The Apostolic Church to 100 AD
After the Ascension of Jesus Christ, the disciples gathered together in one place looking forward to the return of Jesus Christ and almost immediately after this the holy spirit came at the day of pentecost. This was not just the speaking in tongues but the new boldness of the apostles and their new understanding of their Master. And soon thousands of people joined this community, However this community was not much different from Jewish Community. In fact for a lot of time christians were regarded as one of the sects of Judaism although these two communities were having different views, like Jews were hoping for a Messiah but Christians believed that He had already come. A Gentile cannot enter a jewish community but he/she can enter in Christian by baptism. Evidently the Church at first thought that the interval between resurrection and second coming would be very short, so some members of the church left their ordinary occupations and spent their whole time in worship. Stephen, one of 7 chosen to serve the food, was condemned to death by stoning for blasphemy, so he became the first martyr. This first martyrdom was followed by a severe persecution, in which Paul took the leading role. On his way to Damascus Paul got vision from Jesus and Saul the persecutor became a baptised Christian in Damascus, this happened around 33 or 34 AD. Meanwhile the faith was spreading, and not only among Jews. At Antioch a considerable number of Gentiles had been converted, and the name ‘Christian’ began to be applied to them! At this time, a problem arises in church, can a gentile become christian without Circumcision? Paul took his stand at the council of Jerusalem and the Church allowed the Gentiles to become christians without circumcision, or any dietary laws. This decision proclaim loudly that Christianity is not a part of Judaism but a universal religion, knowing no distinction of race, sex or social position. The Roman Empire policies and infrastructure played an important role in the spread of Christianity. The Well Connected Road, The Common Greek as lingua-Franca. Romans allowed the citizens to follow their customs and practise hoping this will reduce the chances of revolt. These conditions made the spread of Christianity throughout the Roman Empire very easy, but we really know very little of the details of how it happened. Most of the Twelve are not mentioned again after the first chapter of Acts. The Focus moves to Paul. Paul Went on three missionary journeys and he is regarded as the Second founder of Christianity in Secular History. We have only very slight hints about Christian worship at this time. The meeting place was generally a private house, and from the beginning the first day of the week had been specially observed in memory of the Lord’s resurrection. This meant "from sunset on Saturday evening till sunset on Sunday”. Most Christians were slaves, or in a humble social position, and could not leave their business on a working day; and of course there was no Sunday holiday; so worship had to take place from Saturday evening till early on Sunday morning. The Church almost did the same thing that jews do in synagogue, like singing hymns, doing prayer or reading Hebrew Bible. In addition a letter from an apostle was read. The proceedings would end with the Lord’s supper. Soon the Roman knew that the Christians were different from the Jewish People. So when in AD 64, the great fire devastated Rome, there was a rumor that this was done by emperor Nero, but Nero blamed christians for doing this. After this Christian has to undergo a very severe persecution. Peter and Paqul both perished. The CHristians were fed to beasts, they were used as lighting tools at night, they were made to serve as objects of amusement; others were crucified, Jewish discontent with Roman rule resulted in a great revolt in A.D. 66. After one of the most prolonged and terrible sieges in history, Jerusalem was taken by the Roman general Titus in A.D. 70. The temple was destroyed, and the sacrifices finally ceased. Around this time all major apostles were killed, and the Church became a different body from the synagogue. The early Christians, with their expectation of a speedy Second Coming of the Lord, had not much time to spare for writing books; but when the expectation was delayed, and those who had known the Lord in the flesh began to die off, the necessity of recording the facts of the life, death, resurrection and teaching of the Lord became urgent. Gospels like Mark, Matthew, Luke were written at this time to preserve the Good news for the upcoming generation.
By the end of the first century there were Christian churches in several cities of Palestine, Syria, Asia Minor, Cyprus, Greece, Rome, etc . All the books of the New Testament had already been written but they had not yet been collected into a New Testament to place beside the Old Testament as Scripture. The last of the generation who had known the Lord in the flesh had passed away, and the Church was passing into a new age, with new conditions and new problems.
THE EARLY CHURCH AD 100—313
The Period is considered as the Best time of the Roman Empire. There was internal peace, and foreign war was confined to distant frontiers. The Roman Religion was very like Hinduism just without the Caste System. When Greeks or Romans heard of a new god, they either identified him with some god whom they already worshipped, or added a new god to their list. In the case of Christianity, things got worse, when the Romans came to know that christian don’t accept the emperor as Lord, but they say that only Jesus is Lord. This was one of the major reasons for the persecution. A Christian holding a prominent position in church, was liable to be seized at any time and condemned to death for no other crime than that of being a Christian. As they believed in only one God, they could not perform any act which would recognise the deity of the emperor. The Second main reason for the persecution was the Organization of the Church, which made the Christian Church seem like a dangerous conspiracy. It was also believed that Christian are cannibals. One of the famous Church father Polycarp was martyred during this time only. He was a disciple of John in his youth. At his old age, the persecution increased and some soldiers came to kill him. Due to his age, the soldier gave him a chance to say ‘Away with the atheists!’ Polycarp said so. Then the proconsul asked him to curse the christ, and polycarp replied ‘Eighty and six years have I served Him and He hath done me no wrong; how then can I blaspheme my King who saved me?’. So Polycarp was condemned to be burnt alive; and as the flames, perhaps blown by the wind, did not consume the body at once, an executioner ended his sufferings by driving in a dagger. During this time the position of Bishop and presbyter also changed. The bishop became more powerful than presbyter. One of the most difficult questions in the history of the Church is how and why this change took place.
