Early Christianity

From the beginning until the fall of

the Western Roman Empire
EARLY CHRISTIANITY
• Roots lie in Judaism, the
teachings of John the
Baptist, Jesus,and the
apostles
• Earliest converts were Jews
who did not think they were
breaking away from Hebrew
Law
– Earliest Christians wished
to be considered Jews
since the Jewish religion
was officially recognized
by the Roman government
and its adherents had
certain privileges
 A NEW DIRECTION
• After Jewish revolts of 66-70 AD and
during the reigns of Trajan and Hadrian,
Christians began to emphasize their
separateness
– Gulf between Jews and Christians
had become huge by this time
• Christian leaders had decided that
Gentiles who converted to
Christianity did not have to become
Jews in order to become Christians
• There were dangers to this policy
– Unapproved religion
– Roman government by the time of
Nero or Domitian had decided that to
be guilty of just the name Christian
was punishable by death
 GROWTH
• Christianity strongest initially in Asia Minor and
Greece
– Also took hold in Rome and western provinces
• Hellenistic religions helped pave the way for
success of Christianity
– Shared similarities with such cults as Isis made
Christianity acceptable
• But many also found Christianity superior to
Hellenistic cults
– Central was Jesus, a historical rather than a
mythological figure
– His teachings presented in the Gospels
• Attracted many
• Books were elevated in tone and content but
written in the language of the people and in a
style that many educated people sneered at
Cult of Isis held
ritual purification
rites and offered
promise of an
aftelife
 BIG GAP
• Although Christian literature began
to be composed in classical rhetoric
style after 100 AD, it was still difficult
for highly educated people to
become Christian
– Pagan intellectuals still offended
by crude style
– Huge spiritual gulf between
Christian and pagan because
much of Roman world offended
Christians
• Saw obscenity, loose sexual
morals, skepticism, materialism
and hedonism everywhere
St. Jerome confessed that his – Some retreated into social
first exposure to Jewish literature isolation
and Christian works repelled him
when he compared them to the
polished style of Cicero
 WIDENING GAP
• Many early Christians, including St.
Paul, advocated obedience to imperial
and local authorities
– But they were also aliens in a
intellectual, cultural, and social sense
• Began to gradually set up a state
within a state after reign of Nero
and generally came to reject the
entire social and cultural
foundation of the empire
– As a result, they came to be
seen by the Roman government
as a threat to the existing order
of things

St. Paul
 CHRISTIANS AND THE FALL OF
THE EMPIRE
• Christianity grew most rapidly as the empire declined
– Caused a number of individuals to argue that
Christianity contributed to decline
• Notably Edward Gibbon
• Point has some validity as long as it is not
overplayed
– Loyalty of many Christians was to the
Church, not the Empire
» Were not upset about prospect of the end
of the Empire
– But Christianity had nothing to do with other
problems that caused ultimate collapse
» Civil war, famine, plague, and barbarian
invasions
NEW PAGAN GODS
• Traditional religion also
changed during this time of
troubles
– Cult of Sol Invictus
• United sun god of Emesa
with all other major sun
gods
• Recognized as chief god
of the state by time of
emperor Aurelian
– Replaced Jupiter at
the top
THE NEW PAGANISM
• Mithraism
– Filled with mystery and
mysticism
– Spread as rapidly as
Christianity during 3rd century
AD
– Devotees did speak of Mithra as
the “only god” but they meant
that all the other gods could be
understood through him
• Paganism did not decline during
this period because pagan cults
were well-adapted to the search for
new gods and inner peace

Mithra
PERSECUTION
• Great persecutions of Christians
began in 3rd century AD
– Started by emperor Decius
around 250 and continued until
death of Galerius in 311
• Christian intolerance of pagan
beliefs bred powerful retaliatory
hatred of Christians
– Accused Christians of
cannibalism, atheism, and of
being haters of mankind
– Charged with being sneaky and
with dishonoring the emperor
– Also blamed with all the evils
that afflicted the state
 INTELLECTUAL DEBATE
• Pagan intellectuals began to attack Christianity
– Celsus and Porphyry attacked Christianity
with reason and ridicule
• Pointed out inconsistencies,
contradictions, and impossibilities
• Christian intellectuals responded in kind
– Origen of Alexandria provided rational-
philosophical basis for Christianity Porphyry
• Entire intellectual discourse had little impact of
growth of Christianity
– Because it was completely immune to
rational argument
– Most people adopted Christianity because
they accepted its relatively simple message
on an emotional, not an intellectual, level

Origen
POPULAR HOSTILITY
• Celsus and Porphyry saw
evolving structure of Christian
Church as a dangerous state
within a state and charged it
caused divided loyalties
– Neither, however, advocated
persecution of Christians
– Nevertheless, a strong
popular aversion to Christians
continued to exist and
manifested itself continually
• Such as massacre of
Christians at Lugdunum in
170 AD
 MOTIVATION FOR
PERSECUTIONS
• Emperors like Trajan, Hadrian, and
Marcus Aurelian deplored the ignorance
and stubborness of Christians but did
not think they were responsible for
disasters that afflicted the state
– But many of the later military
emperors came from same stock as
superstitious pagans of Lugdunum
and believed that disasters of the age
reflected anger of the gods at
Christians
• Beginning with Decius, they felt
duty-bound to free the state of
what they saw as a sacreligious,
blasphemous, and dangerous
group
 REVERSAL OF FORTUNE
• In the end, the persecutions did not
succeed in eradicating Christianity
– Simply too many Christians and
some were in a position to
protect others
– Persecutions also created
martyrs who inspired others
– Came to an end with death of
Galerius and then Constantine
officially protected them
• Constantine credited with
being the first Christian
emperor
Constantine
 JULIAN THE APOSTATE
• Sons of Constantine
followed father’s policy
towards Christians
• Nephew named Julian the
Apostate became
emperor in 360 and tried
to restore paganism and
weaken Christianity by
reducing privileges of
Christians
– Prohibited them from
holding teaching
positions
– But he was overthrown
and killed in 363 AD
VICTORY
• Theodosius became emperor
in 379 AD and proclaimed
Christianity to be the official
religion of the state
– Christians immediately
begin to persecute pagans
• Destroyed temples or
converted them into
churches
– Church firmed up its
organization and settled
theological disputes with a
powerful intellectual vigor
 MIXED BLESSING FOR THE
EMPIRE
• Church now began to voraciously
swallow up money and men
– Many men of outstanding ability
turned away from public service and
joined the Church
St. Ambrose
• St. Ambrose, St. Augustine, and St.
Jerome
• Wealthiest man in the empire,
Paulinus of Nola, sold all his
family’s possessions and became
a monk

