Early Christianity

the law, called the ten commandments.” These commandments were written in the Torah, the 5 Books of Moses. Jesus of Nazareth was a Jew that followed the Judaic message, but focused on brotherly love and love of God. This started the division of Christianity. The belief of Christian followers, or disciples, was in human love and forgiveness taught by Christ. Many of these beliefs formed into institutions of Rome. In 313 AD Constantine issued…

mission, evangelical reformers spearheaded the growth of literacy in general and the Bible knowledge in particular. For example, in 1824 they formed the American Sunday School Union” (Butler, Wacker and Balmer 189). In The Democratization of American Christianity, during time of the Second Great Awakening, the author traces this really…

Borrowing ideas from other sources can date back centuries, it can even be seen in art. Early Christianity had no idea on how to portray Jesus so having no clear image of what Jesus actually looked like lead them to rely on pagan art. Borrowing of pagan art can be seen when looking at a portrait of Jesus because their image of is based on the pagan gods Hermes and Apollo. There are two main reasons why Christians use pagan art to create their image of Jesus. The first one being that they wanted…

The New Testament of the Holy Bible is a collection of twenty-seven writings that have been deemed as canon by the early church. The term canon comes from the Greek word kanṓn representing a carpenter’s rule. The current list of books first appeared in a festal letter from Athanasius, the bishop of Alexandria, in 367. Athanasius wrote this letter in an attempt to clarify the true writings that defined the true message to the Christians of his period. Other Christian schools and sects followed…

he studied the Hebrew Scriptures under Gamaliel (a leading authority in the Jewish religious establishment). Being raised as a Pharisaic Jew, during his early life he was a Pharisee - a group of Jewish people who controlled the law. Saul did not believe in Jesus as the Messiah and thought all these messages about him was rubbish so in his early life, he was a persecutor of the church and also a persecutor of Christians. He was involved in the stoning of the first Christian martyr, St Stephen.…

see our path in life more clearly and catch the sweet fragrance of hope stronger than ever before. Through fantasies like this, I have come to realize how important Christianity is in my life every day. My parents were both Christians before I was born, so, naturally, I was brought up in the Christian faith as well. Throughout my early childhood, I was influenced…

Christianity vs. Islam Every evening the World News illustrates acts of war between Christianity and Islamic cultures. They are two of the most profound religions throughout the world. Though this is not a new headline; violence has erupted between these two religious groups for nearly 1500 years. Despite bearing some minor similarities, the differences between Christianity and Islamic beliefs are fiercely noticeable. Dissection of the religious origins, common beliefs, and social structure…

used by both parties to prove America’s religious or irreligious heritage. Which one is it though, Christian or Unreligious? Based on the current available evidence America is indubitable a Christian Nation. Believe it or not America’s ties to Christianity are astounding and America as a Christian…

Veronica Fogo Behan Latin I 04/26/2017 The Growth of Christianity in Ancient Rome Christianity impacted ancient Rome drastically, changing their whole system of beliefs and morals. Before the spread of Christianity, Romans worshiped a large variety of gods and goddesses, many having been adopted from the Greeks. They believed that if they offered sacrifices to their gods, that they would be repaid with service. In 312 AD, the Emperor Constantine had a vision that stated that if he followed the…

Loundy Silkman The Early Church and Persecutions For many years Christians and pagans coexisted until the emperor Trajan made Christianity illegal- a situation that stayed in effect for 100 years until the rule of Constantine. During the 100 year that Christianity was illegal people met underground in people’s apartments. These early builders of the Church had to meet in secret, yet they served as the cornerstone of Christian worship in Rome. Throughout this time many of the Christians’…