Jesus as messiah and, 47–49, 55
legislation against, 269–70
requirements for salvation in, 54–55
Scriptures of, 44, 47, 68
Judas Iscariot, 74
Judas Thomas, 144
Julian, Roman emperor, 135–36, 242, 244, 245, 246, 247–50, 270–71, 275, 282–83
Julius Caesar, 100, 247
Juno, 78, 101
Jupiter, 78, 101
Justin Martyr, 134, 156, 189, 191, 193, 208, 213–14
kosher food laws, 44, 65
Kristensen, Troels Myrup, 257–58
labarum, 27–28
Lactantius, 28, 133, 253–54
Lares, 95
Lateran Basilica, 35
Latourette, Kenneth Scott, 106
Laurence, Saint, 204
Law of Moses, 44, 54–55
Lenski, Noel, 238
Letter of Lyons and Viennes, 300–301
Letter to Diognetus, 208
Libanius, 235, 236, 244, 259–60
Licinius, Roman emperor, 35, 206, 218, 219–20, 227–28, 233, 238, 275
Life of Constantine (Eusebius), 25–28, 229, 230, 231–32, 233, 234, 235
Life of Gregory the Wonderworker, The (Gregory of Nyssa), 148–50
literacy, 175
literature, 88–89
Livy, 89–91, 161, 190–91
Logos, 225
Lucian of Samosata, 162
Lucius (char.), 122–25
Lydia, 172
MacMullen, Ramsay, 116, 118, 126, 153, 165–66, 167–68, 236, 237
magic, 91–92
Magus, Simon, 147–48
Mamre, 231
Marcellus, 147
Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor, 137, 157, 191, 200–201
marital sex, 211–12
Mars, 78
Martin of Tours, 118–19, 150, 152
Martyr, Justin, 156
martyrdom, 178
early accounts of, 194–98
miracle of, 156–58
Martyrdom of Polycarp, 194–96
martyrs, 155
Mary Magdalene, 74
massacre of the princes, 245, 247
Matthew, 74, 267
Maxentius, Roman emperor, 21–23, 24, 25, 28, 30, 31, 33, 205, 218, 219
Maximian, Roman emperor, 19, 21, 24, 31, 238, 245
Maximin Daia, Roman emperor, 19, 205, 219
Maximinus, Roman emperor, 219
Maximus of Madaura, 114–15
Melito of Sardis, 267–68
“messiah,” 48–49
Milvian Bridge, Battle at the, 29, 31–33, 35, 219, 241, 283
Minerva, 101
Minervina, 238
Minucius Felix, 157, 163, 191–93, 208
miracles, 67, 70–71, 107, 139–48, 151–52, 155, 158, 196, 212
of martyrdom, 156–58
Mithraism, 81, 88, 97–98, 99, 116
Mithras, 97–98, 261
monotheism, 111–16
morality, 107
Mormonism, 288
Moses, 44, 214–15, 267
mos maiorum, 78
mosques, 95
Moss, Candida, 194
Mount of Olives, 232
Mount Vesuvius, 183
mystery religions, 97–99, 111–12, 116
myths, 78–79
Nabataeans, 52
Nero, Roman emperor, 100, 161, 198–200
New Caesarea, 148–49
New Testament, 7, 35, 40–41, 74, 76, 78, 88, 126, 140, 141, 142, 162, 180, 207, 268, 269
Nicomedia, 80, 204–5, 240
Nock, Arthur Darby, 110, 121, 122, 124, 155
Octavian, see Augustus
Octavius (Minucius Felix), 191–93
Odyssey (Homer), 78
Oenoanda, 112–13
Old Testament, 44, 47, 78
“onomastics,” 168
oracles, 114
Oration to the Saints (Constantine), 36–38
Orestes, 264
Origen of Alexandria, 132, 133, 157, 163, 208
orthodoxy, 84, 94
Osiris, 124, 125
Ovid, 78
“pagan,” as term, 77
Pagan and Christian in an Age of Anxiety (Dodds), 106
paganism, 14–16, 65–66, 73, 74–104, 110–11, 112, 120, 127–28, 136, 163–64, 178, 244, 251, 256, 275, 284–85
afterlife as unimportant to, 84–87
choice in, 120–21
paganism (cont.)
