The First Christians

Chapter 10Section 1

Jesus

• The Jewish people had been hoping for a messiah to free them from the oppression that they had been subjected to for a while.

• Jesus had begun teaching a few years before the first Jewish revolt against the Romans, who controlled the territory.

• He had attracted a great deal of attention as he and his followers spread their message throughout Northern Israel.

Jesus Teaches

• Jesus’ main mode of teaching was to tell stories. These were called parables.

• These stories were often told to large groups and were on topics that the group hearing the stories would be familiar with.

The Crucifixion of Jesus

• The Jewish leaders were concerned with the message Jesus was spreading.

• The Romans were also concerned that it might affect law and order in the Roman territory of Judea.

• Jesus was arrested by the Romans and under the request of the Jewish leaders, Jesus was arrested.

The Trial and Execution of Jesus

• Jesus was brought before the Roman Procurator (governor) Pontius Pilate.

• He was sent to the Jewish leader Herod, who refused to deal with him.

• He was sent back to Pilate and was scourged then sentenced.

• There he received his fate.• He was to be crucified.

What is Crucifixion?

• This was a traditional method of execution by the Roman government.

• It involves fixing a person to a cross until they die.

After the Crucifixion

• Three days following the execution, Jesus body was no longer in the tomb.

• He had resurrected and this was proof to his followers that he was the long promised messiah.

• The disciples then met with Jesus and began to spread throughout the region spreading his message.

Simon Peter

• Was one of Jesus’ original 12 disciples. He had been with Jesus all through his ministry.

• He eventually went to Rome where he established a church, which is today called the Roman Catholic Church.

• He is considered to be the first Pope. • He was executed in Rome

Paul of Tarsus

• Paul a former Jewish tax collector and persecutor of the Christians became one of the most aggressive of the missionaries to spread the message of Jesus.

• He carried the religion through the eastern Mediterranean basin.

• He was executed in

Rome.

After Rome

• Following the collapse of the Roman Empire in the West, a new empire developed in the East.

• The old Eastern Roman Empire became known as the Byzantine Empire, with its capital in Constantinople.

• This group was more heavily influenced by the Greeks and developed their own culture.

• This cultural shift spilled over into religion.

The Eastern Orthodox Church• This is the Christian church that developed in

the East.• The Byzantine emperor appointed a Patriarch

to run the church.• This church broke from the church in the west

and had several key ideological differences. • Even within the Eastern church several key

ideas sparked controversy.

Icons

• One of the key disagreements was over the use of icons.

• An icon is a depiction of Jesus or other holy people.

• The icons were outlawed for a while, but eventually regained favor.

The Two Churches Collide

• The Christian churches collided over the issue of power.

• The Pope in Rome claimed to be the leader of the Christian Church and the Patriarch in Constantinople claimed to be in charge.

• This came to a head when the Pope granted a western leader the title emperor.

• In A.D. 1054 the two churches broke in what is known as the Great Schism. This break lasts through today.

Monastic Life

• Throughout the Christian world, groups of religious men banded together to form groups called monasteries.

• Later women followed this example and began forming convents, these women were called nuns.

Important Monastic Orders

• Basilian- Became the predominant monks in Eastern Europe. Founded on the teachings of Basil.

• Benedictine- A group who gave up all worldly possessions to work with the poor. Founded on the teachings of Benedict.

Gregory the Great

• The Pope most responsible for the rapid spread of Christianity is Pope Gregory. He sent out thousands of missionaries to various parts of Europe.

Eastern Missionaries• Cyril- Spread Christianity

to Russia. Responsible for the Cyrillic alphabet. Worked with his brother Methodius.

Western Missionaries

• Patrick- Took Christianity to Ireland.

Canterbury

• This is the location of the first Christian church in England. They were slow to adopt the faith but eventually King Eltherbert allowed the Christians to establish a church in Canterbury. It remains the holiest site in England today.

An Illegal Religion

• Rome viewed the Christians as a threat and allowed for the legal persecution of any Christian.

• Nero was the first to go to great lengths declare the religion officially illegal.

• This followed a great fire that destroyed much of Rome.

• He (Nero) blamed the Christians for starting it.

Christians React

• The Christian church went underground…literally and figuratively.

• They began meeting and burying their dead in underground vaults called catacombs.

• Over five million bodies, mostly Christian, were buried in these areas.

Catacomb-an underground tunnel with recesses where bodies were buried

Roman Catacomb

Acceptance

• The Emperor Constantine accepted Christianity and made it a legal religion in Rome.

• He had a vision of Jesus telling him what to do in order to win a battle. Once he acted on it, he won and allowed the religion.

• The Edict of Milan is the device that made it legal

Constantine at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge

Theodosius

• The Emperor Theodosius made the religion the official state religion.

• This meant that all Romans had to give up their other religion to accept this religion that had been for so long illegal.

• This occurred in A.D. 392.

The Early Church Structure

• The early church established itself after the only model they know, the Roman Empire.

• They had a hierarchy that resembled the government. Laity

Priests

Bishops

Archbishops

Patriarchs

Roles of Each Level of Hierarchy• Clergy-The leaders of the church• Laity- Regular church members• Priests were the local church leaders• The Bishops was in charge of a diocese, or

several churches.• The Archbishops were in charge of several

Bishops• The Patriarchs were the overall leaders of the

church• The main job was the establishment of doctrine

or official church teaching.

The New Testament

• The New Testament is a collection of the writings left by those associated with Jesus about his teachings as well as their struggles to spread the teachings.

• This forms the Holy text of the Christian Church.

Other Texts

• St. Augustine wrote two famous books, The City of God and Confessions both of these were instrumental in the development of Christian theology.