Early European History Part 44

MITHRA

Perhaps the most remarkable of the Asiatic religions was Mithraism. Mithra first appears as a Persian sun G.o.d, the leader of Ahuramazda's hosts in the ceaseless struggle against the forces of darkness and evil. [15] As a G.o.d of light Mithra was also a G.o.d of truth and purity. His worship, spreading over the length and breadth of the Roman Empire, became the n.o.blest of all pagan faiths. Men saw in Mithra a Lord and Giver of Life, who protected the weak and miserable, cleansed the sinner, conquered death, and procured for his faithful followers the crown of immortality.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A MITHRAIC MONUMENT A bas relief discovered in 1838 A.D. in a cave near Heidelberg, Germany.

The central group represents Mithra slaying the bull. The smaller reliefs show scenes from the life of Mithra, including his birth from the rock and his ascent to Ahuramazda.]

THE WORSHIP OF MITHRA

The Mithraic worship took the form of a mystery with seven grades, or degrees, through which candidates pa.s.sed by ordeals of initiation. The rites included a kind of baptism with holy water, a sacrificial meal of bread and wine, and daily litanies to the sun. Mithra was represented as a youthful hero miraculously born from a rock at the dawn of day; for this reason his worship was always conducted underground in natural or artificial caves, or in cellars. At the back of one of these subterranean temples would be often a picture of Mithra slaying a bull, and an inscription: "To the Unconquerable Sun, to Mithra." [16]

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ORIENTAL RELIGIONS

The new Oriental religions all appealed to the emotions. They helped to satisfy the spiritual wants of men and women, by dwelling on the need of purification from sin and by holding forth the prospect of a happier life beyond the tomb. It is not strange, therefore, that they penetrated every province of the Roman Empire and flourished as late as the fourth century of our era. Christianity had no more dangerous antagonists than the followers of Mithra and other eastern divinities.

78. RISE AND SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY

CHRISTIANITY AMONG THE JEWS

Christianity rose among the Jews, for Jesus was a Jew and his disciples were Jews. At the time of the death of Jesus [17] his immediate followers numbered scarcely a Christianity hundred persons. The catastrophe of the crucifixion struck them with sorrow and dismay. When, however, the disciples came to believe in the resurrection of their master, a wonderful impetus was given to the growth of the new religion. They now a.s.serted that Jesus was the true Messiah, or Christ, who by rising from the dead had sealed the truth of his teachings. For several years after the crucifixion, the disciples remained at Jerusalem, preaching and making converts. The new doctrines met so much opposition on the part of Jewish leaders in the capital city that the followers of Jesus withdrew to Samaria, Damascus, and Antioch. In all these places there were large Jewish communities, among whom Peter and his fellow apostles labored zealously.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Map, PALESTINE IN THE TIME OF CHRIST]

[Ill.u.s.tration: MODERN JERUSALEM AND THE MOUNT OF OLIVES]

MISSIONARY LABORS OF PAUL

Up to this time the new faith had been spread only among the Jews. The first Christians did not neglect to keep up all the customs of the Jewish religion. It was even doubted for a while whether any but Jews could properly be allowed within the Christian fold. A new convert, Saul of Tarsus, afterwards the Apostle Paul, did most to admit the Gentiles, or pagans, to the privileges of the new religion. Though born a Jew, Paul had been trained in the schools of Tarsus, a city of Asia Minor which was a great center of Greek learning. He possessed a knowledge of Greek philosophy, and particularly of Stoicism. This broad education helped to make him an acceptable missionary to Greek-speaking peoples. During more than thirty years of unceasing activity Paul established churches in Asia Minor, Greece, Macedonia, and Italy. To many of these churches he wrote the letters (epistles), which have found a place in the New Testament. So large a part of the doctrines of Christianity has been derived from Paul's writings that we may well speak of him as the second founder of the Christian faith.

[Ill.u.s.tration: MADONNA AND CHILD The earliest known representation of Mary and the infant Jesus. The prophet Isaiah is shown pointing to the new star. The picture dates from about 200 A.D. and comes from the catacombs of St. Priscilla.]

CHRISTIANITY AMONG THE GENTILES

Christianity advanced with marvelous rapidity over the Roman world. At the close of the first century there were Christians everywhere in Asia Minor.

