The Rise of Christianity

Social Studies 08

Sutherland Secondary

John the Baptist• When John was thirty years

old, the faithful minister of the Lord began to discharge his mission. Clothed with the garments of penance, he announced to all men the obligation weighing upon them of washing away their iniquities with the tears of sincere compunction. He proclaimed the Messiah, who was of his own age but whom he had never seen, when one day Jesus came to be baptized by him in the Jordan

The beheading of John the Baptist

• Salome, a daughter of Herodias by her lawful husband, pleased Herod by her dancing. He made her the foolish promise of granting whatever she might ask. Salome consulted with her mother and that immoral woman instructed her daughter to demand the death of John the Baptist, and that the head of the prisoner should be immediately brought to her on a plate. He assented and sent a soldier of his guard to behead the Saint in prison.

Jesus Christ

• Jesus Christ (between 8 and 4 bc-ad 29?), the central figure of Christianity, born in Bethlehem in Judea.. Christians traditionally regard Jesus as the incarnate Son of God, and as having been divinely conceived by Mary, the wife of Joseph, a carpenter of Nazareth. The name Jesus is derived from a Greek rendering of the Hebrew name Joshua, or in full Yehoshuah (Yahweh is deliverance). The title Christ is derived from the Greek christos, a translation of the Hebrew mashiakh (anointed one), or Messiah

The Apostles

• The Christian Apostles were Jewish men who were "sent forth" (as indicated by the Greek word apostolos), by Jesus to preach Christianity to both Jews and Gentiles, across the world.

The Twelfth Apostle

• Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John (the sons of Zebedee), Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James (son of Alphaeus), Thaddeus, Simon the Canaanite, Judas Iscariot

• Judas Iscariot having betrayed Christ, and then in guilt hanged himself before Christ's resurrection the apostles were then eleven in number. The remaining apostles selected a twelfth apostle by casting lots. The lot fell upon Matthias who then became the last of the "twelve apostles."

Crucifixion

• Crucifixion is an ancient method of execution in which the victim was tied or nailed to a large wooden cross) and left to hang there until dead. Crucifixion has gained notoriety in the Christian world due to the fact that this was the method used by the Romans to put Jesus to death. As a result, the cross has become the primary symbol of Christianity

Cause of Death

• Death could come in hours or days, depending on exact methods, the health of those crucified, and environmental circumstances.

• A theory attributed to Pierre Barbet holds that the typical cause of death was asphyxiation

• In any case, if death did not come from asphyxiation, it could result from a number of other causes, including physical shock caused by the scourging (flagellation) that preceded the crucifixion, and the nailing itself, dehydration and exhaustion.

Pontius Pilate Roman Governor of Palestine

• At first , Pontius Pilate appears as a most sensitive and understanding man.

• Yet the judgment of history is vastly different.

• He is known to have been an exceptionally cruel, greedy and callous man.

• under the totalitarian regime of Imperial Rome, such men were common.

• He was so bad that the Romans eventually withdrew him in disgrace to Rome because of his excesses.

The Gospels

• Gospels are the books of the New Testament attributed to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John concerning the life of Jesus The word derives from the Old English word for “Good News", a translation of the Greek word euangelion. This refers to the 'good news' being told— that Jesus has redeemed a fallen world.

Paul of Tarsus (St. Paul)• is considered by many

Christians to be the most important disciple of Jesus, and next to Jesus the most important figure in the development of Christianity.

• Paul is recognized by many Christians as a saint. Paul did much to advance Christianity among the gentiles, and is considered one of the primary sources of early Church doctrine. His Epistles form a fundamental section of the New Testament. Some argue that it was he who first truly made Christianity a new religion,

The Persecution of Christians

• SUETONIUS, Life of the Emperor Nero, chapter 16: "[After the Great Fire]...punishments were also inflicted on the CHRISTIANS, a sect professing a new and mischievous religious belief ....

Emperor Constantine• In 312, on the eve of a battle

against Maxentius, Constantine is reported to have dreamed that Christ appeared to him and told him to inscribe the first two letters of his name (XP in Greek) on the shields of his troops. The next day he is said to have seen a cross superimposed on the sun and the words “in this sign you will be the victor” Constantine then defeated Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, near Rome.

Christianity Accepted

• Constantine the Great (about ad 274-337), Roman emperor (306-337), the first Roman ruler to be converted to Christianity. He was the founder of Constantinople (present-day İstanbul), which remained the capital of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire until 1453.

The Nicene Creed

• The Nicene Creed, or the is a Christian statement of faith accepted by the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican and major Protestant churches. It gets its name from the First Council of Nicaea (325), at which it was adopted

The Nicene Creed• We believe in one God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and

earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

• And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father by whom all things were made; who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and was made man, and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried, and the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father. And he shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead, whose kingdom shall have no end.

• And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life, who proceedeth from the Father and the son who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets. And we believe one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins. And we look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

The Spread of Christianity