Christianity's Triumph

Did Christianity Triumph?

There are many different religions in the world today; the largest, based on the number of believers, is Christianity (theregister.co). Within Christianity there are numerous sects but the three major ones are Orthodox, Protestantism, and Roman Catholic. The term “Roman Catholicism” can cause confusion since it seems like a combination of two sects that are very different in nature. That being said, which one triumphed in the end? The Roman Empire? Or Christianity?

            In the end, Christianity did triumph over Roman Catholicism. Instead of stating random facts as to why this conquest occurred, the focus of this post will be aimed as to how Christianity came to be in the first place; only then will it become clear as to why it dominated the Roman Empire in the end. Christianity began as a Jewish sect, or in other words, a small movement of people following the teachings of Jesus Christ and his apostles. These people lived in the Roman Empire and were able to practice their beliefs since the Romans were very tolerable when it came to other religions, so long as everyone would make sacrifices to the Roman deities. This was fine for a while, but the Christian population soon began to increase throughout Rome and they stopped sacrificing to the Roman Gods, making the Roman rulers very unsettled (History.com). Many Romans started to become anxious with Christianity’s slow rise in power except for one main ruler, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, also known as Constantine the Great.

Constantine started out as a war General, but his power and influence increased more and more until he gained the title of Emperor. His path towards Christianity began when he had a dream to put chi rho, the first two letters of Christ, across his soldiers’ shields in Greek before they fought in the Battle of Milvian Bridge. Constantine won that war and an arch was erected, one of the highest recognitions, to commemorate his successes in leading the army to victory. After his triumph “Constantine became the Western Roman emperor. He soon used his power to address the status of Christians, issuing the Edict of Milan in 313. This proclamation legalized Christianity and allowed for freedom of worship throughout the empire (Biography.com).” This was a huge step for Christians since it restored their property that had originally been taken by Diocletian, another Roman emperor. But Constantine did not stop there, he “continued to proclaim his adherence to Christianity, and his reign established influence over religious conflicts within the church. Not wanting questions about the divine nature of Christ to sow discord, Constantine summoned church officials to the Council of Nicaea in 325. Out of this came the Nicene Creed, which affirmed that Jesus was a divine being (Biography.com).”

Although, “Constantine ends not converting, technically, to Christianity, but becoming a patron of one particular branch of the church. It happens to be the branch of the church that has the Old Testament as well as the New Testament as part of its canon. Which means that since this branch of Christianity includes the story about historical Israel as part of its own redemptive history, it has an entire language for articulating the relationship of government and piety (pbs.org).” Finally, because of Constantine's constant influence and the rising number of people joining this religion, Theodosius the First made Christianity the official religion of Rome. As the new official religion, Christianity needed to improve Rome for the better, and it did just that.

Christianity was now the new norm; however, it did not completely change the Romans way of life, it simply modified it to a more “Christian” lifestyle through injecting added morals to the rules and regulations Rome already had in place. Saint Augustine, a 4^th century theologian, gave a good explanation in his book, The Confessions of Saint Augustine, as to what some Roman morals are. From that, one can also determine Christian morals since they are very similar and some are even the same. For example, instead of claiming loyalty to Rome, they now claimed loyalty to the church, and worshipped God instead of plural gods. A picture was created, by Bishop Pietro II in 494-495, that had Christ displayed as a Roman Emperor. This picture demonstrates how serious Christians were in only worshiping one God, yet still allowing some leniency and accommodation for the Romans’ beliefs. One thing that did not have to change was the peoples respect to authority and family. Both cultures thought family was extremely important and both were very obedient to their respective authorities. Although major changes were made by Christians, like morals and religion, there were also smaller ones in regards to everyday life.

Not only did this change to a new religion help with morals, but it also brought about better art, and from this, the renaissance began. While the Christian religion introduced the celebration of Christ’s birth into the Roman culture, it was the Romans, and the combining of their old traditions with their new beliefs, that was the foundation of the celebration of Christmas. Saturnalia “was an enduring Roman festival dedicated to the agricultural god Saturn which was held between the 17th and 23rd of December each year during the winter solstice. Originating from archaic agricultural rituals the Roman festivities came to include a general round of gift-giving, merrymaking, and role-reversals so that it became one of the most popular celebrations in the calendar and certainly the jolliest (ancient.eu).” This was the one holiday where masters would serve their slaves, so no one was willing to give that up, so instead it was made into a celebration of Christ. Saturnalia may not have evolved into the Christmas we know, but the two holidays do hold many similarities and Christians have taken many customs from this pagan celebration. 

In conclusion, Christianity triumphed over the Roman Empire. One can tell this is true since Christianity is still around today while the traditional Roman Empire is not. Christianity may have begun as a small Jewish movement but through time it weaned its way into Rome and slowly pushed out other religions until it became the one and only recognized religion in the state. Overall, although it is difficult to pinpoint exactly when Rome was officially conquered by Christians, and although there is no arch erected from the triumph, it is apparent that Christianity overcame the Roman Empire.

Citations:

Juan, Stephen. “What Are the Most Widely Practiced Religions of the World?” The Register, Biting the Hands That Feed It, The Register, 7 Dec. 2018, www.theregister.co.uk/2006/10/06/the_odd_body_religion/.

Editors, History.com. “Christianity.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 13 Oct. 2017, www.history.com/topics/religion/history-of-christianity. 

“Constantine I.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 23 Jan. 2019, www.biography.com/people/constantine-i-39496. 

Ungerleider, Samuel. “Legitimization Under Constantine.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/why/legitimization.html. 

“Confessions and Enchiridion.” Ed. & trans. by Albert C Outler, Christian Classics Ethereal Library, www.ccel.org/ccel/augustine/confessions.iv.html. 

Chirst Militant Mosaic Described, orderofcenturions.org/Christ_militant.html

Cartwright, Mark. “Saturnalia.” Ancient History Encyclopedia, Ancient History Encyclopedia, 28 Mar. 2019, www.ancient.eu/Saturnalia/.