Let's do some Research

It's that time of day again. Time for another one of my undergrad writing assignments. This time it's a research assignment that I had to finish for my Church History class. Enjoy!

Persecution in the early church

William H.C. Frend describes in his article “Persecution in the early church” exactly that—the persecution which occurred in the early church. Mr. Frend documents from the time of the first century until the beginning of third century the persecution and martyrdom that early Christians faced. He tells of the Roman emperors (such as Nero, Domitian, and Valerian) who ordered the execution of Christian leaders and other Roman emperors (such as Alexander Severus and Constantine) who were more tolerant, even accepting, of the early church. Christians were imprisoned and even put to death for their refusal to deny their allegiance to Christ. Ultimately, Frend describes the victory of the early church over those who would attempt to end her. This, he attributes to the fact that “Christianity had never lost its martyr spirit.”

Pax Romana

In the article, “Pax Romana: How Did Romans Do It?”, States News Service reveals the specifics of the Pax Romana system, and how the system worked to uphold the peace of the empire, despite its large size. The Roman empire employed a number of policies to ensure that the empire was kept intact despite the constant threat of dispute and war. First, according to SNS, they trained their soldiers very rigorously and in a very disciplined manner. Secondly, they “encouraged initiative” among the troops, leading many to revolt against incompetent leaders. Thirdly, the Roman forces were dispatched according to local need, and not stationed primarily in Rome. This allowed for specific cities which needed more military action to have action taken swiftly by having troops stationed in those cities rather than in peaceful areas. Lastly, SNS notes that the Romans “tolerated diversity” in the areas of governance, as long as that diversity did not pose a threat against their authority. While not addressing specifically the relation between Pax Romana and the spread of the Gospel, it is evident how these policies would have led for a tolerance of a religion that preached submission to authority (Rom. 13, I Peter 2). Thus the spread of the Gospel would be tolerated due to its respect of human government.

Heresies of the Early Church

In the article entitled, “Arianism”, the Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia describes the rise and fall of the Arian heresy in the Christian church. Arianism arose from Arius, who taught that Jesus was the first thing that God created, but Jesus was not in fact God. Arius taught that Jesus was “not quite human and not quite divine.” This was refuted as heresy by the council of Nicaea, which was convened by Constantine I in order to deal with the teachings of Arius. Although it was deemed as heresy and Arius was deposed from his position as Bishop, his teaching still spread as his influence was felt in other areas of the known world. These false teachings were outlawed by future Popes of the church, and as it spread elsewhere, it was dealt with accordingly. Arianism and its destructive heresy was an important battle for the church to fight, and in the end it does seem that the church was able to win the battle.

Works Cited

Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia. Arianism. October 1, 2009.

Frend, William H.C. "Persecution in the early church." Christian History, 1990: 5-11.

States News Service. "Pax Romana: How Did Romans Do It?" Academic OneFile. September 10, 2009. http://find.galegroup.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/gtx/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T001&prodId=AONE&docId=CJ216153960&source=gale&srcprod=AONE&userGroupName=vic_liberty&version=1.0 (accessed July 4, 2010).