Yet none of these cults became in the full sense of the word a world religion, as happened with Christianity. It was this doctrine that was able to unite the vast masses of the population of the Roman Empire. Christianity in the Roman Empire was initially perceived by the majority of the people as a clear and understandable form of social protest. It awakened faith in an advocate capable of asserting the idea of universal equality, the salvation of all people, regardless of their ethnic, political and social affiliation.

The new religion found in the Empire not only ideas that met his requirements, but also other favorable ground. This was the cult of emperors already mentioned. First, this cult preached the idea of the God-man and thus influenced the Christian dogma of the incarnation of the Son of God in man. Secondly, the negative attitude of Christians towards the worship of the Emperor’s personality was one of the reasons for the persecution of Christians.

Against the background of the crisis of traditional religious views in Palestine in the first century ad, Christianity emerged, initially as one of the currents of Judaism. With Judaism, Christianity was linked by a common belief in the coming of the Savior, or Messiah, in the immortality of the soul and the existence of an afterlife. The origins of Christianity in Judaism were directly related to the Essene community or, as it is called today, the Qumran community (for more details about it, see the section “Judaism”).

This sect was repeatedly mentioned by ancient and early Christian writers. For example, the Jewish philosopher Philo of Alexandria describes the strict way of life of the Essenes and characterizes their allegorical method of interpretation of the old Testament. From his description it became known about the existence of Essene communities in Egypt, where they were called “therapists”. The word “Essenes” is probably derived from the Aramaic version of the term “Hasidim”. Apparently, the group of Hasidim, i.e. “pious”, was formed in Judea at the beginning of the II century BC. Essene theologians denounced the moral decay of the new Jewish kings-high priests, accusing them of “violence over the country,” in the “desecration of the Temple,” in the “robbery of the property of the poor” and all sorts of vices. Apparently, there were real grounds for such reproaches.