Personal Narrative: Converting Anglo-Saxon Christianity

As centuries went on, more Roman emperors began to accept Christianity. Constantine, who incorporated into it several Greek philosophies, finally legalized it in 313 C.E. Christianity also connected the Romans and “barbarians”, leading it to become a highly positive change in the Roman

The views on Christianity throughout Rome changed immensely from the early years of the empire through the fourth century. For a while, Christians were looked at as a threat to many because of their belief in monotheism. Nero and his followers persecuted and punished the lower class and women who followed Christianity as well as use them as political scapegoats. As time went on, the tolerance for Christianity in Rome grew and Christianity gained acceptance. By the fourth century, Christianity was the official religion in Rome.

The final reason that Christianity took hold in the ancient world is because of how devoted the followers of Christianity were. Christians would take people into their homes and take care of them if they were in need, and would do their best to help them get back on their feet. (Doc D) A man named Paul who came to know the Christian religion spent 30 years of his life traveling the eastern Mediterranean sea, preaching the word of Jesus, and he single handedly wrote most of the New Testament letters on his journey. (Doc F) A group of Christians were sentenced to execution for not buying sacrificial items for the Roman gods.

Secondly, all the perquisites of Christianity meant that kings could claim legitimated power from God and its prestigious international

These radical changes made to the Christian church allowed for imperial involvement in the religious cult, but it also allowed for a new power and influence of the church on politics and governing of the Roman Empire. The advance in power and status of Christian leaders has been maintained still in modern eras. Although it is debatable whether Christian leaders are as significant and powerful as the period of Constantine’ rule, it is blatantly obvious how Constantine and his Christianization marked the stepping stones for a lot of political and religious relations, as still seen today in the collaboration of the Queen of England and the Pope (Lenski,

When Charlemagne ascended the throne and had full control of the empire, he wanted to not only rule both his people and Romans, he was also interested in his people and the ones he conquered to convert to Christianity. (Pages 258-259). Charlemagne exceedingly cared about government as much as he cared about religion, which is why one of the things he did when first became an emperor was to make sure that the Pope Hadrian I, got his land back from the Lombard Kingdom and he has also helped the Pope on countless occasions. (Pg. 259). Yes, Charlemagne was truly successful in linking religion and governing, his people or the Romans did not rebel against him and during his ruling he was able to offer people opportunities to learn and deepen their understanding of the Christian faith.

Ancient Rome and Ancient Greece were very powerful and influential forces around the time that Christianity had began to spread. In Rome’s society, people followed under an emperor, who had strict rules about religion and the type of beliefs one should have. At the time, Rome’s official religion was pagan, but later converted to Christian. Ancient Greece had different religious beliefs than those that Christianity consisted of, but these countries were both powerful and helpful in spreading this new religion. Greece and Rome were impactful on Christian doctrine as well as helping this religion thrive and continue to expand to new areas.

In the Roman Empire, Christianity started out being a very minuscule religion. However, as Christianity grew, it formed into a significant threat to Roman politics. Before Christianity, the Roman Empire was extremely diverse and they believed the emperor

Many of these were introduced via the Greek colonies of southern Italy and others had their roots in the Etruscan or Latin tribes of the region (UNRV).” Having been influenced by other religions the Romans were not against the idea of becoming Christians. “By 392 AD, Emperor Theodosius I banned the practice of pagan religions in Rome altogether and Christianity was, without question, the official religion of the state (UNRV).” Present day the Roman religion does not exist. The Romans all converted their beliefs to Christianity soon after being hesitated to in the early fourth century

Christianity is arguably one of the the most influential and important aspects that originated in western civilization. The religion started out as a small sect of Judaism and a man named Jesus spreading his word with a few followers. For centuries, Christians in Rome endured persecution and secret worship. With the appeal of eternal salvation and the hierarchy of the church, Christianity gradually spread, began to rise, and eventually became the prominent religion in Rome. Today, Christianity is the most widely practiced religion in the world.

Even though Christians were persecuted on and off during the Roman Empire, Christianity flourished. In the early Roman Empire, when Claudius, Nero, Domitian, and Trajan were emperors, Christianity was banned and Christians were persecuted. Nevertheless, Christians found ways to spread Christianity, and many people converted. As trials occurred and the Empire lost good leaders, the people took security in Christianity and other religions. Christianity grew during the Roman Empire because Constantine helped create the Edict of Milan, Constantine had imperial favor toward The Church, and there was trade routes to spread Christianity to different areas.

The existence of Christianity enumerates almost 20 centuries and for this period it made a long way in development and expansion. The Christianity was born in Palestine in the 1st century AD and spread to various corners of the world. Kennedy, P. (2011). Christianity : An Introduction. London: I.B.

During the early Pax Romana, Christianity, emerged and it spread rapidly in the Roman Empire. The founder of Christianity was Jesus who used parables with moral lessons to communicate his ideas. Jesus emphasized mercy, sympathy for the poor and helpless, morality, forgiveness, and service to others. Christianity eventually became the official religion of Rome because of its unifying force and the fact that it appealed to all classes in society. The humble, poor and oppressed found comfort in his message of love, equality, human dignity, and promise for a better life.

Growing up Christianity had always been part of my life and there was no question about it. My family was christian and the culture that my parents grew up in was heavily religious. However, I personally never had a true connection to Christ at a young age. To me church was the place I went to answer questions in Sunday School and win prizes for it, and that was how I saw it for a long time. It was hard for me to see it has more than that and from the outside I may have looked like the kid had a true connection with Christ by the way I talked in front of the church when my class presented, or the fact that I was able to answer most if not all the questions correctly.

Gibbon also believed that Christianity 's pacifism interfered with the traditional Roman naval spirit. He stated that Christianity destroyed the unity of the Empire believing that the religion only divided the Christians whose continuous battle was over each other’s differences on the doctrine that led to many killings of people. Christianity also replaced Roman’s polytheistic religion and changed their focus away from the honor of the state and into one main deity. Even though the spread of Christianity may have played a small role in Roman’s fall, a lot of historians believe that its influence lost significance as opposed to the military, economic and leadership