. Gave hope to the powerless
– 3. Appealed to people who rejected the extravagances of imperial Rome
– 4. Offered a personal relationship with a loving God
– 5. Promised life after death.
Influence Today
• Short Term Effect: Christianity became the official religion in Europe during the Middle Ages
• Today : 33% of the world’s population practices Christianity ( 2 billion people)
QuickTime™ and a decompressor
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Pictures Cited• Slide 1 – http://timothyministries.org/images/Jesus_Nativity.jpg • Slide 2 – http://www.utilitarianism.com/jesus-christ.jpg• Slide 3 – http://www.chappellhillumc.org/images/IMG_0734_edited.JPG• Slide 4 – http://sovereignjohn.files.wordpress.com/2007/09/ten-commandments.jpg• Slide 5 – http://www.srichinmoycentre.org/images/jesus_christ.jpg• Slide 6 – http://www.truecatholic.org/pix/sc12.jpg• Slide 7 –
http://www.stmatthewsnj.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2006/05/Ascension.jpg• Slide 8 – http://artfiles.art.com/images/-/El-Greco/Saint-Paul-the-Apostle-Giclee-Print-
C12983506.jpeg• Slide 9 –
http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/meast/9905/18/knesset.01/israel.jerusalem.map.jpg• Slide 11 – http://www.freefoto.com/images/05/08/05_08_10---Cross-at-
Sunset_web.jpg
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