Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

Aridius t1_iz67xex wrote

Christianity became the official religion of Rome after Constantine saw the Chi Rho in a vision before the Battle of Milvian Bridge.

Before that, it was a widely persecuted cult, and wasn’t even considered a religion by contemporary Romans. The thinking at that time was that religions belonged to different ethnic groups/nations; since Christianity was open to all individuals, it was seen as a cult, like that of Mithra.

Christianity was persecuted because 1. It’s always nice to have a scapegoat and 2. Christians wouldn’t offer burnt offerings to the health of the emperor. In contrast, the Jews in the empire would do so on behalf of hashem, but Christians were not permitted burnt offerings by their beliefs. Not burning an offering for the emperor was seen as treason. Roman religion was much more intertwined into its politics than any modern system.

27

CalvinSays t1_iz6p146 wrote

Not exactly right. Christianity became tolerated with the Edict of Milan in 313 and certainly became the politically favored religion with the conversion of Constantine but it did not become the official religion of the Roman Empire until Theodosius I declared it it in 380.

25

Rusty1799 t1_iz7d5r0 wrote

The battle of the Milvian Bridge where Constantine used chi ro happened in 312

−5

CalvinSays t1_iz7gds1 wrote

Yes. That doesn't contradict anything I said.

9