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How did Paul Emperor Nero and Emperor Constantine affect Christianity and its growth?
Wiki User
∙ 14y ago
Paul
Christianity clearly existed well before Paul's mission began, but at the very least, he encouraged its spread among the non-Jews of his time. As Christianity was having difficulty taking hold among the Palestinian Jews, it is possible that Christianity would not have survived the events the first century without his influence.
Nero
Nero does not seem to have had any effect, either positive or negative, on the growth of Christianity. Certainly he blamed the Roman Christians for the Great Fire of Rome, probably unfairly, and is said to have punished them severely, but there is no evidence that he took any interest in persecuting Christians for their religion.
A second-century Christian tradition is that Peter was beheaded in Rome on the orders of Nero, and an even later tradition is that Nero ordered Peter crucified upside down. A further tradition is that Nero had Paul executed in Rome. None of these traditions has any basis in known facts, and none of them was known by Christians in the first century of Christianity.
Constantine
It was Constantine who made Christianity the global religion it is today. He gave Christianity state patronage and began the long persecution of the pagan temples. His sons and successors, between slaughtering each other, continued his work in funding the expansion of Christianity and persecuting the pagans. Without Constantine, Christianity would probably never have come to dominate the Roman Empire in the way that it did, and may have remained just a minor sect competing for converts.
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∙ 14y ago
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What was the basis for the development of Christianity?
If you mean "Christianity as an organized religion", it owes it growth and prominence to the present day mostly to the Roman Emperor Constantine, who on his accession in 324 AD made Christianity the Roman Empire's state religion.
What affect did diocletians actions have on the growth of Christianity?
it affect the actions of Christianity of jesus crise
What religion did Constantine help spread?
Constantine helped spread Christianity throughout the Roman Empire. He issued the Edict of Milan in 313, which granted religious tolerance to Christians and allowed them to practice their faith openly. Constantine's conversion to Christianity and support of the religion played a significant role in its growth and development.
What was the importance of edict the Milan?
It's an edict signed by Emperor Constantine and Emperor Licinius in 313A.D., which established a policy of religious freedom for all, especially Christianity. On the one hand, Christianity was made legal in the Roman Empire. Christians could now practice their faith openly, which contributed to the growth of Christianity. However on the other hand, the Church became more secular. For the first time, the Church had to deal with the issues of political power and wealth.
What event happened in 312 AD that sped up the growth of Christianity in the Roman Empire?
Constantine established religious tolerance.
How would the growth of Christianity been affected if emperor Constantine had not become a Christian?
Galerius issued the Edict of Toleration, permitting freedom of religion throughout the Roman Empire and thereby ending the Great Persecution of the early years of the fourth century. Thus, even if Constantine had remained a pagan, Christianity would have once again been legal, and would have continued to grow. However, it is likely that Constantine would not have enacted the Edict of Milan, providing Christianity with advantages and privileges. It must be a matter of opinion as to whether Christianity was destinated to outgrow paganism. Either way, without the financial patronage and imperial support that Constantine provided, and with the temples left in peace to minister to the pagans, Christianity would probably never have totally dominated the Roman Empire in the way that it did.
What religion challenged the authority of Christianity?
AnswerOver time, quite a few religions challenged the authority of Christianity. In pagan times, the new Roman religion called Mithraism became a real threat to the growth of Christianity. However, Mithraism began to go into decline, replaced by worship of Sol Invictus, and then Emperor Constantine gave Christianity state patronage, ensuring its eventual success.In later centuries, Islam also challenged Christianity, replacing it as the dominant religion in north Africa and the Middle East.
How would the growth of Christianity have been affected if Emperor Constantine had not become a Christian?
Provided that the emperors which followed Constantine (all of them but one were Christians) would have not been Christians either, Christianity would not have got imperial endorsement, would not have been helped by favourable policies and laws, and would have been made state law and paganism would not have been persecuted.
Did Christianity spread very rapidly and become the majority religion in the Roman Empire by the end of the first century AD?
A:Christianity spread relatively slowly for the first three centuries. By the time of Emperor Constantine, the first Christian emperor, scholars believe that Christians represented only around ten per cent of the population of the empire, mainly represented in the eastern part of the empire. Mithraism was another new religion of similar antiquity, and it rivalled Christianity until at least the third century, when many of Mithraism's followers seem to have switched allegiance to the god, Sol Invictus. The policies of Constantine and his Christian successors not only ensured the survival of Christianity as a major religion, they also ensured its rapid growth in the decades to follow. At the end of the fourth century, Christians probably still represented a minority of the population when Emperor Theodosius declared Christianity to be the official religion of empire and that the public worship of the old gods was punishable by death.
How did Christianity spread during the fourth century?
Were it not for Constantine granting state patronage early in the fourth century, orthodox Christianity may have always remained a minority sect in the Roman Empire. Although he granted freedom of worship to all religions, Constantine made it clear that he strongly favoured orthodox Christianity. His support made membership of the Christian Church socially and politically desirable for some, thus leading to the surge in Church membership that enabled Christianity to become the state religion later in the fourth century. Constantine also granted to the Church the right to distribute state food aid, thus allowing the Christians to proselytise to the poor. Constantine's immediate successors persecuted the pagans and encouraged the spread of Christianity. The imperial throne returned to the pagans, but the growth of Christianity had become unstoppable. In 391, Christianity was formally made the state religion.
What was the important of the edict of Milan?
It's an edict signed by Emperor Constantine and Emperor Licinius in 313A.D., which established a policy of religious freedom for all, especially Christianity. On the one hand, Christianity was made legal in the Roman Empire. Christians could now practice their faith openly, which contributed to the growth of Christianity. However on the other hand, the Church became more secular. For the first time, the Church had to deal with the issues of political power and wealth.
Will there be a second Constantine?
Emperor Constantine I was a ruthless tyrant who had few compunctions about killing those who got in his way. He was a successful military leader, but not a great administrator. He debased the currency used by the lower and middle classes, while maintaining the value of the gold currency used by the state and by the wealthy. He plundered the pagan temples to provide precious metals to pay for his extravagance. And he persecuted those who chose to worship the ancient gods. He destroyed the ancient Roman culture and set in train the process that led to the fall of the western Roman Empire. Certainly, his policies led to the eventual domination of the empire by Christianity, but at great cost. In summary, he was a product of his times, a flawed leader without moral scruples, who is best remembered for his one great achievement, the growth of Christianity. Since the time of Constantine there have been many other leaders with some of the qualities of Constantine, and there will no doubt be more to come.
