The political difference between the Christians in the East and the Western part of the Roman Empire
Christian abstraction refers to Christian art, whereby there is the use of themes and images that are related to Christianity. Most groups in Christianity have used art to the extent that brings strong objection about the role of images in religion. Abstraction in Christianity is outlined in pictures of Jesus and the narration of scenes derived from his life. The art from the Old Testament plays a significant role in dominating Christian abstraction. However, the images of the Virgin Mary and the saints are not mostly used among the Protestants, but Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy make use of them. Christianity makes more extensive use of images when compared to other religions, whereby most religions forbid the use of images to represent supreme beings in the faith. For instance, it is prohibited for Islam and those practicing Judaism to use pictures to describe some crucial people in those religions. Therefore, Christian abstraction is the use of images, and these are a representation of the essential creatures of the Christian faith.
The political difference between the Christians in the East and the Western part of the Roman Empire that was characterized by the culmination of theological issues were the main reason there was adrift in the Roman Empire. Also, the crowning of Charlemagne made the Byzantine emperor reluctant with his relations between the West and Eastern churches. As a result, there was a split between the two regions that occurred in 1054 (Blagg & Millett, 2016). The Eastern Church became the Greek Orthodox Church by joining the Roman Catholic Church.
Question 2
Christianity acquired legal status in Rome in 313 CE; this is after the emperor, Constantine, issued the Edict of Milan that ensures Christianity is accepted. Acceptance of Christianity in the Roman Empire was the most critical development in the history of Christianity as it is rejected for the longest time. It replaced the traditional beliefs among the Romans and helped them adopt Christianity life. In 315, the emperor called the Council of Nicaea that was the gathering of Christian leaders to determine the formal beliefs of a Christian. While they were debating, they came up with the Nicene Creed that comprised of the ideas that were agreed by the council. Therefore, in 380 CE, Theodosius, who was the emperor, issued the Edict of Thessalonica, which announced that Christianity is the official religion in the Roman Empire. The declaration by the emperor was significant because it ensures that those who practiced Christianity in secret were able to do it without any fear (North, 2017).
Most parts of the empire accepted the Edict and began to practice their religion. After that critical announcement, Paul walked more than ten thousand miles for more than thirty years across the empire, preaching the new faith. He taught in cities like Ephesus, Philippi, and Corinth. The introduction of Christianity in the Roman Empire is essential as it enabled the Romans to have a religion that they fo. It wallows a necessary development in the history of Christianity as it allowed the emperor to introduce a faith that the people waited for a long time. Besides, the council of Nicaea gave Christianity significant influence in the Roman Empire as it enabled the believers to establish the values that would guide them.