Christianity in the late Roman Empire

(Originally written February 3, 2006)

Pax Romana reached its highest point in the second century A.D.

The Romans respected Judaism and began to see Christianity as a separate religion from Judaism.

Persecution of Christians was localized and sporadic. 1st century persecution (Nero 62-64).

Second century AD is very prosperous so not much attention is paid to this new, illegal, underground religion called Christianity.

Romans were very tolerable of other religions, especially during prosperity.

Third century AD had tons of problems in the Roman Empire. It's beginning to collapse. The gods must not be happy with the Romans. The sacrifices to the emperor and to the protective gods must be made. Christianity is to blame for the catastrophes in Rome. Decius is the first Roman Emperor to attempt empire-wide persecution. He doesn't have the means to enforce his policy.

Diocletian (late 3rd century) recognized that the Roman Empire was split into two halves. The east was Hellenized and wealthy. The west was less sophisticated, rural and poor. So Diocletian splits the empire into two halves, four prefectures, thirteen dioceses, 100 provinces.

Because of this tighter administration Diocletian is able to effectively crush and persecute Christians throughout the entire empire.

As the church develops underground a need arises for overseers to lead and oversee the churches in regions.

Part of the reason the church grows so rapidly during the time of this great persecution and recession/political turmoil is that the Christian church was known for distributing welfare.

Out of Diocletian's system of rule, Constantine emerges as a sole emperor.

The western half of the empire was rural, Latin and less sophisticated. The eastern half was urban, Greek and sophisticated.

Even in the fourth century there was a noticeable difference between Western Christians and Eastern Christians.

The head of the Western Church is the Bishop of Rome (Pope). The head of the Eastern Church is the patriarch of Constantinople.

Early organization of the church:
The bishops were over the local churches
The local churches were run by elders and deacons

Most powerful churches and traditional apostolic founders: Alexandria, Antioch, Mark, Paul, Jerusalem, the 12, Rome, Peter

The bishops of these churches jockeyed for power

The church and bishop of Jerusalem lost power at the fall of Jerusalem

Bishops

Constantine promotes Christianity as a legal religion Constantine uses Christianity to stabilize the region. Constantine does not like the fact that the bishops have disagreements because it causes instability. The reversal of Christianity's position in such a short time was dramatic.

Constantine calls the first ecumenical council in AD 325. He calls all of the bishops together. The Council of Nicene was intended to settle all theological disputes.