Lauri Karppinen, TUK-102 SL 2019, Task 1

1. Describe the religious environment of the Roman Empire which the early Christians
encountered.

The Roman empire’s advanced culture was almost ideal for spreading a religion. The road
network was good, there was relative acceptance of diversity of religions, as long as the people
sacrificed to the gods, and the imperial control made sure the land was safe.1 However, as
Christians refused sacrifice to the Roman gods, they faced a risk of execution, though it was
unlikely to get caught.2

2. What attitudes to the Roman state did the early Christians have?

The Christians refused to worship the Romans’ gods, only recognizing their own one God. They
also thought of the Roman altars and statues as idols; false gods that at most contained the
power of a demon that fed off the blood of the animal sacrifices. 3

3. How has the study of early Christianity changed in the last 100 years? Give 2 examples.

It was only accepted that Jesus, along with many of his disciples, were Jewish somewhere in
the middle of the twentieth century.4 This seems to show that whereas earlier Christianity was
seen as the defining factor everywhere, from defining Judaism to paganism, the study of
religions is changing to be more diverse. The language is also changing to be less Christianity-
centered with AD and BC changing to CE and BCE alongside “Hebrew Bible” replacing “Old
Testament”.5

4. Scholars have given different reasons for the rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire.
Are any of these useful?

There have been multiple reasons given for the rise of Christianity by anti-Christian and
Christian authors.6 The views seem biased, tending to either defend or accuse the religion;
either Christianity is seen as offering a god who loves and accepts all or as the religion that
preys on the weak and promises a heaven to distract people from the now that is miserable. 7
However, although combined these views still do not seem to account for all of the factors
affecting the rise of Christianity, they do give a wider overview of what could have happened.

1 Clark, Gillian (2004). Christianity and Roman society. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 5
2 Clark, 6
3 Clark, 8-9
4 Clark, 4
5 Clark, 14
6 Clark, 13
7 Clark, 13
Works cited:

Clark, Gillan (2004). Christianity and Roman society. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.