View-Master jumpscares

                Today in Western Civilization we took our final test before finals on Christianity during the Pax Romana. I was digging around in my toy box, and found my dad’s old View-Master, which I brought to school with one of his Philadelphia Flyers discs in. Mr. Schick and some of the class thought it was cool, so I’m bringing it and the rest of the discs with me to class Tuesday next week (maybe on exam day?). The test was only a page long, and I unfortunately may have gotten an eighty-nine on it due to multiple misspellings and one wrong question. The one question I got wrong was the one about the date of Christianity becoming the official religion of Rome, which I’m pretty sure I answered with the date of the final Roman emperor coming into power. After everyone handed in their tests, Mr. Schick went over the answers (and the best worst answers, maybe we should add extra pages in the books Mr. Dannenfelser has for them). After that we had the rest of the period to do as we pleased. I would like to say this is the last blog I will write (At least for a long time) so if you didn’t read this slow enough to get enough enjoyment out of it, read it again (Thanks for a great year Mr. Schick).

The countdown begins...7 days of school left

                Today in Western Civilization we finished our PowerPoint on Christianity during the Pax Romana. First, we reviewed the slide about Constantine’s battle that was won after praying to the Christian God. Next, we went on to the slide about the Edict of Milan in 313 AD. After the battle that Constantine won in God’s name, Christianity is approved by him and gains in grows. In 380 AD, it becomes the official religion of Rome. After this begins the decline of the Roman Empire. The Roman military becomes too weak, as the land Rome controls is too large. The taxes become too high, trade is disrupted, and the gap between the rich and the poor increases. No one cares about public affairs, there is a lot of disloyalty, and a population decrease. Politically, there is a division of the Empire because Constantine had the capitol moved to Byzantine. The last Roman emperor is named Romulus Augustus, who rules in 476 AD and is only fourteen.

Confirmation rehearsal is today....whoooo....

Today we finished our presentation on Christianity during the Pax Romana. Christians were like the Jews, monotheistic, and were persecuted by the general population because of their religion. Christians could be persecuted through (from best to worst) exile, imprisonment, execution, crucifixion, burning, or being killed by wild animals. These were the physical punishments, however your business might be attacked or you might get kidnapped, if the Romans thought it was necessary. The Romans would not get in trouble for doing so, be it the government or someone off the streets. As things began to go wrong in the Empire, a scapegoat was needed, and Christianity was the perfect choice (Ironically, the term scapegoat is biblical in origin and the lamb is a highly valued symbol in Christianity). However Christianity kept growing for reasons such as: It embraced all people (the enslaved, men and women, and the poor), gave hope to the powerless, offered a personal relationship with God, and promised eternal life after death. Much later, in 312 AD, the emperor Constantine was going to fight a key battle. His wife convinced him to pray to the Christian God for victory, and he did. Constantine then saw a cross in the sky with the Greek words ‘Ev TouTw Nika,’ which means ‘In this sign conquer.’ Constantine then ordered his troops to put crosses on their shields. They then won the battle.

Saul=Paul

                Today in Western Civilization we continued our PowerPoint on Christianity during the Pax Romana. Jesus was one of many preachers, however he was different in a substantial way. Jesus was believed by his followers to be the Messiah, come to end the world and bring the faithful to the Kingdom of God. Jesus was considered to be human and divine, and was deemed a threat by the Roman government and crucified. His followers believed that he was Resurrected three days later and went to heaven. His apostles (close followers then started to spread His teachings). Christians began to be persecuted and killed for their beliefs, especially by Saul of Tarsus. Saul eventually had a conversion (not described here) and was rechristened Paul. Paul then spread Christianity and it’s teachings far and wide across the known Earth, and started new churches as well as keeping in contact with those churches through letters, now known as the Letters of St. Paul. Paul talked of pre-destination the most, and spread the message of Christianity farther than Jesus did, making him a major kick-starter of Christianity. Jews and Christians were monotheistic, they didn’t believe in Roman gods. This, combined with the way Jesus taught by empowering the lowly, made them prime candidates for persecution. During the early years of Christianity and Pax Romana, it was easy to spread word to different places, and the poor, desperate Romans were a receptive audience to these teachings.

Still an 88...

                Today in Western Civilization we went over our tests and started our next unit on Christianity during the Pax Romana. First, we got our tests back. Then we started going over the answers. Despite CJ’s beautiful reading of the answers, I think my Russian voice topped it. I got quite a few questions wrong, but even with Mr. Schick’s slight apology, I think the question about ‘an insane tyrant’ could have been worded a little better. Unfortunately, there were no mismarks on the quiz and I still have an eighty-eight. After going through the test Mr. Schick loaded up the PowerPoint for our next unit, Christianity during the Pax Romana. He started out by telling us about how the Republic, is gone and the Emperor has all the power, despite there being consuls and other governmental processes belying a Republic. Meanwhile, Jesus is starting Christianity, which we learn information about through the four gospels. Jesus was different from the other preachers because he taught about love and personal relationships with God. Jesus’ teachings, actions, and miracles also obviously had an effect on people, as Christianity is now a leading world religion.

I have an eight..... I have a nine..... HOOH...... eighty-nine!

                Today in Western Civilization we got out test grades while three of our classmates completed their tests because of being absence. I did not have any homework as of yet to complete because I got it all done the night before (and Western Civilization was the first class) so I sat on the floor next to Matt. Matt’s computer wasn’t working, so we messed around on mine. Eventually I had to get up because sitting on the floor doesn’t agree with me for some reason (my legs fall asleep) so I went back to my chair. Later, when Mr. Schick was done grading the tests that were done, I went up and got an eighty-eight (because it was impossible to get an eighty-nine) and sat back down. Later Mr. Schick approached me on an issue that he wanted to know about because I’m generally considered conservative. Mr. Schick wanted to know about the news coverage of President Trump’s private interactions with the Russians and how Fox News was covering it. My assumption was that Fox News was avoiding the issue, or if it was mentioned it wasn’t a prime story, just more of a notification. I looked it up and apparently a lot of Fox News is playing it down, ignoring it, or as Sean Hannity put it, saying it’s ‘fake news’. I was a little worried at first, however I did notice that the source of this information is CNN, a competing and left news organization, so I’m not exactly going to trust them one-hundred percent on not over-exaggerating.

My grandparents are here this week for my Confirmation. Not that it applies here, but I'm putting that out there since I can't think of a better title. (Record length title)

                Today in Western Civilization we had our test on Ancient Rome. I think the test was around fifty-six questions, but I’m not sure on that. Either way, I finished it pretty quickly for my normal test taking time. I can almost guarantee I’m not getting a one-hundred on this test, but I got most of the questions right. I’m not sure whether or not we reviewed how long it takes until a consul can run again (I thought they couldn’t come back, probably was ten years) and I couldn’t remember what modern-day Gaul was. Lastly, I also didn’t remember the name of the girl Sextus raped (didn’t have that in my notes, my fault). Otherwise, the test was easy. I felt like some of the answers for the different emperors’ section could have applied to multiple of the different statements listed, however I gave my best answers. After taking the test I finished reading Their Eyes Were Watching God for Mrs. Zurkowski’s class, and watched YouTube when the rest of the class was done with their test.