Egypt: Roman Rule and the Rise of Christianity (2024)

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Egypt: Roman Rule and the Rise of Christianity? ›

Egypt played an important role in the Roman Empire as a supplier of grain. According to Coptic Christian

Increasingly it becomes evident that early Christianity was not only a branch of Judaism, but that the distinctly Egyptian branch played a major role in the systematization of the early religion.

This is because after this persecution, in 312, Emperor Constantine I became the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. A year later, he helped enact the Edict of Milan, which ended government persecution of Christians and made Christianity a recognized, legal religion within the empire.

He further suggests that not only were these personalities and the stories associated with them cultivated on the banks of the Nile, but the major tenets of Christian belief--the One God, the Trinity, the hierarchy of heaven, life after death, and the virgin birth--are all Egyptian in origin.

The first centuries of Christianity

There are few sources of information on the beginning of Christianity in Egypt. According to tradition, Saint Mark brought the new faith to Egypt. There may have been a second missionary in the first century AD, named Apollos.

According to Coptic Christian tradition, during the rule of Nero in Rome, Christianity was brought to Egypt by Saint Mark, who converted many to the initially banned faith before eventually establishing the Patriarchate of Alexandria in 61 CE.

Egypt was a logical place to find refuge, as it was outside the dominions of King Herod, but both Egypt and Judea were part of the Roman Empire, linked by a coastal road known as "the way of the sea", making travel between them easy and relatively safe.

Answer and Explanation: The emperor of Rome when Jesus was crucified was Tiberius, whose full name was Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus, although his original name was Tiberius Claudius Nero. Marcus Pontius Pilatus was the governor, or prefect, of Judaea, who gave the order for the crucifixion.

In 313 AD, the Emperor Constantine issued the Edict of Milan, which accepted Christianity: 10 years later, it had become the official religion of the Roman Empire.

Constantine I (27 February c. 272 – 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was a Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity.

Did Jesus go to Egypt as a child? ›

The Gospel of Matthew describes how Joseph, Mary, and Jesus went to Egypt to escape from Herod the Great's slaughter of the baby boys in Bethlehem.

According to the 6th-century historian Procopius, the temples in Philae was closed down officially in AD 537 by the local commander Narses the Persarmenian in accordance with an order of Byzantine emperor Justinian I. This event is conventionally considered to mark the end of ancient Egyptian religion.

Muhlestein: Egypt in the Bible plays a dual role. It is both a place of protection and refuge and also a place of wickedness and oppression. Abraham went to Egypt partially because of its agricultural stability, when things were difficult in Canaan. Often when there was a famine, the people went to Egypt.

Throughout much of ancient history Egyptian religion was polytheistic, meaning it recognized many gods and goddesses, as well as a variety of other divine beings. Not all of them were equal in significance.

The terms Copt and Coptic are variously used to denote either the members of the Coptic Orthodox Church, the largest Christian body in Egypt, or as generic terms for Egyptian Christians; this article focuses primarily on the former definition. Copts constitute up to 10 percent of the population of Egypt.

Geographically, Christianity began in Jerusalem in first-century Judea, a province of the Roman Empire.

Muhlestein: Egypt in the Bible plays a dual role. It is both a place of protection and refuge and also a place of wickedness and oppression. Abraham went to Egypt partially because of its agricultural stability, when things were difficult in Canaan. Often when there was a famine, the people went to Egypt.

Coptic history is the part of the history of Egypt that begins with the introduction of Christianity in Egypt in the 1st century AD during the Roman period, and covers the history of the Copts to the present day.

Islamic principles regarding law, politics and social customs continue to influence Egypt's laws and political interactions despite Egypt's formal status as a secular state. The vast majority of the Egyptian population (90%) identify as Muslim, mostly of the Sunni denomination.

Throughout much of ancient history Egyptian religion was polytheistic, meaning it recognized many gods and goddesses, as well as a variety of other divine beings. Not all of them were equal in significance.