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Socratic Seminar ROME links

Page history last edited by Bill Derry 15 years, 1 month ago

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Honors Western Humanities -

This page provided students with links to all of these areas.

(The links have been removed for this demonstration, and ONE discussion from the NINETEEN has been copied below.)

 

Ideological Political Economic Social Artistic

Sermon on the Mount

  1. Judaism & Christianity
  2. St. Paul
  3. Edict of Milan
  4. Council of Nicaea (Nicene Creed)
  5. Chrisian Values v. Roman Ideals
  1. Execution
  2. Persecution of Christains
  3. Constantine
  4. Movement of capital
  5. Justinian I
  6. Formation of Papcy
  7. Christianity and Fall of Rome
  1. Wealth of the Church
  2. Conversion 
  1. Cult Religion
  2. Role of Priests
  3. Appeal of Christianity
  1. Church-building & Hagia Sophia
  2. Byzantine Art

 

 

The Role of Cult Religions

During the early period of Christianity, religious "cults" seemed prevalent throughout the empire.  Many were polytheistic, and played a strong role in creating religious standards.  Discuss the role of cult religions as they existed in the Roman Empire.

 

 

JO said

at 12:49 pm on Nov 12, 2008

Before this topic can be discussed it is important to regard that a cult is a religion regarded as unorthodox by the major religion. Considering the document states that many of these cults were polytheistic is strange because the Roman government was originally polytheistic until it converted to Christianity. This must mean that before when polytheism was the major religion Christianity was the cult but when Christianity was the main religion polytheism was the cult religion. Considering that a majority of Romans were originally polytheistic the decline of their religion into a cult means that either there were enough Christians to outnumber them in society, or that as soon as Constantine made his decree that Rome was a Christian society, the roman people followed his decree and converted in large number or were forced.

  

CH said

at 10:54 pm on Nov 15, 2008

Everything, JO, that you are saying is completely correct. Another more detailed definition of cult that I found is, "a religion or sect considered to be false, unorthodox, or extremist, with members often living outside of conventional society under the direction of a charismatic leader."

Before Constantine became Emperor and portrayed such a strong belief in Christianity, Christianity was considered bad and was viewed as a cult. I'm sure that Christianity in the beginning was lead by many "charismatic leaders." Once Constantine came to power, the idea of Christianity was suddenly brought forward into the spotlight. When Constantine made Christianity officially acceptable in Rome, the polytheistic religion became the cult in the Roman Empire just from being outlawed or unacceptable. 

 

SA said

at 12:20 pm on Nov 16, 2008

I agree with you both but I have to wonder whether any religion could be considered a cult at a certain point in time. In addition to this, different sections of a religious group are more extremist than others which could lead people to believe that the religion as a whole is a cult, when only a small section of the group has some of the defining characteristics. Also, depending on where one lives in the world, there are different views on what is a cult, based on the dominant religion. In Ancient Roman society, when polytheism was still the main belief, anything that was different than this was considered false. But, when Constantine accepted Christianity as being correct, polytheism was now unorthodox. 

 

RA said

at 3:28 pm on Nov 16, 2008

In accordance to what SA was saying, I agree that it can be debated that any religion can be considered a cult. As John said before, when Christianity was originated in the Roman Empire, it was so radical and different from anything the Romans had ever encountered, the people participating in the rise were, in some ways, feared. But it could also be thought of a different way - because the majority of people took part in polytheism, couldn't this be considered the cult? Polytheism was the most widely believed, whereas Christianity was originally just a crazy idea that affected a small percentage of the population.

  

AL said

at 4:18 pm on Nov 16, 2008

However, on the other hand, cults lead to new ideas which were to be followed such as Christianity which is something that has become bigger than ever imaginable thousands of years later.

  

