The Triumph of Christianity

How does a small backroad group of people turn into a world-dominating religion? Ancient Rome became the place where this small group would become the state religion. Not long before becoming the state religion, Christians were stoned to death, were pitted against wild animals in the Coliseum, and became martyrs quite often. Once becoming the state religion, it took over the entire Roman empire, and soon the entire world. In becoming a world force, it is clear to us that Christianity did triumph over the Roman Empire, but there are several reasons why. This change, going from hating and murdering Christians to worshipping the same God as them, happened in a few different phases. The simplicity of the beginning of Christianity begins, also, the triumph. The teachings taught by Christianity brought with them a way for Romans to live a higher law than what they had been living, thereby creating a greater diversity in Rome which allowed a “moral restart” for Roman citizens, and ensured that the needs of Roman citizens were fulfilled, as Christianity provided a haven of help for any underlying problems that citizens had.

Beginning in ancient Rome, a small movement formed among a small group of people who followed a teacher, attracting groups of people wherever he went. This man and his small band of disciples were followed as he taught, as he healed, and as he established “his Father’s” gospel. He earned a level of respect among those who followed him, unrivaled by even the greatest emperors, philosophers, and warriors of the time. Simultaneously, as he earns the respect and admiration of those who follow him, he is deemed a threat to the social order throughout the culture. Those who don’t understand him fear his power and his large following. As he enters Jerusalem, he is flooded with a Triumphal Entry. A crowd of people turns out waving palm leaves to honor the man they revere and believe is come to save them (see Figure 1). Because of the fear surrounding what may happen if he is alive, he is sentenced to death by crucifixion, a fate designed in the pre-mortal existence. This is the first stage of the overall triumph of Christianity. What begins as a small movement rapidly turns into a way of life, eventually to become a religion to dominate the rest of the world. The teachings taught by this man triumphed because they taught people a higher way of living and showed that there was a Savior. These teachings have now dominated world culture for thousands of years, and they are still around today, which shows us that they continue to triumph.

            In the 4^th century, long after Christ’s death, Emperor Constantine became possibly the most surprising hero to the Christian world. He was an extremely successful general in the Roma army, who was fighting at the time to see who would end up at the top of the Roman government. Constantine, in his strategical preparations for this fight, has a vision. In this vision, he sees the Chi Rho (see Figure 2). These are the first two letters of the Greek word for Christ, and commonly represent the crucifixion (Tulasiewicz 1). Constantine was commanded to “make a likeness of the symbol he had seen and to use it as a safeguard in all engagements with his enemies.” When Constantine had defeated his enemies, he declared Christianity as the state religion for the entire Roman Empire. This marked the end of an era where the Romans attempted to beat Christianity into submission, as they clearly recognized the rise of Christianity would mean the downfall of the Roman Empire. The addition of Christianity as the state religion also created a diverse culture. No longer was every citizen Pagan, and no longer did all Romans hold the same values. Christianity clearly triumphed over Rome for this reason as well, as there was no longer a completely united culture. This diversity helped unite Rome in a way, as there were no longer scapegoats for the Romans to use as excuses for their failure. No longer would Christians be martyrs at the Coliseum, and no longer would the Romans turn to Christians as the reason for problems. This created a “moral restart” in the Roman empire. An extreme reversal had occurred, beginning with the execution of Jesus Christ and ending with the Roman Empire worshipping the man they had crucified.

            As Romans gradually came to accept Christianity as the state religion, they soon realized that Christianity provided a solution to several issues. They became a place people could go to get married, to get education, to get protection, to ensure entry into heaven in the afterlife. In addition, if one was sick, poor, or in any type of need, Christianity had an answer for it because of the simplistic teachings that had been taught them by the Savior. As Romans realized that Christianity slowly but suddenly began to gain control over several lands in the world and believe that they have control over the fate of humanity in the next world to come, they were motivated to join the movement that was Christianity, providing a further triumph over the Roman Empire.

            In conclusion, we can see that the different phases of the rolling out of Christianity provided a means whereby it was able to triumph over the Roman empire. Because they provided a simplistic set of teachings that encouraged people to develop greater qualities, forced Rome into greater diversity, and gave citizens an answer for all the issues in life, including being the one place where people could go to find answers, they were able to overtake the Roman empire, which is a main reason that the Roman empire is no longer in existence today, but we still find Christianity all over the earth. For these reasons, it is safe to say that Christianity experienced a great triumph.

Figure 2. "Chi Rho" 123rf.org

              

Figure 1: "Triumphal Entry" lds.org

Works Cited

Bissell, Tom. “Why Did Christianity Prevail?” The New York Times, The New York Times, 13

Feb. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/02/13/books/review/bart-d-ehrman-the-triumph-of-

christianity.html.

Kosloski, Philip. “The Miraculous Story behind the Chi-Rho Symbol.” Aleteia, Aleteia, 28 July

2017, aleteia.org/2017/07/28/the-miraculous-story-behind-the-chi-rho-symbol/.

PBS, Public Broadcasting Service,

www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/why/legitimization.html.

