Anthology of Ideas

The spread of early Christianity in throughout the Roman empire was based on what it wasn’t rather than what it was. At the time Christianity began spreading through the Roman Empire, religion had fractured into the main Roman religion which was comprised of the Parthenon of Roman Gods and mystery cults. The mystery cults were based on myths that focused on the cycle of death and renewal and promised a better afterlife. The major mystery cults were the cult of Isis and Osiris, of Dionysus and Bacchus, Cybill and Adonis, and Demeter and Orpheus. These cults were not exclusionary — you could join them all and still follow the main religion — however each of these cults required sizable offerings from their participants so only the wealthy could afford to join them. So while the very wealthy would join them all just to be on the safe side and the moderately wealthy would have to pick one and hope for the best, the poor would be unable to join any. Thus, they had no hope of an afterlife of any kind and they were desperate for one. This fueled the spread of Christianity.

Christianity differed from the pagan religions, life philosophies and mystery cults in that it there was no monetary fee to join, it was absolute in its beliefs and provided an afterlife. In contrast the cults were expensive to join, they allowed you to join any other cult or religion ^&^, and did not provide a “real” afterlife only one that is better when compared with Hades. Because of these three things Christianity spread and eventually became the official religion because it is a unifying force and appealed to all levels of society. Of the three main difference between Christianity and the mystery cults the most influential is that it was free to join. Unlike the mystery cults where only the wealthy could join, Christianity was open to women, the poor and slaves who did not have access to large amounts of disposable income. Because it was absolute in its teachings gave Romans a stability that was lacking in Roman life, religion and politics. Because it taught it was the only religion it gave people relief knowing that they had chosen correctly. However, quite possible the most appealing aspect of Christianity was that it offered its followers a real after life. Promising that although this life is hard the next would be better. A final aspect of Christianity is that it valued its members and promoted charities and giving to Christians in need. Allowing the wealthy a chance to feel good and do good in the site of God and provided some measure of financial stability for its poorest members.

The religion continued to spread until it reached a point where 5 – 10% of Roman citizens were Christians and in some roman cities (mostly in the Greek cities like Antioch where Christianity had a long time to grow) the percentages were as high as 30%. Even more importantly it preached unity and loyalty to fellow members which was sorely lacking in other popular cults of the day. This unity was seen by Constantine as a way to reunite the Roman Empire and help to move the Romans from a collection of groups bound by money and the sword into a cohesive and unified Empire. Over time Christianity did succeed in tying the fragmented groups together, but as it gained power it also ended religious freedom in the empire, and widened the divide between the Latin Western Empire and Greek Eastern Empire.

However, power gained by the church was not absolute. Although there were several cases of church officials asserting power over the Emperor — most notably when the Bishop of Milan told the Emperor Theodosius I to do penance for two years for ordering the deaths of seven thousand people in Thessalonica — the majority of the time the various Emperors would twist the church to fulfill their goals and preach the Emperor’s own version of Christianity. So, even though the Church theoretically overruled the state, the Emperor controlled the church.

Because the church was controlled by the Emperor it changed just as much as it changed the Empire. One of Constantine’s first acts was to create a creed on the nature of Jesus — previously this point was a hotly debated issue — thus defining Christianity and laying the foundation of intolerance to any “deviant” forms not related to the official church. Christianity also borrowed the Roman hierarchical and patriarchal structure for its leadership which quickly created the internal bureaucracy one sees when looking at the various ranks and duties of the orders of priests. At the same time the adoption of Christianity diversified — while diluting — it. Constantine and later Emperors in an attempt to popularize the religion made it easier for Christians to enter politics and gave tax breaks to Christian priests. In turn this was frequently abused by people looking to get ahead ahead. Various other Roman customs were absorbed into Christianity including titles (Pontifex Maximus is a title of the pope for example). …[the remainder of this article has been corrupted]