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Posted by Nemo21 (U2996745) on Thursday, 19th January 2006
I have this homework question and I do not get it.
This is the question:
The emperor Trojan and Pliny the Younger exchange letters concerning the persecution of Christians. From this exchange which of the following assumptions could NOT be made?
a. Neither party knows much about the christian religion.
b. The emperor does not want to tarnish his image.
c. the emperor feels hostile towards Christians.
d. The emperor does not want to "seek out" Christian to persecute.
Help me please
Nemo
Well, it obviously can't be answered withoiut the letters (or extracts from them). Do you have the letters to refer to ?
David
a.
also hate to be pedantic but are you refering to Trajan?
Nemo, as someone else has pointed out, the Emperor's name was TRAJAN.
I have read these letters, but quite a while ago. One thing I am sure of is that Trajan did say that the Christians are not to be 'sought out' for persecution. So I am sure that d is assumption that can be made. So the answer to the question is narrowed down to a, b or c.
For a, you will see that Pliny did an investigation, and had slaves put under torture, to find out what Christianity means. Now read his letter to Trajan, and compare what he says with what you know about Christianity. Then decide if it is true that they did not know much about this religion.
For b, see if you can find any evidence in what the emperor says that he does not want to tarnish his image. If you find no such evidence then b is you answer.
For c, it should be easy to say whether or not the emperor is hostile to Christians; does he wish to do them any harm or not?
Thanks for the help the answer was c.
Nemo, you say the answer was c. Please explain how.
I thought the answer was b. For c. Trajan did approve of persecuting Christians, only saying that they are not to be 'sought out'. That shows that he had SOME hostility to the Christians, surely.
Regarding answer b, where is the evidence that the emperor was trying to preserve his image?
Nemo, you say the answer was c. Please explain how.
I thought the answer was b. For c. Trajan did approve of persecuting Christians, only saying that they are not to be 'sought out'. That shows that he had SOME hostility to the Christians, surely.
Regarding answer b, where is the evidence that the emperor was trying to preserve his image?Β
Fascinating,
I agree. having read the letters now, I thought the answer was b as well.
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