Introduction
Introduction
At some point around AD 60, the Roman authorities woke up to the fact that there seemed to be a new secret society in the heart of their city, which was rapidly gaining recruits. They had not the slightest idea what it was all about, but it seemed to involve some mysterious and dark figure called Chrestus or Christus (Latinized form of the ancient Greek word Christos, “anointed”) as the cause of all the trouble. His origins lay in one of the more obscure and backward parts of the Roman empire. But who was he? And what was this new religion all about? Was it something they should be worried about, or could they safely ignore it?
It soon became clear that this new religion might have the potential to cause real trouble. The great fire that swept through Rome at the time of the Emperor Nero in AD 64 was conveniently blamed on this new religious group. Nobody liked them much, and they were an obvious scapegoat for the failings of the Roman authorities to deal with the fire and its aftermath. The Roman historian Tacitus (c. 56–c. 117) gave a full account of this event some fifty years after the fire. He identified this new religious group as “the Christians,” a group that took its name from someone called “Christus,” who had been executed by Pontius Pilate back in the reign of Tiberius. This “pernicious superstition” had found its way to Rome, where it had gained a huge following. It is clear that Tacitus understands the word “Christian” to be a term of abuse.
Yet, muddled and confused though the official Roman accounts of this movement may be, they were clear that the movement centered in some way on that figure called Christus. It was not regarded as being of any permanent significance, being seen as something of a minor irritation. At worst, it was a threat to the cult of the emperor (or emperor worship). Yet, three hundred years later, this new religion had become the official religion of the Roman empire.
So what was this new religion? What did it teach? Where did it come from? Why was it so attractive? How did it come to be so influential in its first few centuries? What happened after it had achieved such success at Rome? And how has it shaped the lives of individuals and the history of the human race? It is these questions that the present book will begin to answer.
So where do we start? What is the most helpful entry point to a study of Christianity? Looking at Christian beliefs? Exploring the history of the church? Surveying Christian art? In the end, the best place to begin is the historical event that got all of these under way. It is impossible to think or talk about any aspect of the Christian faith without talking about Jesus of Nazareth. He is the center from which every aspect of the Christian faith radiates outward. We therefore turn immediately to Jesus and his significance for Christianity, to begin our exploration there.