Blog

   History started when God created the world and everything in it. That is called creation. When people were deep in sin, after Adam and Eve, God said to Noah that He would send a flood, so He told Noah to build an Ark to save him and his family from the flood. After Noah left the Ark with his family, Noah’s family multiplied and then came the Tower of Babel. When God changed the languages of the people, they went into different parts of the world.

   They settled in all of the seven continents of the world except Antarctica. Next came the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The patriarchs are important because out of them came the twelve tribes of Israel. The twelve tribes became the Jewish nation from where Jesus came. Joseph was the son of Jacob, a patriarch. His brothers sold him into slavery in Egypt, but God used it for good and eventually, he became second-in-command of all of Egypt. After Joseph died, a new ruler came to power who did not know Joseph, and he feared the growing number of the Israelites, so he made them his slaves.

   There were thirty-one dynasties in Egypt. A dynasty is a succession of rulers from the same family line. The Egyptians were also fascinated with their death and the afterlife. We see this because of their interest in spirits and mummification. Moses was sent to free all the Israelites from the Egyptians. God used the Ten Plagues to convince Pharaoh that He was God and to set His people free. Sadly, the children of Israel disobeyed God several times, so they were stuck in the wilderness for forty years!

   God set up judges to govern His people, but the people rebelled against the judges and God many times. They demanded a king, and God gave them what they wanted. Israel’s first king was Saul, then David, then Solomon. When Solomon’s son (Rehoboam) came to power, the kingdom split into the kingdoms of Israel and Judah.

   Greece is located in Southern Europe, near the Mediterranean Sea. Mt. Olympus is located in Greece and supposedly the home of the Greek gods. Homer was a Greek poet who wrote the Iliad and the Odyssey. The Greek Olympics were captivating. They held the Olympics just to please their gods.

   Socrates was the first philosopher in ancient Greece. A Philosopher is “someone who engages in thoughtful analysis of the world around them.” Three of Socrates’ students wrote about him. These students were Plato, Aristophanes, and Xenophon. Socrates was a great teacher, but he lacked grace in his teachings. We know a lot about math and science because of many philosophers in Greece.

   The two main city-states in ancient Greece were Athens and Sparta. Life in Sparta was very cruel. They thought family loyalty was the weakness of the city, so they tried many ways to prevent family loyalty. Here is one example. When boys turned age seven, they are sent to the military to be trained as a solder and they were treated very harshly, even from a young age. There were three Peloponnesian Wars between Athens and Sparta, which Sparta eventually won. Athens was weakened by the wars so that made it easier for Alexander the Great to conquer them. Alexander was given the nickname “Alexander the Great” because he never lost a battle. He was so great in battles he conquered a gigantic part of Asia. After he died, his empire fell apart.

      Rome was founded in 753 B.C. by Romulus, the first king of Rome. The Greeks influenced the shaping of Rome. Caesar Augustus was the emperor in Rome who demanded a census very close to Jesus’ birth. Jesus was born in Bethlehem and was visited by shepherds and wise men. Jesus is the son of God. Jesus was rejected by the Jews as the Messiah. Jesus was crucified, buried, rose, and ascended into heaven, which led into the early church. The early church grew when the Holy Spirit started sending out apostles to preach the Gospel throughout the world. Many apostles were martyred because of their faith in Jesus. Constantine I was a Roman emperor and was the first emperor who became a believer. Ignatius, Irenaeus, and Ambrose were some of the early church fathers.

   Pompeii, an ancient Roman vacation site was destroyed by Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D. Pompeii lay untouched for hundreds of years until archaeologists found the site and it became an archaeological site. Roman fathers were in charge of an entire Roman family. Even though some things are unfair for the girls but fair for the boys, I really want to live there. Farms raised lots of animals and grew many plants. During the Republic, farms were small, but during the Empire, farms were very big. Rome fell because of five things: the division of the empire, lack of military cohesion, economic struggles, political rivalries and turmoil, and moral decline.

   I love what I learned this year!

