History of Christianity

When most people think of Christian history, they think in very clear-cut terms. Jesus of Nazareth was God incarnate, he died, resurrected and ascended to Heaven. Peter the Rock, his designated successor, founded the Roman Catholic Church. Many centuries later Martin Luther instigated the Reformation, prompting the genesis of the many Christian religions in existence today.

Initially, however, Christianity was viewed as no more than a movement among a small group of Jews. After the death of Jesus Christ, around 30 CE, his followers began to spread their beliefs. Almost immediately there emerged two main divisions. Those who tried to keep to the Mosaic Law while acknowledging Jesus as their Messiah, and those who believed the Mosaic Law was done with, and that Jesus was their Savior in a new religion.

The latter group consisted mainly of non-Jews who followed the teachings of Christ and believed him to be God. The state of the Roman Empire at the time allowed for the new beliefs to spread easily through many lands and cultures. It didn’t take long for non-Jews to become the majority of people who believed Jesus Christ was the Messiah.

By the early 100s, there were several different sects professing Jesus Christ as their Savior. The sects went beyond delineations of Jew and non-Jew. There were small communities throughout the Roman Empire with their own scriptures, teachings and leaders professing authority to teach the true gospel of Christ.

The Gospels were written around 60-90 CE, the Pauline Epistles in the 50s. Additionally, letters and writings attributed to apostles and disciples were discovered and circulated throughout early Christianity. It wasn’t until 325, and the Council of Nicaea, that the Cannon of scriptures was agreed upon.

Emperor Constantine’s Edict of Milan in 313 CE provided relief to Christians. They were persecuted almost from the beginning of the movement. Constantine’s public conversion and official protection of Christianity, particularly the church in Rome, paved the way for the rise of the Roman Catholic Church.

By actively attempting to destroy ‘heretical writings,’ as well as excommunicating and marginalizing non-connected communities, the Roman Catholic Church began to consolidate its position as “the” church.

At some point during the 4th Century the Bishop of Rome adopted the title of “Pope” and claimed all Christians to be under his authority. The Eastern churches (Orthodox Churches: Greek, Coptic, Armenian, Eastern, Russian, etc.) rejected this teaching, but nothing was done until the Great Schism in 1054.

The Bishop of Constantinople closed the Roman churches he presided over in 1053, prompting the Pope to excommunicate him in 1054. Rather than creating the desired effect of submission, the excommunication had no true effect upon the Orthodox churches.

The case was not the same in the Celtic Church of the British Isles. By 300 CE, there were many Christians throughout the British Isles among people of Celtic descent. Legend, including the Arthur myths, claims that none other than Joseph of Arimathea was the first Christian in Britain.

The Celtic Church blended Christian teachings with its already established and thriving pagan traditions. Many of the saints the Celts revered as holy had names similar to Celtic pagan deities.

In 664, the Celtic Church in the north of England bowed to the authority of the Roman Catholic Church. The last vestiges of an independent Celtic Church retreated to Ireland and Iona. However, by 1172 the Irish Celtic Church had submitted to Catholic rule. Small pockets of Celtic Christianity remained through the 1200s and, in Scotland, until the Protestant Reformation.

The turmoil within Christianity continued through the Middle Ages. The Eastern part of the Roman Empire, known as the Byzantine Empire, ruled from Constantinople, was gradually falling to the Ottoman Turks.

Reports of atrocities committed by Muslims upon Christian pilgrims to Jerusalem prompted Pope Urban II to begin in 1093 the promotion of a Crusade to purify the Holy Land. A zealous bishop led a group of peasants East in advance of the army in what is called the People’s Crusade.

The People’s Crusade ended in disaster in present-day Turkey, but by 1096 the First Crusade was under way. Over the next 250 years, several crusades, both military and somewhat civilian, were made. The Christians did manage to capture Jerusalem at one point, only to lose it again. Crusaders were absolved of their sins, and promised eternal rewards.

During the years of the Crusades, more was happening throughout Christianity. A group of itinerant preachers, known as Vaudois, were condemned as heretics in 1184. They lived as traveling monks, spreading their ideas of the Gospel.

