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| | ==The Roman Empire and Christianity== | | ==The Roman Empire and Christianity== |
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| − | Jesus did not seek fame; recall that the betrayal by Judas was to identify Jesus for capture, because otherwise most people would not recognize Him. But non-believing historians recorded Jesus's life and the rise of Christianity. For example, the Jewish historian Josephus (A.D. 37-100) wrote: | + | Jesus did not seek fame and many could not recognize him; recall that the betrayal by Judas was needed to identify Jesus. But non-believing historians like Josephus (A.D. 37-100) recorded Jesus's life: |
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| | :"At this time there was a wise man who was called Jesus. ... Pilate condemned Him ... to die. And those who had become His disciples did not abandon His discipleship. They reported that He had appeared to them three days after His crucifixion and that He was alive; accordingly, He was perhaps the Messiah concerning whom the prophets have recounted wonders."<ref>Antiquities, xviii.ch. 3, subtopic 3, Arabic text. http://www.bibleviews.com/non-biblical.html.</ref> | | :"At this time there was a wise man who was called Jesus. ... Pilate condemned Him ... to die. And those who had become His disciples did not abandon His discipleship. They reported that He had appeared to them three days after His crucifixion and that He was alive; accordingly, He was perhaps the Messiah concerning whom the prophets have recounted wonders."<ref>Antiquities, xviii.ch. 3, subtopic 3, Arabic text. http://www.bibleviews.com/non-biblical.html.</ref> |
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| | ===Augustine and Jerome=== | | ===Augustine and Jerome=== |
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| − | Towards the end of the Roman empire, in the early fifth century, Augustine of Hippo (known to many as "Saint Augustine") wrote books entitled ''Confessions'' and ''City of God'', which merged classical and Christian viewpoints, and in particular reconciled the classical (Greco-Roman) view about knowledge and virtue with Christian views of sin. Born in North Africa to a pagan father and a Christian mother, Augustine went through personal spiritual crises before converting entirely to Christianity and advocating the concept of justification by grace alone. He criticized all the heresies of his time and supported the sacraments of the church. He also supported the concept of "predestination", which would later be emphasized by the Frenchman John Calvin during the Protestant Reformation in the 1530s (Calvin fled to Switzerland to promote his ideas). | + | Towards the end of the Roman empire, in the early fifth century, Augustine of Hippo (known to many as "Saint Augustine") wrote books entitled ''Confessions'' and ''City of God'', which merged classical and Christian viewpoints, and in particular reconciled the classical (Greco-Roman) view about knowledge and virtue with Christian views of sin. Born in North Africa to a pagan father and a Christian mother, Augustine went through personal spiritual crises before converting to Christianity and advocating justification by grace alone. He criticized all the heresies of his time and supported the sacraments of the church. He also supported the concept of "predestination", which would later be emphasized by the Frenchman John Calvin during the Protestant Reformation in the 1530s (Calvin fled to Switzerland to promote his ideas). |
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| | A contemporary of Augustine was Jerome ("Saint Jerome"), who translated the Hebrew Old Testament and Greek New Testament into Latin. This became known as the Vulgate, and remained the authoritative Bible for over 1000 years. | | A contemporary of Augustine was Jerome ("Saint Jerome"), who translated the Hebrew Old Testament and Greek New Testament into Latin. This became known as the Vulgate, and remained the authoritative Bible for over 1000 years. |