What’s the Connection?In the last section, you read

about the origins of Christianity. Inthis section, you will discover howChristianity grew and was organized.

Focusing on the • Christianity won many followers

and eventually became the officialreligion of the Roman Empire.(page 352)

• Early Christians set up a churchorganization and explained theirbeliefs. (page 355)

Locating PlacesRome

Meeting PeopleConstantine (KAHN•stuhn•TEEN)Helena (HEHL•uh•nuh)Theodosius (THEE•uh•DOH•shuhs)

Building Your Vocabularypersecute (PURH•sih•KYOOT)martyr (MAHR•tuhr)hierarchy (HY•uhr•AHR•kee)clergy (KLUHR•jee)laity (LAY•uh•tee)doctrine (DAHK•truhn)gospel (GAHS•puhl)pope

Reading StrategyOrganizing Information Complete a diagram like the one below showingreasons for the growth of Christianity.

CHAPTER 10 The Rise of Christianity 351

A.D. 64Romans begin topersecute Christians

A.D. 312ConstantineacceptsChristianity

A.D. 392Christianity becomesthe official religion ofthe Roman Empire

A.D. 100 A.D. 300 A.D. 500A.D. 100 A.D. 300 A.D. 500

Reasons for Growth of Christianity

TheTheCChristian hristian CChurchhurch

Jerusalem

Rome Constantinople

ITALY

GREECE

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A Growing FaithChristianity won many followers and

eventually became the official religion of the RomanEmpire.

Reading Focus Why do you think people like tobelong to a community? Read to learn about earlyChristian communities.

During the 100 years after Jesus’ death,Christianity won followers throughout theRoman world. The empire itself helpedspread Christian ideas. The peace and orderestablished by Rome allowed people totravel in safety. Christians used well-paved

N

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500 mi.0

0Lambert Azimuthal Equal-Area projection

0° 20°E

40°E40°N

A F R I C A Sicily

ASIAMINOR

ATLANTICOCEAN

Mediterranean Sea

AegeanSea

Black Sea

Red Sea

JUDAEA

EGYPT

SYRIA

GREECE

ITALY

GAUL

SPAIN

BRITAIN

Rome

Alexandria

Tarsus Antioch

DamascusTyreGalileeNazareth

Jerusalem

Constantinople

Spread of Christianity A..D. 325. 325

352 CHAPTER 10 The Rise of Christianity

Roman roads to carry their message fromplace to place. Since most of the empire’speople spoke either Latin or Greek,Christians could talk with them directly.

Why did Christianity attract followers?First, the Christian message gave meaningto people’s lives. Rome’s official religionurged people to honor the state and theemperor. Christianity instead reached outto the poor and the powerless who led veryhard lives. It offered hope and comfort.

Second, the ideas of Christianity werefamiliar to many Romans. They alreadyknew about other eastern Mediterraneanreligions. Like these faiths, Christianity

Main areas of Christian growthto A.D. 325Paul’s first journeyPaul’s second journey

KEY

Even while facing Roman persecution, theChristian religion continued to grow within theRoman Empire.1. To what areas did Paul’s journeys take him?2. Why do you think Christianity spread as it did

by A.D. 325?Find NGS online map resources @ www.nationalgeographic.com/maps

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Christian Catacombs Christiansbelieved in resurrection, the idea thatthe body would one day reunite withthe soul. For this reason, they wouldnot allow their dead bodies to beburned, which was the Roman custom.Also, Roman law did not allow bodiesto be buried aboveground. Therefore,starting in the A.D. 100s, Christiansburied their dead beneath the city ofRome in a series of dark, cold, stench-filled tunnels called catacombs.

Each tunnel was about 8 feet (2.4 m) high and less than 3 feet (1 m)wide. Bodies were stacked in slotsalong the sides of the tunnels. Thecatacomb walls were painted withimages from the Bible or from Greek or Roman mythology.

More than fivemillion bodies were buried underRoman streets andbuildings. Many ofthe Christians buriedthere were martyrswho had been killedfor their beliefs.

Connecting to the Past1. Why did Christians bury their dead in

catacombs?

2. What skills do you think would benecessary to dig and plan catacombs?

appealed to the emotions and promisedhappiness after death.

Finally, Christianity gave people thechance to be part of a caring group. Withintheir churches, Christians not only wor-shiped together but helped each other. Theytook care of the sick, the elderly, widows,and orphans. Many women found thatChristianity offered them new roles. Theyran churches from their homes, spread Jesus’message, and helped care for those in need.