Unmet Expectations

Nearly three weeks ago, there was a reported suicide in Orem at Timpanogos High School. After hearing about it, and while pondering the fact that this was the school I attended throughout my teenage years, the same school at which I had 5 fellow classmates commit suicide, I received a call from my father. This student turned out to be the younger brother of one of my good friends. He was from my home stake as well. I suddenly tried to flash back at what could have caused this, and tried to remember experiences where I had been around him and wondered if I had missed something. Had he been sending signals that someone should have picked up on? The night before his suicide, his brother (my friend), had been engaged to a great girl and the whole family seemed so happy, and to see that entire family go from one hundred to zero in a matter of hours was terribly sad. The more I learned about this case of suicide, the more I was able to read into the possible circumstances surrounding his suicide. When given this assignment, I tried to relate the circumstances of his suicide to those in ancient Greece and was able to make a few comparisons. Suicides in both eras consisted of people who had not, or thought they had not, met the expectations others had placed upon them. The people involved were placed into high pressure societal situations, often which were too much for them to face. A main difference that I read into the two situations is the role that social media plays into today’s suicides, when there was no social media in ancient Greece. I believe that this shows us that society sometimes sets unrealistic expectations for other people before setting personal expectations, and when these expectations go unmet by other people, they are considered to be failures.

            In Sophocles’ play Ajax, Ajax is considered the second greatest hero in all of Greece, behind Achilles. When Achilles dies, Ajax feels that he deserves the armor of Achilles. After all, he considers himself to be the greatest warrior now that Achilles is gone. When Odysseus receives Achilles’ armor however, it ruins Ajax. He goes mad, considering himself to be a complete failure. He clearly believes that he has not lived up to what others expected him to be, and this drives him mad. He states, “It is dishonourable for any man to crave a lengthy life, once he discovers the troubles he is in will never change. What joy is there for him when every day just follows on another, pulling him away or pushing him toward death?” (Sophocles Ajax). Eventually, this results in his suicide. In his opinion, committing suicide is the only way to preserve his status as a hero and to avoid bringing shame and dishonor to his family (Essential Homer). The suicide in Orem recently draws some similarities. This student was having a difficult time with his standing in the church, but was pushed by family to continue going. The more he went, however, the less comfortable he felt. Recently at school, he had been denied a spot that he previously had on the school’s drama team. Combined events sent his world crashing down, eventually to the point where he felt that the only way to preserve his life was by ending it. To avoid speculation, it is reasonable to assume that he felt he hadn’t lived up to what other people wanted him to become. He hadn’t met the expectations personally set for him.

            Similarly, the society we have formed today is very high pressure. There is high pressure to have a lot of friends, regardless of the quality of those friends. There is high pressure to receive a quality education to provide for a household. There is high pressure to be popular and depict a perfect life on social media, forcing others to believe that they are less than you are.. A recent study from Common Sense Media showed that teens spend an average of 6.5 hours on their phones in a day. It would be difficult to maintain a realistic view of the world while on a phone for nearly half the waking time of a day (NBC News). The pressure in our society is so high that it seems life isn’t even worth living if you don’t stand up to those levels of pressure. The same stood for ancient Greece. There was such high pressure for men to be successful, honored warriors. When they lost their shields in battle, it was considered one of the highest offenses, and led to dishonor for life. If a man lost his shield, he may as well never come home. In fact, Spartan women told their husbands they would either come home “with their shield or on it.” When a Greek man could not live up to the expectations set upon him, he was shunned by the community around him. This led to many suicides, seen as a life without honor was a life not worth living. The women had such high pressure to have a good family line with the men they married. If their husband died in battle, or they were left abandoned, they were sometimes considered useless, which led to the suicides of many women (Diotima). One main difference between then and now is the role social media plays in modern day suicides. Today it is far easier to look around and see everyone else living perfect lives because of the way people depict themselves online and on social media. I personally have often looked at the lives of my followers and thought, ‘My life isn’t nearly as good as theirs.’ According to the same study from Common Sense Media, such thoughts and time spent on social media promote development of poor communication skills, and poor coping skills. Nobody wants to show the problems they are having in front of such a large group of people like the entire internet, although everyone occasionally deals with problems and disappointments. It is beginning to become easier for people to determine that their lives are not worth living, when it is important that we recognize that each human life has a place in our community.

            In short, the rate of suicides in our community, and comparing them to those of the ancient Greece community show us that we have a long way to go when it comes to shaping a society that people thoroughly enjoy living in. I find it important for us to create a society where everyone decides what they should be and what they expect of themselves. It’s time to incorporate a society where we focus on our own personal expectations rather than expecting more out of everyone around us. Suicide is just as much a problem today, if not more, as it was in ancient Greece, and above outlined are clearly several steps that can be taken to improve the quality of life we offer in our communities. We can reduce pressure on the individual and place responsibility on the community to look out for one another. We can put more of our real personal lives out on social media, including the hard times and the bad things, rather than just the good things that happen to us. As we do this, we will notice that suicides will go down as each person can live with honor without feeling like a failure compared to the people around them.

Master of Sports
-Throughout my life, I have been a sports fanatic. I am a huge fan of the Boston Red Sox, the Green Bay Packers, and the Utah Jazz. It is rare for me to be found not playing sports in my spare time, especially basketball and golf. I played baseball while in high school, and have learned to love pretty much any sport I have tried. I recently got into tennis after marrying a tennis fanatic, and have lots of fun playing, although she beats me every time!

Uncle Sam
-I love spending time with young kids and seeing how they interact with the world around them. It is for this reason that I want to become a pediatrician. I recently married into a family where I suddenly had 5 nephews and 2 nieces. They immediately took to loving me and playing all the time with me. Anyone who truly knows me understands how good I am with kids.

Doctor Sam
-I have a growing and developing fascination with the medical world and the scientific world behind the medical world. It started in high school, and has grown nearly daily since then. I had experiences with orthopedic surgeons in my high school athletic experience which led me to desire a physician's degree. That desire has only developed in my Physiology and Developmental Biology degree at BYU.

Sam the Studyer
-When not at work or out with my wife, I can often be found with my head in books and knee-deep in research. Since I joined my research lab in the life sciences, I've found a mechanism by which progression in Parkinson's disease can be limited and eventually halted, and hope to have further findings in that project.