Download Political Setting.

CHRISTIANTY
For thousands of years, the Jewish people were
subject to foreign rule.
The Christian religion had evolved in Palestine, on the
eastern Mediterranean Sea. The Jews considered and
praised Palestine as their Promised Land, Thinking
that it was a benefit and gift from God to provide for
and protect them. But because of its desirable
location it had been ruled by a succession of foreign
powers for most of its history.
Egypt and Assyria fought over it for centuries, in a
bloody so called “holy war”, however Babylon
conquered Assyria and Palestine with it. The Greeks,
reclaimed the city from the Persians under Alexander
the Great. Rome took Jerusalem in 63 BC, and
Palestine was still under Roman rule at the time of
Jesus' birth.
Despite the centuries of conflict and war in the
region, Christianity developed in an atmosphere very
conducive to the spread of religion. The Pax Romana
was the long period of relative peace and minimal
expansion by military force experienced by the
Roman Empire. This was initiated by Caesar Augustus
which allowed for the development of roads
throughout the Empire, and gave citizens the leisure
to think about religious matters.
First-century Roman Palestine offered the ancient
religion of Judaism; the political religion of the
Roman state, the personal religion of the mystery
cults, and the intellectual and ethical schools of
Greek philosophy. This therefore expanded and gave
wind beneath Christianity to grow into a full blown
religion.
Cults of the Roman State
The Roman state cults were adopted from the Eastern pattern of deifying emperors and
honouring the gods of individual cities. The cult of the emperor, which began with
Augustus, was organized by the state and used primarily to reinforce and test political
loyalty. Statues of Augustus were erected and rituals were developed to honour him, but
the cult generated little religious feeling or personal belief.
The primary significance of the state cult for early Christianity was in its political uses,
for many Christians (and Jews) refused to offer a sacrifice in honour Caesar and were
persecuted heavily for it. Although actual personal belief in the divinity of Caesar was of
little to no importance to Roman authorities, the unwillingness of monotheists to go
through the ritual motions was taken as evidence of disloyalty to the Roman Empire.
Mystery Religions
The pagan mystery religions, named for their focus on secret knowledge
and rituals available only to initiates, met the need for personal religious
devotion that the state cult could not.
Mystery religions had become quite widespread by the time of Christ, but
their characteristics are not entirely known due to their secretive nature
and the lack of writings associated with them. What is known of the
mystery religions has primarily been deduced from artwork, remains of
temples and other archaeological discoveries.
Greek Philosophy
Especially as Christianity expanded beyond Palestine, it also came into
contact with Greek philosophy. Hellenistic thinking would become a
significant influence on Christian thought, for most of the early church
fathers were Greek-speaking Gentiles who had been trained in classical
philosophy. Like the Hellenistic Jews before them, they believed classical
philosophy to be compatible with the ancient teachings of Semitic
monotheism, and even more with the teachings of Christianity.
Hey guys you should go on to talk about how it impacted the political
settings throughout time and relate it to the common age.
While ur talking about the previous years explain the rise in political power
was the church and how that affected the politcal settings of rising cultures
and laws.
When your talking about todays point of view on religion and politics;
For example use the fact that religious beliefs and christians restrict gay
marriage today and their opposition to IVF, abortion and a lot of other
matters that have been restricted or abolished..
Good luck  hopefully I’m there to help present 