Kilroy

Jeremy Kilroy
Humanities
December 2014
Assessment Essay

The main characters of the Byzantine Empire were Diocletian, Constantine, Jerome,
Ambrose, Gregory, Augustine and Justinian. It achieved influence on the whole world through
the Christian faith and collections of laws that are used and believed in, even to this day.
Moreover, I do not think it impacted the Christian world, it literally made it. Iconography
influenced Christians and later other groups as well, including secret societies.
The major start of the Byzantine Empires influence on solidifying Christianity begins with
Diocletian. Diocletian divided the Empire into western and eastern halves and appointed a coemperor to share the burden of administration and defense. (Fiero, Gloria). Shortly after this
Romes greatness fell and the Byzantine Empire became the power structure of the area for over
a thousand years. Diocletian put into effect the Edict of Milan in 313 A.D., which legalized
Christianity and outlawed the persecution of Christians.
Constantine moved the seat of power from the beleaguered city of Rome to the eastern
capital of the Empire, Byzantium, which he renamed Constantinople. (Fiero, Gloria). The new
location prospered from it being along one of the trade routes for the Silk Road.
Byzantine emperors formed a firm alliance with church leaders and worked to create an
empire that flourished until the mid-fifteenth century. (Fiero, Gloria). The working together
with church leaders seems to show that they may have used religion to consolidate power

through a form of indoctrination. Furthermore, I would go so far as to say that the early
Christians, Gnostics and early followers of Jesus did not believe that Jesus was God himself and
was fostered to facilitate the consolidation of power.
In Bart Ehrmans Did Jesus Exist? The Historical Argument for Jesus of Nazareth he states,
That the earliest Christians did not consider Jesus as God is not a controversial point
among scholars. Apart from fundamentalists and very conservative evangelicals, scholars
are unified in thinking that the view that Jesus was God was a later development within
Christian circles. Fundamentalists disagree, of course, because for them Jesus is really
God, and since he is God, he must of known he is God, and he must of told his followers,
and so they knew from the beginning that he was God. This view is rooted in the
inerrancy of scripture, where everything that Jesus is said to have said, for example in the
Gospel of John, is historically accurate and beyond question. But that is not the view of
critical scholarship. Whether or not Jesus really was God (a theological, not a historical
question), the earliest followers did not think so. (Bart Ehrman).
There are many other similar scholars that share similar views, including James Tabor, who
even puts forth very controversial evidence of Jesuss biological father as a Roman soldier
named Panthera from the author Celsus in the book On the True Doctrine. Furthermore even the
Jews say that the local rabbi recorded Jesuss actual father, but they record the name as Pandera.
In light of this the Romans possibly taking this on as a replacement to Mithraism starts to make
more sense and the time period that Mithraism was practiced even correlates to the time that the
Christian Dogma & Liturgy was forming.

Moreover one of the oldest surviving copies of The Epistle of James, Jesuss own brother.
Nowhere does his brother mention that Jesus is the god. This is pretty serious when you think
about the omission. Because if you know what the Christian beliefs entail. That means James
forgot to tell and write about the most important news to deliver with his brother. If he knew
everyone would go to hell that did not believe in his brother, it would make logical sense that he
would specifically mention that, and he does not. I am pretty sure he didnt say, it slipped my
mind. Only the most important aspect of the Christian faith! In Understanding the Real Jesus it
goes on to say.
In the epistle of James, the author counsels patience until the Lord comes (James 5:7)
because the coming of the Lord is near (James 5:8). Since James provides no indication
that he subscribes to a belief in a divine Messiah, he clearly refers only to God. James
reference to the coming of the Lord is similar to the way in which the author of the
Didache prays for the coming of Gods kingdom (Didache 8). Within the earliest versions
of both James and the Didache, there is no indication that the believers were waiting for
anyone other than God to come and establish the kingdom. (Martin Russell)
There are many other books that back it up these claims with old historical texts, mainly
concerning the historical Jesus.
With the disintegrating Rome of the West I can imagine that people were looking for a new
hope. Constantinople was the new Rome and had a new hope and belief system to accompany it
as well. With those new beliefs came Early Christian art which nourished the spiritual needs of
millions of people throughout the West. (Fiero pg.199)

