Christianity dates back to the mid-first century CE in the province of Judea. The religion transformed from Jewish tradition that included the teachings of Jesus and later included the writings of Paul of Tarsus. At its earliest stages, Christianity represented a small and poorly organized belief group, the central message of which was to promise personal salvation after death, which was possible through the belief in Jesus as the son of God, which was the same God in Jews believed. There was a debate among early Christians as to whether the religion should be only preached to Jews or if those not subscribing to Judaism could become Christians too (Stark, 2012, p. 34). Eventually, as Christianity progressed in its development, the religion gained followers from different communities throughout the Roman world. Due to the spreading impact of Christianity, its relationship with secular authorities is important to discuss because of the competing ideas and the revolution that the Christian tradition brought to the society of Antiquity.
As Christianity was spreading across society, the followers of the religion in the Roman Empire were developing a Christian society. While this work had been ongoing since the fourth century, it was realized only in the sixth and imperfectly (McCulloch, 2009, p. 35). Christians did not exhibit any respect toward the pagan customs inherent in the Roman tradition. The new preaching and the belief in one God were perceived as a revolution against secular society. In the early stages, before a fully Christian society was developed, the religion’s followers were unpopular. For example, when Paul succeeded at Ephesus during his missionary work, and the Christian word began spreading massively, there was a riot supporting the belief in the traditional god Artemis (Wilken, 2012, p. 120). Besides, when Rome was severely damaged by fire, Emperor Nero ordered many Christians to be killed as scapegoats. Even though Nero’s prosecution of Christians was short, it was significant in the sense that it tried to criminalize the religion. The local persecutions were sporadic and directly related to the local context and the emperor’s attitude toward Christianity.
Among the leading causes of the opposition between Christianity and secular institutions was the Christians’ bold rejection of the traditional canon of gods, which was believed to have brought significant success to the Roman Empire. Moreover, distrust grew as Christians detached from state leaders and were reluctant to engage in the army and the imperial service (Wilken, 2012, p. 77). While violence against Christians could be caused by multiple factors ranging from a bad harvest to an attack of barbarians, there were periods of stability characterized by the growth of the religion through the networks of roads and communications.
During the reign of emperor Decius, the persecutions of Christianity were particularly severe as the religion’s followers were blamed for the economic collapse and political chaos. In an attempt to regain protection from his gods, Decius ordered sacrifices for his health and longevity to be carried out (Wilken, 2012, p. 68). The bishop of Rome, Fabian, was arrested for not abiding by the order and died several weeks later from brutal mistreatment. It was clear why the emperor’s orders of violence were especially severe in Rome, as by the middle of the third century, the Church in Rome became quite well-known. It was expected that their followers would be among those not giving sacrifices to gods as well ordered by Decius.
Further instances of Christians being punished by the government were seen during the leadership of Diocletian, who also ordered those not aligning with the traditional faith to be scourged. Later, however, Diocletian relented but remained adamant that Christians must be pressured to give up their religion and return to the worship of ancient Roman gods (Wilken, 2012, p. 78). The churches across the empire were ordered to be destroyed, and the Scriptures were to be burned, while Christians of rank had their privileges taken away. The situation with early Christianity improved when emperor Constantine came to the throne. He believed that it was Christianity that helped him get victory in the battle against his rival. Constantine becoming victorious led to him eventually becoming a Christian, causing a later issuing a manifesto of toleration that had given Christians full legal rights. Thus, the previous opposition between the Christian church and secular institutions led the religion to grow paradoxically.
As Constantine gave more rights to Christians, the church got more opportunities to expand and become embedded into the social landscape. Importantly, with support from the emperor, the church architecture became grander and more elaborate, with great buildings erected in Rome and Jerusalem. The remarkable buildings are largely intact today, including the Hagia Sophia in today’s Istanbul and San Vitale in Ravenna, Italy. Religious music also became more complex during Antiquity, with antiphonal psalm chanting (Wilken, 2012, p. 114). The implications of Constantine giving freedom to Christians were significant, with the religion’s proponents becoming more self-aware and adamant about building a new culture that would transform society.
References
McCulloch, D. (2009). A history of Christianity. Allen Lane.
Stark, R. (2012). The triumph of Christianity: How the Jesus movement became the world’s largest religion. HarperOne.
Wilken, R. L. (2012). The first thousand years: A global history of Christianity. Yale University Press.