Military To Being Pro Christianity example essay topic

The most influential event in history is the fall of Rome, more specifically was the introduction of Christianity. The Roman people's values changed from being conquer all and take over the world to bring peace and prosperity to the world without violence. Since everyone was following Christianity and it said to turn the other cheek if someone hits you in the face, no one wanted to fight for the military because they wanted to follow the teachings of Christianity. The money once used for military and economics was being used for churches and spreading Christianity.

The last is that the Christian emperors were too harsh in their interpretations of Christianity. If someone disagreed with them on the Bible, they would be killed because they weren't a true Christian. Before Christianity was introduced to Rome, the Roman values were honor and duty. Fight for Rome and Die for Rome.

Once Christianity was introduced all these were shoved under the rug and forgot about. No one wanted to fight anymore, and in turn the military strength went into a decline and lost the grandeur it once had. Since Rome has lost its military power, it opened new doors for the barbarians to invade Rome. They learned the techniques the Romans used and when they felt they knew enough, they left the army and went back home.

They taught these techniques to their own soldiers. Now the barbarians know the secrets of the Roman military. Every weakness is exploited and open for attack. The barbarian tribes took advantage of this and attacked Rome. The Romans were so deeply involved with Christianity that they forgot about their enemies or at least figured since they were Romans, they could defeat them any day they wanted. Once they finally came to fight, the Romans were no where near prepared.

Whereas, the barbarians were well prepared because the Romans brought them in to have them fight for them when no one would join the military. The barbarians stayed just long enough to learn the techniques and weaknesses of the military. After this they came and fought the Romans for control of Italy and the Roman Empire. They beat the Romans easily took over the government in the middle of the 3rd Century to the start of the 4th century. The money once used for military campaigns and equipping the army was now used for charity and devotion. Because Constantine was a Christian, everyone tried to take advantage of him, since Christians were to be fair to all.

Constantine granted the Christian clergy special privileges: he allowed people to will their property to the Church. He exempted the clergy from taxes, from military service and forced labor. The tax exemptions for the Christian clergy were followed by a number of wealthy men rushing to join the clergy. The rich men would do this for two reasons. One, to get tax exemptions so they can retain their wealth and not have to pay for any more than they have to and two because they are fearful of joining the military. Since not all these new clergies have to join the military, there is no one left to join but the peasants and farmers.

If they join, they can't afford to buy all the equipment to fight or to even travel with the military. If all the farmers are forced to join and all there is left are the wealthy clergyman who don't have to do anything but be devoted to Christianity, there will be a food shortage that can't supply the city let alone a military. Constantine also gave a great deal of money to the Christians so they could build beautiful churches. The money allowed Christians to build magnificent churches throughout the empire to spread the Word. The church and the state were distracted by religious party. The emperor's focus turned from military to being pro-Christianity.

Although designed to renew the religion of the empire, this proclamation placed a special burden on Christians who refused to partake in the sacrificial ritual. (Chidester, 87) If the people refused, the emperors would have them killed. An example is when Constantine, the first Roman Emperor to become a Christian, had over 3000 Christians executed because their interpretation of the Bible did not agree with his. Another is when Charlemagne, a devout Christian, after conquering the Saxon rebels, gave them a choice between baptism and execution. When they refused to convert, he had 4500 of them beheaded in one morning.

The Saxons could have benefited the Empire by adding soldiers and farmers to increase the military and the economy of Rome. However, since they refused to partake in sacrificial worships, he killed them all. When an emperor died or was thrown out of power and his successor wasn't Christian, this created problems with the people and the military. If the generals disagreed with what the emperor was doing or how he was ruling, he would kill the emperor and he would take charge of the empire or he would find someone to rule that had the same beliefs he had. At one time, there were 12 emperors in 36 years.

This shows how unstable the ruling was when the empire was in decline and couldn't find a balance. They turned to Christianity for stability because of its strict moral code and laws. It appealed to the Romans because it appealed to the poor because it promised a better life after people died. Poor and mistreated people were attracted to a faith that taught that all people were equal. The founder of Christianity was an actual person whose life could be easily understood.

Many Christians were persecuted, but the faith and courage of the mistreated Christians inspired loyalty in Roman citizens. Since the Roman religion did not provide a moral base or message of hope and Christianity did, this was even more of a confirmation that Christianity was the way to go. In earlier times when Christianity was first introduced the Greco-Roman paganism perspective was that the Christians were exposed atheists in relation to the gods and traitors to the political order of the Roman Empire. (Chidester, 87) By the end of the fourth century, the Christian religion had achieved unprecedented power in the Roman Empire. (Chidester, 141) Christianity now had an influence on almost every aspect of a Roman's life. They are fully involved in the devotions and teachings of Jesus Christ and God.

But there was a man named Diocletian, who didn't want Christianity to go any farther because he felt that the arguments of Caesar Galerius were legit, he wanted restoration and preservation of the traditional Roman order, so he ordered suppression on the Christians. This was called the "Great Persecution", it was the most serious of them all, but had little success because Christianity was already too established. They had 8-10 percent of the population following them. (Novak, 141) In conclusion, the Empire of Rome fell because of the rise of Christianity. The Romans spent their money on Godly possessions rather than earthly or war possessions.

They spent money on building beautiful architectural structures where they could worship God rather than spending money to build more roads, a bigger aqueduct, or more money for the wars in Eastern Europe. The last is the rulers were very strict on their interpretations and if you didn't agree then you would be put to death. This is very controversial because if someone was a great warrior or even Senator, then you would still be put to death and then the military or Senate would lose a good man because of interpretations of different people.