Things to learn the Rise of Christianity and the Fall of Rome (Packet 8 of 12)

1. Jesus of Nazareth

The central figure of the New Testament, and the Son of God according to the Christian religion, that usually refers to him with the title Christ (meaning Messiah). Indeed, the Christians consider him to be the Messiah spoken about and predicted in much of the Old Testament, particularly the book of Isaiah. The Western calendar is centered around his birth, though recent scholars believe that he was born somewhere between 7-2 BCE (BC) rather than in 1 CE (AD). The term AD stand for Anno Domini or The Year of our Lord in Latin. According to the New Testament, he was from Galilee, though born in Bethlehem to the Virgin Mary, preached as a Jewish Rabbi, was baptized by his cousin John the Baptist and eventually executed via crucifixion by the Roman Empire, specifically Pontius Pilate, around the age of 32. According to the tenets of the Christian faith, God cannot be in the presence of sin. Prior to the time of Jesus, therefore, it was necessary to sacrifice animals to cleanse humans of their sin. His arrival changes that, according to Christianity, as he lived a completely sin-free life and thus his death marks the perfect sacrifice, allowing humans to come to God through his death instead of the sacrifice of animals. The Christian church teaches that he rose from the dead three days after his crucifixion. Historians consider the best sources for researching the historical Jesus to be the synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke.

2. 12 Apostles

The most loyal followers of Jesus of Nazareth. They are listed in the three synoptic gospels – Matthew, Mark and Luke – though Luke’s list differs slightly from the other two. Many of them are mentioned in the Gospel of John, but there is no list accompanying it. Within the group of 12, there was a core group of four, two pairs of brothers. Simon Peter and Andrew and James and John. On the rare occasions that Jesus went off with only a few apostles, Simon Peter, James and John were the three that went with him, and therefore have been considered by some to be the greater apostles. In fact, some scholars break the apostles into three groups.

Group 1
Simon Peter
James
John
Andrew

Group 2
Philip
Bartholomew
Matthew
Thomas

Group 3
James of Alphaeus (or James the Lesser)
Thaddeus (called Jude in Luke)
Simon the Zealot
Judas Iscariot

The last group is mentioned much less frequently in the Bible than the others, with the exception of Judas Iscariot, who betrays Jesus to the Sanhedrin (Jewish courts). Judas Iscariot is replaced by Matthias in the Acts of the Apostles to bring the number back up to 12.

3. Judas Iscariot

One of the 12 apostles of Jesus of Nazareth, he is most noted for betraying Jesus to the Sanhedrin (Jewish courts) with a kiss, receiving 30 pieces of silver for doing so. At the Last Supper that Jesus had with the apostles, he is said to have indicated that Jesus knew he betrayed him. He tried to return the money, and then hung himself in a field. His motivations are unclear in the Bible, leading to speculation in the early church. Some claim that he wanted to force Jesus into a position of having to show his power as the son of God. One group now considered heretics, the Gnostics, praise him as a hero and the best of the apostles for setting in motion humanity’s salvation. However, most Christians do not view him that way. In his Divine Comedy, Dante famously places him at the center of Hell in the mouth of Satan along with Brutus and Cassius. Alternate accounts of his death, including the one in Acts of the Apostles, have his bowels bursting out as he fell into a field.

4. 30 pieces of silver

The price that the chief priests paid Judas Iscariot to betray Jesus of Nazareth. The phrase has come to mean the price of betrayal and is used in many literary allusions. It has even expanded meaning to selling out in general.

5. Pontius Pilate

The Roman prefect of the region of Judea from 26-36 CE, which makes him the prefect responsible for carrying out the execution of Jesus of Nazareth. In Christian texts, specifically the Gospels, he gets fairly decent representation, stating multiple times that he finds no fault with Jesus, and trying to avoid executing him. When the people insist, he symbolically washes his hands, demonstrating that it is not his will to execute Jesus. However, both the historical accounts of Philo of Alexandria and Josephus paint him in a much worse light. He is an antagonistic prefect, often mocking the Jewish religion and defiling Jewish custom. He is eventually removed from power for sending cavalry to attack Samaritans looking for Jewish relics at the foot of a mountain and sent to Rome to explain himself to Tiberius. Unfortunately for him, Tiberius died before he got there, and Caligula never returned him to rule.

