Jesus and the early Christians
6 B.C. – 392 B.C.
I.
Jesus of Nazareth
A.
Preached three years @ 30-33 A.D.
B.
Spoke about a relationship with God rather than religious laws
C.
Main themes - love God and treat your neighbor as yourself.
Crucified
by the Roman Government around 33 A.D. in Jerusalem
II.
The First Christians
A.
Believed Jesus was the Son of God
B.
By accepting Jesus and his message, they believed they could achieve salvation.
C.
One God exists in three persons – The Father, Son and the Holy Spirit
D.
Early Apostles and other believers traveled to spread this belief to others = growth of Christianity
III.
The Growth of Christianity
A.
Message gave meaning to people’s lives and offered hope for life after death
B.
It gave people a chance to be part of a loving, caring group.
C.
Appealed to the poor, women and other powerless people– appealed to emotions by offering a better life
IV. Christianity and the Roman Empire
A.
Roman Empire had freedom of religion but you must worship the emperor as a God
B.
Christians (and Jews) refused this
C. Romans
punished the Christians and began to persecute them. This continued until Constantine became emperor in 312 A.D.
D.
In 392, Christianity becomes the official religion of the Roman Empire
V.
Christian Hierarchy and Documents
A.
As the religion grew, the church began to organize itself with different levels of authority for unity purposes
B.
The Pope was a the very top of the hierarchy. He continually gained more power
and influence over time.
C.
The New Testament containing the four gospels as well as other early writings explained the beliefs of Christianity
VI.
Christianity Spreads and Splits!
A. Missionaries
spread the message of Christianity
B.
A schism or separation occurs between the Western and Eastern churches when leaders of the church excommunicate
each other
C.
West = Roman Catholic Church with Pope as the leader
D.
East (Byzantine) = Eastern Orthodox Church with emperor as the leader
