Judaism, Christianity and Rome
The first is a review of a book I hope to soon read that postulates the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus (prior to his ascending to the Roman Emperorship) had significant ramifications for the future of Christianity as it forced a decisive break between Judaism and Christianity. It will be interesting to see if it is as well argued as the review implies.
The second is a fascinating study that in large measure defends the Roman Empire, despite its flaws, as being a great motor for the spread of Christianity not only through its system of roads, but through a definite cast of mind that eventually led them to embrace the Christian message.
The article also includes a lengthy, though fascinating account of the rise of Roman power through the Punic Wars with Carthage and the background of why Jesus was eventually killed by the Roman civil authorities. It also covers Virgil's Aeneid (the famous poem of Rome's founding by the great Trojan warrior Aeneas), what it meant, and the rule of Caesar Augustus (Julius Caesar's nephew and adopted son who would become the first "Emperor" after putting an end to a century of civil wars).
Of particular interest may be the article's recognition that while Nero and several other significant Roman Emperors would violently persecute Christians, it was not solely through Constantine (as is sometimes believed) that Christianity moved forward from within the Roman establishment. Especially notable is the Apostle Paul's use of his Roman citizenship to defend himself against those who would have him killed for promoting the "False Messiah."
The conclusion of the article is worth quoting, for in it contains, probably the best conceptualization of how to acheive true order of both the spiritual and worldly (religious and political).
"Here, then, are two visions of history, from the point of view of two kingdoms: The Kingdom of Man in this world, set aright by a wise emperor, and the Kingdom of God proclaimed by the Son of God who had rejected this world as one of the temptations offered by Satan. The Church and the Empire were to influence each other profoundly; sometimes through conflict, but more often by imitation. Much of the Church’s structure is a reflection of the Roman order restructured by Diocletian, the worst of the persecutors, but the vision of political order that inspired the heirs of Constantine and Theodosius was an empire in which the Church played the spiritual and moral role once assigned to pagan religion and the emperors themselves retained much of their old religious authority. The contest that resulted would play out in different ways in the Byzantine Empire and in the struggle between Popes and Holy Roman Emperors. It cannot be said that it has ever been resolved. Victory for either side usually has disastrous consequences. It is the tension between the two kingdoms, the two thrones, that may be the nearest to an ideal social order that man is capable of."
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