   I learned a lot about Ancient Africa in my school year and this paper will include some of the stuff I learned about. Africa is home of the largest desert in the world called the Sahara Desert, and the largest river in the world called the Nile River. Not only is the Nile River the largest river in the world, but it is the only river in the world that runs south to north. Africa has many other deserts and a lot more rivers than just the Sahara Desert and the Nile River.

   I had a lot of favorite tribes I liked to learn about, but Egypt was my most favorite (besides Rome). Many of the pyramids were built during the Old Kingdom. Egypt also got its golden age during the New Kingdom. After Alexander the Great’s reign over Egypt, a family named the Ptolemies actually did manage to control Egypt for about 300 years! The last to rule their dynasty was Cleopatra VII. The Egyptians invented hieroglyphs and papyrus scrolls. hieroglyphics are pictures that each mean a word or phrase.

   There are five main reasons why Rome collapsed. The first reason why Rome fell is because the empire was divided. Rome became so big that one ruler could not control all of Rome at once, so Rome was divided into two empires, the Western Emire and the Eastern Empire. They were supposed to fight together against invaders, but instead, they fought against each other, which made each empire weaken. This made it easier for invaders to conquer them.

   The second reason is lack of military cohesion. After Rome goes to fight against barbarians, the army brings barbarians back with them to fight with the Roman army. However, since Rome sometimes fights against other barbarians, the barbarians that are in Rome’s army feel like they’re fighting against family. So, they refused to fight with Rome, which over time, made Rome weak.

   The third reason is economic struggles. Rome’s military was greatly weakened because the barbarians refused to fight with them. This meant that Rome was not strong enough to build new colonies. Without new colonies to give Rome the goods it needs to survive, Rome became very weak.

   The fourth is political rivalries and turmoil. There were fighting and strife among the men who wanted to be the next emperor. Men were probably telling lies about other people to make themselves seem like the better choice for emperor. People just did not know whom they should trust, so they had a hard time voting on who should be the next emperor.

   The final reason is moral decline. The public welfare system began as a good thing because it was helping people in need but eventually turned into a bad thing. People were abusing the system and were basically stealing from the government, who was basically stealing from tax paying citizens. People also had a wrong mindset, they just wanted to be entertained. They would stay up all night at parties and sleep all day rather than going to work. They did not take life seriously. They just wanted to enjoy life. These are the five main reasons why Rome collapsed.

   Ignatius, Irenaeus, and Ambrose were some of teh early church fathers. First, I will be talking about Ignatius. Ignatius was converted to Christ when he was very young. Also, John the apostle was his teacher! Ignatius was a bishop in the church in Antioch. A bishop is someone who serves in a church and makes sure that the pastor, the elders, and the deacons are all doing their jobs correctly. Ignatius also helped in creating the church doctrine.

   Next is Irenaeus. Irenaeus was born in Smyrna. Smyrna is located in modern-day Turkey. Ancient Smyrna could be found north of Ephesus, on the Aegean Sea. He was the first early church father to be born into a Christian family. When he got older, he became a bishop and a pastor in Lyons. Irenaeus preached against two heresies. These heresies were Gnosticism and Montanism. Gnosticism taught that the world was made by an imperfect spirit. It even teaches that Jesus was fully man but not fully God and focused on getting lots of things. Montanism was created by Montanus, a priest. He prophesied contrary to the Bible, saying that the Holy Spirit controlled him.

   And last but not least, Ambrose. Ambrose was a faithful bishop in Milan for a long time. He assisted in creating the doctrine of the early church. He did this by his study and writing. When Ambrose was a child, bees swarmed around his head so later on, people used bees and honey symbolically to represent Ambrose. When he was older, he tried to avoid accepting being the new bishop of Milan. After he accepted being the new bishop, he gave up everything he had and started to study Scripture. I love the early church fathers. These three were my favorite, but Ambrose is my favorite out of all of them.

Constantine really had a different name which was actually his real name. This name was Flavius Valerius Constantius. He was born circa 280 on February 27. Constantine’s father was a Roman military general before he became a junior emperor for the emperor or the West because an earlier Roman emperor divided the empire into the west and east empire and each emperor had to have a junior emperor. Constantine’s father retired from the throne so Galerius took over the throne. One day, Constantine found out that living with Galerius was not a safe place to live, so he fled to Britain where his father was.

