Now we must turn our glance westward again—to Rome. At the death of Antoninus Pius in 161, two emperors reigned conjointly—Varus, a degenerate, and Marcus Aurelius, a philosopher. The Roman Empire was becoming steadily demoralized. It was at the mercy of a series of degraded creatures who engaged in scandalous conflicts for the bauble of royal power. At times the purple was offered to the highest bidder.
But in 222 the throne came into the hands of the high-minded Alexander Severus. Unlike most of his predecessors, he respected Judaism, and Hillel's Golden Rule was inscribed on the walls of his palace. So his reign meant thirteen pleasant years for the Jews—a little break of sunshine through the lowering clouds.
After the death of Severus, degeneracy again set in and usurper after usurper seized the throne. Rarely was the monotony of upstart emperors broken by a better type of man such as Diocletian. The demoralized condition of the State was reflected in the people at large. Paganism, even at its best, had failed as a scheme of life. Roman society was hopelessly corrupt and on the eve of collapse. The people no longer believed in the supposed divinities Jupiter and Apollo. The philosophers tried to explain them away as abstract ideas. The ceremonies of the temple became mummeries. The augurs (priests who were supposed to indicate the nature of events by the flight and cries of birds) could not look each other in the face without laughing.
The more earnest prayed for something better. Had Judaism not been discredited and under a ban and its observers spurned as an alien race, it might have been more largely sought—though its ceremonial code was exacting, its moral code severe, and its sole spiritual God seemed abstract and aloof to worshippers of divinities that could be seen. Judaism made not an iota of concession to win a single pagan to the fold. As it was, in spite of discouraging conditions, many would-be proselytes knocked at the doors of the Synagogue.
Why Christianity Appealed to Romans.
But for many reasons, Christianity was in a better condition to make converts. Most of its adherents had come through conversion, and proselytism was a cardinal item in its program. The eagerness of the Christians to bring a religious message to the heathen, deserves high praise and must not be underrated, though they betrayed weakness in being too ready to make concessions to pagan nations for the sake of winning converts. The semi-idolatrous idea that Jesus was at once man and God was a familiar conception to the pagan mind. The dramatic picture of his dying on the cross to save mankind appealed to their emotions. The treatment of the Hebrew expression "holy spirit," as a being—a separate divinity, introduced a third element into the God-idea—the "Holy Ghost," (old English: spirit.) This made the Christian divinity a Trinity: God, the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Ghost. But a three-headed God, so revolting to Jewish ideas, was quite a recognized theological notion in the heathen world.
With these additions, so alluring to the pagan mind, the nobler Jewish teachings, which were Christianity's ethical foundations, were more readily accepted. Christianity became popular in Rome. Its adherents were found in all ranks. When they were a small and feeble group, the Roman emperors had persecuted them. But now, they were in the majority. The tables were turned. Only minorities are persecuted. Alas the Jews remained a minority.
Constantine.
Thus it was that an emperor named Constantine decided first to give toleration to all cults and ultimately to adopt Christianity—"partly from a genuine moral sympathy, yet doubtless far more in the well-grounded belief that he had more to gain from the zealous sympathy of its professors than to lose by the aversion of those who still cultivated a languid paganism." This act made it the religion of the empire. But since Rome was mistress of half the civilized world, this acquisition of power and numbers at once gave to the new Faith an eminence it has never lost. The effect of this promotion was profound and lasting and vitally affected the destiny of Israel.