6. Joseph of Arimathea

According to all four canonical Gospels, the man who donated his own prepared tomb for the burial of Jesus after Jesus' crucifixion. A number of stories that developed during the Middle Ages connect him with both Glastonbury, where he is supposed to have founded the earliest Christian oratory, and also with the legend of the Holy Grail. He is venerated as a saint in both the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. The non-canonical Gospel of Nicodemus has a further account of his actions after Jesus’ death, including his arrest by the Jewish authorities and miraculous escape from prison without opening any doors. Later, when Britain first came to Christianity, his name became attached to the Holy Grail, having used it to survive in prison and then having sent it to the British isles, according to legend.

7. Golgotha

A site just outside of Jerusalem where Jesus was crucified. The name loosely translates to “the place of the skull”. In Latin, that phrase is Calvarae Locus, which is why English speakers call the site Calvary. The hill got its name because it looked like a skull cap. Helena, the mother of Constantine I, identified the tomb of Jesus and claimed to have found the True Cross. Constantine then built a church on the whole site, including the presumed location of this hill, called the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

8. Josephus

A first-century Romano-Jewish scholar (37-100 CE), historian and hagiographer, who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly descent and a mother who claimed royal ancestry. He is most known today because he documented the existence of Jesus of Nazareth in his Antiquities of the Jews, making him a source, outside of the Gospels, confirming that a man by that name existed. He also has an account of the arrest and execution of John the Baptist. He initially fought against the Romans during the First Jewish–Roman War as head of Jewish forces in Galilee, until surrendering in 67 CE to Roman forces led by Vespasian after the six-week siege of Jotapata. Because he pointed to prophecies that led to Vespasian being emperor, Vespasian decide to spare him and keep him as a slave and translator. He became close to Vespasian and was eventually set free, He eventually became a Roman citizen and an advisor to Vespasian’s son Titus.

9. Acts of the Apostles

The fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian church and the spread of its message to the Roman empire. It was written between 80-90 CE along with the Gospel of Luke, by the same author, and was intended to be read together. Luke address both books to Theophilus (friend of God). The main purpose of the work is to show how what started as a movement in the Jewish religion, spread to the non-Jews after the Jews rejected it. Thus, making Christianity a predominantly non-Jewish religion. It also tells of the Ascension of Christ, the early church under St. Peter and the conversion of St. Paul.

10. Saint Peter

The most outspoken, often, of the twelve disciples of Jesus of Nazareth, and the leader of the early Christian church after the death of Jesus. The Roman Catholic church considers him the first pope, attributing that position to Jesus saying about him in the New Testament, “this is the rock I will build my church on.” In fact, the name we associate with him means rock. His given name was Simon. He is often seen in the Gospels making bold statements that he cannot back up. Attempting to walk on water to meet Jesus, for example, and then suddenly realizing what he was doing, losing faith and sinking. He also insisted that he would not deny Jesus after he was arrested. Instead, he denied him three times. In the end, though, he remained steadfast, being crucified in Rome under emperor Nero. According to tradition, he was crucified upside down at his own request because he did not feel worthy to be crucified the same way Christ was.

11. gentiles

A term that basically means non-Jew. It is the term used in the New Testament to signify the non chosen people. When the Jews do not choose to believe that Jesus is the Christ or the Messiah in the Acts of the Apostles, Peter and the other leaders of the early Christian church take the message to them instead, starting the meteoric rise of Christianity.

12. St. Paul of Tarsus

Largely considered the most important person in the spread of Christianity, particularly in the early church. Originally, going by the name Saul, he was one of the main persecutors of the early Christian church, seeing them as heretics. According to the Acts of the Apostles, he was blinded on the road to Damascus, where he was going to bring Christians to justice, and spoken to by the risen Jesus, who challenged him about persecuting his followers. He was directed to a follower of Jesus named Ananais of Damascus, who cured his blindness. After this, he switched course and used his same charismatic persona to bring people to the Christian church. Because he was a Roman citizen, he had an easier time traveling and spreading the religion. He started and guided many churches, and most of those teachings saved in the New Testament. In fact, he wrote 14 of the 27 books of the New Testament. There is no record of his death, but Christian tradition holds that he was beheaded in Rome in the time of Nero.

