Daniel Medina May 6, 2020

Religion Sir Phillip

ACTIVITY # 01

1. Give the correlation of Constantine and the Roman Empire in the Christian and Catholic
traditions.

Based on the video and some of my researches, the Emperor Constantine’s mother was
Christian, which made him rethink the imperial persecutions of Christians. Then he had a vision
of a Cross with the message “With this Sign, you will conquer.” Although he never officially
converted to Christianity, until his death bed (so that he may have an excuse to keep up some
sinful habits), he became personally devoted to Christ, and even met some Popes. He was the
one who told the Popes, Patriarchs, & other Christian leaders to form a Council to decide what
Christianity would officially believe in.

I think the most significant thing about Constantine is that it was under his rule as Roman
Emperor that Christianity became an official religion of the Empire rather than a persecuted
minority. He gathered all the bishops of the Church and together they agreed an accepted
formula (The Nicene Creed) that was to be the official doctrine of the Church. Unfortunately,
once Christianity became “established”, with an official “doctrine”, those who were not
Christian, or could not sign up to the official Creed, were often persecuted. It was a trend that
was to continue for centuries to come.

ACTIVITY # 02

1. Watch and summarize this Crash course about “Buddha and Ashoka”.

Hinduism as we know it did not exist in the time of Ashoka. The ancient Vedic tradition is
ancestral to Hinduism in the same way that the religion of the Torah is ancestral to Catholicism.
There is no clear historical evidence as to why Ashoka chose Buddhism over any of the other
religious traditions at the time. One factor, clearly, was his remorse over the violence committed
in his name. But Buddhism was not the only religion that opposed violence; Judaism would have
served just as well. It’s possible that Buddhism was simply more vibrant and visible at the time;
or maybe it was just an accident.

But I suspect that it was more calculated than this. In the eyes of great rulers, spiritual and
ethical matters are not divorced from questions of polity. Ashoka promulgated the essential
tenets of Buddhist ethics in his edicts, but he rarely referred to Buddhism as such. Rather, he
treated Buddhism as a secular ethics system, whose clarity and moderation could prove attractive
to all citizens. It is more portable and universal than the Vedic tradition, with its strong roots in
family ties and clan lineages.

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Daniel Medina May 6, 2020
Religion Sir Phillip
ACTIVITY # 03

1. Christianity from Judaism to Constantine from Crash Course on Youtube.

In reference to what I’ve watch earlier, it was mentioned that Jesus Christ grew up as a Jew.
His early followers saw him as the Jewish Messiah sent by the Jewish God to the Jewish people.
His father was Jewish. His mother was Jewish. His mentor, John the Baptist, who baptized him,
was also Jewish. Let’s look at the two most basic requirements of the Mashiach and how they
need to be fulfilled: (1) Must be Jewish, (2) Must be a descendant of King David. People
believed that He’s the “Messiah” or the “Anointed One” where people suspect for His return to
claim the world and His followers in faith and in action. The fact that Jesus was crucified was an
awkward one for the early Jesus sect, since crucifixion was a Roman method of execution
reserved for runaway slaves, pirates, bandits and rebels against Rome. Also, Jesus was
considered a threat to the Roman Empire largely because of his being part of both Judean and
Parthian royalty. So, all during his ministry the Romans treated Jesus and his disciples with kid
gloves for fear that it would provoke a war with the Parthians. Anyone else that walked around
openly saying and doing the things he did would have been arrested and executed without
warning.

The word, “messiah” wasn’t new to Jewish people. In fact, Augustus was a political ruler
with yet another series of wars and conquests. Political rulers come, go, gone. History is a study
of the dead. But Jesus brought a philosophy of life that grew to be a civilization, as he seemed to
know it would. He had a vision of a world without greed, without vengeance, without
selfishness, and without fear. Jesus dreamed of a time when humanity was freed from its greatest
enemy: humanity. He himself had remarkable courage, speaking truth to power with devastating
simplicity.

Therefore, Jesus really didn’t have an impact on Judaism in terms of beliefs. However, it
DID have an impact in terms of how vigilant Judaism has become in opposition of dealing with
missionaries. Also, A good deal of Christianity can be attributed to Judaism, but not all of it.
Historically, Christianity is really a grand synthesis of at least three different sources: The Jewish
idea of Messiah, pagan mystery cults, and the personal morality and wisdom of the man Jesus
(Yeshua) himself.

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Daniel Medina May 6, 2020
Religion Sir Phillip

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