Category Archives: History

The Spread of Christianity and Early Christian Writings 

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Eastern Orthodox Icon of the Stoning of St. Stephen.

Following the earthly time of Jesus, Christianity first spread around the Jewish lands. The Jewish religious leaders intensely persecuted Christians, including Stephen, a deacon in Judea. After confessing his faith, Stephen was stoned to death by the Jews, including Saul of Tarsus, who would become a Christian apostle. 

Saul later traveled to the Syrian city of Damascus to arrest Christians. While Saul was on the road, he saw a vision of Jesus Christ, who told him to stop fighting Christianity and to go to Damascus and join the Christian movement there. Saul changed his name to Paul and was converted to Christianity, going on to teach that the Christian message was not only intended for Jews. Additionally, Paul preached that the Law of Moses did not need to be followed anymore because it had already been fulfilled by Christ. Paul traveled more than 13,000 miles until he was beheaded in Rome because of his faith. 

The emperor Nero was one of the first rulers of Rome to start an empire-wide persecution of Christians, who he blamed for the suffering during his reign. The emperors Domitian and Diocletian also fervently fought against the Christian faith. 

Bust of the Emperor Nero.

During the 3rd Century, many Romans in the cities stopped practicing the traditional pagan religion, which was still only widely followed in the countryside. Christianity was not officially outlawed until 250, after the reign of Nero. During a three-year span under the emperor Diocleitan known as the “Great Persecution,” thousands of Christians were tortured and killed for their faith. At the Battle of Milvian Bridge in 312, the emperor Constantine was converted to Christianity after seeing a vision of a cross in the sky. Constantine later legalized Christianity by the Edict of Milan in 313. 

Didache wrote down the teachings of the Twelve Apostles. These works weren’t rediscovered until 1873. Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, and Polycarp were notable Christian writers. All were martyred in 107. The Apologists were a group of Christians who defended the Church against heresy and persecution with logic and reason. 

Since the Empire had become Christian, bishops of the Church started having power over the emperor. Theodosius, the emperor after Constantine, was not allowed into the Church by Bishop Ambrose because he slaughtered 3,000 rebels who had already surrendered. 

Before the 11th Century, all of the main Bishops were first among equals, until the Western Church tried to get more power for the Bishop of Rome. This caused the Great Schism in 1054 between the Western Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. 

Aeschylus, The Libation Bearers

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Orestes pursued by the Erinyes (or Furies) for revenging the death of his father Agamemnon by killing his mother Clytemnestra). From “Mythology of ...
Orestes being tormented by the “furies” after avenging his father’s death.

The Greek poet and playwright Aeschylus wrote “The Libation Bearers” as a sequel to “Agamemnon”. Its name comes from the ancient Greek religious practice of Libation, which is a basic showing of piety that you do often to appease the gods and dead humans. In the story, the dead were not being appeased because libations were not offered. Differing from “Agamemnon”, the chorus is made up of captured Trojan slaves who converted to Greek religion. 

In this play Zeus is once again in charge, yet seems to always be in the background instead of making every decision. Still, everyone praises Zeus since this was basic to Greek thought. The god Apollo is the most important of the Olympians in this play. Orestes, Agamemnon’s son, promises Apollo that he will kill his father’s murderers, but Apollo has to validate the legitimacy of this oath. He eventually does at the conclusion. There is another set of gods called the “furies” or “hounds.” They are gods of retribution and avenge people who have been murdered. Described as being relentless in their revenge, they are feared by the characters. 

One of the other vital Olympian gods in “The Libation Bearers” is Hermes who is a messenger of Zeus to the underground gods. He is known as a trickster and will sometimes change Zeus’ message to get what he wants. There are gods of the “hearth” who provide the well-being and success of each individual family, and they are the ones that must be offered Libations. Fate, time, fear, and justice are described as invisible forces or gods themselves. Like in “Agamemnon”, bloodshed is dealt with by more bloodshed; justice is constant and merciless. Fate is a large part of the story; the outcome of men’s actions depend on it. The succession of Agamemnon’s family is unclear and we don’t know if Orestes becomes the ruler, but in the end, Orestes kills his father’s murderers fulfilling the oath. 

Ethics and Imagery in Biblical Literature

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Depiction of King Solomon.

In the Bible, there are several focuses. However, they all ultimately fall under the umbrella of ethics. Time and time again, the book of Proverbs states that ethics is not only the answer to the issues of life, but also that an ethical person will acquire wisdom. 

The words of God are pure and never unethical. All power of earthly rulers is given to them from God. “By me princes rule, and nobles, even all the judges of the earth.” A king should avoid liquor or drinking and only marry a virtuous woman. She is a treasure, for she never stops serving others. 

Obviously, wisdom is vital throughout the Bible, partly because wisdom and ethics are intertwined. Those who hate wisdom love death. Wisdom speaks plainly, is the source of all wealth, foundation of civil rulership, and was the basis of creation. Solomon suggests constantly throughout Proverbs that wisdom is necessary beyond any earthly thing or pleasure. Drawing connections between wisdom and ethics is simple: a wise person will always choose the ethical choice and vice versa. Other themes in Proverbs include the self-destructive nature of adultery and fornication, and how the Lord ought to be feared. 

Proverbs contains heaps of powerful imagery. Many are metaphors for wisdom, which is described as “marrow to one’s bones,” “more precious than rubies,” and “the tree of life.” In contrast when describing those who hate wisdom, it says that they will be “swallowed by the graves,” “destruction will come upon them like a whirlwind,” “their ways are the ways of darkness,” “wisdom cries in the streets for them because they have become the bread of wickedness and the wine of violence.”

Proverbs, and the Bible in general, overwhelmingly deals with matters of ethics. Solomon continuously states that those who follow God’s laws and are ethical will be saved, but evil is suicidal to those who hate wisdom and goodness.