13. Seven Sacraments

According to the Roman Catholic church they are outward and visible signs the indicate an inward and spiritual grace. They include:

Baptism: Immersing in water or having water poured over the head as a sign of acceptance into the Christian church.

Confirmation: A service, generally requiring the participant to be at least 13, in which the participant actively accepts the faith and are sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Eucharist: A reenacting of the Last Supper of Jesus with his disciples. Bread is given to eat as representative of the body of Christ, while wine is used to represent the blood of Christ. It is the distribution of this sacrament that led many Romans to believe the Christians were cannibals.

Confession: Christians admitting to and receiving divine mercy for their sins. It is by this sacrament that Christians are freed from sins committed after Baptism.

Holy Matrimony: The joining together of a man and a woman as one unit, mimicking the joining of Adam and Eve.

Holy Orders: The taking of oaths to be a priest in the Roman Catholic church.

Final Unction: Also known as Last Rites (though it is one of three Last Rites along final Confession and Viaticum or Final Eucharist). It is basically an annoiting of the sick.

14. Seven Deadly Sins

A Western religious grouping and classification of vices. This grouping emerged in the fourth century AD and was used for Christian ethical education and for confession. The tradition of seven deadly sins as we know it today originated with the desert fathers, specifically Evagrius Ponticus. Evagrius identified seven or eight evil thoughts or spirits that one needed to overcome. Evagrius' pupil John Cassian brought that tradition to Europe with his book The Institutes. The is an accompanying seven holy virtues in contrast. The list consists of:

Pride: The overwhelming belief in one’s self or abilities.

Sloth: Laziness or severe procrastination or inaction.

Wrath: Extreme anger leading to violence and other action.

Lust: Extreme sexual desire in thought and action.

Envy: The desire to have what other’s have and the belief that one is more worthy of those things.

Gluttony: Excessive devotion to and intake of food and drink.

Avarice: Extreme desire for material things and the accumulation of material things, often at the expense of others.

15. Seven Holy Virtues
Unlike the seven deadly sins, these are a combination of two sets of virtues. The first four cardinal virtues come from Ancient Greece, and the last three theological virtues come from St. Paul’s letters, specifically in his first letter to the city of Corinth. They do not have a 1-to-1 correlation with the deadly sins as a result.

    Four cardinal virtues

Prudence: Using reason to think ahead.

Justice: Not having more or less than one’s fair share, the moderation between selfishness and selflessness

Temperance: Moderation or self-restraint

Courage: The willingness to confront danger, pain, agony, uncertainty and intimidation.

    Three theological virtues

Faith: The act of trust and self-abandonment when people no longer rely on their own strength but the strength of God.

Hope: In general, the term means the desire for something to happen and the belief that it will, but religiously it applies to the desire for the divine union between God and man.

Charity: Applying God’s love to man in the form of friendship and help. Sometimes just referred to as love/

16. catacombs

The system of underground tombs between the 2nd and 3rd milestones of the Appian Way in Rome, where the bodies of the apostles Peter and Paul, among others, were said to have been buried. All the Roman ones were located outside city walls since it was illegal to bury a dead body within the city, providing a place where martyrs tombs could be openly marked and commemorative services and feasts held safely on sacred days. It also gave the Christians a place to hold services as people were far less likely to be strolling through them for fun.

17. IXOYE (Ichthus)
Literally, the word means fish in Greece, but it was an acrostic used by early Christians.

    Iota (i) is the first letter of Iesous, Greek for "Jesus".
    Chi (ch) is the first letter of Christos, Greek for "anointed".
    Theta (th) is the first letter of Theou Greek for "God's", the genitive case of Teó?, Theos, Greek for "God".
    Upsilon (y) is the first letter of (h)uios, Greek for "Son".
    Sigma (s) is the first letter of soter, Greek for "Savior".

So together it became – Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior – corresponding with the basic tenet’s of the Christian faith. The early Christians used it as a symbol to avoid detection by the Roman Empire.
 
