The fall of the pagans and the origins of medieval Christianity

Description: Why did pagan Rome, which had a history of tolerating other faiths, clash with early Christians? What was it like, under Roman law, to be a Jew or a Christian? What led to the great persecutions of Christians? Above all else, how did Christianity ultimately achieve dominance in the Roman Empire, eclipsing paganism in one of the most influential turning points in the history of Western civilization? Answers to these and similar questions are important for the sheer fact that much of today's world is still governed by principles drawn from the Judeo-Christian heritage that gained primacy as a result of Christianity's triumph over the paganism of ancient Rome. Two thousand years after this earth-shattering change, many of these principles still determine how most of today's Western world-both Christian and non-Christian alike-thinks about ethics, sin, redemption, forgiveness, progress, and so much more. Discover the true story behind this ethical and religious legacy with The Fall of the Pagans and the Origins of Medieval Christianity, a historically focused discussion of the dramatic interaction between Judaism, Christianity, and paganism from the 1st to the 6th centuries. Presented by Professor Kenneth W. Harl of Tulane University-an award-winning teacher, classical scholar, and one of the most esteemed historians on The Great Courses faculty-these 24 lectures allow you to explore in great depth the historical reasons that Christianity was able to emerge and endure and, in turn, spark a critical transition for religion, culture, and politics. -- from box

Contents: disc 1. Religious conflict in the Roman world --
Gods and their cities in the Roman Empire --
The Roman imperial cult --
The mystery cults --
Platonism and Stoicism --
Jews in the Roman Empire --
disc 2. Christian challenge : first conversions --
Pagan response : first persecutions --
Christian bishops and apostolic churches --
Pagan critics and Christian apologists --
First Christian theologians --
Imperial crisis and spiritual crisis --
disc 3. The great persecutions --
The spirit of late paganism --
Imperial recovery under the Tetrachs --
The conversion of Constantine --
Constantine and the bishops --
Christianizing the Roman world --
disc 4. The birth of Christian aesthetics and letters --
The emperor Julian and the pagan reaction --
Struggle over faith and culture --
New Christian warriors : ascetics and monks --
Justinian and the demise of paganism.

FY2014 / jvsn