The Patristic Period:100AD-500AD

             The Patristic period in the history of the church range from 100 to about 500 AD. During this period the church suffered severe persecution and from this period of persecutions she developed a theology that carried her up to this century. So this essay is going to discuss the persecution, reasons for persecution, its results, the development of a Christian theology and several activities of the Roman Empire at the time. Thousand years before the birth of Christ the lands around the Mediterranean sea was dominated by Greeks. This area which the Greeks owned as their own was later occupied by the Romans who came from Asia Minor. By the year 44 BC the Romans had control over; France ,Spain, Northern Italy, Sicily, Greece, Crete, Cyprus, and Asia Minor. The power which the Romans enjoyed brought wealth and terrible strains to the Roman Empire. The Romans had to defend their long frontiers and deal with a lot of hostile citizens within their Roman boundaries. Because their Empire was so big there were drastic changes in the economy and social life.
             In the beginning, the Etruscans with the help of the senate governed the affairs of the Northern Italy, but because there were groups from within who wanted power, we see in 31 BC Augustus becoming the first autocratic Emperor of the Roman Empire. After him came the likes of Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero who were his family members. This Empire in its history experienced good governance and at time bad governance. During the times of; Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, and Marcus Aurelius (96-180 BC) the Empire experienced good governance. And after the death of Marcus, the Empire declined. Eventually there were conflicts within the Empire that weakened it. It is in this Empire described above that Christianity experience impressive growth that the authority could not ignore such an increase of a religious group. Their reaction towards Christians varied from time to time. Sometimes they tol...

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The Patristic Period:100AD-500AD. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 13:46, March 28, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/1717.html