St. Augustine
Fatal
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 GOVERNMENT
• Diocletian’s effort to restore prestige
by exalting his status also cut ruler
off from the people
– Emperors remained isolated in
their palaces, surrounded by
retainers, and only met with
ambassadors and wealthiest men
• Government was controlled by huge
bureaucracy
– Divided into civilian and military
departments
– Numbered 30,000
– Notoriously corrupt
• Average citizen cut off from all access
to the emperor and left at the mercy of
a corrupt and unjust bureaucracy
 CHURCH AND STATE
• In the West, church leaders
adopted an independent
attitude towards the state
– What remained of towns
and cities looked to
Church, not the corrupt
state. for protection and
justice
• Bishop of Rome, Leo I,
convinced Attila not to
invade Italy
– Emperor did nothing
but hide
Atilla the Hun
 SHIFT OF LOYALTY
• Because of the leadership of the
Church, German barbarians tended
to be generally respectful towards
church leaders
• Many Roman citizens had come to
view the state as a parasitical
vampire
– Robbing and persecuting them
and giving absolutely nothing in
return
– In their eyes, local church leaders
and large landowners were the
only people they could trust for
protection and justice
 “PATRICIANS”
• Manpower shortage caused Rome to relax
eligibility requirements in the army so that
most soldiers were German mercenaries by
420 AD
– Many became officers and some even
became some commanders
• Called patricians
– Emperors became their puppets
• Some were good rulers
– Stilicho
• But the problem remained
Stilicho
– Dubious loyalty of ill-disciplined, poorly
equipped German mercenaries
– Rome did not really have an army anymore
 THE HUNS

• Huns forced huge German migration

– Nomadic people from Gobi Desert
– Expert horsemen
– Tried to invade China around 370 AD and were defeated
• Then turned westward and ultimately entered northern Europe
– Terrorized German tribes who lived there
– Germans migrated en masses to escape them
 THE INVASIONS BEGIN
• Visigoths cross Danube
River in 375 and
ultimately settled in
Spain
• 200,000 Sueves, Vandals,
and Alans sweep into
Gaul and then Spain in
406
– Allowed to occupy
huge chunks of these
provinces
– Vandals then cross
Strait of Gilbralter and
take control of North
Africa and Sicily
 THE END
• In the years that followed, Angles
and Saxons took Britain
• Franks took a large portion of
Gaul
• Ostrogoths invade Italy
• In 476, the patrician Odovacar
deposed the last pupper emperor,
Romulus Augustulus, sent
imperial regalia to Constantinople,
and made himself king of Italy
• Western Empire finished once
Romulus Augustulus and for all
 Many barbarian
kingdoms would
not last long but
they did mark the
way for the future
Europe, as a unified
unit, was finished
forever—replaced
by a multitude of
small, competing
entities
SUMMARY
• In the West, the three
vital supports of imperial
unity had vanished
– The position of
emperor, the central
administration, and
the army
• Cities were weakened or
destroyed
• Aristocracy, once urban
and dependent on the
emperor, became rural
and virtually
independent
 NEW BONDS I
• Union of Christians into a unified,
increasingly centralized church
– Rather than a bunch of
persecuted individuals
• Christians still superstitious and
fairly ignorant bunch
– But the Church still produced
outstanding individuals as
Gregory the Great
• Bishop of Rome
• Skillful Latin writer and fully
capable intellectual who
preserved much of Roman
culture Gregory the Great
NEW BONDS II
• The organization of
the countryside into
self-sufficient
agricultural units
– Controlled and
protected by
powerful rural
aristocrats who
remained reasonable
well-educated
 NEW BONDS III
• Many German leaders created more-or-less
formal kingdoms
– Made use of Roman law and administrative
structures
– With the exception of Sueves and Vandals,
most German invaders sought to conserve
rather than totally destroy Roman society
• Especially true in Gaul and Italy
– Germans employed Roman
aristocrats as administrators in these
regions and therefore absorbed and
preserved much of the administrative
and legal heritage of Rome

Clovis, ruler of the

Kingdom of the
Franks
 LAST SLIDE
• The Roman Empire, as established by Augustus and
reorganized by Diocletian and Constantine, lasted for 500
years until it no longer was tenable in the West

• Collapse of Western Empire was not a disaster

– It was rather a vital step in the development of medieval
and modern European civilization
– Almost impossible for modern society to have evolved
from brutal, rigid autocracy and sterile culture of the Late
Empire
• Only way to set the foundation for a new society was
through the destruction of the old
– By keeping what was valuable from Rome and
discarding the rest