Christianity after Christ

Historical Sources

• We have quite detailed historical sources for the early years of Christianity after Christ…

• The Acts of the Apostles was a second book written by the Greek physician Luke

• Many of the epistles (letters) refer to incidents, heresies, issues, people and churches

• As Christianity became a growing force other writers and commentators started to make reference to it… not always in a complimentary way!

Stages in the spread of

Christianity

Impact of Paul of Tarsus

Context for early Christianity

• Pax Romana (the Peace of Roam) meant all of Europe and the middle east were relatively stable

• Roman obsession for communication meant linking roads were built

• Romans allowed freedom of religion (in general) though strongly suppressed any religion thought to attack their power

Religion

• Romans: polytheist… the official religion• Greek: wide spread due to earlier Greek

empire… polytheist• Romans blended or identified Greek gods as

Roman gods• Other cults and local religions were plentiful• Practices included idol worship, talismans,

witchcraft, necromancy, temple prosititution, sacrifice, superstition

Opposition• Jewish synagogues and leaders were hostile to what was seen as a

false messiah cult• Local religions were hostile to the idea of losing revenue and

adherents • Some people saw Christianity as a interesting new way for them

to seek power (or extort money) and claimed to be Christian exorcists, healers or teachers

• All of this can be read about in Acts 19• Romans, while initially without interest, became concerned as

numbers grew, despite the emphasis in Christianity on peace and personal holiness

• Nero persecuted Christians in Rome after the great fire of 64 CE

Roman Empire

• The roman empire reached its maximum coverage in the rule of Trajan (to 117 AD)

• There were various crises in the 3rd C• Christianity became the official religion in 4th C

under Constantine• Western part collapsed in 5th C