Cruxifixion of Jesus Christ

On the evening before His crucifixion Jesus was gathered with His disciples in the upper room, sharing with them some of the most intimate truths of His entire ministry. As He discussed the love of the Father and His love for His disciples he declared.

Though they did not realize it at the time, the disciples were only hours from the practical realization of this truth. One of the subtle evidences of the supernatural origin of the Biblical text is that astonishing events are often described in extremely brief narratives.

This is perhaps best illustrated in the matter-of-fact way in which the crucifixion of Jesus Christ-the most pivotal event in the history of the universe-is described in the Gospel accounts.

After Jesus was examined and declared to be without fault by the Roman Procurator Pontius Pilate, he delivered Him to be judged by the assembled crowd. When the opportunity arose to decide the destiny of Jesus, the crowd and the Jewish leadership cried out saying, "Crucify Him, crucify Him."

The physical suffering of Jesus began in the Garden of Gethsemane on the evening before His crucifixion. While the disciples slept, the Gospel of Luke records that the LORD "being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground."

The notion that someone could actually sweat blood seems contrived. However, there is a rare but recognized condition called hematohydrosis, in which capillary blood vessels that feed the sweat glands rupture, causing them to express blood. This usually occurs under conditions of extreme physical or emotional stress. Jesus wasn't sweating blood because he was afraid of the physical pain of the cross. Indeed, the book of Hebrews tells us that Jesus looked forward to the cross.

Influence of the Roman Empire

Many aspects of today's society have been affected by ancient Rome . Creation of law, development of democratic government practices, influences in language, literature, art, infrastructure, and city-planning are all areas where the influences of Roman ideas can be seen. Additionally, Roman influences have had considerable importance in the spread of Christianity.

Elements of modern city planning can be traced to Roman concepts. The Romans engaged in extensive city-building activities as they consolidated their empire. Roman military and colonial towns were laid out in a variation of highly planned grid. Developments in the architecture of fortification, relating to compact space and fast maneuverability, and the discovery of perspective, focusing the description on the eye of the viewer, led to radial focus in city plans and the development of ideal town plans. Many European cities, like London and Paris , sprang from these Roman origins. Similarly, in Washington DC , building designs were derived from Roman styles (Reid, 1998). Roman theaters have also had a considerable influence on the development of theaters in modern society.

Another significant area of Roman influence is in religion. The Roman Empire contributed to the spread of Christianity. In particular, it played a role estrangement between what would become Eastern and Western Christians, known today as Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholics. When the Bishop of Rome took power after Constantinople (now Istanbul ) became the capital of the empire, ideological differences became manifest between the East and West. Eastern Christians looked more readily to Constantinople , its Emperor and its bishop. Meanwhile, Western Europeans tended to look to the missionaries sent by Rome and to the Holy Father of Rome for faith and guidance. Ultimately, a split occurred between the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches.

Liturgical life in both these churches were influenced by the Roman Empire , though in different ways. In the East, court rituals were conducted lavishly, whereas in the West, services tended to be more simple and sober.

The legacy of Rome has clearly left lasting impacts on numerous aspects of modern society. Many things in everyday life can be traced to Roman origins, such as components of language, architecture, art, and Western government. The implications of Roman influences in today's society are clearly significant and far reaching.

