Development of Doctrinal Christianity 213 MOSAIC OF SS. PETER AND PAUL POINTING TO A THRONE, ON GOLD BACKGROUND From the Ninth Century original, in the Church of Sta, Prassede, Rome (/« the Vic oria and Albert Museit^n) ing side by side with many less prominent cults. Each was seeking adherents, and there must have been a constant going and coming of converts between them. Sometimes one or other would be in favour with the government. But Christianity was regarded with more suspicion than its rivals because, like the Jews, its adherents would not perform acts of worship to the God Caesar. This made it a sedi- tious religion, quite apart from the revolutionary spirit of the teach- ings of Jesus himself. St. Paul familiarized his disciples with the idea that Jesus, like Osiris, was a god who died to rise again and give men immortality.
Page:A Short History of the World.djvu/233
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