Hermits and monks were not new to Christianity in 1184. The first hermits appeared by 271, and the first organized community of monastics was founded in the Egyptian desert by 335. In 388 St. Augustine founded his famous Monastic order. St. Francis would found his order much later, in 1208.

The Vaudois’ crime was not their chosen lifestyle; it was the content of their preaching. By the end of the 4th Century, the scriptures, and all the ordinances of the Church, were completed in Latin. The Vaudois taught the scriptures in common language, and refuted non-scriptural teachings that had become part of doctrine. In the 12th Century, this was an offense worthy of excommunication.

While the Vaudois taught in the vernacular, it wasn’t until 200 years later, in 1382, that the Bible was translated into a common tongue. John Wycliffe’s translation of the Bible into English was first such translation in nearly 1,000 years. It was illegal, done in France and smuggled into England.

In 1456 the Bible achieved another milestone: it became the first book printed with movable type. Johann Gutenberg’s printing press made mass production of books possible. Consequently, books became less expensive and more accessible.

Despite the technological advance of the printing press, it wasn’t until 1517 that the idea of reform in the Catholic Church became a widespread movement. That was the year an ordained priest, Martin Luther, nailed his famous 95 Theses to the door of Whittenburg Cathedral.

Luther meant only to be a catalyst for change within the Catholic Church. He had no desire to form another church. However, his action spurred further protest from others, starting the Protestant Reformation.

The Reformation marked the beginning of two centuries of new Christian sects. By the end of the 16th Century, the Anabaptists, Calvinists, Presbyterians and Mennonites offered alternate views of the Gospel. However, Roman Catholicism remained the state religion of many countries.

Spain began its Inquisition in 1478 to enforce Catholicism and force national unity. By the 1540s, Protestants drew the brunt of the Spanish Inquisition. The Inquisition continued to execute or imprison non-Catholics until its suppression in 1834.

Unlike Spain, England did not keep Catholicism as its state religion. King Henry VIII broke off from the Roman Catholic Church in order to divorce his wife. In 1534 he founded the Church of England, and made it the state religion. The Church of England was the forerunner of the Anglican churches.

The Protestant movement continued through the 1600s, which saw the rise of the Baptists and the Quakers. Additionally, Rhode Island, a colony founded by Roger Williams in the New World, became the first government granting religious freedom and tolerance.

The 1700s saw the birth of the Methodist faith, along with the Great Awakening. Between 1730 and 1745 the people living in the colonies in North America experienced a renewed interest in religion and Christianity. Traveling preachers, including Jonathon Edwards and George Whitfield, taught the importance of a spiritual rebirth. Preaching to Native Americans became an important objective.

There was a second period of religious furor from the 1790s-1840s, known as the Second Great Awakening, that swept the United States. Traveling revivals again were seen, but to a greater degree. The Second Great Awakening promoted a more liberal moral and religious experience.

Overseas missions also gained popularity during the period of the Second Great Awakening. Inspired by the earlier missions to Native Americans, a constant stream of Christian missionaries began traveling to Asia to spread the Gospel. Overseas missions, to non-Christians all over the world continue today.

The Second Great Awakening also inspired a young man named Joseph Smith to found his religion, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS, the Mormons) in 1830. After Smith’s death in 1844, many groups splintered from the Mormon Church. The main body of the LDS Church migrated west to escape government-ignored persecution.

In the early 20th Century the Pentecostal Movement began moving forward. The movement focused on individual spiritual revelation. It also prompted a new surge in congregationalism and revival-style meetings.

1948 saw the formation of the World Council of Churches, and the Catholic Church began a modernization process that spanned the early to mid 60s. The advent and popularization of television brought Christianity into a new technological medium.

Billy Graham began his television ministry, reaching people in their homes. Since the Internet’s introduction into the mainstream, Christianity has reached a wider audience. Nearly every Christian denomination has a website.

Additionally, in countries like China, where Christianity has had a turbulent history, millions of people become Christians by learning about the Gospel (in its various forms) online.

Today, Christianity is one of the largest belief systems in the world, with adherents on every continent. While there are many denominations, and many believers who worship without the aid of organized religion, all have one thing in common: They believe that 2,000 years ago a Jewish carpenter died to save their souls.