18. The Great Fire of Rome

An urban fire that started on the night between 18 and 19 July in the year 64 CE. It caused widespread devastation, before being brought under control after six days. Differing accounts either blame Emperor Nero for initiating the fire or credit him with organizing measures to contain it and provide relief for refugees. In response to the accusations that he was responsible for the fire Nero blamed the devastation on the Christian community in the city, initiating the empire's first persecution against the Christians.[

19. Ante-Nicene Period
This refers to the period following the Apostolic Age of the 1st century down to the First Council of Nicaea in 325. This portion of Christian history is important, having a significant impact on the unity of doctrine across all Christendom and the spreading of Christianity to a greater area of the world

20. heresy
It denotes the formal denial or doubt of a core doctrine of the Christian faith as defined by one or more of the Christian churches. It should be distinguished from both apostasy and schism, apostasy being nearly always total abandonment of the Christian faith after it has been freely accepted, and schism being a formal and deliberate breach of Christian unity and an offence against charity without being based essentially on doctrine. In Western Christianity, it most commonly refers to those beliefs which were declared to be anathema by any of the ecumenical councils recognized by the Catholic Church. In the East, the term is eclectic and can refer to anything at variance with Church tradition. Since the Great Schism and the Protestant Reformation, various Christian churches have also used the concept in proceedings against individuals and groups opposed to individual churches or systems of belief.

21. The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

A book of history written by the English historian Edward Gibbon, which traces the trajectory of Western civilization (as well as the Islamic and Mongolian conquests) from the height of the Roman Empire to the fall of Byzantium. The work covers the history of the Roman Empire, Europe, and the Catholic Church from 98 to 1590 and discusses the slow fall of the empire in the East and West. Because of its relative objectivity and heavy use of primary sources, unusual at the time, its methodology became a model for later historians. This led to Gibbon being called the first "modern historian of ancient Rome". According to Gibbon, the Roman Empire succumbed to barbarian invasions in large part due to the gradual loss of civic virtue among its citizens.They had become weak, outsourcing their duty to defend their empire to barbarian mercenaries, who then became so numerous and ingrained that they were able to take over the Empire. Romans, he believed, were unwilling to live a tougher, military lifestyle. In addition, Gibbon argued that Christianity created a belief that a better life existed after death, which fostered an indifference to the present among Roman citizens, thus sapping their desire to sacrifice for a larger purpose.

22. Phoebe

A first-century Christian woman mentioned by the Apostle Paul in his Epistle to the Romans, verses 16:1-2. A notable woman in the church of Cenchreae, she was trusted by Paul to deliver his letter to the Romans. In writing to the church that almost surely met in her home, Paul refers to her both as a deacon and as a helper or patron of many. This is the only place in the New Testament where a woman is specifically referred to with these two distinctions. Paul introduces her as his emissary to the church in Rome and, because they are not acquainted with her, Paul provides them with her credentials. She is one of the best examples of women having leadership roles in the early Christian church.

23. paganism

A term that developed among the Christian community of southern Europe during late antiquity to describe religions other than their own, Judaism, or Islam–the three Abrahamic religions. Throughout Christendom, it continued to be used, typically in a derogatory sense. In the 19th century, it was re-adopted as a self-descriptor by members of various artistic groups inspired by the ancient world. In the 20th century, it came to be applied as a self-description by practitioners of contemporary pagan, or neo-pagan, religious movements.

24. The Great Persecution

In 303, the Emperors Diocletian, Maximian, Galerius, and Constantius issued a series of edicts rescinding the legal rights of Christians and demanding that they comply with traditional Roman religious practices. Later edicts targeted the clergy and ordered all inhabitants to sacrifice to the Roman gods (a policy known as universal sacrifice). The persecution varied in intensity across the empire—weakest in Gaul and Britain, where only the first edict was applied, and strongest in the Eastern provinces. It failed to check the rise of the church. Although it resulted in death, torture, imprisonment, or dislocation for many Christians, the majority of the empire's Christians avoided punishment. The persecution did, however, cause many churches to split between those who had complied with imperial authority (the traditores), and those who had remained "pure". It officially came to an end in 324 with the Edict of Milan by Constantine.