The core of the Christian faith is centered around the life and teachings of Jesus, a Jewish man who emerged 2,000 years ago in the Roman province of Judea with a message of love and compassion. Christianity grew out of Jewish traditions and was shaped by Roman cultural and political structures for several centuries.
The Life and Teachings of Jesus According to the Canonical Gospels
Jesus left no writings but the main sources of information regarding his life and teachings are the four canonical gospels written by his early followers. According to them, Jesus was born to a Jewish virgin named Mary in Bethlehem.
his conception was a supernatural event, as God impregnated her via the Holy Spirit. Jesus grew up in Nazareth and may have been a carpenter till the age of 30 when he took to preaching. For about three years, he traveled with 12 appointed disciples or apostles, preaching from Jewish texts an ethic of love and forgiveness, and that he was the path to salvation, everlasting life, and the Kingdom of God.
Jesus’ Trial and Crucifixion in Judea
Not long after expelling merchants and money changers from the Jewish Temple, Jesus shared a final meal with his apostles before being betrayed, arrested, and tried before a Jewish judicial body called the Sanhedrin. Pressured by Jewish leaders who accused him of claiming to be King of Jews (and thereby breaking the Roman social order), the Roman governor of Judea condemned Jesus to death by crucifixion, which was a Roman method of execution.
Jesus’ Miracles, Resurrection, and Ascension
The Gospels taught that Jesus was a miracle worker, a healer, the co-creator of the world, a divine prophet, and the son of an almighty Universal God. His death and resurrection were a sacrifice that fulfilled Jewish prophecies of a coming Messiah to execute God’s loving plan for eternal salvation of humanity and forgiveness of its sins. After his body was resurrected by God, he ascended into Heaven, sending the Holy Spirit to guide and empower humanity.
Paul’s Role in Establishing Christianity as a Global Religion
If Jesus had built the foundations of the Christian faith, it was a Jew named Paul who made it a religion. Besides establishing churches throughout the known world, Paul’s inclusion of non-Jews in the Christian faith was unusual among movements of the time and was essential for the success of the early church, which may otherwise have remained just another Jewish sect.
The Composition of the Christian Bible and Roman Religious Tolerance
The Christian Bible is divided into two parts: The Old Testament, which is also recognized by followers of Judaism, and the New Testament which provides accounts of the life and death of Jesus. Generally, people of all religious persuasions were tolerated within the Pagan Roman Empire; yet, submission to the deified Roman emperor, which Christians would not do, was not an option.
Early Christian Persecution and Constantine’s Conversion
- Christianity faced severe Roman persecutions under several emperors:
- Emperor Nero blamed Christians for the fire of Rome.
- Emperor Domitian continued persecution.
- Diocletian’s rule saw the Great Persecution, targeting Christians zealously.
- Constantine’s victory in battle marked a turning point:
- He attributed his success to the Christian God.
- Constantine became the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity.
- Constantine’s actions:
- Granted religious toleration for Christians throughout the Empire.
- By the end of the 4th century, Christianity, as defined by the Council of Nicaea, became the official religion of the Roman empire.
Development of Christian Doctrine and the Council of Chalcedon
Efforts to formulate the faith and to address Christological debates (still 14) consumed the Christian Church for two centuries. The Council of Chalcedon for example affirmed that Jesus had two natures, fully God and fully man, at the same time.
Tertullian is hailed for the first use of the term “Trinity,” which does not appear nor is explicitly taught in the Bible.
The doctrine which is now central to Christian faith explains the relationship between the Father, the One True Creator God taught in the Old testament, and Jesus the Son and the Holy Script who are concluded to be fully divine given what the Bible teaches about them.
The Trinity, Church Split, and the Great Schism
| Topic | Details |
|---|---|
| The Trinity and Theological Debate | The trinity addresses the question: If the Father is God, the Son is God and the Holy Spirit is God, then how can we say that there is only one God as per the Old Testament? A theological debate over the origin of the Holy Spirit, whether it proceeds from God the Father alone or from both the Father and the Son, partly led to the Split of the Church between Catholicism and Orthodoxy. |
| The Great Schism | The Great Schism resulted from disagreements over Papal Primacy and was exacerbated by cultural and historical differences between the Latin West and the Greek Oriented East. |
| The Crusades | During the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church supported a series of religious wars known as the Crusades. They were intended to liberate the Holy Land from Islamic Rule and also involved conflicts in southern Spain and against pagan Slavic tribes in Northern Europe. |
Martin Luther’s Reformation and the Role of the Printing Press
In 1517, a German monk named Martin Luther published a text that criticized some of the practices of the Catholic church, including the sale of indulgences.
He and others argued that the Bible, not tradition, should be the sole source of spiritual authority and that the Bible didn’t give the Pope the sole right to read and interpret scripture.
These ideas were not novel, but Luther and others became the first to skillfully use the power of the printing press to give them a wide audience.
The Protestant Reformation ultimately split the Western Church into the Protestant and the Roman Catholic Church.
It triggered persecutions by the Inquisition and bloody wars such as the thirty years war but also a period of Catholic resurgence as well as an intellectual and cultural flourishing that partially marked the transition from the Middle Ages to the Early Modern Period in Europe.
Global Expansion and Diversity of Christianity
At the same time Christian missionaries accompanied European expansion to the Americas and elsewhere following the tracks of colonization and empire trade. New forms of Christian belief and practice were established across the globe and were shaped by local languages, cultures and histories.
Today Christianity is the most widely practiced religion in the world and features many sects that have differing views and uphold separate traditions. A man’s simple message of compassion and forgiveness remains just as powerful now as it did 2,000 years ago.