The early church kept construction techniques from the Romans and its law. It also
supplanted the government by putting in charge of provinces archbishops. This was the NSO not
the NWO but the NSO, new spiritual order. The NSO was formalized with the council of Nicaea.
This caused a shift from classical rationalism to Christian mysticism. (Fiero pg.199)
The four most important Latin scholars were Jerome, Ambrose, Gregory and Augustine.
Moreover Ambrose wrote a hymn. In the hymn that follows, divine light is the unifying theme.
The reference to God as the Light of light distinctly recalls the cult of Mithras, as well as
Platos analogy between the Good and the Sun. (Fiero pg.201)
After the closing of the schools of thought like Aristotle and the likes. Many of the Roman
schools of thought dried up as well. Leaving the Church to become the authority of knowledge
for a nice and complete through brainwashing of the masses. Even our calendar is based upon the
year of the lord. Anno domini nostri Jesu Christi.
The greatest philosopher of the early church was Augustine of Hippo (354-430). (Fiero
pg.201). He contemplated the higher or spiritual self to the lower self and animalistic desires that
each of us battle as being human. I would go on to say this is a battle between different areas of
our brain the limbic system and our neocortex. I think that in the future a new dimension will be
added to our brain like an additional layer similar in the way our neocortex was built upon the
reptilian part of our brain (limbic system). I think this new layer in the future will be
technological in nature or genetically engineered. That will allow a transference of knowledge
among all living humans effectively ending all wars over beliefs since all will know the same,
and will be unified with knowledge. Ignorance will be a thing of the past, and even school might
become unnecessary. The world would work together in harmony towards advancement. Hurting

another person would become almost unheard of since the pain caused to another could instantly
be transmitted back to the one inflicting it as if they were living it themselves.
I agree with Augustine in the fact that he was against evil, but agreed with just wars. The
reason I agree with this is if you live in an unjust system, you know that you are going to
continue to be mistreated in the future and going to war actually becomes self-defense. In fact
America was founded in just this manner, with the unjustness of the King of England and
knowing that it would not change in the future, if nothing was done. If we advance far enough. I
believe all of that will fade away including just wars.
Christian Iconography became very important and contributed much to art and Secret
Societies. Early Christians in the Roman Empire had symbols that other Christians could
identify. This later led to more symbolic than literal at face value meanings. I would say that
Secret Societies that exist today built from the traditions of Templars, took much of this
Iconography and added their own meanings to them. Masons built many of the Cathedrals of
Europe and Templars joined the Masons once the Catholic Church denounced them. Sir Francis
Bacon learning of America through tales of Templars is said to have written many of the degrees
of Freemasonry which were built upon Christian morality. Furthermore, Sir Francis Bacon wrote
a book called the New Atlantis in which America is to be the New Atlantis. This is what Thomas
Jefferson had to say about Sir Francis Bacon. Thomas Jefferson identified Francis Bacon, John
Locke, and Isaac Newton as the three greatest men that have ever lived, without any exception,
in this 1789 letter ordering portraits of them from the American painter, John Trumbull.
(Jefferson, Thomas). So not only did Christian Iconography give birth to the NSO New Spiritual
Order it also fostered the birth of the NWO.

The Hagia Sophia is probably one of the most breathtaking buildings I have ever seen from its
interior. It puts one at awe just from the pictures and is a testament to how these beliefs
influenced architecture. I have said in my earlier papers that this is mans ego basically on
steroids. It is also a testament to what can be done when people truly believe in something. From
a psychological perspective. It takes the burden off of ones self in order to move on and grow.
But at the same time I believe it to also be dangerous. Because to me personally, it is built from a
falsity.
In conclusion, the Byzantine Empire has had a major influence on law, art and how people
think and view the world even to this day. Around 2 billion people still follow beliefs formed by
that empire. So it is still making a huge impact on the world long after it has fallen.
Works Cited
Bart Ehrman. Did Jesus Exist? The Historcial Argument for Jesus of Nazareth (231). New
York,Harper Collins, 2012).
Fiero, Gloria K. The Humanistic Tradition Volume I: Prehistory to the Early Modern World: 1
(Page 199). McGraw-Hill Higher Education -A. Kindle Edition. 2011-12-01.
Jefferson, Thomas. The Three Greatest Men. American Treasures of the Library of Congress.
Lib. Of Cong., 15th of February 1789. Web. 4th of May 2014.
Russell, Martin. Understanding the Real Jesus. (pp. 108) Infinity Publishing.
September 2006. ISBN 978-0-7414-3119-6.