Conribution of Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire (or Byzantium) was the predominantly Greek-speaking eastern Roman Empire of the Middle Ages, centered around its capital of Constantinople, and ruled by emperors in direct succession to theAncient Roman emperor. It was called the Roman Empire and also Romania by its inhabitants and neighbours. As the distinction between “Roman Empire” and “Byzantine Empire” is largely a modern convention, it is not possible to assign a date of separation, but an important point is Emperor Constantine I’s transfer in 324 of the capital from Nicomedia (in Anatolia) to Byzantium on theBosphorus, which became Constantinople (alternatively “New Rome“). During its existence of more than a thousand years, the Empire remained one of the most powerful economic, cultural, and military forces in Europe, despite setbacks and territorial losses, especially during the Roman–Persian and Byzantine–Arab Wars. The Empire recovered during the Macedonian dynasty, rising again to become a pre-eminent power in the Eastern Mediterranean by the late tenth century, rivaling the Fatimid Caliphate. After 1071, however, much of Asia Minor, the Empire’s heartland, was lost to the Seljuk Turks. The Komnenian restoration regained some ground and briefly re-established dominance in the twelfth century, but following the death of Andronikos I Komnenos and the end of the Komnenos dynasty in the late twelfth century the Empire declined again. The Empire received a mortal blow in 1204 by the Fourth Crusade, when it was dissolved and divided into competing Byzantine Greek and Latin realms. Despite the eventual recovery of Constantinople and re-establishment of the Empire in 1261, under the Palaiologan emperors, successive civil wars in the fourteenth century further sapped the Empire’s strength. Most of its remaining territory was lost in the Byzantine–Ottoman Wars, culminating in the Fall of Constantinople and its remaining territories to the Muslim Ottoman Empire in the fifteenth century. Nomenclature For more details on this topic, see Names of the Greeks. The designation of the Empire as “Byzantine” began in Western Europe in 1557, when German historian Hieronymus Wolf published his work Corpus Historiæ Byzantinæ, a collection of Byzantine sources. “Byzantine” itself comes from “Byzantium” (a Greek city, founded by colonists from Megara in 667 BC), the name of the city of Constantinople before it became the capital of Constantine. This older name of the city would rarely be used from this point onward except in historical or poetic contexts. The publication in 1648 of the Byzantine du Louvre (Corpus Scriptorum Historiæ Byzantinæ), and in 1680 of Du Cange‘s Historia Byzantinafurther popularized the use of Byzantine among French authors, such asMontesquieu. The term then disappears until the nineteenth century when it came into general use in the Western world. Before this time, Greek had been used for the Empire and its descendants within the Ottoman Empire. The Empire was known to its inhabitants as the Roman Empire, the Empire of the Romans Imperium Romanum, Imperium Romanorum, , Basileia ton Rhomaion, Romanian, the Roman Republic(Latin: Res Publica Romana, Graikia, and also as Rhomais Although the empire had a multi-ethnic character during most of its history and preserved Greco-Roman traditions, it was usually known to most of its western and northern contemporaries as the Empire of the Greeks due to the increasing predominance of the Greek element.The use of the term Empire of the Greeks in the West to refer to the Eastern Roman Empire also implied a rejection of the empire’s claim to be the Roman Empire. The claims of the Eastern Roman Empire to Roman inheritance had been actively contested in the West at the time of the Roman Empress Irene of Athens, due to the coronation ofCharlemagne as Holy Roman Emperor in the year 800, by Pope Leo III, who, needing help against enemies in Rome, saw the throne of the Roman Empire as vacant . Whenever the Popes or the rulers of the West made use of the name Roman to refer to the eastern Roman Emperors, they preferred the term Imperator Romania instead of Imperator Romanorum, a title that Westerners maintained applied only to Charlemagne and his successors. By contrast, in the Persian, Islamic, and Slavic worlds, the Empire’s Roman identity was generally accepted. In the Islamic world it was known primarily as Rome. In modern historical atlases, the Empire is usually called the Eastern Roman Empire in maps depicting the empire during the period 395 to 610, after the new emperor Heraclius changed the official language from Latin to Greek in maps depicting the Empire after 610, the term Byzantine Empire usually appears.

Spread of Christianity

Christianity existed several centuries prior to the birth of Islam, and by the time Muhhamad founded Islam in the Middle East, Christianity had moved its center to Europe, where it had firmly established itself as the official religion. But Christianity originally sprouted in the Middle East after Christ's resurrection in A.D. 30. The church began in Jerusalem and the surrounding area, and it initially preached the Gospel only to the Jews. It grew quite rapidly for a time-in fact, the book of Acts records the conversion of 3000 Jews in a single, extraordinary day. During this early period, however, Christianity did not expand far beyond Jerusalem and its vicinity. That would soon change. After the first few years of relative peace for the church, a terrible persecution broke out following the stoning of Stephen. Jewish leaders hunted down the followers of Jesus and threw them into prison. At this time many in the church scattered to the surrounding countryside of Judea and Samaria. Christianity's worldwide expansion was beginning.

When Islam was founded about 550 years later, around the beginning of the seventh century, its initial experience was strikingly similar to the early experience of the persecuted Christian church as persecution spread Islam from Mecca to Medina. In 610 A.D. Muhammad-a native of the Quraysh tribe in Mecca, Saudi Arabia-claimed that he received revelations from God that called him to preach a new religion called Islam. At first he began to do so secretly, but after three years he found the courage to proclaim his new faith publicly and gained a growing number of followers. However, his monotheistic message was not well received by many in his polytheistic city, where people were used to profiting from pagan pilgrims to the Kaaba. As a result, the early Muslim converts faced persecution, just as the early Christians had. Islam's growth was limited during this time, and it did not spread far beyond Mecca. Eventually the harassment forced Muhammad to leave Mecca, so he fled to Medina in what is known as the hejira of 622 AD. Here the Medinan and Meccan Surahs of the Koran reveal a changed Muhammad. He gathered many converts who became his militant followers. Persecution against Muslims had essentially ended by the time Muhammad died.

