There are many interesting subjects and philosophies revolving around religion. One of the most interesting things regarding religion is the formation of new beliefs and ideas, and how these eventually turn into a religion with millions of followers and believers. A few examples of religions that are now practiced by millions are Christianity and Buddhism growing and developing from the ideas and life events of a few men eventually evolving into religions. One of the most interesting stories has to be the rise of Christianity during the reign of the Roman Empire. It involves social confusion, cultural conflict, and political changes. In this essay I will be examining the rise of Christianity during a time period of social, political, and cultural change, while relating it to the rise of other successful religions. Conflict, change, and turmoil lead to the questioning of old ideas, as well as the formation of new ones which opens the gates for the formation of new religious groups.
The beginning of Christianity can be traced back to Judea 2000 years ago. Judea during this time period was made up of a mixture of farms and cities ruled by the Roman Empire. Christianity began to form at this time with the birth of the messiah Jesus Christ. Jesus was born a Jew, and observed the Jewish faith. He began traveling around to different villages preaching to the local people about the word of god. Eventually a group of faithful men began to follow Jesus, and spread his word to others. These men called themselves his Disciples and spread the word of Christianity. Eventually a small percentage of the people living in the Roman Empire began to call themselves Christians. However, the massive growth and spread of Christianity came later, and many believe was mainly caused by the political, cultural, and economical disruption that began to occur in the Roman Empire.
The men and women that declared themselves Christians living in the Roman Empire were often prosecuted, and mistreated by the Roman government and military. The reason for this persecution and mistreatment mainly resided in the fact that the Roman Empire believed in polytheism which clashed with the Christian monotheistic belief of only one God. During the expansion of the Roman Empire there was rarely any religious conflict, because the Romans were open to the majority of religions as long as they still offered offerings to the Roman gods when it was required of them. This idea did not sit well with most Christian followers which caused the Romans to become frustrated and eventually seek out those who would not follow their rules. Some Christians during this time period decided it was best to just conform, while others moved into the wilderness of Judea and continued to practice their own faith. There was also a select few that decided to form small militant groups and rebel against the Roman rule which did not end well in most instances. This conflict of religious ideas did not sit well with the Roman Empire, and they executed many Christians for not making offerings to the Roman gods. As the persecution continued the amount of Christians within the Roman Empire began to slowly grow. The reason for this growth was that the peasants, slaves, and soldiers were able to relate to the teachings of Jesus, a peasant himself. The Lower class in Rome was growing quickly, and many of the people living in the lower class began to convert to Christianity. The people saw Christianity as a way to express themselves, as well as something to believe. It was a religion that spoke to those who didn’t have, because Christianity offered spiritual comfort and the prospect of salvation something that the pagan religion of Rome at the time did not offer to the lower classes. Christianity continued to grow and strength and the Roman Empire continued to persecute them. The persecution of Christians actually contributed their cause, because people saw men and women willing to go through extreme pain and often time’s death for their religious beliefs. This was very moving and caused to people to become curious about the religion and eventually seek it out as their own.
The drastic increase in Christian follows was caused by the conversion of the Roman Emperor Constantinople. It is said that during a battle with an enemy force Constantinople had a dream in which he spoke with Jesus Christ himself, and after this dream the romans went on to win the battle. After that battle occurred Constantinople changed his religious affiliation to Christianity, and the number of Christians living in Rome increased dramatically. This occurred for several reasons the first being that since the Emperor was now a Christian they were no longer persecuted. Another reason was that people had faith in the Emperor and if he believed that it was right to convert to Christianity then they would do the same. To conclude the creation and growth of Christianity came from the political, social, cultural, and economical changes that took place in the Roman Empire during the life of Christ and many years later (Lunn-Rockliffe, 2014).
The changes that occurred in Rome leading to the growth of the Christian religion are similar to changes that occurred in other cultures and societies leading to the spreading and growing of other religions. A prime example of the development and growth that society can have on a religion is that of Buddhism. Buddhism was formed by a man named Siddhartha, originally a prince, but saw the devastation occurring in local areas and decided he need to search for the meaning of life. It is during a journey that he became enlightened and the Buddhist religion was born. Siddhartha began to travel and spread the word of Buddhism. During his travels small groups of monks would form in the areas in which he visited much like the disciples of Jesus these monks would spread the word of Buddhism. The teachings of Buddhism spoke to the poor people in the areas in which Siddhartha preached. His goal when he set out to spread the word of Buddhism was to bring meaning to life in areas of devastation and despair. Buddhism drastically grew in numbers much like the Christian faith with the conversion of a very powerful man named King Ashoka. Much like Constantinople King Ashoka ruled during a time period of war, and due to the devastation and death that he saw during his rule he decided to convert to Buddhism developing a new code of nonviolence. He sent out monks to spread the word of Buddhism, and the number of followers increased drastically (Mookeyi, 1962). This shows how much of an effect the society has on the growth of religion.
What can be taken from this research is that religion grows, expands, and forms in times of change. Christianity formed during the devastating rule of the Roman Empire, and Buddhism grew from the acknowledgement of poverty and despair. In examining the growth and spread of these two religions one can see that there are many similarities. Conflicts, poverty, and turmoil have drastic effects on all people which leads to the formation of new ideas and sometimes new religions. The social conflict, political, and cultural changes that occurred during the growth of both Buddhism and Christianity caused much of the religious change and the creation of these two religions.
Works Cited
Lunn-Rockliffe, Sophie. “Christianity and The Roman Empire.” BBC News. BBC, 2014. Web. 30 Apr. 2015.
- Mookeyi, Asoka. Delhi, 1962; S. Dhammika, The Edicts of King Asoka. Kandy, 1993.
