Spread of Christianity
Christianity emerged as a movement of Judaism in Roman Judea during the 1st century AD. Jesus proclaimed the coming of the Kingdom of God to his followers. After his death by crucifixion, some believers claimed to have seen him alive again. This resurrection signaled that the days of eschatological fulfillment were at hand for earliest Christians. The Jerusalem church began at Pentecost with about 120 believers gathered in an upper room known as the Cenacle. These early followers received what they called the Holy Spirit and emerged from hiding to preach their message. They spread the Christian Way throughout Jewish communities around the Mediterranean Sea within ten years of Jesus' death. Churches appeared in cities like Antioch, Edessa, Ephesus, Corinth, Thessalonica, Cyprus, Crete, Alexandria, and Rome. Over forty churches existed by the year 100, mostly located in Asia Minor and Upper Mesopotamia.
Paul's conversion on the road to Damascus marked a turning point for the movement. Peter baptized the Roman centurion Cornelius, traditionally considered the first Gentile convert to Christianity. The Antioch church was founded there, and it is believed the term Christian was coined in that city. Paul brought Christianity to Ephesus, Corinth, Philippi, and Thessalonica. He saw himself as specially called by God to declare God's eschatological acceptance of the Gentiles. Hebrew Jewish Christians opposed Paul's interpretations, as exemplified by the Ebionites. The relaxing of requirements in Pauline Christianity opened the way for a much larger Christian Church extending far beyond the Jewish community. Within ten years after Jesus' death, the new messianic movement focused on Jesus began to modulate into something different at Antioch. It became possible to speak of the new movement as Christianity rather than just a sect of Judaism. The inclusion of Gentiles reflected in Luke-Acts answers how the Messiah of the Jews came to have an overwhelmingly non-Jewish church.
There was no empire-wide persecution of Christians until the reign of Decius in the third century. In 250, the edict of Decius enforced religious conformity requiring all citizens to participate in imperial cult ceremonies. Any citizen who refused faced the death penalty. This persecution lasted only about one year but marked a severe departure from previous policy. Gallienus issued the first official edict of tolerance regarding Christianity beginning what historians call the Little Peace of the Church. Diocletian launched the final and Great Persecution in 303. The Edict of Serdica ended this persecution in the East in 311. Constantine the Great and Licinius legalised the Christian religion through the Edict of Milan in AD 313. On the 27th of February 380, the Roman Empire officially adopted Trinitarian Nicene Christianity as its state religion. Prior to this date, Constantius II and Valens had personally favored Arian or Semi-Arian forms of Christianity. Theodosius I supported the Trinitarian doctrine as expounded in the Nicene Creed.
The Church of the East developed almost wholly apart from Greek and Roman churches. It began in the buffer zone between the Parthian and Roman Empires in Assyria. Edessa became the principal center of Syriac-speaking Christianity from apostolic times. By AD 280, missionary activity spread throughout Mesopotamia and Persia. In AD 424, a council at Seleucia elected the first patriarch with jurisdiction over the whole church including India and Ceylon. When Constantine converted to Christianity, the Persian Empire suspected a new enemy within and turned violently anti-Christian. About the year 340, great persecution fell upon Christians in Persia due to political motives rather than purely religious ones. Shah Shapur II ordered double taxation on Christians and held bishops responsible for collecting it. Bishop Simon refused to be intimidated and declared he was no tax collector but a shepherd of the Lord's flock. Five bishops and one hundred priests were beheaded before his eyes in the year 344. He himself was put to death shortly after. For the next two decades, Christians were tracked down and hunted from one end of the empire to another.
Gothic culture emerged from various East-Germanic, local, and Roman influences during the 3rd century. Wulfila became the first bishop of the Christian Goths in 337 or 341. One pagan Gothic king began persecuting Christian Goths by 348, forcing Wulfila and others to flee to Moesia Secunda. Between 348 and 383, Wulfila translated the Bible into the Gothic language. The Franks had migrated to Gaul from the 3rd century and remained pagan at first. On Christmas 496, 497, or 499, Clovis I converted to the orthodox faith of the Catholic Church following his victory at the Battle of Tolbiac. He let himself be baptised at Rheims according to accounts passed down by Gregory of Tours. Most members of other tribes converted when their respective tribes settled within the Empire. Many Goths converted as individuals outside the Roman Empire while most Franks and Anglo-Saxons converted a few generations later. During later centuries after the Fall of Rome, most Germanic peoples gradually became strongly allied with the Catholic Church in the West.
In 325, Constantine summoned the Council of Nicaea to deal mostly with the Arian controversy. This council issued the Nicene Creed which professed belief in One Holy Catholic Apostolic Church. The Church of the East endorsed the doctrine of Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople from 428 to 431. This happened especially following the Nestorian Schism after condemnation of Nestorius for heresy at the First Council of Ephesus. For at least 1,200 years, the Church of the East was noted for its missionary zeal and high degree of lay participation. Some Germanic tribes adopted Arianism instead of Trinitarian beliefs defined by the Church Fathers in the Nicene Creed and Council of Chalcedon. Christianity became the official religion of Armenia in 301 or 314 before it was illegal in the Roman Empire. The Iberian king Mirian III probably converted to Christianity in 326. Frumentius brought Christianity to Ethiopia shortly after 325 according to fourth-century historian Rufinius.
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Common questions
When did Christianity emerge as a movement of Judaism in Roman Judea?
Christianity emerged as a movement of Judaism in Roman Judea during the 1st century AD. Jesus proclaimed the coming of the Kingdom of God to his followers before his death by crucifixion.
Where was the term Christian coined and which city became the principal center of Syriac-speaking Christianity?
The Antioch church is believed to be where the term Christian was coined. Edessa became the principal center of Syriac-speaking Christianity from apostolic times.
What year did the Roman Empire officially adopt Trinitarian Nicene Christianity as its state religion?
On the 27th of February 380, the Roman Empire officially adopted Trinitarian Nicene Christianity as its state religion. Prior to this date, Constantius II and Valens had personally favored Arian or Semi-Arian forms of Christianity.
Who translated the Bible into the Gothic language and when did Wulfila become bishop of the Christian Goths?
Wulfila became the first bishop of the Christian Goths in 337 or 341. Between 348 and 383, Wulfila translated the Bible into the Gothic language.
When did the Council of Nicaea issue the Nicene Creed and what doctrine did the Church of the East endorse?
In 325, Constantine summoned the Council of Nicaea which issued the Nicene Creed. The Church of the East endorsed the doctrine of Nestorius following the condemnation of Nestorius for heresy at the First Council of Ephesus.