How Did the Romans Treat Christians?Over time, Roman officials began to see the Christians as a threat to the government.All people in the empire were usuallyallowed to worship freely, but the Romansexpected everyone to honor the emperor asa god. Christians, like the Jews, refused todo this. They claimed that only God couldbe worshiped. Christians also refused toserve in the army or hold public office.They criticized Roman festivals and games.As a result, the Romans saw the Christiansas traitors who should be punished.

In A.D. 64 the Roman governmentbegan to persecute (PURH • sih • KYOOT),or mistreat, Christians. At this time, theemperor Nero accused Christians ofstarting a terrible fire that burned muchof Rome. Christianity was made ille-gal, and many Christians were killed.

Other persecutions followed. Duringthese difficult times, many Christiansbecame martyrs (MAHR • tuhrz), peoplewilling to die rather than give up theirbeliefs. In Rome, because of theirbeliefs, Christians were forced to burytheir dead in catacombs, or under-ground burial places.

Even with all of the hardships,Christianity spread. Over time it evenbegan to draw people from all classes. AfterA.D. 250, many Romans grew tired of war

Christian catacombsin Rome

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351-357 C10S2-824133 3/22/04 10:21 PM Page 353

and feared the end of the empire. Theybegan to admire the faith and courage ofthe Christians. At the same time, manyChristians started to accept the empire.

Rome Adopts Christianity In the early A.D. 300s the emperor Diocletian carried outthe last great persecution of Christians.Diocletian failed, and Roman officials beganto realize that Christianity had grown toostrong to be destroyed by force.

Then, in A.D. 312, the Roman emperorConstantine (KAHN • stuhn • TEEN) acceptedChristianity. According to tradition,Constantine saw a flaming cross in the skyas he was about to go into battle. Writtenbeneath the cross were the Latin words thatmeant “In this sign you will conquer.”

Constantine won the battle and believedthat the Christian God had helped him.

In A.D. 313 Constantine issued an ordercalled the Edict of Milan. It gave religiousfreedom to all people and made Christianitylegal. Constantine began giving govern-ment support to Christianity. With the helpof his mother, Helena (HEHL • uh • nuh), hebuilt churches in Rome and Jerusalem. Healso let church officials serve in governmentand excused them from paying taxes.

Constantine’s successor, the emperorTheodosius (THEE • uh •DOH • shuhs), madeChristianity Rome’s official religion in A.D. 392. At the same time, he outlawedother religions.

Explain Why did theRomans see the Christians as traitors?

Constantine led his troops to victory at the Battle of the Milvian Bridgeafter his conversion to Christianity. Constantine’s enemies were defeatedas a bridge made of boats collapsed under their weight. The X and P sym-bols painted on the soldiers’ shields represented Greek initials for JesusChrist. How did Constantine’s Edict of Milan support Christianity?

Constantine’s ConversionConstantine’s Conversion

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The Early ChurchEarly Christians set up a church organi-

zation and explained their beliefs.Reading Focus How can good organization make thedifference between whether a plan or project fails orsucceeds? Read how early Christians organized theirchurches and chose what to include in the Bible.

In its early years, Christianity was looselyorganized. Leaders like Paul traveled fromone Christian community to another. Theytried to unify the scattered groups. In theirteaching, they emphasized that all the individual groups of Christians were part of one body called the church. EarlyChristians, however, faced a challenge.How were they to unite?

Organizing the Church The early Christiansturned to a surprising model to organizethe church—the Roman Empire itself. Likethe Roman Empire, the church came to beruled by a hierarchy (HY • uhr • AHR • kee). Ahierarchy is an organization with differentlevels of authority.

The clergy (KLUHR • jee) were the lead-ers of the church. They had different rolesfrom the laity (LAY • uh • tee), or regularchurch members. As the church’s organi-zation grew, women were not permitted toserve in the clergy. However, as membersof the laity, they continued to care for thesick and needy.

By around A.D. 300, local churches wereled by clergy called priests. Several churchesformed a diocese (DY • uh • suhs), led by abishop. A bishop in charge of a city diocesewas sometimes also put in charge of anentire region. This made him an arch-bishop. The five leading archbishopsbecame known as patriarchs (PAY • tree •AHRKS). They led churches in large cities andwere in charge of large areas of territory.

CHAPTER 10 The Rise of Christianity 355

Archbishops

Bishops

Priests

Laity

Archbishops

PatriarchsPatriarchs

Bishops

Priests

Laity

Early Church HierarchyEarly Church Hierarchy

The bishops explained Christian beliefs.They also took care of church business.From time to time, bishops met to discussquestions about Christian faith. Decisionsthey reached at these meetings came to beaccepted as doctrine (DAHK • truhn), or offi-cial church teaching.

