Running head: ESSAY 2
1
Essay 2
Liberty University
ESSAY 2
2
Essay 2
In the Roman culture, almost all religions were tolerated, however Christianity was
persecuted. One of several reasons for the persecution of Christianity by the Romans, was
because Roman society was built on the premise of Gods in which were self-created. These Gods
were simply bigger humans, or “amplified humanity” as Schaeffer states, as opposed to Gods of
divinity. They were not very different than you and me, therefore not giving them a sufficient
base for their life or morals. Although, Christians were not persecuted solely for the worship of a
different God, as there were many other religions practiced during this time in Rome. Christians
were different due to their sole worship of one God and no other man, including the emperor.
This made the Christian religion unique and a target for persecution by the Romans. The act by
Christians to worship only their God and to not worship the emperor was seen as a threat to the
empire and punished as treason.
Citizens of Rome worshiped both the spirit of the city as well as the genius of the emperor.
The act of Christian worship in Rome not only stood against the other religions of the time, but
also against the entire culture which has been built on those other religions. Christians had the
Bible, by which both the actions of people as well as the state could be judged. Rome, being a
totalitarian culture did not tolerate a group within them who has an absolute by which to judge
the culture’s actions. (327)
References
Schaeffer, F. A. (2005). How should we then live?: The rise and decline of western thought and
culture. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
