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- Christianity was originally a movement of Jews who accepted Jesus as the messiah, but the movement quickly became predominantly Gentile. The early church was shaped by St. Paul and other Christian missionaries and theologians; it was persecuted under the Roman Empire but supported by Constantine I, the first Christian emperor.
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What was Christianity in the 1st century?
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Christianity in the 1st century covers the formative history of Christianity from the start of the ministry of Jesus (c. 27 –29 AD) to the death of the last of the Twelve Apostles (c. 100) and is thus also known as the Apostolic Age.
Early Christianity, otherwise called the Early Church or Paleo-Christianity, describes the historical era of the Christian religion up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325. Christianity spread from the Levant , across the Roman Empire , and beyond.
Christianity in the 1st century covers the formative history of Christianity from the start of the ministry of Jesus to the death of the last of the Twelve Apostles and is thus also known as the Apostolic Age. Early Christianity developed out of the eschatological ministry of Jesus.
- Etymology
- Origins
- Apostolic Age
- Jewish Christianity
- Emerging Church – Mission to The Gentiles
- Persecutions
- Development of The Biblical Canon
- Early Orthodox Writings – Apostolic Fathers
- Split of Early Christianity and Judaism
See also: Nazarene and Nazirite Early Jewish Christians referred to themselves as “The Way” (ἡ ὁδός), probably coming from Isaiah 40:3, “prepare the way of the Lord.” Other Jews also called them “the Nazarenes.” According to Acts 11:26, the term “Christian” (Χριστιανός) was first used in reference to Jesus’s disciples in the city of Antioch, meanin...
Jewish–Hellenistic background
Main article: Historical background of the New Testament See also: Second Temple Judaism, Hellenistic Judaism, Jewish eschatology, Covenant Theology, and Messiah in Judaism Christianity “emerged as a sect of Judaism in Roman Palestine” in the syncretistic Hellenistic world of the first century AD, which was dominated by Roman law and Greek culture. Hellenistic culture had a profound impact on the customs and practices of Jews, both in Roman Judea and in the Diaspora. The inroads into Judaism...
Life and ministry of Jesus
See also: Christian views on Jesus Jesus In Christianity is believed to be the Son of God and the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. Christians believe that through his crucifixion and subsequent resurrection, God offered humans salvation and eternal life. These teachings emphasize that as the Lamb of God, Jesus chose to suffer on the cross at Calvary as a sign of his obedience to the will of God, as an “agent and servant of God”. Jesus died to atone for sin to make us right with God. Jesus’...
Main articles: Acts of the Apostles and Historical reliability of the Acts of the Apostles Traditionally, the years following Jesus until the death of the last of the Twelve Apostles is called the Apostolic Age, after the missionary activities of the apostles. According to the Acts of the Apostles (the historical reliability of the Acts of the Apos...
Main article: Jewish Christian See also: Early Christianity and Biblical law in Christianity After the death of Jesus, Christianity first emerged as a sect of Judaism as practiced in the Roman province of Judea. The first Christians were all Jews, who constituted a Second Temple Jewish sect with an apocalyptic eschatology. Among other schools of th...
See also: Proto-orthodox Christianity With the start of their missionary activity, they also started to attract proselytes, Gentiles who were fully or partly converted to Judaism. A process of cognitive dissonance may have led to intensive missionary activity, convincing others of the developing beliefs to reduce cognitive dissonance, explaining wh...
See also: Persecution of Christians and Anti-Christian policies in the Roman Empire Persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire occurred sporadically over a period of over two centuries. For most of the first three hundred years of Christian history, Christians were able to live in peace, practice their professions, and rise to positions of respo...
Main article: Development of the Christian biblical canon In an ancient culture before the printing press and the majority of the population illiterate, most early Christians likely did not own any Christian texts. Much of the original church liturgical services functioned as a means of learning Christian theology. A final uniformity of liturgical ...
The Church Fathersare the early and influential Christian theologians and writers, particularly those of the first five centuries of Christian history. The earliest Church Fathers, within two generations of the Twelve apostles of Christ, are usually called Apostolic Fathers for reportedly knowing and studying under the apostles personally. Importan...
Split with Judaism
Main article: Split of early Christianity and Judaism See also: Schisms among the Jews and List of events in early Christianity There was a slowly growing chasm between Gentile Christians, and Jews and Jewish Christians, rather than a sudden split. Even though it is commonly thought that Paul established a Gentile church, it took centuries for a complete break to manifest. Growing tensions led to a starker separation that was virtually complete by the time Jewish Christians refused to join in...
Later rejection of Jewish Christianity
Jewish Christians constituted a separate community from the Pauline Christians but maintained a similar faith, differing only in practice. In Christian circles, Nazarene later came to be used as a label for those faithful to Jewish law, in particular for a certain sect. These Jewish Christians, originally the central group in Christianity, generally holding the same beliefs except in their adherence to Jewish law, were not deemed heretical until the dominance of orthodoxy in the 4th century....
Christianity began in the 1st century after the birth of Jesus as a Judaic sect with Hellenistic influence, in the Roman province of Judea. The disciples of Jesus spread their faith around the Eastern Mediterranean area, despite significant persecution .
Christianoi, "followers of the Christ," became the name of a group who followed the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth in 1st-century Israel and proclaimed him the predicted messiah of the prophets. More about: Christianity. Timeline. c. 73 BCE - 4 BCE. Life of Herod the Great, king of Judea. c. 6 BCE - c. 30 CE. Life of Jesus Christ . 26 CE - 36 CE.
Christian imagery from the earliest centuries of the church reveals that Christ’s early followers took his teachings to heart. Neither political persecution, nor the disparity between diverse cultures, nor even the tension of doctrinal disputes could limit the spread of Christianity from its very beginning.
