Knowing the biblical history associated with Jesus (I.e. Pontius Pilate crucifying him to appease the Jews), how did Roman Catholicism end up becoming the dominant religion in the Roman world? It seem like they’d want to distance themselves from that, sort of like how it would be kind of awkward for Jews to accept Jesus as the messiah, ya know?
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El5: it became politically expedient to control Christianity thru the State than to let them form a base of power outside of the state.
Abt 300 CE, Rome had just come out of a crisis of internal strife and civil wars caused by the military gaining more and more influence over the Imperial politics. The Mystery Cult of Mithras was also popular in the Roman military at this time, which also appealed to the lower classes of Roman society.
The early Christians were basically a group who’s ideas ran counter to Roman ideas: providing hope of a better situation to women, slaves, and other oppressed peoples. And they were also gaining influence after the Crisis of the Third Century.
It may be a cynical interpretation, but the most expedient way to undercut both the military that overstepped their bounds and another group from gaining influence by espousing counter cultural ideas among the lower classes, is to take leadership of one group (Christianity) and disperse the center of government control….both things that Constantine did by accepting Christianity as a state religion and splitting the Empire into East and West.
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