Setting%20the%20Stage:%20Religion%20in%20Rome

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Setting the Stage Religion in Rome

• The worship of Roman ______ was impersonal,
  practiced without a
• great deal of _________. Priests used sacred
  ____________
• to intercede on behalf of worshippers.

• The religion ______________, was born in
  _________ times as a movement (or sect) within
  ________, emphasized the personal
  relationship between _____ and people.

• It would attract many Romans seeking
  ___________ during __________ times in the
  Roman Empires latter 3 ______________.

During those difficult ________, this new
________ would spread like ________________!
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Setting the Stage Jews Come Under Roman Rule

• Roman power spread to ______, the homeland of
  the _________,
• around _____ B.C. when Judea became a province
  of _________.

• There were many Jewish resistors fighting
• against ________ occupation particularly
• violent and militant were the __________.

• Jewish ___________ were allowed to rule as
• representatives of _________. Some Jews
• allied with the Romans and accepted their
• plans to _____________ Jerusalem
• - Jerusalem was the Jewish ________ city.

• The ruler _____, in Jesus day, for example,
• was a Romanized Jew.

• His loyalties were ________ between ________
  and the Jewish ________, but he ruled with an
  iron hand and ___________ many Jews.

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Setting the Stage Jews Come Under Roman Rule

• Jewish ______________ against Roman occupation
  was strong and
• a constant nuisance to the Romans.
• The ___________ were a militant group of Jews
  
• who wished to ____ their homeland
• of Roman _______________.
• Many devout Jews believed that
• the __________, or Savior sent by _____,
• would be coming soon to ___________ them
• from this Western Empire
• that was defiling their ___________________.
• According to their Biblical tradition,
• God had promised such a Messiah would
• come to _______ the ___________ of the
• Jews.

Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a
sign Behold, a Virgin shall conceive, and bear a
Son, and shall call his name Immanuel, which
means God is with us. (Isaiah 714)
PP Design of T. Loessin Akins H.S.
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Jesus of Nazareth

• He was a _____. Became a rabbi, or
  _______________, at 30.
• During his 3 year ministry, he
• Preached a message emphasizing a personal
  _________________ to God
• Did ______________
• Purportedly performed _______________
• Gained a large _____________ because his message
  appealed to the _________ and outcasts in Roman
  society
• Gathered around him 12 special ____________, or
  students.
• Many began to suspect he was the long-awaited
  ___________ (savior).
• His ideas contained __________ teachings
  ___________, emphasized the __________________
  and other ethical guidelines to living ones
  life.
• Jesus sought to __________ the Judaism of his day
  - which he believed to be too legalistic - he
  never indicated a desire to ______________________
  __________.

6 B.C. 30 A.D.
Blessed are the poor, for they shall inherit
the earth
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• Jesus growing popularity _____________ both
  Roman and Jewish leaders.
• They said his teachings were _____________, or
  contempt for ______.
• In a day when Roman Caesars were demanding
  emperor-worship, Jesus message appealed to
  ____________ in the cities to which he traveled
  and spoke.
• Those in power were _____________ the type of
  discontented crowds Jesus _______________ might
  be easily incited to mob behavior or
  _____________leading to a brutal response from
  Rome.
• For this reason, it was believed he needed to be
  ________________.

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Pontius Pilate

• Pontius Pilate was the Roman __________ to whom
  ________ was brought and accused of
  _______________.
• Pontius Pilate, after questioning Jesus, decided
  that, indeed, Jesus was challenging the
  ____________ of Rome.
• Pilate sentenced Jesus to _____________ a form
  of capital punishment in Roman times where an
  individual was nailed to a cross.
• After Jesus death his _____ was removed from the
  cross and placed in a _________.

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• According to the Gospels, _____ days later his
  body was
• ________, and rumors spread that a _____________
  Jesus
• was _____________ to his followers.
• Today, Christians believe he was resurrected
  or,
• ______________________________.
• The apostles were more than ever convinced that
  __________
• was the ______________.
• ______________ is the Greek word meaning
  Messiah
• or savior.
• So, they began to call him Jesus _________
• The name ______________________ was derived
  from this Greek title given to Jesus.
• The ______ on which Jesus had been crucified
  became a _________ of this new religious sect as
  well as the sign of the _________.

PP Design of T. Loessin Akins H.S.
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REASONS FOR CHRISTIANITYS WIDE APPEAL

• Embraced all _____________ (universal)
• Men, women, and slaves, the poor, and
  nobles.
• Gave ___________ to the powerless.
• Appealed to those who were repelled by the
  extravagances of ____________________________.
• Offered a personal _____________ with a
  ____________ God.
• Promised a ______ after _________ a promise
  that gave much ___________ to those living under
  ____________ circumstances in Rome at the time

PP Design of T. Loessin Akins H.S.
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Jewish Rebellion

• In 66 A.D., a band of Zealots ___________ against
  Rome.
• In 70 A.D., the Romans stormed _________ and
  destroyed the __________ complex.
• All that remained was a western portion of the
  _____, which today is the holiest Jewish shrine.
• The Jewish fortress near Masada held out until 73
  A.D.
• About a ____________ Jews were killed in the
  course of this rebellion.
• Most Jews were driven from their homeland into
  _________.
• This dispersal of the Jews is called the
  _______________.

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Persecution of the Christians

• ___________ also posed a problem for Roman rulers
  because Christians __________ to worship Roman
  gods.
• This refusal was seen as opposition to Roman
  _________.
• In A.D. 64, for example, when the emperor ______
  was blamed for a disastrous ______ in Rome, he
  said ______________ were responsible and ordered
  them to be persecuted.
• Both the apostles Peter and Paul were put to
  __________ in Rome some time after A.D. 60.

Emperor Nero
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Persecution of the Christians

• Thousands were ________, burned, or killed by
  wild animals in the circus _________.
• Other Christians and even some non-Christians
  regarded persecuted Christians as _________.
• Martyrs were people willing to sacrifice their
  ___________ for the sake of a ________ or a
  _________.
• Despite persecution, Christianity became a
  powerful __________________.
• By the late third century A.D., there were
  millions of __________ in the Roman ____________.

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CHURCH HIERARCHY
Pope
Archbishop
Bishops
Priests
Lay people (Laity)
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Constantine Accepts Christianity

• The Roman emperor _________________ was fighting
  three rivals for his title.
• On the day before a major battle
• Constantine ___________ for divine help.
• He reported that he then saw
• a _______ of light in the ____________
• bearing the inscription
• In this sign, ___________
• Constantine and his troops were ______________ in
  battle.
• In the next year, A.D. 313, Constantine announced
  an end to the ___________ of ______________.

PP Design of T. Loessin Akins H.S.