The making of an Imperial Church

I maintain that Christianity got to be the dominant religion of the West, and a large one in the rest of the world, mostly because it alone had the backing of the Roman Empire and its various successors.

But how did Christianity come to be Rome's state religion? After all, Rome had a state religion for a long, long time before Christianity came along. And a related question is: how did Christianity evolve from a kind fo Judaism into something completely different?

The two questions are related. In essence, Christians took on Roman beliefs and practices and incorporated them into their doctrine. Also, Roman beliefs began to gravitate towards monotheism in the early Dominate period.

Here are some examples:

1) Beginning with Augustus (ie Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus, a.k.a Octavian) who deified his great uncle Gaius Julius Caesar (who was never emperor of Rome, BTW), most emperors got themselves made gods after they died. Temples were erected and epople worshipped the dead emperors. This Cult of the Emperors as minor deities is strikingly like the Christian Cult of the Saints.

2) The emperor Aurelian (the Restitutor Orbis no less), began to think of the sun god, Sol Invictus, as being the one true god. Other gods, like Jupiter, were aspects of old Sol. While he did not impose this view on the Empire, unlike Ellegobolus years before, he did extend it.

3) Augustus kept up the forms and rituals of the Republic as he transformed Rome into an Empire. This meant the legitimacy of subsequent emperors depended on the approval of the Senate. By the 3rd Century AD, amid a series of crises, this legitimacy now depended on the Legions. This caused problems, not least because any legion was liable, especially during a crisis, to acclaim some general as emperor. So Diocletian decided to seek legitimacy elsewhere, namely in the heavens. he declared himself to be Jupiter's representative on Earth. Sound familiar?


Furthermore, in my opinion (the) Baltimore (Ravens) must be destroyed.

Power corrupts.
A church with power can corrupt a police investigation to the point of letting a priest get away with murder of a nun for protecting children and knowing too many secrets.
Just read a long fascinating article regarding the Catholic Church, Baltimore Police dept and Archbishop Keough High School , abuse, rape, murder cover up.
The victims are finally coming to grips of the horrors they experienced at the hands of catholic priests.
Its long but its a long story that deserves to be told.
Simply shocking how a powerful church has the power to derail an investigation of a murdered nun.

Over 20 years after the murder, A detective takes a close look and is told by police superior below . Below quote from the long article.

“He said, ‘Listen kid, this is a career buster. We knew who the hell killed her back when it happened, and you'll find out, and you're gonna find out things you shouldn't find out. Let it go,’” the detective recalled.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/14/cesnik-nun-murder-maskell_n_7267532.html?1431636693