Quote:
Originally Posted by LeatherTrumpet
No
That the Roman Authorities when they allowed Christianity to be practiced and
churches were quickly built not just in Rome but throughout the empire. Then they made worshiping other gods illegal.
Before the returning Messiahs always were portrayed as war like so the clever Romans did a PR number on the Jesus cult as it was peaceful and no threat to Rome and thuis quelled a rebellion from the jews.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Toy Soldier
No... the Romans backed and funded fledgling Christianity 300 years after the death (martyrdom) of Jesus because it was politically beneficial for them to do so, for various reasons. That doesn't mean Jesus was a "plant". Just that they manipulated the situation into something that they thought would be advantageous to their empire. Why else would they fund and promote Christianity?
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Disagree. Have you both conveniently forgotten about bloody persecution of early Christianity? People were risking lives to practice their religion. 300 years is hardly quick for any religion to establish itself. Constantine stopped persecution of all cults, not just Christanity. The fact that he was the first emperor to convert gave Christanity the final impetus in becoming officially accepted.
It's true that adopting one official religion promoted stability in the empire. But Christianity was chosen because it was already relatively widespread and popular, a position it had achieved despite the state not because of it.
wikipedia:
Quote:
Despite sometimes intense persecutions, the Christian religion continued its spread throughout the Mediterranean Basin.[68]
Various theories attempt to explain how Christianity managed to spread so successfully prior to the Edict of Milan (313). Some Christians saw the success as simply the natural consequence of the truth of the religion and of the direct intervention of God. However, similar explanations are claimed for the spread of, for instance, Islam and Buddhism. In The Rise of Christianity, Rodney Stark argues that Christianity triumphed over paganism chiefly because it improved the lives of its adherents in various ways.[69] Another factor, more recently pointed out, was the way in which Christianity combined its promise of a general resurrection of the dead with the traditional Greek belief that true immortality depended on the survival of the body, with Christianity adding practical explanations of how this was going to actually happen at the end of the world.[70] Mosheim (1693–1755) saw the rapid progression of Christianity as due to two factors: translations of the New Testament and the Apologies composed in defence of Christianity.[71] Edward Gibbon (1737–1794), in his classic The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776–1789), discusses the topic in considerable detail in his famous Chapter Fifteen, summarizing the historical causes of the early success of Christianity as follows: "(1) The inflexible, and, if we may use the expression, the intolerant zeal of the Christians, derived, it is true, from the Jewish religion, but purified from the narrow and unsocial spirit which, instead of inviting, had deterred the Gentiles from embracing the law of Moses. (2) The doctrine of a future life, improved by every additional circumstance which could give weight and efficacy to that important truth. (3) The miraculous powers ascribed to the primitive church. (4) The pure and austere morals of the Christians. (5) The union and discipline of the Christian republic, which gradually formed an independent and increasing state in the heart of the Roman empire
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[For Edict of Milan read Constantine announcing toleration of Christianity. The Edict of Milan gave Christianity a legal status, but did not make Christianity the official religion of the Roman empire; this took place under Emperor Theodosius I in 380 AD.]
02-07-2018, 04:15 PM
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