The Religion of Christianity - Essay Example

One of the basic components of Christian teachings was the supreme power of the gods and faith in the theory of providence. Faith in the supreme ruleof gods was also a component of the early Greco-Roman tradition though disbelievers were there. However history showed that the people who had deep trust in gods’ grace ultimately emerged victorious in the battlefield of life. Aeneas is the center character of Vigil’s Latin epic The Aeneid, a legendary story of a Trojan (Aeneas) who traveled to Italy and became the ancestor of Romans. Aeneas is depicted as an ideal and one of the great epic heroes. He was one of the few survivors of the Trojan War and an ancestor of the Roman emperor Augustus. He had guided the men through the perils of uncharted waters, and other adversities to their destined land that was supposed to become Rome someday. Aeneas has been endorsed with the characteristics, which were highly idealized during Vigil’s time in Rome. These virtues were piety or faith in the will of God, courage, determination, skilled warrior ship and inspiring leadership. Aeneas reflected the personification of the heroic origins of Rome and a flawless hero. Conventionally a young student should read Julius Caesar, Cicero, Ovid and Catullus before reading Aeneid. The character of Aeneas should be studied and understood by the young Roman students mainly to understand the virtuous Roman ancestory and the values of a great leader that one should find in Aeneas. Piety or reverence for Gods was one of the values highlighted in the epic through the character of Aeneas who sent prayers and sacrifices to the gods and asked for assistance. It also reflected the devotion and the power of the gods who helped in the creation of Rome. Through the role of Aeneas Vigil showed how prayers worked and disrespectful (towards the will and power of gods) people are punished. For an instance during the war between Aeneas and Mezentius, Aeneas’ prayers to Apollo gets answered by his victory while Mezentius who claimed not to care for or fear gods has to face death. Aeneas’ sacrifices of the cow and sucklings to Juno, prayers to Jupiter before killing Remulus, all reflect his utter dedication and faith. At times the reader may feel that he was too much into the sacrifices and prayers but the connection between profound faith and success is established – a faith that was embedded in the tradition of Rome and hence the young generation also needs to remember that. Theory of Providence: In terms of theology, providence implies the ultimate sovereignty of god over human destiny. The concept is somewhat related to predestined where the future of human beings was known and determined by the gods. It also implies that god has plans for the world and He controls every action and event through his will or providence. Both Marcus Aurelius (one of the good Roman emperors) and Seneca belonged to the school of Stoicism. The concept of providence in Stoicism was a forerunner to the teachings of Christianity. Though Stoicism believed that God and Man were the same and god is present in every human soul. The Christian teaching says that everything is perfectly determined and secured with the Father (Jesus). He knows everything and showers His love equally on all His children. However Seneca’s views were somewhat akin to the proponents of Christianity. Seneca’s views on Providence suggests that the gods “are supreme commanders in the universe, controlling all things by their power and acting as guardians of the human race, even though they are sometimes unmindful of the individual.” However the teachings of providence in Stoicism are somewhat nullified or offset by contrary teachings of Fate or Chance, which is not a part of Christian preaching. Providence in the New Testament is more real while that in Stoicism was eclipsed by moments of Chance. Marcus Aurelius speaks on the concept of Providence, “The rational soul wanders round the whole world and through the encompassing void, gazes into infinite time, considers the periodic destructions and rebirths of the universe, and reflects that our posterity will see nothing new and that our ancestors have seen nothing greater than we have seen”. This reflects the concept of the “Wheel of Existence” that everything gets consumer in the primal ball of fire and the universe repeats itself. Causes of spread of Christianity: Religious equality invoked the negation of slavery, as it was believed that a slave had no religion or had only foreign religion. Christianity that proclaimed absolute religious equality was a blessing to the slaves specially because they were excluded from the formalist religion of Rome. History records several cases of persecution of Christians during the early rule of Rome based on accusations of disloyalty. The rule of Constantine marked the decline of Greco Roman Polytheism and the spread of Christianity. Some of the important causes for the acceptance of Christianity could be listed as follows: The early persecutions of the Christians evoked sympathy and sense of justice. St. Paul’s writing of Epistles and his traveling around Rome to preach the religion and convert people to Christianity Constantine was the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity, making Byzantium to the capital, which he later called the first Christian city. St Peter was the first Bishop of Rome and he was the founder of the Church hierarchy. St Augustine’s City of God held the concept that the idea that Rome was falling because people were not Christians. The concepts of the religion was a graceful outlet for the oppressed civilians Conclusion: The religion of Christianity that initially made its footing as a religion of the slaves in Rome, gradually spread all over the expanded nation and thus embedded the idea of supreme power and will of gods that would lead the Romans who thus found a peaceful dependability by following the religion. Thus the theory of providence gained prominence and replaced the multi cults. However the young Romans should remember the virtuous and traditional Roman ancestry that had its roots in the profound faith in gods. References: Stob Ralph, “Stoicism and Christianity,” Classical Journal 30 (1934-1935): 217-224 “Fall of the Roman Empire and rise in Christianity”, http://cwp.belmont.k12.ma.us/dmclaughlin/handouts/Mac%20-%20WH%20Review%20with%20written%20Definitions%20061206.doc. “The Aeneid”, http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~loxias/aeneid.htm Read More