All know the story of Jesus Christ and his encounters with the Romans. We have read of them countless times before in the New Testament or in bible study. Also, we know about Jesus’ crucifixion and eventual rise from the dead three days later. Thus, this set the stage for the rise of one of the most significant religions in the history of man.
Before we move on, the impact of Jesus on the Jewish community must be explored. First, two groups, the Sadducees and the Pharisees must be talked about briefly. The Sadducees were very conservative and rejected what was not rooted in the ages, as the doctrines of resurrection and the existence of angels. They regarded Jesus as dangerous and his teachings as heterodox. The Pharisees were the Jews’ chief spiritual leaders and added tradition to the written Law. They sought to keep the ancient Law alive by adding to it contemporary concepts and practices.
But both groups were unhappy about the large following Jesus was gathering. They were concerned about the unrest caused by Jesus and his followers, the subversion of priestly authority, and worse, potential Roman countermeasures if this persisted. To prevent the latter, the Sanhedrin, the supreme legislative and judicial body of the Jews, had Jesus arrested and charged with blasphemy. The verdict came back as guilty with a punishment of death, but approval of the local Roman governor was needed to carry it out. After much pushing, the governor, Pontius Pilate, allowed the sentence of death to be carried out.
The group disbanded for a short time, eventually regaining enough courage to rally their forces and hopes. Under Peter, this group took shape.
One of the most significant missionaries was a man named Paul. A very vigorous opponent of the Christians early on, Paul experienced a blinding vision on his way to Damascus and later was baptized there. He saw Jesus’ life as some divine sacrifice and attempted to make Christianity intelligible to the Hellenistic elite by using Greek philosophical concepts. Paul helped make Christianity into a world religion by stressing that salvation was not only offered to the Jews but to all mankind.
Early Christian doctrine was not codified and much of it was absorbed from other faiths. From the Hebrews came the concepts of salvation and immortality and the Christians made use of the Old Testament. Also, Hebrew ritual was kept in large part. From the Greeks Platonic philosophy was added to include the distinction between mind and body and the idea of universal ideal qualities. The emphasis on natural law and universal brotherhood were added from the Stoics.
The Church slowly came to resemble the Roman Empire in structure. The heads of smaller churches were called priests, the bishops of Antioch, Constantinople, Alexandria, and Jerusalem were called patriarch, and finally the bishop of Rome was called the Pope. By the beginning of the fourth century the Church looked like a state in itself with the Pope as its leader.
Christianity grew because of the people’s discontent with Greek rationalism and Roman despotism and the fact that Roman roads facilitated the spread of the gospel. Another reason was that Christianity recognized the spiritual equality of both sexes and so drew many women to it. But as it spread the Romans attempted to counter the growth. Under charges of being cannibalistic, unrealistic, and dissenters, persecution began. In 64 AD the first occurred under the Emperor Nero and continued until 303 AD under Diocletian. In 311 AD the emperor Galerius declared religious toleration on his deathbed. In 312 Emperor Constantine had an experience which led him to convert to Christianity. He promised toleration of Christianity and all religions in his Edict of Milan in 313 AD. Finally at the end of the fourth century then Emperor Theodosius decreed Christianity the official state religion.
Also a problem was the doctrinal differences which resulted in many disputes. Apart of the problem was the lack of an agreed upon body of writings which defined Christian doctrine. Because of this, the Church was given the task of sorting through the different ideas to determine what was and what was not revealed truth. The churches had used many of the letters and Gospels frequently and found them very useful in their services. At the end of the second century the body of Christian writing called the New Testament was assembled and included thirteen letters written by Paul, seven general epistles, the book of Revelation, the tract of the Hebrews, the Acts of the Apostles, and the Gospel according to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
Christianity continued to experience threats to its unity over the next several centuries. Prominent among these were the rival religious systems of Mithraism which was concerned with strict moral behavior, eschatology, and a divine savior. It shared many of the same observances as Christianity as the holy day of Sunday and the date of their savior’s birth and in the use of holy water and the sacred meal.
Another threat came from Manichaeism which assumed the existence of two kingdoms, one of Light and one of Darkness. As Christianity, it promised eternal life for the saved. It slowly lost its followers to Christianity and no longer posed a threat.
