Momma Angel wrote: cicerone imposter wrote:...
Religion has noting to do with "love" as their adherents claim. It's about pushing their religion.
Mr. Cicerone Imposter,
Oh but, sir. You are quite wrong. Christianity has everything to do with love. <> It is the love of Christ that keeps us from attacking those that attack our God, our beliefs, our persons (verbally). <> It is love that keeps us trying to understand how you think, feel, and believe <>
It is LOVE Mr. Cicerone Imposter, that we believe Christianity is about. <> It is LOVE, Mr. Cicerone Imposter that our God has for us and we have for Him. <>
Already posted
Elsewhere[/i][/u]. but I think quite fitting in view of your absurd assertion, Momma -
In 311, the Emperor Galerius issued The Edict of Toleration, grantng Christians equal status under law with Pagans and Jews, "... to bring all things into harmony with the ancient laws and public order of the Romans, and to provide that even the Christians who had left the religion of their fathers should come back to reason ...", and providing specifically that Christians might " ... hold their conventicles, provided they do nothing contrary to good order ... ", and concluding with the decree they " ... "be able to live securely in their homes."
In 313, The Empire consisted of West, under Christian-leaning Constantine, and East, under Licinius, a diffident Pagan. The Edict of Milan was published in the names of the 2 Emperors, further establishing that " ... any one of these who wishes to observe Christian religion may do so freely and openly, without molestation ... ", explicitly granting Christians " ... free and unrestricted opportunity of religious worship ... " and conceding " ... to other religions the right of open and free observance of their worship for the sake of the peace of our times, that each one may have the free opportunity to worship as he pleases ; this regulation is made we that we may not seem to detract from any dignity or any religion ... "
Licinius did not take the edict much to heart, and allowed, even encouraged, discrimination against and persecution of Christians in his half of the Empire. This was but one of the many frictions between Constantine and Licinius, frictions which built to a full scale war which by 326 left Licinius executed and Constantine sole Emperor.
In 324, Constantine, in what amounted to a slap at Licinius, a move in an Imperial power play, declared Christianity to be the only officially sanctioned religion of the Roman Empire. That year, among other endeavors, he saw to the sack and plunder of The Temple of the Oracle of Apollo, including the civilizedtouch of having all the priests tortured to death. Accompanying this was the purging of all non-Christians from the sacred peninsula of Mt Athos, traditional site of temples and worship through around a millenia of Greek culture. The temples of course were sacked and plundered.
The following year, 325, saw the convocation of The Council of Nicea, which pretty much was the equivalent of Christiantiy's Constitutional Convention. Church and Empire essentially wedded one another, combining the power and authority of each into a single entity.
In 326 Constantine, as sole Emperor, Licinius out of the way, continued his persecution of pagans, sacking and plundering the temples of Asclepius and of Aphrodite throughout the empire, with the customary treatment meted to the priests and functionaries of those temples.
By 330, siezures from pagan temples and storehouses and the confiscation of goods, lands, and chattel from the folks unfortunate enough to have been associated with same had become the chief finance source for the construction of Constantinople, the newly-founded seat of Constantine's empire. Naturally, along with Imperial buildings, church buildings were put up - lavishly - thanks to the growing influx of formerly pagan assets into the Imperial Treaury.
In 335, Constantine ordered the sack and plunder of all pagan temples and other pagan facillities throughout Asia Minor and The Levant. A neat civilzed twist was added with the decree that all "Soothsayers and magicicians" be crucified.
Succeeding to the throne on his father's death, Contantius II (named for Constantine's father) in 341 initiated a pogrom against "all the soothsayers and the Hellenists ... ", bringing over the next decade or so the collapse of Graeco-Roman paganism and the untimely, often most uncomfortable, deaths of untold thousands of adherents to the traditional religions.
In 353, Constantius II ordered the death penalty for worshipers practicing pagan sacrifices and revering pagan idols. The following year, Constantius II formally ordered the closing of all pagan temples throughout the Empire, turning many of the sacred sites into such things as stables, rubbish tips, brothels, gambling houses, and barracks. Other pagan sacred structures were mined for their building materials, much of which went into the construction of Christian churches all over the Empire, with most of the rest going to the expansion of Constantinople. Included in the decree was the call for the execution of all "idolaters". As repositories of pagan thought and tradition, many great libraries were burned, with consequent loss to the patrimony of humankind.
By thelatter half of the 4th Century, Constantius II had authorised and seen to the organization of detention centers for the torture and execution of non-Christians arrested within the Empire - perhaps the first dedicated "Death Camps".
