Christianity

Agenda for Dec

th st 20 /21

Turn in 6.3/6.4 Homework Warm-Up #19 J/C notes J/C terms and illustrations Spread of Christianity map Decline of Rome notes HW: All missing work needs to be completed!

Essential Questions How are Christianity and Judaism similar? Who is the founder of Christianity? Why did Romans persecute the Christians? Why did persecutions increase in times of trouble? How and when did persecution of Christians end?

Judaism and Christianity

Notes

Judaism in Rome Roman power spread to Judea, the home of the Jews, around 63 B.C.E. At first the Jewish kingdom remained independent, at least in name. Jewish kings ruled as representative of Rome. Some Jews allied with the Romans and accepted their plans to ‘Romanize” the Jerusalem. The ruler Herod, for example, was a Romanized Jew.

Judaism in Rome Rome finally took control of the Jewish kingdom in and made it a province of Judea in 6 C.E. Jews divided into two groups: The Zealots who wanted to rid their homeland of the Romans, and the other group who believed that the Messiah, or savior, was soon to appear.

Christian Ideals The religion embraced all people – men, women, slaves, the poor, and nobles It gave hope to the powerless and appealed to those who were repelled by the extravagances of imperial Rome

Christian Ideals It offered a personal relationship with a loving God and promised eternal life after death. Christians began to give their religion structure. At the local level, a priest led each small group of Christians. A bishop supervised several local churches.

Spread of Christianity Excellent Roman road system made passage by land easy, and common languages, Latin and Greek, allowed the message to be easily understood.

Spread of Christianity While traveling to Damascus, Paul reportedly had a vision of Christ and spent the rest o his life spreading and interpreting Christ’s teachings. He wrote influential letters, called Epistles, to groups of believers. He stressed that Jesus was the son of God who died for people’s sins. He declared that Christianity should welcome all converts.

Life of Jesus Jesus was born in the town of Judea. The date is uncertain but is thought to have been around 6 to 4 B.C.E. Jesus was both a Jew and a Roman subject. His teachings contained many ideas from Jewish tradition, such as monotheism, or belief in one god, and the principles of the Ten Commandments. He emphasized God’s personal relationship to each human being. He also taught that God would establish an eternal kingdom after death for people who sincerely repented their sins.

Life of Jesus The chief priests of the Jews denied that Jesus was the Messiah. They said his teachings were blasphemy, or contempt or God. The Roman Governor Pontius Pilate thought that Jesus challenged the authority of Rome. He arrested Jesus and sentenced him to be crucified, or nailed to a large wooden cross. After Jesus’ death, his body was placed in a tomb. According to the Gospels, three days later his body was gone, and living Jesus began appearing to his followers. It was from this belief that Jesus came to be referred to as Jesus Christ.

Rebellion and Persecution In 66 C.E., a band of Zealots rebelled against Rome. In 70 C.E., the Romans stormed Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple complex. The Jews made another attempt to break free of the Romans in 132 C.E. Another half-million Jews died in three years of fighting. Most Jews were driven from their homeland into exile. The dispersal of the Jews is called the Diaspora.

Rebellion and Persecution Christians refused to worship Roman gods and this refusal was seen as opposition to Roman rule. Some Roman rulers used Christians as excuses for political and economic troubles. As the Pax Romana began to crumble, the Romans exiled, imprisoned, or executed Christians for refusing to worship Roman gods. Thousands were crucified, burned, or killed by wild animals in the circus arenas.

Rome Welcomes Christianity Roman emperor Constantine was fighting three rivals for his title. The day before his battle Constantine prayed for divine help. He reported that he then saw a cross in the heavens bearing the inscription, “In this sign, conquer.” Constantine and his troops were victorious in battle and he gave credit for his success to the help of the Christian God.

Rome Welcomes Christianity In the Edict of Milan, Constantine declared Christianity one of the religions approved by the emperor. The edict granted “both to the Christians and to all men freedom to follow the religion that they choose.”

Judaism and Christianity

Key Terms Illustrated Dictionary

General Information Judaism Founder: Abraham Holy Book: Torah 

first five books of the Hebrew Bible

Christianity Founder: Jesus Holy Book: Bible

Monotheism belief in only one God

Ten Commandments set of ten commands given to Moses to pass on to the followers of God, which stressed the importance of people’s love for God, their neighbors, their enemies, and themselves

Messiah a savior; the Christians believed Jesus was their messiah

The Gospels the first four books of the New Testament of the Bible (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), which serve as the main source of information about Jesus’ life and teachings

Missionaries a member of a religion who works to convert those who don’t share the missionary’s faith

Monasteries religious communities of men (called monks) who have given up their possessions to devote themselves to a life of prayer and worship

Role of the Church to provide a sense of security and a religious community to which Christians might belong

Sacraments one of the Christian ceremonies in which God’s grace is transmitted to people

Canon Law the body of laws governing the religious practices of a Christian church

Interdict a temporary church penalty that prohibits a specific person or group from receiving the sacraments

Excommunication the taking away of a person’s right of membership in a Christian church

Pope The leader of the Christian Church, there was only one and he was also the bishop of Rome, which was the center of the Church

Bishops Supervised several local churches and were also considered priests, there were numerous bishops in the Church and eventually each major city had their own

Priests Led a small groups of Christians at the local level