Christian apologist attacks on, 210–11
Christian persecution of, 256–77
Constantine’s persecution of, 229–30, 231, 233–35
cultic acts in, 82–84
customary observance in, 88–89
destruction of artifacts of, 285
diversity of, 285–86
divine anger in, 86–87
as early Christian converts, 75–76
evangelicalism lacking in, 116
focus on this life in, 85–87
henotheism and, 81–82
henotheism in, 111–16
Julian’s conversion to, 248
lack of community in, 134–35, 136
limits of tolerance in, 89–91
as local, 87–88, 202–3
magic, atheism, and superstition in, 91–94
omnipresence of, 95–96
persecution of, 246–47, 254–55
perspective of, 78–79
as polytheistic, 79–82
practice of, 82–84
shrinking of, 126
supposed collapse of, 106–7
pagans, 139–40, 194, 253
paganus, 77
Palestine, 43
Palmyra, Syria, 8–12
panegyrics, 24
“Pan-Hellenic temples,” 260
Parthenon, 280, 282
Passover, 141
Paul (apostle), 75, 117, 130, 133, 139, 140, 145, 172, 176, 178, 180–81, 224, 268–69, 289, 290–91
apocalypticism of, 69–70, 75
in Athens, 281–82
churches established by, 58–59, 64, 75, 291–92
conversion and mission of, 39–73
conversion of, 50–52, 56–57
as craftsman, 62–63
floggings received by, 50, 61
implications of vision of, 52–57
as Jew, 42–45
letters of, 40–41, 43, 57–58, 59, 174
letter to Galatians by, 51–52
message of, 64–70
miracles of, 71, 142
missionary strategy of, 57–64
mode of persuasion of, 70–71
as originator of missionary ideal, 118
persecution of Christians by, 42–43, 45–50
second coming and, 69
significance of, 71–73
sources for life of, 40–42
travels of, 58–60
Penates, 95
Pentecost, 141, 143, 162
Persians, 247, 248
Peter, 52, 58, 75, 141–42, 146–48, 153–54, 162, 168
1 Peter, 181–82, 207
Phidias, 280
Philippi, 42–43, 172, 180–81
philosophy, 84, 237
plague, 137
Plato, 85, 206, 214–15, 263, 280
Pliny the Elder, 183
Pliny the Younger, 161, 190, 194, 200
persecution of, 183–88
Plutarch, 93–94
Polycarp, 155, 194–96
polytheism, 79–82, 103, 245
pontifex maximus, 95, 242
Porphyry, 119, 204–5, 260
prayer, 83–84, 94, 103, 127
Prudentius, 258
Pythagoras, 85
Qur’an, 88
Reformation, 4
religion, 77–78, 82, 265–66
magic vs., 91–92
myth vs., 78–79
omnipresence of, 95–96
Renaissance, 4
resurrection, 49, 53–54, 68–69, 72, 74, 281
Revelation, 268
Rise of Christianity, The (Stark), 137, 170, 287
Rives, James, 92, 127, 202, 203
Roman army, 88, 101
Roman Empire, 5–6, 7–8, 10, 14, 105
Christian population of, 160–77
citizenship in, 101–2
civil war with Maxentius in, 21–23
competitiveness in, 113–14
demographics of, 167–70
emperor worship in, 99–103
extent of, 17
Judaism in, 43
limits of tolerance in, 179–80
paganism of, 74–104
persecution of Christians in, 16, 18, 23, 35, 86
politics and religion intertwined in, 15–16
population of, 160, 173–74
road system of, 58
succession in, 18–21, 241–42
see also specific emperors
Rome, 21, 22, 28, 30, 31, 33, 35, 60, 75, 89, 95, 101, 146–48, 161, 179, 200, 203–4, 208, 228
Christian population of, 164–65
great fire of, 161, 198–99
population of, 167–68
suppression of Bacchanalia in, 89–91, 161, 179, 211