Breifly, beginning in 361, a nephew of Constantine's, Julian, successor to Constantius II, attempted to return at least tolerance for the ancient Hellenic worship practices, decreeing that all " ... may hold their meetings, if they wish, and offer prayers according to their established use ... and for the future, let all people live in harmony ... Men should be taught and won over by reason, not by blows, insults, and corporal punishments ... "
Julian was assassinated in early 363, and his successor (and, in our contemporary terms, a "person of interest" in the assassination), Jovian, resumed the prejudicial promotion of Christianity, rescinding all of Julian's more liberal and tolerant decrees. In 364, Jovian had the Library of Antioch and all its contents (apart from those of immediate cash-equivalent value, of course) burned. Among Jovian's edicts were the death penalty for all who worshipped the ancestral gods or practiced any form of divination or ancient ritual, even if such worship or practice were carried out in private, and a call for the confiscation of all goods, lands, and chattel of apprehended participants - and their immediate families and known co-conspirators.
In 365, a decree officially forbade the practice or observation of paganism in any form within the Imperial Army, and provided that no non-Christian might attain any rank, authority, or command with the Army.
In 370, Valens, successor to Jovian, launched a pogrom against all non-Christian peoples in the Eastern half of the Empire, resulting in again untold thousands of deaths, a swelling of the Imperial Treasury, and the elimination of just about any remnant of support or endorsement for Jovian's liberal reforms.
In 372, Valens oredered the Governor of Asia Minor to exterminate all the followers of the ancient practices and to destroy all the associated writings and other works throughout the province.
In 380, Valens' successor Theodosius decreed " ... (A)ll the various nations which are subject to our clemency and moderation should continue in the profession of that religion which was delivered to the Romans by the divine Apostle Peter ... ". delcaring non-Christians to be " ... loathsome, heretics, stupid and blind ... ". In another edict, Theodosius outlawed all disagreement with The Church, declaring those who did not hew to the party line to be "insane" and "forfiet of their possessions".
In 381, Theodosius deprived non-Christians, particularly those who had "fallen away from The True Religion" of all civil rights under law, and further outlawed the visiting of the site of any pagan temple or other pagan place of reverence or worship - on pain of death.
In 384, Theodosius tasked the Army with eradicating all vestige of paganism from the Empire. The detention centers originally established by Constantius II became a thriving concern, with much research and development going into the matter of expediting the disposal of the recalcitrant disbeloievers flooding into them.
In 388, Theodosius outlawed the public discussion of religious matters, other than as conducted by the Christian clergy under the auspices and authority of the Christian Church.
In 390, all non-Christian dating systems and calendars were outlawed, and the Christian persecutions of non-Christians reached a fever pitch, with what amounted to lynch mobs of Christians rampaging, looting, burning, and killing at will through non-Christian quarters of cities, as the Army looked the other way.
In 391, a Theodosian decree forbade not only visting ancient sacred sites not already "converted" to the use of Church and Empire, but prohibiting the possession, display of or even looking upon the vandalized statues and artifacts. Pagan revolts begin to crop up, and are put down ruthlessly. Burnings at the stake and crucifixions were scheduled entertainments in any of the larger cities of the Empire. Among the notabe events of that year was the destruction of Alexandria's magnificent Serapeion, a temple fortified as a holdhout by desperate pagans, the slaaughter of all within, and, of course, the torching of the temple's fabulous library.
In 392, Theodusius formally outlawed all non-Christian rituals and observances, and references thereunto, naming them "superstions of the Gentiles". Persecution of non-Christians in the Empire by then amounted to an organized military campaign. The ancient games, including but not limited to the Olympics, were likewise outlawed.
In 395, Arcadius succeeded Theodosius, and pursuant to edicts of his, and under the direct authority of The Empire, hordes of Christianized Goths, under Alaric, raged throughout Greece, slaughtering or enslaving any who failed to take up The Cross, and wreaking havoc on such temples and sanctuaries as remained.
In 396, Arcadius declared paganism to be high treason against The Empire, with customary sanction for such crime visited upon any guilty of same. Or probably guilty of same. And in some cases rumored to be guilty of same.
The following year, Arcadius orders the demolition of all remaining pagan temples and sites, and the removal of any statuary, icons, artifacts, writings, and objects of value.
In 398, The 4th Council of Carthage forbade all, even Christian bishops and scholars, from reading or discussing pagan works.
In 399, Arcadius, impatient with progress, re-emphasized his decree to demolish all remaining pagan sites, calling for the holy work to be carried out with the utmost speed and diligence.
Now, that synopsis of Christianity's civilized, gentle, love-inspired, charity-driven, tolerant early growth closes with the advent of the Fifth Century. There we come across the likes of John Chrysostom and others of similar bent, and things start getting really civilized, drawing on and building upon past practice and success.
Primary reference:
The Medeival Sourcebook
It is the love of Christ that keeps us from attacking those that attack our God, our beliefs, our persons (verbally).
