For the Love of God - How Christianity Changed Everything Part I

In the interests of full disclosure, yes, I am a Christian. That being said, I don't think my faith hinders my view of history. Sure, I probably have some bias when it comes to history that involves the Church, but I do my best to put personal opinion aside and truly examine the facts alone, allowing them to determine my ultimate opinion. So while this article is favorable toward Christianity, rest assured, I have plenty of critique for the ancient Christians, which will come to light in the next few months' worth of Thursdays.

Religion, as it was understood by the Pagan world, was something that the State controlled. The Pontifex Maximus, chief priest of the Roman religion, was appointed by the Senate, and not by either the mass of believers or some religious institution. Any worship outside of the state-prescribed deities was usually either syncretized or forbidden, and Christianity was not the only religion to be persecuted by the authorities. As far as the Romans were concerned, religion was a way of currying favor from the gods or preventing yourself from falling under their wrath. Their gods, after all, were not typically benevolent or altruistic; they were petty and concerned first and foremost with their own fame at any cost.

Christianity, that is, Apostolic Christianity, taught that there was one God, who was not only all-powerful and all-knowing, but full of love and compassion for mankind. This quality was an aberration when it appeared in Pagan myth, like in the story of Prometheus, and what usually confounded the Pagan powers-that-be more than anything else was that Christians did not merely fear or obey their God; they loved Him!

Ultimately, it was that love for God that drove Christians to refuse to burn incense at the Emperor's altar, or to have their hands marked at the market in Ephesus. This religion, after all, was founded by a martyr, who was not believed to simply be a good teacher, but God's very son! When persecution came, as it did sporadically throughout the next three hundred years, Christians reacted, most of the time, by silently going to their deaths.

Pax vobiscum