Papers > History > What motivated people to convert to Christianity in the pre Constantinian Church How important do you
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What motivated people to convert to Christianity in the pre Constantinian Church How important do you
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In the period before the conversion of Constantine, Christianity was a persecuted religion, yet it spread and increased with a speed unlike that of any other in the empire. ... What motivated these people to convert to Christianity would have rested chiefly on what they saw of it. MacMullan asserts these points of contact between Christianity and pagan society to have been martyrdoms, miracle working and prophetic preaching, further that each point served as a motivation for conversion in itself. ... To those disillusioned by the contrary values of pagan society, Christianity offered a different set of values by which to orientate one’s life. Further, Christianity’s definite belief in an afterlife again provided a certainty that had eluded pagan religiosity. Those who converted to Christianity would more likely have been motivated primarily by the attractive picture that the faith presented in contrast to the realities of pagan society. If motivation rested with the three points suggested by MacMullan it ignores the distinctive qualities which differentiated Christianity from the other religions of the time, and it seems unlikely that a martyr would die so horribly only for the witnessing of a long distant miracle. ... The Judaic historian Josephus wrote a twenty-volume history of the Jews in an attempt to defend his people and his faith. ... Yet writing only two decades after Josephus, the Roman historian Tacitus provides an ethnological and historical summary of the Jewish people that shows he is totally unaware of Josephus’ work. ... The Hellenistic Age opened up by the conquests of Alexander the Great had brought with it a cultural exchange not only of ideas but of people as well. ... Christianity on the other hand, while not offering a solution to the problem, claimed to side step it entirely by the principle that all men were equal in the eyes of God regardless of social stature. ... As for the nobleman disillusioned by the exercise of power and seeking a simpler lifestyle, Christianity’s creed of equality would have held a similar appeal.
Humility was not considered as an important virtue in pagan society. ... Among the Roman nobility nothing was more important than a man’s dignitas, his personal share in the standing of Rome. ... In contrast to this Christianity ascribed humility to God’s own son and exalted it as a means to Him. Christianity had originated from a humble carpenter’s son and many may have felt they could identify with the historical personage of Jesus Christ. ... In contrast Christianity’s city was the ‘City of Heaven’ and claimed brotherhood with all ‘Christians throughout the world’.
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Title: What motivated people to convert to Christianity in the pre Constantinian Church How important do you
Words: 2130
Rating: None
Pages: 8.5
submitted by: fishmit
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