Christianity Named Official Religion of Rome

As of February 27, 380 A.D., Theodosius has declared that Christianity is the official religion of Rome by passing the Cunctos Populos because of how rapidly Christianity has been spreading.

Much debate has been going on as of late about whether to support or oppose this decision. The majority of Roman citizens are supportive of Theodosius’ decisions. This is not surprising keeping in mind how much of the population is Christian. Now that paganism and Judaism are at the lowest they’ve been, it almost seems that now would be the perfect time for this. This decision was mostly forced, though. The church has been pressuring Theodosius to allow religion into the empire, after he recently banned it. They even threatened him with excommunication, which left him with not much of a choice. It still is hard to believe that this happened, thinking back on how Christians in Rome were faced with prosecution. Whereas now this is a struggle for non-Christians and pagans.

Although this was unexpected, it was more of a gradual journey to this point, rather than it happening all of a sudden. Constantine was responsible for much of what it took to get to this point. In 312 A.D., when he was emperor, he made many positive changes for Christians For example, his ending persecution against Christians and bringing it further into the Republic were huge movements. Still, it seems as if the tables have turned. For Christians (most citizens) this is a very joyous time. With the Cunctos Populos officiating this decision, Rome can now be named the official religion of Rome.

#Christianity #Religion