Christianity and The Roman Empire
In Part I, I discussed how Judaism is a tribal religion. That is to say that it elevates one people above all others. It was an effective force in uniting twelve tribes into one people, distinguishing them from others by circumcision and the Ten Commandments and by the laws of kashruth or kosher eating, by establishing common tradition and more. It enabled the Jewish people to carve out a kingdom in middle of hostile neighbors. It established the need for a single leader, from Moses to the Kings David and Solomon, capable of uniting the people. But as the world changed, Judaism didn't.
The Babylonians and the Assyrians, the Medes and the Persians, the Greeks and the Romans, were all able to weld many peoples into single empires. The Jewish people were conquered by Imperial forces not once, but many times. It is a tribute to their resiliancy (or perhaps to the Divine Plan) that Judaism has survived. They paid a heavy price, however. The lands of Israel and Judah were conquered several times. The Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed not once, but twice. The Holiest of Jewish Holies, the Ark of the Covenant was lost forever.
But during the Roman occupation, something happened. A Rabbi from the town of Nazareth began preaching. Jesus of Nazareth was his name.
Our primary historical data comes from Flavius Josephus, a one-time Jewish zealot who later became a Roman. He wrote all of two paragraphs about Jesus in his book "Antiquities of the Jews":
"About this time there lived Jesus, a wise man, for he was a performer of wonderful deeds, a teacher of such men as are happy to accept the truth. He won over many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. When Pilate, at the suggestion of the leading men among us, had condemned him to the cross, those who had loved him at the first did not forsake him; and the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct to this day."
The Jews, fearful that Jesus would bring down the wrath of the Romans on them "Convened the Sanhedrin (the highest Jewish religious court / governing body). He had brought before them the brother of Jesus the so-called Christ, who was called James, and some other men, whom he accused of having broken the law, and handed them over to be stoned." See http://www.request.org.uk/main/history/jesus/Jesus04.htm
The Roman historian Tacitus refers to Jesus only after his death, saying ""To dispel the rumour, Nero substituted as culprits, and treated with the most extreme punishments, some people, popularly known as Christians, whose disgraceful activities were notorious. The originator of that name, Christus, had been executed when Tiberius was Emperor, by order of the procurator Pontius Pilatus. But the deadly cult, though checked for a time, was now breaking out again not only in Judea, the birthplace of this evil, but even throughout Rome, where all the nasty and disgusting ideas from all over the world pour in and find a ready following." See http://www.request.org.uk/main/history/jesus/Jesus05.htm
Christians rely on the Gospels of Mathew, Mark, Luke and John for their accounts of the life of Jesus. Since the Gospel refer to the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D., it is either due to prophetic vision or because the Gospels were written after this date. ("As for these things which you are looking at, the days will come in which there will not be left one stone upon another which will not be torn down," Luke 21:5, Matt. 24:1; Mark 13:1).
The reason that the date becomes germane to the historical accuracy was that if Jesus was executed while Tiberius was Emperor (14-37 AD) and during the time that Pontius Pilate was procurator from 26-36 AD, if the Gospels were not written until after 70 AD, then they are not eyewitness accounts. Some articles on this debate can be found at http://www.carm.org/questions/gospels_written.htm and http://www.geocities.com/questioningpage/When.html. I will discuss this in later articles about the Gnostic Gospels.
Questions regarding of the historical life of Jesus aside, the religion of Christianity shares some roots with Judaism, but differs in other very important aspects. Primary of these is that anyone can become a Christian! It is a matter of belief, not birthright. In a time when Imperial Rome was the greatest power in the world, this is very important.
Again referring to the writings of Tacitus, Christianity had spread to Rome by 64 AD. It was considered threatening enough that the Emperor Nero made Christians scapegoats for the fires in the city. See http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/christians.htm
In the early days, Christianity was still considered an off-shoot of Judaism. But this was an underestimation of the power of Christianity. The willing martyrdom of Christians wore the Romans down. There are recorded accounts of the very people that tortured Christians converting within months or years. By 313 A.D. Christianity was the official religion of the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire was the perfect vehicle to spread Christianity to far off places, like England and Ireland to the West and into Egypt and Asia to the East.
We know that the world was changed by the acceptance of Christianity. How much was Christianity changed by its acceptance into the world? We know for example that the date of Jesus death coincided with the Jewish holiday of Passover. The Last Supper is a Seder meal, being celebrated with matzah and wine. It was the 14th of Nisan in the Jewish calendar, which is based on a Lunar year. Bishop Ireneus said that it must always be on the Lord's day, or Sunday. A date close to the vernal equinox, an event of significance to pagans, was selected. See http://www.religioustolerance.org/easter.htm for a citation. To accomodate the pagan Germanic tribes, the traditions celebrating Wotan at the winter soltice were incorporated into Christmas, Bishop St. Nickolas of Smyrna (yes, Saint Nick) becoming the bearer of gifts. The Christmas tree, the Misteltoe, all are accomodations to the pagan past.
Here is a page of similiarities between Christianity and pagan religions (requires Powerpoint to view it): http://faculty.mccfl.edu/Jonesj/JanesPPT/HUM2210/Christianity/ChristianityO.ppt
The god Mithra was born on December 25th to a human virgin and was visited by wisemen. Odin was hanged from a tree for 3 times 3 days and was peirced in the side with a spear. The list goes on (and will be discussed in "What Happened at Nicea.")
If compromises were made to gain converts among the pagans, the fact remains that Christianity spread with shocking speed through the Roman Empire and the world.
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