   After Constantine’s father died, he remained in Britain for a time until Romans begged him to come back to Rome to take back his place as emperor. Constantine agreed, but first, he had to defeat the false emperor, so he took his army he had with him to defeat the false emperor’s army. He succeeded in this battle.

   One night before a battle, he had a vision where he had a shield with a painted cross on it and he won the battle because of it. He realized that he should do what the vision is telling him, so he did that. After winning, Constantine even became a Believer! He even made a law called the Edict of Milan that says that no Believers are allowed to be persecuted. This law lasted for a long time.

   Constantine died in 337 A.D. He was a great Roman emperor. I can not believe that he even became a believer! Constantine is my favorite Roman emperor.

   Farms during the Republic were very small. There were bees and they were used for honey. Sheep and they were used for wool and milk. pigs were used for meat. Cattle were used for meat, milk, and farm animals. Olive trees were used for olive oil, a very important oil.

   The farms were cared for by the people who owned the land, but there was a problem. The landowners of the farms sometimes had to serve as soldiers for the army. Because of this, the landowners could not get enough money to pay the government, so the government chose to take away the land from the landowners.

   During the Empire, the farmers went through a big change. Because there was no money t keep good farms running, many farms fell apart. Crops did not get planted. There was no food for the animals, so they were not healthy enough to make babies. The wealthy Romans bought the farms and made it a healthy farm again. They also had slaves and poor citizens to help them.

   Most Roman homes did not have kitchens because the cooking fires would get too smoky because they had no chimneys. They usually got their warm, cooked food from people who cooked on the streets who are called “street vendors.” Because of free food and free games that emperors give out at feasts, citizens loved the free food and free games so much that all they wanted was free food and free games. I bet my dad would love to farm there.

   A normal Roman family consisted of a mom, a dad, sons and daughters, grown-up sons and their wives, and slaves. When the father was in charge, the family was called a paterfamilias. The father could be kind and loving or mean and evil. The father was fully in charge of the household.

   Pompeii was an ancient city built by the Oscans. In 80 B.C. the Romans took over Pompeii so it became a Roman city. Rich Romans could travel to Pompeii for a relaxing vacation. The city offered activities. It had an amphitheater, gymnasium, and bathhouses. People lived very poorly there.

   The ancient city of Pompeii is located near modern-day Naples, Italy. Pompeii is about five miles away from Mount Vesuvius. Even though the mountain had erupted before, the Romans ignored it and continued to go to Pompeii. They loved the warm, sunny, weather!

   In 79 A.D., the mountain erupted again! Ashes and rocks shot out so high into the air that even people hundreds of miles away witnessed the event. The lava was so hot that it killed anything within six miles of it. The ashes even clogged the air to make it difficult to breathe. Once the ashes cleared, Pompeii was completely destroyed. At least 2,000 people were killed in this catastrophe.

   Pompeii was rediscovered by archeologists and became an archeological site. They found lots of artifacts and well-preserved bodies. They preserved the bodies by pouring plaster or resin in the cavities.

   Archeologists found many artifacts and made a lot of discoveries about the Roman culture.

   After Jesus ascended into heaven, He sent the Holy Spirit into each of his disciples making them each apostle. Apostle means “one who is sent out”. The job of each apostle is found in the Great Commision, which we find in Matthew 28:19-20. It says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

   Here were some of the early apostles, Simon Peter, James, John, Philip, and Paul. Each of these men went to different corners of the world to preach the gospel. Some were even martyred because of their faith in Jesus. James was beheaded by Herod (not the Herod that tried to kill Jesus), but John was not martyred. He lived many years and died of old age. He also wrote many books of the Bible.

   Here is an interesting story about an apostle. One of the interesting things about him is that he did not start out as an apostle. Instead, he persecuted apostles. His name was Saul, but one day he met the Lord, repented of his sin, and became known as Paul, one of the greatest apostles in history.

   Because of men like Paul and the apostles, the gospel spread to all the corners of the world. Each man went to a different city and preached the gospel there. Some people believed the gospel and others rejected it, but Christianity still spread. Even though some died preaching the gospel, Christianity never stopped. I am a Christian because of these men.