4.4 The rise of Christianity- II

• Geschiedenis
• Middelbare school
• havo, vwo
• Leerjaar 1

H4 The Romans

4.4- The rise of Christianity

Learning goal

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to recognize and explain how Christianity originated and why it became an important religion.

What was the name of the area where the Jews lived when they were incorporated into the Roman Empire?

1. Israël
2. Judea
3. Jerusalem
4. Betlehem

What is another word for the spread of the Jewish around the world?

A Messiah is according to believers

1. a football player at PSG
2. a church administrator
3. a savior
4. a bishop

Christenvervolging

Maar christen zijn in het Romeinse Rijk is levensgevaarlijk! 

Net als het Jodendom geloven de christenen maar in één god, 

en dat is niet de Romeinse keizer!

De Romeinse keizers laten daarom de christenen vervolgen en doden...

To be recognizable to each other (but not to the Romans!), Christians used symbols. For example, they drew an ichthus (fish) in the sand to express their faith to other Christians. Then if a Roman was nearby, they could simply erase the symbol again.

Although the name ichthus means fish, it is also an abbreviation of the first letters of: Jesus Christ, God's Son, (and/the) Savior, in Greek.

More and more Christians

• Rapidly spread through Pax Romana
  
• Attraction of faith for poor and suppressed (equality in heaven)
  
• The sick and the weak had to be cared for

Christians rarely used the cross as a symbol. They preferred to use the Chi Rho sign: the first two letters of the name Christ in Greek. The two letters next to the sign are alpha (α) and omega (Ω), the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. With this they indicated that Jesus was the beginning and the end.

What was Nero's attitude to Christianity?

1. He used Christians as scapegoats for the fire that had broken out in Rome
2. He was the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity
3. He thought it was a boring belief and ignored it
4. He was fascinated by it, but still believed more strongly in the Roman gods

Around AD 100, the Roman historian Tacitus wrote:

“In 64 there was a great fire: half of Rome

burned down. Soon it was told that Emperor Nero

had the fire lit because he needed space

had for a new palace. That's why Nero gave the

Christians to blame. He punished them severely.

So they got animal skins on to get through

wild dogs to be torn apart, or they were

crucified, or they were killed by fire: to the

at the end of the day they were lit to serve

as street lighting.”

Christian persecution

• The followers of Jesus went out into the world to tell the story of Jesus, with success
  
• Many Romans hated Christians, partly because they did not want to honour the state gods

• In the 3rd century AD. the Roman Empire increasingly had to deal with wars and famines
  
• Many Romans thought that this was the fault of the Christians because they did not want to honor the gods
  
• Christians were increasingly persecuted and killed

Would the popularity of Christianity have increased or decreased because of these persecutions?

1. it increased
2. it decreased
3. it stayed about the same

Read 4.4

Complete exercises 1 to 9

One reason Christians were persecuted in the Roman Empire was because

1. the Roman gods demanded human sacrifice
2. they did not worship the emperor as a god
3. they refused to pay taxes
4. the Romans were not very tolerant of other religions

The Victory of Christianity

• The persecutions ceased when Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity
  

• He gave Christians freedom of religion in 313

• In 392, Emperor Theodosius made Christianity the state religion
  
  

• Temples were destroyed or converted into churches
  

• Each Roman province was headed by a bishop
  

• The bishop op Rome became the Pope, the leader of the Church
  

• Even today, the Pope is still the leader of the Roman Catholic Church

Do you have any questions about the rise of Christianity?

Jezus werd gekruisigd omdat hij

1. kritiek had op de Romeinen
2. kritiek had op de godsdienstige leiders van de joden
3. kritiek had op de godsdienstige leiders van de joden en door de Romeinen als lastpak werd gezien
4. kritiek had op de godsdienstige leiders van de joden en op de Romeinse keizer

Jezus had voor zover wij weten geen directe kritiek op de Romeinse keizer. Ook had hij de bijnaam 'koning der joden' niet zelf bedacht. Dat was door zijn volgelingen, die in hem de Messias zagen, gedaan. Pas na de dood van Jezus is bekend dat christenen weigerden om de keizer als god te vereren.

Door de christenvervolgingen in de derde eeuw na Christus, waren er steeds minder christenen

1. Waar
2. Niet waar

Welke keizer vervolgde de christenen?

1. Constantijn
2. Theodosius
3. Nero
4. Augustus

Waarom gaf Nero de christenen eigenlijk de schuld van de brand van Rome?

De eerste Romeinse keizer die christelijk werd, was

1. Keizer Theodosius
2. Keizer Augustus
3. Keizer Nero
4. Keizer Constantijn

Toen het christendom in 392 staatsgodsdienst werd, betekende dit

1. dat christenen voortaan alleen staand mochten bidden en niet zittend
2. dat het christendom de enig toegestane godsdienst werd in het Romeinse Rijk
3. dat de Romeinse goden samen met de god van de christenen vereerd moesten worden
4. dat de Olympische Spelen nu in naam van God in plaats van Jupiter (Zeus) werden gehouden