Which best describes Christianity in the Roman Empire?
I’d definitely say that B is the correct answer. A is incorrect because the Greco-Roman pantheon, by the first century, was already being supplanted by many cults from the provinces such as those of Isis, Cybele, and Mithras. Few followed the old gods (although the Romans still seemed to have a respect for their ancient deities such as the lares, penates, and the shades of their ancestors, all of which predated the founding of the Roman Republic). The cult of the emperor, which was instituted after the death of Augustus, was something to which little more than lip service was paid; people burned the incense or said “Caesar is Lord” without really believing it in most cases. Judaism was never the official religion of the Empire. The Romans were exceptionally tolerant of what they considered to be local religions, and considered the Jews to be very quaint and even amusing with their belief in one invisible god, and exempted them from participation in the state cult. At first, Christianit
