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Essay / How the Fall of Rome in Saint Augustine's City of God Was Influenced by Christianity
In Saint Augustine's City of God, Augustine uses the argument that Christianity led to the fall of Rome. The book describes why Christianity led to the fall of Rome and also what Christianity could have contributed to Roman beliefs. Augustine proposes this theory about the fall of Rome, although there are many other controversial theories dealing with how the Empire collapsed, Augustine's theory is greatly supported. He points out all the flaws in Roman beliefs and explains to the reader how Christianity could have saved the people of Rome if they had accepted it. In St. Augustine's City of God, Augustine uses the flaws of Roman beliefs and the greatness of the Christian God to show how the Romans failed in the religious aspect of their empire, thus leading the empire down the path of self-destruction . plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayThe beliefs of the Roman Empire were flawed, and over the years their inadequate religious views led to distrust and the loyalty of their citizens. In the book The City of God by Saint Augustine, he explains how the Roman Empire could have lasted for a long time if it had accepted Christianity into its culture. In the Roman Empire, Christianity was very secretive, as it was illegal to follow this religion. The citizens kept it very discreet, on the outside they had to believe in the Roman gods, but on the inside their hearts belonged to Jesus. One of the errors that the Roman Empire failed to completely destroy was Christianity, and because of this, it rotted the empire from the inside. Once citizens learned of the greatness of this Christian god, their own gods became embarrassing. Augustine addresses these man-made gods, calling them “All the gods of the nation are demons” (Augustine 705). Roman gods aren't necessarily great role models, which is why some of the famous Roman "heroes" aren't necessarily great people. In any large community of people, a good role model is essential. Unlike the Roman gods who were the opposite of a good role model, they were vain, mischievous and downright rude. These man-made gods adopted very immoral methods, such as sacrificing virgins and animals, and also throwing feasts for the "crimes of the gods" (Augustine 243), although for citizens, These are not crimes. The Roman people did not think what they were doing was immoral, because it was the only culture they knew. To others, what the Romans celebrated was a crime, but since it was their god, the Romans would never consider it such a thing. This aspect of the book where Roman citizens believed in such mortal gods interested me. The Romans only had stories and festivals to practice their religion, they did not necessarily have a clear path to their afterlife. They believed in gods who committed such deadly crimes, but they still worshiped them as gods. In some sense, I feel like the Roman people were deceived by a true religion, because they were forced to believe that no matter what the Senate proposed, they were just easy targets for whatever the Senate wanted to drill into their heads, even if the citizens deserve. a little credit for introducing Christianity to the empire and all. Christianity was stifled throughout the empire, because the Senate would panic if it found out that citizens were secretly practicing Christianity. The Roman Senate was essentially composed of..