Christianity from the Era of Salvian of Marseilles to the First Crusade

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HIS 191: World Civilization to 1500

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Religion is a broader way of life that determines what people believe in; that is, people from different parts of the world will hold different faiths. There are several religions in the world, for example, Islamic, Hinduism, Buddhists, Christians, among others. Christianity continues to take the lead on the number of people who confess to its belief all over the world. The beginning and the rise of Christianity can be attributed to the mid-first century (CE) in the region of Judea. The inception of Christianity was based on the teaching of Jesus Christ. However, before the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Christianity was a small group of believers who were disorganized but managed to maintain its members by promising them life after death.[1] Nonetheless, the sect did not remain small for a long time because, in 476 CE, the Western Roman Empire collapsed, giving rise to more believers. The main reason behind the fall of the Roman Empire can be attributed to political injustices emanating from poor leadership. Also, the deteriorating economic condition affected the operations of the empire, leading to its failure.[2] Despite that fact that Constantine approved Christianity in 312 CE, the spread of the faith remained limited. Christianity from the fall of the Western Roman Empire to the First Crusade can best be characterized by belief in salvation, monotheism, and life after death.

The theme of salvation strongly identifies with Christs in that they had to repent their sins to be saved from the sinful human way of life. In its original intention, Christianity was aimed at delivering people from the wrongful way of life and bring them closer to the teachings of Jesus Christ.[3] This view of salvation is similar to that introduced by Moses in the Bible; then Moses said to the people: “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and see the salvation of Jehovah that he will perform for you today.[4] This is a piece of evidence that the idea of salvation was carried through from the time of its inception to the period when it became highly recognized. Most of the Christian believers, during the period of the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, focused on transforming people into their religion, mostly considering that Christian believers had been permitted to believe in what they wanted by Constantine in 312 CE. The effect of this effort is that the majority of transformed masses were thrilled to hear that their sins would be forgiven, leading to a gradual growth of the religion.

Furthermore, the theme of salvation captures the idea of Christianity as a religion in that followers were optimism that their sins would be forgiven, live a joyful and fruitful life under Christ, and most importantly get protection from their enemies. A religion stipulates the way of people's life such as morals, sanctified places, their relationship with other people, and more, how a group of people relates with Supreme Being that they consider as the Creator. Based on this definition, people's way of life played a key role in what they believed salvation was and why it was...