The second century saw the establishment of flourishing churches in almost every province of the empire. A hundred years later there were missionaries along the Rhine, on the Danube frontier, and in distant Britain. "We are but of yesterday," says a Christian writer, with pardonable exaggeration, "yet we have filled all your places of resort-- cities, islands, fortresses, towns, markets, the camp itself, the tribes, town councils, the palace, the senate, and the forum, We have left to you only the temples of your G.o.ds." [18]

CONDITIONS FAVORING THE SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY

Certain circ.u.mstances contributed to the success of this gigantic missionary enterprise. Alexander's conquests in the East and those of Rome in the West had done much to remove the barriers to intercourse between nations. The spread of Greek and Latin as the common languages of the Mediterranean world furnished a medium in which Christian speakers and writers could be easily understood. The scattering of the Jews after the destruction of Jerusalem [19] provided the Christians with an audience in many cities of the empire. The early missionaries, such as Paul himself, were often Roman citizens who enjoyed the protection of the Roman law and profited by the ease of travel which the imperial rule had made possible.

At no other period in ancient history were conditions so favorable for the rapid spread of a new religion.

ORGANIZATION OF EARLY CHRISTIANITY

While Christianity was conquering the world, the believers in its doctrines were grouping themselves into communities or churches. Every city had a congregation of Christian worshipers. [20] They met, not in synagogues as did the Jews, but in private houses, where they sang hymns, listened to readings from the Holy Scriptures, and partook of a sacrificial meal in memory of the last supper of Jesus with his disciples.

Certain officers called presbyters, [21] or elders, were chosen to conduct the services and instruct the converts. The chief presbyter received the name of "overseer," or bishop. [22] Each church had also one or more deacons, who visited the sick and relieved the wants of the poor. Every Christian community thus formed a little brotherhood of earnest men and women, united by common beliefs and common hopes.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CHRIST, THE GOOD SHEPHERD (Imperial Museum, Constantinople) This quaint, rude figure, found in an early Christian tomb in Asia Minor, dates probably from the beginning of the third century. It is the oldest known statue of Christ. He wears the coa.r.s.e garb of an Oriental peasant; his countenance is gentle and thoughtful; on his broad shoulders rests a lamb.]

79. THE PERSECUTIONS

HOSTILITY TOWARD THE CHRISTIANS

The new religion from the start met popular disapproval. The early Christians, who tried to keep themselves free from idolatry, were regarded as very unsociable persons. They never appeared at public feasts and entertainments. They would not join in the amus.e.m.e.nts of the circus or the amphitheater. They refused to send their children to the schools. The ordinary citizen could not understand such people. It is not surprising, therefore, that they gained the evil name of "haters of mankind."

SUPERSt.i.tIOUS FEAR OF THE CHRISTIANS

If the mult.i.tude despised the Christians, they sometimes feared them as well. Strange stories circulated about the secret meetings of the Christians, who at their sacrificial meal were declared to feast on children. The Christians, too, were often looked upon as magicians who caused all sorts of disasters. It was not difficult to excite the vicious crowds of the larger cities to riots and disorders, in which many followers of the new religion lost their lives.

ANTAGONISM OF THE ROMAN GOVERNMENT

Such outbursts of mob hatred were only occasional. There would have been no organized, persistent attack, if the imperial government had not taken a hand. Rome, which had treated so many other foreign faiths with careless indifference or even with favor, which had tolerated the Jews and granted to them special privileges of worship, made a deliberate effort to crush Christianity.

ATt.i.tUDE OF THE CHRISTIANS TOWARD PAGANISM

Rome entered on the persecutions because it saw in Christianity that which threatened its own existence. The Christians declined to support the state religion; they even condemned it unsparingly as sinful and idolatrous. The Christians, moreover, would not worship the _genius_, or guardian spirit of the emperor, and would not burn incense before his statue, which stood in every town. Such a refusal to take what was really an oath of allegiance was regarded as an act of rebellion. These feelings of hostility to the Christians were strengthened by their unwillingness to serve in the army and to swear by the pagan G.o.ds in courts of law. In short, the members of this new sect must have appeared very unruly subjects who, if allowed to become numerous enough, would endanger the security of the government.

DIOCLETIAN'S PERSECUTION, 303-311 A.D.

