Religion

The Origins of Christianity

The history of Christianity mainly concerns the Christian religion and Church, from the ministry of Jesus up to contemporary times and denominations. Christianity differs most significantly from the other Abrahamic religions in the claim that Jesus Christ is God the Son. The vast majority of Christians believe in a triune God consisting of three unified and distinct persons: Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. The largest branches of Christianity are the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Protestant Churches.

Early Christianity (c.33–325)

During the early history of Christianity, it spread from its beginnings as a 1st century Jewish sect, to a religion of the whole Greek and Roman world, and beyond.

Early Christianity may be divided into two distinct phases: the apostolic period, when the first apostles were alive and led the Church, and the post-apostolic period, when an early Episcopal structure developed, and persecution was periodically intense. The Roman persecution of Christians ended in AD 313 under the reign of Constantine the Great, and in 325 he prompted the First Council of Nicaea.

Apostolic Church

The Apostolic Church was the community led by the apostles, and some degree, Jesus' relatives. In his "Great Commission", the resurrected Jesus commanded that his teachings be spread to the entire world.

The first Christians were essentially all ethnically Jewish or Jewish Proselytes. The doctrines of the apostles brought the Early Church into conflict with some Jewish religious authorities. This eventually led to their expulsion from the synagogues. Acts records the martyrdom of the Christian leaders, Stephen and James of Zebedee. Thus, Christianity acquired an identity distinct from Rabbinic Judaism, but this distinction was not recognized all at once by the Roman Empire.

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Post-Apostolic Church

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The post-apostolic period concerns the time after the death of the apostles...