Rival Of The Gods Analysis

The death of the gods at the hands of a carpenter would forever change the world. In Larry Hurtado’s “Destroyer of the gods” he argues that Christianity presented a cataclysmic shift in Roman culture. This shift would shape not only the identity of Rome but of the entire western world. Christ’s death and the following movement that arose out of His resurrection made way not only for the altering Roman society and culture but also the downfall of Roman paganism. One of Hurtado’s first arguments is based on how early Christianity was viewed by the pagans and Jews of Rome. He writes that as early as Paul/Saul, the early Jesus movement and what would become known as Christianity was viewed in a hostile light because of improper reverence for Jesus, stating, “Paul’s zealous

Another major point Hurtado argues is how Christianity’s distinct faith was used by Roman culture to silence and stop the spread of Christianity. He describes the Roman official Pliny’s

One of the points that Hurtado makes in his theological argument regards how Christian devotion to Christ and the abandoning of pagan practices caused the pagans to become hostile towards Christians and view them as atheists. Roman’s belief that “all gods were entitled to be reverenced” saw the Christian refusal to worship gods, visit temples and offer sacrifices as offending the god’s and worried about the ruin that may bring to their world. Roman society’s inability to reconcile their faith in Jesus as the faith in divine shows how radical Christian faith was to the