The histories of Christian and Muslim expansion diverged from the similarity of initial dispersions caused by persecution. Although Christians continued to be persecuted until the "Edict of Toleration" of 311 AD, they were able to hide in house churches within the cities, intending that the gospel would diffuse into the countryside from there. But this made the spread of Christianity during the first two centuries an essentially urban phenomenon, and it became an urban religion. In contrast, Arabia had very few cities, so militant Islam spread mostly through unprotected villages and rural areas. That the Christian church continued to grow in the face of persecution throughout its first two centuries, served as a testimony to the power and truth of the Gosple of Christ for Christians. That Islam was able to so easily win battles across northern Africa, and eastward into India, served as testimony to Muslims as their having the favor of Allah. These distinctions made the spread of Christianity and the spread of Islam extremely different.

Perhaps the most significant difference between the first two centuries of the expansion of Christianity and Islam was between the methods used to spread their messages. These methods stemmed from the beliefs of each religion. Christians were taught to "turn the other cheek" and "love your enemies". The Apostle Paul wrote, "God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). While Christians taught that God loves all people and wants them to have a personal relationship with Him, Muhammad taught that "Allah loveth not those who reject Faith." These contrasting attitudes caused Christians and Muslims to go about conversion in different manners. During their first two centuries, Christians did not force their religion on others but relied on missionaries, preaching, and leading godly lives as ambassadors of God. Muslims, on the other hand, did not rely solely on preaching to spread their faith-they turned also to the sword to conquer vast areas of land in the Middle East and Northern Africa during the seventh and eighth centuries. When they attacked or occupied new territory, they gave its inhabitants three options: convert to Islam, pay a special tax, or die. Under these circumstances many chose to pay the tax, and many others chose to convert to Islam. Clearly, the Islamic method of expansion did not match the loving approach of Christianity. However, as Christianity fell under the control of Roman Catholicism, instances of conversion by the sword were used as had been the norm in Islam. Emporers from Constantine to Charlemagne had forced baptism into Christianity by conquered peoples. The Spanish Inquisition also used violence to enhance the position of the Church. This serves to demonstate the danger of state sponsored religious persecution. This is at the heart of Islam as the Caliph embodies the head of the military and religion as patterned after Mohammad. The combimed authority has the unchecked power to engage in violent Islamic Jihad.

A strange historical significance seems to surround the Middle East. It has served as the birth place for many cultures and religions. Its Fertile Crescent contained one of the earliest culture hearths where civilization developed. In this area great kingdoms of the ancient world, such as Babylon and Persia, arose to shape history. Judaism had its roots in the Middle East, and Israel-the country of God's chosen people-was formed here. Later two of the largest and most historically important religions on earth-Christianity and Islam-also emerged and spread from the Middle East. As they expanded from this region, both of these religions had substantial impact on the course of history. Both of them also made considerable progress during their first 200 years of expansion. However, during the first two centuries of the existence of each religion there were fundamental differences between the expansion of Christianity and that of Islam, despite early similarities in the way they spread.

Catholic Crusades

The Crusades were essentially a conflict between Christendom and Islam. To be specific, they were a conflict between Christian civilization and Islam as adopted by "the Turk," those savage, destructive Mongol tribes from Asia. After the terrible Christian defeat at Manzikert in Turkey (1071 A. D.), not only the ancient Christian civilization in the Holy Land, but Europe itself lay in mortal peril. Here the great Catholic historian Hilaire Belloc states that in this titanic struggle, to which nearly a million men arose, "our fathers all but re-established the spiritual mastery of Europe over the East: all but recovered the full patrimony of Rome."

But they did not recover it. They failed. That is, they failed after the success of the First or Great Crusade, which took Jerusalem in 1099 A. D. and then held out in the Holy Land for 50 years. But the disaster came at Hattin (1187 A. D.), and subsequent "Crusades" were but "the rear-guard action of a defeat."

In The Crusades, Belloc tells us why our Christian forefathers failed in this momentous enterprise. He explains the men, the leadership, the arms, the land, the finances, the motives, the character of the enemy, the heat, the thirst--to put us in a mind to understand why the Crusaders initially succeeded, why they ultimately failed, and why they went off on the Crusade in the first place. From the military standpoint, Belloc answers that the great Crusading effort failed because the Crusaders failed to secure Damascus--and they failed to secure Damascus because of an ongoing lack of reinforcement from Europe.

But of what importance is all this for today? Does it matter that the great 11th and 12th century effort to re-establish European Christian order and tradition in its cradle in the Holy Land ultimately failed: that the Moslem strength was not destroyed?

Hilaire Belloc predicts here (writing in 1937) that we have by no means seen the last of the results of the 12th-century Christian military failure against Islam. He states that "Islam has in the main preserved its soul," and that therefore its material strength may return. On the other hand, Europe is disintegrating, for the Christian cement which held it together has crumbled. And in that great spiritual contrast, states Belloc, lies our great periil from Islam yet today.