The Beginning of Christianity
Christianity is said to have begun around 30AD at the time when Rome had replaced the Jewish King. The apostles had been gathering together to talk about their dark futures under Roman rule. Fifty days after Jesus’ death, tongues of fire appeared over the heads of the apostles and they began speaking in different languages. The Holy Spirit had filled their hearts and minds. This confirmed their belief that Jesus was the savior of Israel and each knew they needed to carry on his message.
Simon Peter began gathering new followers, which eventually grew into a community. These followers sold their possessions and gave to those in need. As the community grew, trips were organized to spread Jesus’ message to further lands. James, the brother of Jesus, supposedly headed the religion. He is considered the first true Bishop of the Christian Church and the leader of the Jesus movement.
This movement began moving away from traditional Judaism. Different beliefs and practices such as eating food with blood in it were prohibited for Orthodox Jews. Stephen, a teacher of the Jesus movement was arrested for blasphemy when he told the Jews they were responsible for Jesus’ death. He became the first Christian Martyr. At the same time, Saul considered himself a true Christian enemy. In time, he heard the voice of God and totally converted to Christianity. He became one of the major influences in the growth of the religion. He took the message all over the world, changing it slightly to meet the needs of each new community.
This new religion made its way back to Rome and grew even more. The Roman society became aware of it and prosecuted many of the Christians. People were burned alive, crucified and beheaded. It was one of the darkest periods of Christian History. All of the Christian leaders were killed and the Jewish temple was destroyed. People began to move underground and carry on their practices in catacombs. This is where the first Christian Churches were built. Since other groups lived in the catacombs as well, Roman traditions slowly seeped into Christianity.
Around 200AD, there were many offshoots of Christianity, but one thing remained the same throughout all of them: the Eucharist. Ignatius wanted to group all of the churches into one large one. They resembled it after the Roman church. This new church was the centralized Christian church, which was now accepted in Rome.
