Early Christianity
Early Christianity, otherwise called the Early Church, describes the historical era of the Christian religion up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325 AD. Christianity spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and beyond. Originally, this progression was closely connected to already established Jewish centers in the Holy Land and the Jewish diaspora throughout the Eastern Mediterranean. The first followers of Christianity were Jews who had converted to the faith, i.e. Jewish Christians, as well as Phoenicians, i.e. Lebanese Christians. Early Christianity contains the Apostolic Age and is followed by, and substantially overlaps with, the Patristic era.
The Apostolic sees claim to have been founded by one or more of the apostles of Jesus, who are said to have dispersed from Jerusalem sometime after the crucifixion of Jesus, c. 33 AD, perhaps following the Great Commission. Early Christians gathered in small private houses, known as house churches, but a city's whole Christian community would also be called a "church"—the Greek noun ἐκκλησία literally means "assembly", "gathering", or "congregation" but is translated as "church" in most English translations of the New Testament.
Many early Christians were merchants and others who had practical reasons for traveling to Asia Minor, Arabia, the Balkans, the Middle East, North Africa, and other regions. Over 40 such communities were established by the year 100, many in [|Anatolia], also known as Asia Minor, such as the Seven churches of Asia. By the end of the first century, Christianity had already spread to [|Rome], [|Ethiopia], [|Alexandria], [|Armenia], [|Greece], and [|Syria], serving as foundations for the expansive spread of Christianity, eventually throughout the world.
History
Origins
Second Temple Judaism
Christianity originated as a minor sect within Second Temple Judaism, the form of Judaism existing from the end of the Babylonian captivity.Alexander's conquests initiated the Hellenistic period when the Ancient Near East underwent Hellenization. Judaism was thereafter both culturally and politically part of the Hellenistic world; however, Hellenistic Judaism was stronger among diaspora Jews than among those living in the land of Israel. Diaspora Jews spoke Koine Greek, and the Jews of Alexandria produced a Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible called the Septuagint. The Septuagint was the translation of the Old Testament used by early Christians. Diaspora Jews continued to make pilgrimage to the Temple, but they started forming local religious institutions called synagogues as early as the 3rd century BC.
After Alexander's death, the region was ruled by Ptolemaic Egypt and then the Seleucid Empire. The anti-Jewish policies of Antiochus IV Epiphanes sparked the Maccabean Revolt in 167BC, which culminated in the establishment of an independent Judea under the Hasmoneans, who ruled as kings and high priests. This independence would last until 63BC when Judea became a client state of the Roman Empire.
Apocalyptic literature and thought had a major influence on Second Temple Judaism and early Christianity. Apocalypticism grew out of resistance to Hellenistic and later Roman rule. Apocalyptic writers considered themselves to be living in the end times and expected God to intervene in history, end the present sufferings, and restore his kingdom. Frequently, this was accomplished by a savior figure who wins the final battle against the forces of evil and is appointed by God to rule. Messiah means "anointed" and is used in the Old Testament to designate Jewish kings and in some cases priests and prophets whose status was symbolized by being anointed with holy anointing oil. The term is most associated with King David, to whom God promised an eternal kingdom. After the destruction of David's kingdom and lineage, this promise was reaffirmed by the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, who foresaw a future king from the House of David who would establish and reign over an idealized kingdom.
Jesus
Christianity centers on the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth, who lived. Jesus left no writings of his own, and most information about him comes from early Christian writings that now form part of the New Testament. The earliest of these are the Pauline epistles, letters written to various Christian congregations by Paul the Apostle in the 50s AD. The four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are ancient biographies of Jesus' life.Jesus grew up in Nazareth, a village in Galilee. He started his public ministry when he was around 30 years old. Traveling through the Galilee, the Decapolis, and to Jerusalem, Jesus preached a message directed at other Jews. This message centered on the imminent arrival of the Kingdom of God. He urged followers to repent in preparation for its coming and taught them how to live while waiting. This ethical teaching is summarized in the Lord's Prayer and the Great Commandment to love God and to "love your neighbor as yourself". Jesus chose twelve disciples, representing the twelve tribes of Israel, from among his followers. They symbolized the full restoration of Israel, including the Ten Lost Tribes, that would be accomplished through him.
The gospel accounts provide insight into what early Christians believed about Jesus. As the Christ or "Anointed One", Jesus is identified as the fulfillment of messianic prophecies in the Hebrew scriptures. Through the accounts of his miraculous birth, the gospels present Jesus as the Son of God. The gospels describe the miracles of Jesus which served to authenticate his message and reveal a foretaste of the coming kingdom.
