The Origins and History of Christianity

There is an adage that states “the excluded middle law” it affirms that anything is either is, or it is not. It cannot be in the middle. The maxim also applies to a line. It is either straight or curled. It cannot be termed as partially straight or partially curled. Christianity is either of Godly origin or not. It is, therefore, earthborn if not Godly. If it is earthborn, it becomes a faux religion of its declaration of being sacred. On the other hand, there has to be enough evidence to confirm that Christianity is divine as it claims. Christianity dates back to the ancient Christians that subsisted in the first century who with diligent engrossment is imitated today. With the understanding above, one has to admit that the impact of Christ’s kingdom is around the globe. This paper focuses on asserting the divine origin of the devotional system.

Christianity did not evolve gradationally from the artistic elements of ancient society. It is a religious system that had an important beginning point. Rome, Assyria, Greece, Babylon, and Egypt have no trace of the Christian roots. Christianity was not in existence earlier than A.D. 30. It was for more than three years in high preparations that scaled the ministry of John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth. Although the Mosaic arrangement was made to create avenues for Christianity, Christ’s religion was so boldly different from the Hebrew administration that it brought about animosity from the Jews. The animosity lasted for the first four decades of existence until Romans took charge of the Jewish economy in A.D. 70.

Christianity was an essential force in religion from the time it started. It was significant both in the Mediterranean areas and also the separate parts of the Roman Empire.it started with just a few but soon dominated everywhere. Each impact has an adequate antecedent. There is also a reason for the origin of Christianity. If nature cannot find an explanation of the origin of Christianity, then supernatural reasons can explain.

Christ’s religion erupted on the terrain of society in the first century. Jesus had a few apostles who worked as the captains of his cause. It was from the small seed that the strong Christian religion came into being. At the time it was born, the community had at least three thousand believers. The number was constituted, and more people came to be baptized later, making the total remarkably big. Within a short time, the figure rose to five thousand men without the thousands of women added to the list of believers. It has been evaluated that Stephen was martyred at a time when the church in Jerusalem had more than twenty thousand believers. It represented not less than a third of Jerusalem’s total population at that time.

Further, from that, gospel quickly spread into Africa, Syria, small parts of Asia than Europe from Palestine. Paul traveled tirelessly about twelve thousand miles from Jerusalem to Rome evangelizing. Paul might also have traveled to Spain since Clement of Rome states that Paul arrived at the west boundary, which could be Spain. At that time, few Christians were confirmed in Spain.

Christianity extended over the empire in Rome. The phenomenon of growth was acknowledged in the New Testament. Christians faced charges of turning the world upside down. They were heard all around the world. The impact was witnessed everywhere. Will Durant, a historian; claim that by A.D. 300, about one-quarter of the empire section in the east was Christian and about a twentieth of those in the west were identified. E.M. Blaiklock noted that in a study done, the vaults in Rome have between one million and four million graves that are assumed to have belonged to Christians. He estimated that not less than twenty percent of the citizens in Rome were Christians. Rome had between one hundred and seventy-five and four hundred thousand believers at that time.

The first effect of the gospel was on the Jews. Hebrew was the center of the ancient church. Many Jews preferred the conversion to Christianity. It is inarguably true; however, that Jews had stern beliefs of there being just one God. It was a fact that Jesus claimed to be divine. There was no other deity according to them. It would take substantial evidence to prove to the Jewish that the Nazarene was God and that they should acknowledge him.

The movement started in Jerusalem in Palestine. Palestine did not get any recognition in world force at the beginning of the first century. It was a tiny land that measured about one hundred and fifty miles. Massachusetts was big compared to Palestine. The Roman commander defeated Jerusalem in63 B.C. the Jews were taken under the leadership of the Romans. Their destiny was never to become an independent country. The Jews had disenchanted expectations to overthrow the Roman leadership through a political savior and bring back Israel of David’s time. Palestine became a nation burning from within and could explode at any time. It was, therefore, doubtful for such a place to come up with one of the world’s most influential religion.

Jesus Christ, who was seen as a leader from the human point of view, did not possess any of the leadership traits associated with creating armies and empires. He was not appealing physically. No line in the New Testament touches his physical appearance. Jesus did not have any riches to start such a significant movement. He grew up in a community that was very much despised in his country. He did not attend a school or any training. He was disregarded even by his people.

The idea of embracing and respecting other people’s superstitions was common in the Roman world. There were philosophies and inclination that were accommodated and tolerated. It was, however, not the same with Christians. Their strict monotheistic beliefs could not allow them to participate in rituals done by pagans that went against their heavenly customs. They were not brought down by the pagan pressures. They taught how Jesus of Nazareth was associated with the truth. To them, they only had one Lord and one faith. They declared a difference that could not be compromised.

In Roman religions, drunkenness and sexual amenity were very common, sometimes even as a religious ritual. They indulged in basest passions. According to Strado, a traditional geographer, one thousand women priests or enslaved girls from the Aphrodite Temple in Corinth were employed as religious prostitutes. Prostitution was one of the primary sources of revenue. Christianity went contrary to what society expected. It forbids any sexual activities unless happening in the bounds of marriage. Paul emphasized it repeatedly in his first letter to the Corinthians. Christians had unexplainable power.