What Is the New Testament? Along withexplaining Christian ideas, church leaderspreserved a written record of the life ofJesus and put together a group of writingsto help guide Christians. Jesus himself leftno writings. His followers, however, passedon what they knew about him. By A.D. 300,four accounts of Jesus’ life, teachings, andresurrection had become well-known.Christians believed these accounts werewritten by early followers of Jesus namedMatthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Each work was called a gospel (GAHS •puhl), which means “good news.” Christianslater combined the four gospels with thewritings of Paul and other early Christianleaders. Together, these works form theNew Testament of the Bible.

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356 CHAPTER 10 The Rise of Christianity

Reading SummaryReview the • After its followers suffered

Roman persecution for severalhundred years, Christianitybecame the official religion ofthe Roman Empire underEmperor Theodosius.

• As Christianity grew, the churchbecame more united under ahierarchy of leaders. Christianwritings were gathered into theNew Testament of the Bible.

1. What is a martyr?

2. What writings are included inthe New Testament of theBible?

Critical Thinking3. Organizing Information

Draw a chart like the onebelow. Fill in details on theeffects each of the emperorslisted had on the acceptanceand growth of Christianity.

4. Analyze Following Jesus’death, why was Christianityable to attract followers?

5. Analyze Why do you thinkthe Christian church came tobe ruled by a hierarchy?

6. Conclude Do you think theChristian religion would havespread so quickly if it haddeveloped in a time other thanthat of the Roman Empire?

7. Writing Questions Writefive questions that a reporterwho lived at the same time asConstantine might have askedhim about Christianity.

What Did You Learn?

Homework Helper Need help with the material in this section? Visit jat.glencoe.com

Diocletian Constantine Theodosius

Roman Emperors

Other important writings also influ-enced early Christians. Scholars known asthe Church Fathers wrote books to explainchurch teachings. One leading ChurchFather was a bishop in North Africa namedAugustine. In his writings, Augustinedefended Christianity against its oppo-nents. He wrote The City of God—one of thefirst history books written from a Christianviewpoint. He also wrote a work called

Confessions. It was an account of his per-sonal journey to the Christian faith.

Who Is the Pope? As the church grew, thebishop of Rome, who was also the patriarchof the West, began to claim power over theother bishops. He believed that he had theauthority of Peter, Jesus’ leading disciple.Also, his diocese was in Rome, the capital ofthe empire.

By A.D. 600, the bishop of Rome hadgained a special title—pope. The title comesfrom a Latin word meaning “father.” Latin-speaking Christians accepted the pope ashead of the church. Their churches becameknown as the Roman Catholic Church.Greek-speaking Christians would notaccept the pope’s authority over them. Youwill read in the next section aboutChristians in the Eastern Roman Empireand their form of Christianity.

Identify What are thegospels, and why are they significant?

Saint Matthewwrote one of thefour gospels in theNew Testament ofthe Bible. What isthe subject of thegospels ofMatthew, Mark,Luke, and John?

Cott Nero DIV f.25v Portrait of St. Matthew/British Library, London/Bridgeman Art Library

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SAINT AUGUSTINEA.D. 354–430

Augustine was born in North Africa, in what is today

the country of Algeria, to upper-class parents. His mother

was Christian, but his father was not. His father sent

him to the North African city of Carthage to attend good

schools. Although he appeared to be an outstanding

student, Augustine later said that he made many poor

choices during his time at school.

When Augustine finished his education, he returned

home to teach grammar. His mother again tried to

convince him of the truth of Christianity, but he had

joined a group of people who were critical of Christians.

According to Augustine’s writings, his mother was

saddened until a vision promised her that her son

would eventually accept Christianity.

Augustine moved to several cities, often teaching

rhetoric (the art of speaking). He ended up in Milan, Italy.

There he listened to Milan’s bishop Ambrose preaching, not because he liked his messages

but because he admired the way Ambrose spoke. Slowly, Augustine began to think about

the messages of Ambrose’s sermons. One day

in A.D. 386, Augustine heard a child’s voice say

to him, “Take up and read.” Nearby was a

friend’s copy of Paul’s letters. He began to read

the letters and decided that he believed the

messages of Christianity. Augustine was soon

baptized and founded a monastery—probably

the first monastery in his area of North Africa.

Later Augustine became a bishop. He recorded

his life in A.D. 401 in the book Confessions.

357

St. Augustine being blessed by the pope

St. Augustine

Do research to find out how Christianity has

influenced the development of the United

States. Provide examples of how it has affected

government, society, and the economy.

“Even when sad, I remember“Even when sad, I remembermy times of joy.”my times of joy.”

—Saint Augustine, —Saint Augustine, ConfessionsConfessions

(t)Scala/Art Resource, NY, (b)Alinari/Art Resource, NY

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