As early as the beginning of the second century Roman officials began to search out and punish Christians, wherever they were found. During the third century the entire power of the imperial government was directed against this outlawed sect. The persecution which began under Diocletian was the last and most severe. With some interruptions it continued for eight years. Only Gaul and Britain seem to have escaped its ravages. The government began by burning the holy books of the Christians, by destroying their churches, and by taking away their property. Members of the hated faith lost their privileges as full Roman citizens. Then sterner measures followed. The prisons were crowded with Christians. Those who refused to recant and sacrifice to the emperor were thrown to wild animals in the arena, stretched on the rack, or burned over a slow fire. Every refinement of torture was practiced. Paganism, fighting for its existence, left no means untried to root out a sect both despised and feared.

THE MARTYRS

The Christians joyfully suffered for their religion. They welcomed the torture and death which would gain for them a heavenly crown. Those who perished were called martyrs, that is, "witnesses." Even now the festal day of a martyr is the day of his death.

[Ill.u.s.tration: INTERIOR OF THE CATACOMBS The catacombs of Rome are underground cemeteries in which the Christians buried their dead. The bodies were laid in recesses in the walls of the galleries or underneath the pavement. Several tiers of galleries (in one instance as many as seven) lie one below the other. Their total length has been estimated at no less than six hundred miles. The ill.u.s.tration shows a small chamber, or cubiculum. The graves have been opened and the bodies taken away.]

80. TRIUMPH OF CHRISTIANITY

CHRISTIANITY BECOMES A TOLERATED RELIGION

Diocletian's persecution, which continued for several years after his abdication, came to an end in 311 A.D. In that year Galerius, the ruler in the East, published an edict which permitted the Christians to rebuild their churches and worship undisturbed. It remained for the emperor Constantine to take the next significant step. In 313 A.D. Constantine and his colleague, Licinius, issued the Edict of Milan, which proclaimed for the first time in history the n.o.ble principle of religious toleration. It gave absolute freedom to every man to choose and follow the religion which he deemed best suited to his needs. This edict placed the Christian faith on an equality with paganism.

CONSTANTINE'S CONVERSION

The conversion of Constantine is one of the most important events in ancient history. A Roman emperor, himself a G.o.d to the subjects of Rome, became the worshiper of a crucified provincial of his empire. Constantine favored the Christians throughput his reign. He surrounded himself with Christian bishops, freed the clergy from taxation, and spent large sums in building churches. One of his laws abolished the use of the cross as an instrument of punishment. Another enactment required that magistrates, city people, and artisans were to rest on Sunday. This was the first "Sunday law." [23]

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE LABARUM The sacred military standard of the early Christian Roman emperors. First adopted by Constantine. It consisted of a staff or lance with a purple banner on a cross-bar. The two Greek letters XP (CHR) make a monogram of the word Christ (Greek _Christos_).]

CHURCH COUNCIL AT NICAEA, 325 A.D.

Significant of the emperor's att.i.tude toward Christianity was his action in summoning all the bishops in the different provinces to a gathering at Nicaea in Asia Minor. It was the first general council of the Church. The princ.i.p.al work of the Council of Nicaea was the settlement of a great dispute which had arisen over the nature of Christ. Some theologians headed by Arius, a priest of Alexandria, maintained that Christ the Son, having been created by G.o.d the Father, was necessarily inferior to him Athanasius, another Alexandrian priest, opposed this view and held that Christ was not a created being, but was in all ways equal to G.o.d. The Council accepted the arguments of Athanasius, condemned Arius as a heretic, and framed the Nicene Creed, which is still the accepted summary of Christian doctrine. Though thrust out of the Church, Arianism lived to flourish anew among the Germanic tribes, of which the majority were converted to Christianity by Arian missionaries.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ARCH OF CONSTANTINE Erected at Rome in 315 A.D. to commemorate the victory of Constantine over Maxentius. The monument consists of a central gateway and two smaller arches flanked by detached columns in the Corinthian style. The arch is decorated with four large statues in front of the upper story and also with numerous sculptures in relief.]

CHRISTIANITY BECOMES THE STATE RELIGION UNDER THEODOSIUS, 379-395 A.D.

The recognition given to Christianity by Constantine helped immensely to spread the new faith. The emperor Theodosius, whose services to the church won him the t.i.tle of "the Great," made Christianity the state religion.