Religion+-+Christianity

=**Christianity**=


 * Origin** Christianity started spreading widely in the Roman Empire when a man named Jesus started preaching in Judea. Jesus encouraged people to give up their bad ways of life and devote their entire life to helping others. His followers believed that he had risen from the dead, and hoped that they too, would have an eternal life. Christianity’s various beliefs attracted many Romans, but it became the most popular with slaves. The success of this new religion, however, greatly displeased the Roman authorities. They felt that Jesus was forcing the slaves to rebel against them, and for that reason, in 30 AD, they decided to have him crucified.
 * Practicing Christianity** Jesus’ death, as his followers would have wished, did not greatly affect the religion’s popularity in the Empire. Even after his death, Jesus’ followers met in private houses to discuss important religious matters, and used sign language to communicate with each other. They didn’t want the authorities to suspect anything.
 * Roman Emperors’ Response to Christianity** As the years went by, Christians grew stronger and stronger in their faith and decided that they would only worship one God- Jesus. They became rebels and didn’t believe that an Emperor should rule them. This caused many of the Roman Emperors to encourage people to follow other religions in their Empire. The infamous Roman Emperor, Nero, ordered many Christians to be sent into sport arenas and be torn apart by wild animals. Another Roman Emperor, Diocletian, killed thousands of Christians when they refused to give up their faith. Anybody who followed Christianity was prepared to be tortured terribly by his or her Emperor. But the Christians were strong believers; no matter how much they were beaten up or tortured, they would never give up their faith.
 * Constantine** After years of being ruled by Emperors who greatly disliked Christianity, Rome finally found a ruler who was a strong believer of the faith- Constantine. Constantine was the first Roman Emperor to allow Christians to pray openly. He built many churches throughout the land and made sure that the Empire’s capital, Constantinople, was a Christian city. Although Constantine supported Christianity tremendously throughout his life, his greatest contribution to the faith was on his deathbed. While he was dying, Constantine had himself baptized as a Christian, and made himself the first Roman Emperor to do so.
 * Future Emperors** For a long while after his death, all Emperors after Constantine supported Christianity. However, one Emperor, Julian, tried very hard to stop the religion from spreading. He ordered many churches to be closed and executed anyone who disobeyed him. The Christians, though, did not stand for this for very long. They protested day and night until Julian was removed from the throne, and a new ruler was coroneted. From that day on, all of the future Roman Emperors supported Christianity, and in 391 AD, a Roman Emperor named Theodosius declared Christianity as the official religion of the Empire.
 * Bishops and Popes** Once Christianity was the official religion of the Empire, the Emperors started electing Bishops who were to help spread the faith to distant lands. The most important of the Bishops was the Pope. He was almost as powerful as the Emperor himself, and had the power to pass any law to do with Christianity. Together, the Pope and Bishops built several churches and cathedrals, and even sent out missionaries to teach people about Christianity.
 * Rising in Power** Within no time, these church officials became extremely popular with the public, and gained even more power than the Emperor. From an Empire where Christianity used to be forbidden, to an Empire that is now revolving around Christianity, Rome has come a long way from its early days.

Citation
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