After three years of ministry, Jesus was crucified as a messianic pretender and insurgent. Paul, writing around 20 years after Jesus' death, provides the earliest account of the resurrection of Jesus in 1 Corinthians 15:3–8. The gospel accounts provide narratives of the resurrection, ultimately leading to the ascension of Jesus into Heaven. Jesus' victory over death became the central belief of Christianity. For his followers, Jesus inaugurated a New Covenant between God and his people. The Pauline epistles teach that Jesus makes salvation possible. Through faith, believers experience union with Jesus and both share in his suffering and the hope of his resurrection.
While they do not provide new information, non-Christian sources do confirm certain information found in the gospels. The Jewish historian Josephus referenced Jesus in his Antiquities of the Jews written. The paragraph, known as the Testimonium Flavianum, provides a brief summary of Jesus' life, but the original text has been altered by Christian interpolation. The first Roman author to reference Jesus is Tacitus, who wrote that Christians "took their name from Christus who was executed in the reign of Tiberius by the procurator Pontius Pilate".
1st century
The decades after the crucifixion of Jesus are known as the Apostolic Age because the Disciples were still alive. Important Christian sources for this period are the Pauline epistles and the Acts of the Apostles, as well as the Didache and the Church Fathers' writings.Initial spread
After the death of Jesus, his followers established Christian groups in cities, such as Jerusalem. The movement quickly spread to Damascus and Antioch, capital of Roman Syria and one of the most important cities in the empire. Early Christians referred to themselves as brethren, disciples or saints, but it was in Antioch, according to Acts 11:26, that they were first called Christians.According to the New Testament, Paul the apostle established Christian communities throughout the Mediterranean world. He is known to have also spent some time in Arabia. After preaching in Syria, he turned his attention to the cities of Asia Minor. By the early 50s, he had moved on to Europe where he stopped in Philippi and then traveled to Thessalonica in Roman Macedonia. He then moved into mainland Greece, spending time in Athens and Corinth. While in Corinth, Paul wrote his Epistle to the Romans, indicating that there were already Christian groups in Rome. Some of these groups had been started by Paul's missionary associates Priscilla and Aquila and Epainetus.
Social and professional networks played an important part in spreading the religion as members invited interested outsiders to secret Christian assemblies that met in private homes. Commerce and trade also played a role in Christianity's spread as Christian merchants traveled for business. Christianity appealed to marginalized groups with its message that "in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, neither male nor female, neither slave nor free". Christians also provided social services to the poor, sick, and widows. Women actively contributed to the Christian faith as disciples, missionaries, and more due to the large acceptance early Christianity offered.
Historian Keith Hopkins estimated that by AD 100 there were around 7,000 Christians. Separate Christian groups maintained contact with each other through letters, visits from itinerant preachers, and the sharing of common texts, some of which were later collected in the New Testament.
Jerusalem church
Jerusalem was the first center of the Christian Church according to the Book of Acts. The apostles lived and taught there for some time after Pentecost. According to Acts, the early church was led by the Apostles, foremost among them Peter and John. When Peter left Jerusalem after Herod Agrippa I tried to kill him, James, brother of Jesus appears as the leader of the Jerusalem church. Clement of Alexandria called him Bishop of Jerusalem. Peter, John and James were collectively recognized as the three pillars of the church.At this early date, Christianity was still a Jewish sect. Christians in Jerusalem kept the Jewish Sabbath and continued to worship at the Temple. In commemoration of Jesus' resurrection, they gathered on Sunday for a communion meal. Initially, Christians kept the Jewish custom of fasting on Mondays and Thursdays. Later, the Christian fast days shifted to Wednesdays and Fridays in remembrance of Judas' betrayal and the crucifixion.
James was killed on the order of the high priest in AD 62. He was succeeded as leader of the Jerusalem church by Simeon, another relative of Jesus. During the First Jewish-Roman War, Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed after a brutal siege in AD70. Prophecies of the Second Temple's destruction are found in the synoptic gospels, specifically in the Olivet Discourse.
According to a tradition recorded by Eusebius and Epiphanius of Salamis, the Jerusalem church fled to Pella at the outbreak of the First Jewish Revolt. The church had returned to Jerusalem by AD 135, but the disruptions severely weakened the Jerusalem church's influence over the wider Christian church.