Week Two: Early Christianity and The Roman Empire

Question 1

when had the Roman Empire reached its ‘zenith’?

Answer 1

during the reign of Emperor Trajan 98-117

Question 2

where did christianity originate?

Answer 2

Roman province: Judea

Question 3

what was the Roman Empire originally and why did it change?

Answer 3

a republic and changed due to political weakness and the need for centralised authority of an emperor

Question 4

what was an emperor

Answer 4

the supreme leader of the empire, not called king so as to dissociate from disregarded segments of roman history

Question 5

under which emperor did significant territorial expansion in Egypt ad northern Europe take place?

Answer 5

under Augustus

Question 6

why was imperial Egypt so important?

Answer 6

provided grain imports which would feed roman population

Question 7

who succeeded Augustus?

Answer 7

Tiberius 14-37- ineffectieve leader as he preferred to live in seclusion

Question 8

who stabilised the empire after Tiberius?

Answer 8

Trajan

Question 9

what did Trajan do to the city of Rome?

Answer 9

major public program to build Rome into an enriched city

Question 10

what was ‘civil religion’?

Answer 10

a dead emperor who was worthy of honour was given divine status and was incorporated into the Roman Pantheon. those who refused to take part in the cult were seen as treasonous

Question 11

four things which made the spread of new ideas easy in the Roman Empire:

Answer 11

1) common language (latin)
2) ease of transport, over seas and on land
3) freedom of movement for soldiers, administrators, merchants
4) immigration from the colonies to Rome people bringing new ideas and religious beliefs with them

Question 12

where were there distinctions in terms of religion in the Roman Empire?

Answer 12

distinction between the state cult and the private religions which took place in houses

Question 13

why did christians find he distinctions in religious practices hard to grasp?

Answer 13

they though their alliance which god prevented them from bowing down to the imperial cult and civil religion

Question 14

where did the ‘imperial cult’ originate?

Answer 14

for an elevated view of Augustus and his achievements. he could no longer be regarded as just an emperor but as divine and worthy of worship.

Question 15

where was the ‘imperial cult’ especially strong?

Answer 15

(Corinth and Galatia) in eastern regions of the empire, where christianity would eventually take route

Question 16

what did the famous letter of Pliny to the younger Trajan state?

Answer 16

asking for help in regions where christian were refusing to participate in the practices of the imperial cult

Question 17

what effect did the refusal of christians to worship in the imperial cult have

Answer 17

it encouraged the tendency to refer to christians as ‘atheists’

Question 18

a lower social group who followed jewish tradition but were associated with early christians

Answer 18

ebionites

Question 19

Marcion of Sinope (c.110-60)

Answer 19

rich christian in Rome who thought christianity should sever all associations with judaism

Question 20

what did Marcion of Sinope refer to the God of the new testament as?

Answer 20

a war god who had nothing to do with the christian god

Question 21

characterise Marcions canon

Answer 21

no works included that were sympathetic to the jewish tradition

Question 22

what was the churches response to Marcions ideas?

Answer 22

they were rejected and it was agreed that christianity was a fulfilment of the hopes of pagans, jews and christ

Question 23

what was Justin Martyr’s (103-65) concern?

Answer 23

associating christianity with platonism

Question 24

how could Justin martyr see christianity as a philosophy?

Answer 24

because philosophy was more than just a set of ideas but rather a way of living as a way of thinking

Question 25

what are the basis of Justin’s ideas?

Answer 25

• christianity bought the quest of the ancient world for wisdom and fulfilment.
• both jewish law and platonic logos are fulfilled in christ
• God has sown the seed of wisdom through out the world and so we should expect to find aspects of the gospel in the outside world

Question 26

why did Justin say that christians could draw on the riches of classical culture?

Answer 26

because ‘whatever has been said well’ draws on divine wisdom and insight.

Question 27

why did Justin encourage christianity to engage with Plantonism

Answer 27

to engage with secular culture using language and ideas that were already familiar to the cultural elite. and also to express their ideas in a coherent and intelligent way that would be understood by these people

Question 28

Tertullian, third century lawyer, christian convert’s response to Justin?

Answer 28

christianity but retain a distinctive identity, free from secular ideas

Question 29

why did rumours begin to spread about christian worship and what where they?

Answer 29

rumours about christians included orgies and cannibalism because there was no building dedicated to worship and ‘love-feasts’ were misinterpreted in a sexual sense

Question 30

what is the didache (greek for ‘teaching’)

Answer 30

a work on how christians gathers on the lord’s day, Sunday, to ‘break bread and give thanks’. the service was understood to be carried out at home, not a public place.

Question 31

what was Justin martyrs first apology?

Answer 31

an account of baptism of new christian converts, following this, coverts were led into an assembly of christian believers

Question 32

what is the second event Justin martyr describes?

Answer 32

gathering on a Sunday or Monday instead of on the sabbath as this was the day of creation or the day or resurrection

Question 33

what was an epscopos?

Answer 33

has a specifically christian meaning, ‘household of faith’

Question 34

how can Roman churches of the second century be described?

Answer 34

comparable to roman secular clubs or societies. independent association with no centralised control