In Rome, it was dangerous to be a Christian. Prosecution became a reality even before Christianity was launched. A clear picture is painted in the book of acts of the brutality that the new believers went through. James was decapitated using a sword, Stephen was stoned to death, whereas Peter and John were put into prison.2nd Corinthians summarizes how much persecution Paul had to persevere. Tertullian later said that the blood from martyrs symbolizes a seed from the kingdom. The governor of Bithynia, Pliny, sent an inquiry letter to Trajan, an emperor asking how to handle Christians. His usual way was sentencing death upon those who admitted to Christianity even after three threats. Tertullian stated that Christians did not afford to be tried like any other criminal.

In April 311, Galerius gave out an edict that would permit Christian practices. Two years later, Constantine I and Lucinius allowed Christianity to be tolerated in the Edict of man. Constantine’s mother, Helena, taught him Christianity. He then became the first emperor to be a Christian. By 391, the Roman state religion was Christianity under the leadership of Theodosius. After the legalization of Christianity, the provinces that were managed by the government was taken over by the church and called dioceses. The Roman bishop affirmed that he had the highest rank among all bishops and chose pope to be his title. There existed several bishop councils during the era. Their main concerns were Christological disputes. The Ephesus council claimed that the Virgin Mary bore God and referred to her as the “mother of God.” The council of Chalcedon was the most significant. It affirmed that Christ happened in two natures at the same time; he was entirely man and also fully God. Monophysitism was denounced.

In the early middle ages of 476-800, the church witnessed a great of the Roman world. The Roman Empire did not fall as expected. In the seventh century, after the Muslims invaded Rome, the eastern and western Christians started taking different shapes. The Roman bishops began to have more interest in barbarian kings than the emperors from Byzantine. It led to the enthronement of Charlemagne as the Roman Emperor by Pope Leo III. During this period, the Roman city was very much affected by the war in Italy. Emperor Justinian founded a magnificent Exarchate in Ravenna after defeating the Italian kingdom. The imperial impact was restricted. Lombards later invaded Rome. The Romans protected themselves alone, leaving the popes to negotiate treaties, pay money to the warlords of Lombard for protection, and recruit men to defend them. They also saw it necessary to feed the city using cereals from the estates of Papal.

The years between 800 and 1499 were referred to as the church of the high Middle Ages. During this period, the new world was discovered and Protestants reformed. The holy roman emperor Henry IV and Pope Gregory VII had a dispute on who would be in charge of appointing bishops. It was named the investiture controversy. The end of the controversy was beneficial to the church and the Christians at large. There was loss of royal power. The period also saw crusades come up. Crusades were meant to defend the Christians and expand their domains. The great schism detached the church into Latin (west) and Greek (east). The western became Catholics while those from the eastern side became Orthodox.

Martin Luther and Ulrich Zwingli started movements in the early sixteenth century that were objected to church reformation. They wanted the coexisting doctrines to equal their right gospel idea. The called the movement protestant reformation because they wanted to protest against the churchly ranks and the pope. They wanted to have themselves as leaders and bring back the gospel. They called themselves evangelists. The Reformation spread within northern Europe but did not stay in some areas such as Ireland and small parts of Germany.

There were two more reformations; the English Reformation and the counter-reformation. The English Reformation started by dominant influence. Henry VIII considered himself aCatholic king. He started to challenge Martin Luther and even protected the papacy against him. A state church emerged from the reformation that reckoned itself both Catholic, and reformed.the counter-reformation was the Catholic church acting in response to the protestants. It founded new religion orders for Christians and stopped the spread of Protestantism.

Ecumenism describes the steps undertaken to restore unity among all the Christian groups by having dialogues. Steady moves were made concerning the Greek Orthodox to confirm the east-west schism. Pope Leo XIII stated the significance of continuing with the eastern traditions for the church in his publish. There was a merge of the Orthodox and Catholics in 1965. For the Catholic and protestant communities, several commissions were brought up to help in dialogue. Documents have been made aiming to identify mutual points to bring the doctrines together.

The ecumenism steps on the protestants side have been aimed at deciding a catalog of doctrines and the practices that are important to Christianity. By doing so, the focus extends to every Christian group, therefore, creating equality among all Christians. The Jehovah Witnesses and the latter-day saints are often not considered as Christians because of the strife between protestant ecumenical communities and the non-Trinitarian communities.

Christianity is a pillar of actual history. Its data can be checked. It can be confidently and obediently embraced by anyone. One can surrender to it and enjoy all the blessings that come along with it. It is also good for Christians today to learn from the experiences of early Christians like Paul. Past experiences and sacrifices can play a significant role in uniting back the groups of Christians. Observing the laws and their strong beliefs acted as a vital asset in the movement Jesus started and the start of early Christianity. Despite all the challenges, Christianity has grown over the years. With the new development in Christianity, personal relationships have been created between God and Christians. The revival enthusiasm meetings are significant things that should be shared. Evangelism is the root of modern Christianity. Evangelists aid rapid growth in the protestant Christian growth. The royal Catholics and the protestants have adopted inclusivism that salvation does not only apply to Christians alone.