Romulus Augustulus, Roman Emperor, 283
Rufinus (Christian historian), 261
sacraments, 222
sacrifices, 94, 95–96, 103, 202, 233–36, 246, 248, 251–52
sacrificial death, 53–54
sacrificial offerings, 83–84
Sadducees, 39
salvation, 54–55, 68, 72, 117
Salzman, Michele Renee, 274
Saturninus, Publius Vigellius, 197–98
Scapula (governor of Carthage), 271–72
second coming, 268
“Second Tetrarchy,” 19–21
separation of church and state, 215–16
Serapeum, 260–63
Serapis, 260, 261, 262
Severus, Roman emperor, 19, 21, 26, 31, 218, 219
shrines, 95, 285
Sibylline Books, 88–89
Sixtus, 204
slavery, 5
Smyrna, 194–96
social networks, 119–20, 131
Socrates, 206, 280
Sol Invictus, 24, 25, 29, 30, 32, 33–34, 81, 113, 218
Sophocles, 2, 280
Spain, 60
Sparta, 101
Speratus, 197–98
Stark, Rodney, 137–38, 170, 173, 287–94
statue mutilations, 10
Suda, 263
Suetonius, 162
Sulpicius Severus, 150
superstition, 92–94, 186–87, 246
Symmachus, 273
synagogues, 60–61, 95
Syria, 46
Tacitus, 161, 198, 199
Tarsus, 43
temples, 95, 96, 246, 251, 259–60, 277, 285
Temple of Zeus, 11
Ten Commandments, 44, 267
Tertullian, 86, 115, 134, 154, 156–57, 162–63, 164, 173, 177, 189, 191, 193, 208, 210, 254, 268, 271–72
Tetrarchy, 18, 218, 228
Thaddeus, 144–45
Themistius, 272
Theodosian Code, 234, 235, 237, 246, 251–52, 269, 270
Theodosius I, Roman emperor, 9, 10–11, 14, 235, 251, 253, 258–59, 261, 262, 269–70, 275, 276, 283
Theodosius II, Roman Emperor, 235
Theon, 263
Theophilus, bishop of Alexandria, 262, 264
Theos Hypsistos, 82, 113, 114, 130
Thessalonians, 61, 67
1 Thessalonians, 64–65, 69
Thessalonica, 41, 64–65, 291
Thracian rider gods, 23
Tiberius, Roman emperor, 9, 18, 101, 214
Tiber River, 31
tombstone inscriptions, 85
Torah, 88
torture, 186
traditores, 222
Trajan, Roman emperor, 161, 183, 187, 200
Transjordan, 75
Trinity, doctrine of, 148, 270
Trombley, Frank, 169
True Word, The (Celsus), 132–34
Tychaean (Alexandrian temple), 96
Valentinian I, Roman emperor, 251
Valentinian II, Roman emperor, 273
Valerian, Roman emperor, 203–4, 266
Varieties of Religious Experience, The (James), 108
Venus, 78, 100
Victory (goddess), 273
Virgil, 78, 84
Vitruvius, 80
wars, 5
women, 134
Zechariah, Prophet, 55
Zeit Konstantins des Grossen, Die (The Age of Constantine the Great) (Burckhardt), 32
Zenobia, Queen, 9
Zeus, 80, 88, 260
Zeus Hypsistos, 82
Zonaras, 238
Zosimus, 238
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Ehrman, Bart D., author.
Title: The triumph of Christianity / Bart D. Ehrman.
Description: First Simon & Schuster hardcover edition. | New York : Simon & Schuster, 2018. | Includes bibliographical references.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016056895 | ISBN 9781501136702 (hardcover)
Subjects: LCSH: Constantine I, Emperor of Rome, –337—Influence. | Church history—Primitive and early church, ca. 30–600.
Classification: LCC BR180 .E47 2017 | DDC 270.1—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016056895
ISBN 978-1-5011-3670-2
ISBN 978-1-5011-3672-6 (ebook)