The Sermon on the Mount began by focusing on the heart of Jesus’ teachings: those people who were physically weak but spiritually strong. I suppose I’m not alone in this opinion, but it appears that these are the type of people that Jesus looked for – namely women and children, those who are sick, the oppressed poor who were embittered towards the government and looking to rebel, but in a humbler way in an effort to find the “truth and the light.” One of Jesus’ first lines in the sermon is, “Blessed are the persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, (10)” This can be validated by the Lyons Martyr, which doesn’t exactly lament the brutal murders of their brethren, but almost rejoices in their deaths – their confidence and faith is so strong that they “know” in their hearts that Jesus/God will save them in the afterlife and that their lives will not be in vain. After all, Jesus says that their “reward is great in heaven (11).” So because Jesus worked with those who might be “poor in spirit (3),” but also those who were “meek” it was easy for him to embolden his followers with teachings s

The big difference between Roman paganism and Christianity is that the pagans believed (and still do today) in a variety of Gods, each controlling a different aspect of life. Christianity involved the worship of one single God who watched over the whole humans and their lives. Romans did not understand this, for they thought the Christians were hypocrites: “[Christians] worship to an extravagant degree this man who appeared recently, and yet think it is not inconsistent with monotheism if they so worship His servant (Celsus VIII 12).” It did not make sense that Jesus was the God of the world, yet on the earth and in heaven at the same time. To the pagans a thunderstorm was the gods expressing their opinion their followers had done something to upset them and this was the gods’ way of letting them know. Infant mortality was extremely high as Iron Age people had no knowledge of germs, disease, in fact anything that could lead to an early dead. They saw a death as the gods punishing the family for an indiscretion. No matter what happened, the gods were behind it. Christianity held completely different beliefs about life. A thunderstorm was a natural occurrence. The death of an infant not punishment, it was 'God's will'. The family had not upset the Christian God; he had just willed it should happen. No reason needed to be given.

The utmost attraction to anyone at the time who wanted to convert to Christianity may have been compassion. In a world where sudden, often violent death was never far away, there was little room for the weak, the poor, or the sick. The Christian notion of a world inherited by the meek, and not the callous, had much to commend it. Hope, justice, and compassion. No pagan god could give what Christianity offered. Even to a hardened warrior, whose future depended on him blocking the next sword or spear, this must have seemed a desirable alternative. It is obvious that human beings seek comfort in the afterlife – for they fear they will never see their relatives who have passed on or that those who are evil will not seek punishment. This was unacceptable to people at the time. The Roman and Greek gods were fallible, superfluous, and were not there

Some topics in this essay:
Lyons Martyr, God Zeus, Christ Celsus, Christian God, Sermon Mount, Iron Age, God Jesus’, Roman Greek, Christian Jesus, Jesus God, criticisms sense, christian teachings, lyons martyr, easily converted, teachings people, rich wealthy, christian god, comfort afterlife, jesus’ teachings, celsus’ criticisms,