Eastern mystery cults from which the Christians received the doctrine of grace, of an afterlife, of personal union with God (the mystical union of the Trinity), and of a universal source of power.
The Jews from which they received the concept of God as a judge and of salvation based on righteousness. The Old Testament of the Christian faith is approximately the same as parts of the Torah.
Classical Philosophy, which contributed the Platonic concept of existence and hierarchy of ideas with the good as the highest abstraction. In Christianity the Platonic good became the Christian God.
Jesus of Nazareth himself, who revealed the Word of God to the Christians and offered redemption for humanity.
About 4 BC Jesus was born in Jerusalem in Palestine. About 28 AD he began to preach against the vices of his era, the selfishness of the rich, and the self-righteousness of the Jewish priests. He taught a gospel based upon love of one’s fellow human, love of God, and the mercy and righteousness of God. Soon Jesus began to attract followers and when he came to Jerusalem during Passover he was greeted by crowds as the promised Messiah of the Jews.
The crucifixion of Jesus (33 AD) has been the subject of endless theological and historical debate. According to the New Testament, Jesus came to Jerusalem knowing that it would mean death. He was tried first by the Jewish high court that enforced the law of Moses for blasphemy and then it was turned over to the Roman state for a second trial. His messianic claims were considered seditious and a threat to the stability of Roman-held Jerusalem, but it may have been the demands of the populace which led Pontius Pilate, the Roman procurator, to order his death.
Under the leadership of one of his followers, Paul, a man of Jewish birth, Roman citizenship, and Greek culture, Christianity began to make converts, for Paul eliminated many of the narrow characteristics of the faith, making no distinction between Jew and Gentile. It was also through his teaching and those of the other disciples that Jesus was recognized as "The Christ, the son of the living God," who had died to atone for the sins of humanity.
5) A number of documents, written by early Christians, were selected in the seventh century to compose the Christian creed or the second half of the Christian Bible-the New Testament.
Christ on the Cross
After allowing the Jews to choose whether or not Jesus should die, Pontius Pilate condemned him to death. Jesus was forced to carry his own cross to Golgotha, where he was crucified. Christ on the Cross was painted by the 17th-century Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens in 1620, at the height of his career. The painting shows Jesus crucified between two thieves.
The Effects of Christianity
Christians taught that there was only one God and only one path to salvation. The idea of the world as a single whole was therefore important, and this sense of human unity meant that Christianity was essentially evangelistic and crusading, since all people were in need of salvation.
Christianity brought to Europe a new sense of human life, for it taught that all people were equal in the sight of God and that beauty, wealth, and power were only superficial.
The Spread of Christianity
Through the efforts of the disciples, Christianity spread from Judea throughout the Jewish communities in Athens, Antioch, Corinth, and Rome. Because of this connection with the Jews, the Christians enjoyed the benefits of their immunities against persecution until 64 AD.
However, the attitude of Christians toward the Roman Empire led to popular antagonism toward them. The Christians were not concerned with this world; they refused to participate in public and pagan festivals; they excluded non-Christians from their gatherings; and they were monotheistic, thus committing treason by denying the divinity of the Roman emperor. At first accepted mainly by the discontented, the slaves, and the poor, by the second century, many educated and well-to-do people adopted Christianity, and the Roman state looked upon this as even more dangerous.
Christianity in Rome
Under Nero the early Christians were brought to trial on a charge of arson (the burning of Rome in 64AD), but they were punished in the same manner as magicians and sorcerers-by crucifixion, burning, and wild animals in the arena. Persecutions of the Christians varied from ruler to ruler and province to province, but in 250AD the Emperor Decius began the first attempt to abolish the faith throughout the whole empire by issuing an edict ordering all citizens to perform public acts of worship to the gods of the state. Refusal meant death.
In 303 AD Diocletian renewed the persecutions. Edicts were issued calling for the destruction of Christian churches and books, imprisonment of the Christian clergy, and the worship of state gods by all persons. Nevertheless, the majority of Christians remained true to their beliefs, and finally, in 311, Galerius issued the edict of toleration.
Constantine invaded Italy in 312 and defeated the forces of Maxentius, successor to Galerius. According to legend, before the battle at Milvian bridge just across the Tiber from Rome, Constantine had a vision and ordered his men to mark their shields with a Chi and Rho, symbols for Christ. Victory followed, and from then on Constantine looked upon himself as designated by the Christian God to rule the Roman Empire. He thus transformed the empire into a Christian state, although he did not force pagans to change their beliefs.
Constantine the Great
Constantine the Great was the first emperor of Rome to convert to Christianity. During his reign, Christians, previously persecuted, gained freedom of worship. He gave huge estates and other gifts to the Christian church. He established a capital in the eastern provinces, naming it Constantinople (now İstanbul, Turkey).
When Christianity became the state faith, it was weakened by the church’s growing wealth and power and by its enslavement to the emperor, yet it was the only institution of the empire that survived the collapse of the empire in the West.
As the barbarians invaded the empire, they were converted to the faith. The most important conversion was that of the Franks under King Clovis in 496. In 590, under Gregory the Great, monks were sent to England and Ethelbert of Kent was converted. Bishop Boniface brought about the conversion of Germany in the 700s.
The Organization of the Early Christian Church
At first the Christians formed independent communities directed by an elected committee of elders (bishops) and assisted by deacons. By the third century, the organization became centralized in the hands of a single bishop from each community, who controlled the elders or the priests. The laity gradually ceased to participate in the government of the church. About this time a dispute occurred over the question of whether the bishop of Rome should be supreme or all bishops should have equal authority.
The bishop of Rome was eventually triumphant, acquiring the name of pope (father). Leo I (440-461 AD) claimed the primacy of Peter. A rival to his power, however, developed in the patriarchate of Constantinople, but the patriarchs never acquired the independence of the popes of Rome, for they were dependent on the secular authority and support of the emporers. In the West, the bishops soon had a definite place in the municipal administration, and as imperial authority collapsed, they became the leaders of the Romans in their contact with the barbarian conquerors. By the end of the sixth century, the pope became the virtual ruler of Rome.
Vatican Museums and Galleries, Vatican City, Italy/Bridgeman Art Library, London/New York
Christ Giving the Keys to Saint Peter
This fresco by Perugino from the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel depicts Jesus giving Saint Peter the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Catholic doctrine states that Jesus appointed St. Peter to be the first Pope, which established a link between Jesus and the office of the Pope. This link is known as Apostolic Succession, whereby the Pope is seen as the heir to the Apostles.