Roman society worked by everyone submitting to the emperor and sacrificing to the gods. That these Christians would not accept societal norms must have been infuriating for many romans, and is the starting point of their hatred towards the Christians. The roman religion which saw seeing forgiveness as performing a set of rituals had no interest in some morality or a set of dos and don’ts, which the Christians lived by. This was considered to be the realm of philosophy. There was no great concern for the afterlife here, and Polytheism with its acceptance of an unlimited number of gods meant that the society that practiced it was adaptable to change.
The rise of Christianity would have been a festering wound to the Senate that just wouldn’t go away but that they couldn’t ignore. To conclude, the rise of Christianity contributed the destruction of the Roman Empire by undermining the Roman Senate. Jesus of Nazareth and his follower’s beliefs contradicted the common Roman law and caused a rift in the Empire. Although by no stretch was this the sole cause of the declination of
The rise of Christianity would have been a festering wound to the Senate that just wouldn’t go away but that they couldn’t ignore. To conclude, the rise of Christianity contributed the destruction of the Roman Empire by undermining the Roman Senate. Jesus of Nazareth and his follower’s beliefs contradicted the common Roman law and caused a rift in the Empire. Although by no stretch was this the sole cause of the declination of
Another thing that the Church was often criticized for was the lack of separation between Church and State. In all matters, whether they be religious or political, the Church, mainly the Pope, was the ultimate authority. The Protestants also had a problem with the idea of transubstantiation, or the belief that the bread and wine served at mass are literally the flesh and blood of Christ. The use of Latin in mass was also frowned upon, because no one could understand what the priest was saying. Clerical celibacy yet another thing that the Protestants didn’t like, and because of this, both Luther and Calvin were wedded.
Was the League of Nations a failure? The League of Nations is thought to be a failure by many, because of hard irony and limitation on military might. The League accomplished very little in stopping wars and conflicts while having very little power. Often they just shook fists at ruthless, evil dictators such as Germany’s Adolf Hitler and his conquests, without intervening. Another Major flaw was that “the country, whose president, Woodrow Wilson, had dreamt up the idea of the League - America -, refused to join it.” The league’s most powerful militaries Britain and France not only suffered casualties, but also economically as they were greatly in debt to the United States.
Now the scribes who were the Pharisees despised Jesus because of His many miracles as they believed that only by Gods ‘Will’ could this be done, but Jesus was aware of the way that they were thinking and doubting His actions. They were then quickly silenced by the paralytic getting up and walking as it left everyone without words. It is then that Jesus shows the Pharisees that He was the Son of Man and His purpose was to save the lost and not the found. Mark was written roughly around the AD 60 - AD 70 period which many Christians are certain of the fact that it was the first Gospel to be written after the death of Jesus about thirty years after these happenings. The author is one of two possibilities, Mark, the twelve disciple who wrote it himself, or a fellow Jew, John Mark who appeared further on in the Bible around the times of Peter, Paul and Barnabas who could have been a family member of John Mark as it states in [Col 4:10] and is also fairly prominent in Acts e.g.
Pi looks down upon agnostics because “[they don’t] know which way is up” (Martel, 5) However, this is ironic because Pi himself is confused about his own religion. He believes in God but he can’t choose between which religion he wants to worship: “I was practising Hindu, Christian, and Muslim.” (Martel, 71) Pi’s religion is very important to him. However, he is not against Atheists, because they have a set belief. “Whereas the agnostic[s], if he stays true to his reasonable self, if he stays beholden to dry, yeastless factuality… to the very end, lack imagination and miss the better story.” (Martel, 70) This shows that Pi is angered by the lack of imagine and how agnostics are content without finding answers and they look for reason. Therefore he believes that doubt should exist, but should be momentary, to be replaced by a decision.
Robin Williams has been speculated to be an atheist, although his family was religious. Williams has always used God in many of his jokes; as a result many religions became upset because they did not hold the same belief as him. As I was researching I came across an article titled “Christians report Robin Williams is in hell,” I mention this to give an idea of how strongly the Christian (or many other religions) were against his own religion, his suicide, and his sense of humor. This article was filled with comments of Christians verbally attacking Williams; this (Christian) society had neglected him. His own values were not in agreeance with a majority of the society; therefore he belonged to the small part of atheist in the U.S. (compared to Protestants and Catholics) and was detached from a immense part of
The Romans also believed that when they angered or disobeyed the gods they would be punished severely. Their religion was not like Christianity where one loves and trusts a single God. The Roman religion was both personal and public. It was composed of many elements, and showed a large variety of cults and observances (Bassette). A Roman did not have to worship gods if he didn't want to, but he might anger his fellow citizens by not agreeing with them.
The word Atheism is actually a Greek term meaning “without Gods”. Most Atheists believe there is not enough empirical evidence to constitute an existence of God. There are many atheists who live ethical lives and have high moral principles, but because they reject the idea of there being a God they are looked at as being bad people. There are some who actually believe that atheists are incapable of having a coherent system of morality because they don’t possess religion. There’s even a term coined “moralistic atheists”.