Explain why romans prosecuted the Christians?

Question: Explain why romans prosecuted the Christians!?

i really need this for a test this wednesday!!Www@QuestionHome@Com

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

Simple!. It was a question of which gods the Christians were going to worship!. In Roman times, there was a wide range of gods - each with a task of his or her own - and the Caesar (king) was included among this pantheon of superbeings!. When the Christians declined to worship all those Roman gods (and more importantly, didn't pay to offer sacrifices, thereby cutting into the temple revenues) it was taken as an affront not only to the gods, but to Caesar as well!. So, in Roman eyes, the only way to solve the problem was to get rid of the Christians!. It didn't work very well - the Christians are still around and the old Roman gods are nothing but curiosities and words to fill in crossword puzzles!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

You could worship whoever you wanted in the Roman world (within limits of course, human sacrifices were off) but you had to acknowledged the 'godhood' of Caesar and his authority over you!. The only religions where this was a problem were the two monotheist religions of the time, Jews and Christians!. The Jews had revolted many times and caused a lot of troubles and Christians were nothing but an off-shot of the Jewish religion to the Romans!. Add to that refusal to acknowledge the authority of Caesar, the talk of eating flesh and drinking blood and the notion of equality between people in a society based on strict hierarchy (citizens, then three classes of members of roman empire, then slaves) and you can understand why it annoyed the Romans!. It went against the whole fabric of the empire!. Once the emperor took a dislike to those Christians who did not worship him!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

It is important to remember that the Romans were used to polytheism (being able to worship lots of gods)!. Christianity is a monotheistic religion (with only one god)!. It was difficult to the Romans to understand that Christians could worship only THEIR god and not the Roman gods as well!. It was seen as something of an insult!.

When Christianity was becoming popular in Rome, it was quite secretive and known as a 'mystery cult'!. The little that was known of it aroused suspicion!. Talk of the flesh and blood of Christ, for example, made Romans think it was a barbaric and cannibalistic religion!. Because of this, the religion was proscribed (banned) and Christians were persecuted!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

The Romans didnt care what you worshipped so long as you didnt cause trouble, and worshipped the Emperor cult alongside your native deity!.
However, christians refused to worship the Emperor as to them there was only one god, and a refusal to worship the cult of the Emperor was treason!.
Incidentally, there's no historical evidence of christians ever being fed to any lions!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Everyone had to worship the Roman gods!. The only group that did not have too was the Jews because their religion was older than the Roman state!. The Christians refused to worship the Roman gods, remember the first commandment!. So the Romans started to prosecute them, feed them to the lions and use them in the games!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

The Christians were convenient scapegoats for Rome's problems!. When things go wrong, it's really easy to single out a group that's "different" to blame!. Nero did it to the Christians; later, Hitler did it to the Jewish people!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Since it's for a test, I thought you should know that it's "persecuted," not "prosecuted!."Www@QuestionHome@Com