AL said

at 4:18 pm on Nov 16, 2008

Although what everyone has said above is right, I believe that this topic of cults in religion is much bigger than just in the Roman Empire itself. The whole idea of religions which are not the main or dominant religion being wrong is an idea which we have seen repeatedly in history in more recent times. It seems as though through out history, if one does not follow the main religion of the society they are considered to be an outcast or a "cult". During times of the Roman Empire, these cults lead to arguments and fighting between people living in the same area. As stated above, Christianity was once a cult itself and the fact that it had been suppressed by many previous emperors to Constantine shows, that people with new or different ideas are constantly silenced unless they are one of great power like Constantine. Previous to Constantine, people who chose to follow Christianity were persecuted, Diocletian being one example of an Emperor who persecuted Christians. It seems that Christianity went from being a cult religion to a dominant religion after Constantine converted over on his death bed and declared that Rome was now Christian. Previous to this, the idea of Christianity could not spread to become much more than a cult because, most were scared to follow a religion which was feared by the Emperor. In all fairness, they were right not to do so for fear of persecution. However, once a man who believes in Christianity came into power, he declared that this was not a religion to fear or persecute but to follow. This shows how cults can become a problem or become a new solution. On one hand, leaders during these times feared anything that would threaten their position and a leader which meant that any religion which was considered a cult was to be killed off because they saw it as a threat to their own Empire.

 

 

ALS said

at 4:24 pm on Nov 16, 2008

I find it interesting that the overall definition of a cult is that it is a religion which is persecuted because the majority of society does not believe in it or thinks it is "wrong". I think this plays a huge role in society throughout history because many religions have been persecuted just because it does not follow another religion’s beliefs. This does not make the religion "wrong", it just makes it different. I agree with the fact that all religions must have been a cult at one point in time because all ideas have to start somewhere and they all have to be new at one point in time. New things or ideas are often shunned by people because they are scared of change.

  

CHS said

at 8:20 pm on Nov 16, 2008

You bring up a good point. I agree that any religion besides polytheism could have been considered a cult, but Christianity was the most threatening one during this time in Rome's history.

  

JA said

at 6:36 pm on Nov 17, 2008

I believe that cults and creation of new ideals, such as Christianity, are responsible for the advancement of society. Without the deliverance of new ideals such as Christianity, Europe would have had absolutely no structure at all due to the lack of organized and fair government. In a sense, this cult filled in for the absence of any clear methodical governing body. Therefore, cults can be held responsible for the minor stability throughout the middle ages. However minor the stability may have been, it was essential to the future of the continent.

  

ALX said

at 3:55 pm on Nov 20, 2008

While Christianity was easily the only cult that evolved into a major power of Ancient Rome, we should not forget that there were other cults as well. Some were the cult of Cybele, Isis, and the Imperial Cult.

The cult of Cybele was very extreme. It mostly consisted of men who castrated themselves as an offering to Cybele (who was the Goddess of nature and fertility). It spread throughout Rome, and its customs were bloody, emotional, and cathartic.

The cult of Isis originated in Egypt. When Egypt was conquered by Rome, the cult edited parts of its origins to fit the Roman society. Essentially, the cult of Isis revolved around how she was the God of magic; therefore she had the real power over the universe.

The cult of Mithrais (or Mithraism) is especially important. It was extremely similar to the largely prominent Christianity. One speculation by Ernest Renan is that "if the growth of Christianity had been arrested by some mortal malady, the world would have been Mithraic." Does anyone think the same as Renan? Is Mithraism that parallel?

All of these cults played a large role in Ancient roman society. While not largely prominent, emperors felt cults as a threat to their empire. Many cults began to fail when Constantine made Christianity the official religion of Rome, but their impacts continued on throughout Europe.

  

JE said

at 6:18 pm on Nov 20, 2008

ALX brings up an interesting point that Christianity was not the only cult religion at that time, and that had it not been so successful and supported by Constantine, another cult religion might have taken its place. However, I disagree with Renan and do not think that Mithraism is parallel. Even before Christianity was supported by Constantine, it was still much more popular than Mithraism ever was. Also, one of the reasons Christianity became so popular early on is because it gave hope to the lowly peasants and made them feel equal to the wealthy. It was open to all people. In contrast, Mithraism was very secretive ad held their gatherings off in caves, and had different values from Christian beliefs. While it is possible that there would have been an influx in followers had Constantine supported Mithraism, I think it is unlikely that it would have sustained itself as long as Christianity has after the Empire collapsed

  

ALX said

at 11:53 pm on Nov 20, 2008

While Mithraism and Christianity weren't necessarily completely identical, they still had many similar aspects. For example, both Mithra and Jesus died on a cross, and celebrated with "the last supper." Jesus and Mithras were also both "born" on December 25th. There are definite similarities between the two religions. It is extremely possible that Christianity had its roots based on Mithraism, though that fact is heavily debated as to which religion came first. Many of the sacraments between the two religions were also identical (as they are in many religions); baptism, and communion with bread and water.

Regardless, both Mithraism and Christianity had immense impacts on the Roman religion.

 

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