The Church in the second century had to face not only persecution but heresies. The most notable of these heresies was. Gnosticism which emphasized personal spiritual knowledge rather than depending on the Church. Marcion, a presbyter, also taught heresy. He said that the God of the Old Testament (God of Law) is different from the God of New Testament (God of Love). In order to support his theory, he rejected the whole of the Old Testament, and most of the New, except a very much edited Gospel of Luke and ten of Paul’s Epistles. This time period also gave us many apologetics like Irenaeus, Tertullian. To combat these heresies these leaders combined gospels and epistles of apostles and circulated it within Churches. By the beginning of the third century we hear of specially built churches & Christian catechetical schools.The Systematic theology, an attempt by Origen, also came in this period. The Worship structure was not much different from the 2nd century, but now the epistles of apostles were read more. By the third century the baptismal ceremony was becoming more elaborate. The bishop laid his hands on the heads of the newly baptised, and also anointed them with oil. It was done on Easter and the baptism was by immersion, and was always performed by the bishop himself; At the time of baptism, the candidates repeated a profession of faith which in Rome came to take the form we know as the Apostles’ Creed. and immediately afterwards the newly baptised were admitted to partake of the eucharist for the first time.
The Last Great Persecution 303-305: In 284 the period of weakness in the Roman Empire was ended by the accession of Diocletian. He carried out a drastic reorganisation, giving up all pretence that the Roman Empire was a republic, and making it frankly a despotism under a semidivine emperor. The Christians were now so numerous, especially in the eastern part of the empire, that it might well |seem that they must either be repressed or acknowledged. Diocletian attempted repression, and in 303 the most severe and systematic persecution to which the Christians had ever been subjected broke out. There were many martyrs; but by ‘this time it was too late to suppress Christianity altogether. Diocletian abdicated in 305, believing that he had made arrangements for a peaceful succession; but a war broke out again between rival claimants, which ended in 312 with the victory of Constantine at the Milvian Bridge. In 313 the Edict of Milan gave legal recognition to Christian churches, and granted toleration on equal terms to all religions. The era of persecution was over.
THE CHRISTIAN EMPIRE 313—451
brought to an end the era of persecution, and began an era of partnership between the Church and the Roman Empire which lasted about 1500 years, and the consequences of which remain to this day. However this edict brought both loss and gain to the church. Now the Churches can be builded and the eucharist could be celebrated in a grand way. The Bible was copied on the new writing material vellum in bulk. Sunday became a holiday and The Council of Bishops would now meet to discuss heresies and new doctrines. Slowly the christian ideas began to modify the law. The divorce which was easy earlier but under the influence of Chrisitnaity the marriage became more permanent, concubinage, abortion and Infanticide were abolished. The games of Life and death were banned. The Number of Slaves rapidly decreased.
On the other hand, there was such great loss that some people have thought its recognition by Constantine the greatest disaster that ever happened to the Christian Church. Now it was profitable instead of dangerous to be a christian, Although the Church never consciously lowered her standards for baptism, the whole tone of Christian life was lowered and the Church was flooded with large numbers of rather nominal Christians. The office of Bishop became one of wealth, honour and worldly influence. The Europe was dividing in 3rd century but in 4th century Christianity bought the unity but it became very difficult for Romans to Control such a large area, so they decided to divide empire into 2 parts - a western Latin-speaking half, with its capital at the old Rome; and an eastern Greek-speaking half, with its capital at the New Rome, Constantinople. But this was a very wrong decision for the future of the Roman Empire. On AD 410, the downfall of Rome started after the sack of Rome. It became no longer possible for all the Christians in any diocese to form a single congregation presided over by the bishop every Sunday. Branch churches came into existence, in which a single presbyter was deputed by the bishop to celebrate the eucharist. Soon this delegation became permanent, and the presbyter became a parish priest.
The earliest complete, or nearly complete, copies of the Bible which have survived belong to this period. They are Codex Vaticanus, Codex Sinaiaticus and Codex Alexandrinus. The first exact list of our present New Testament canon which has come down to us was given by St Athanasius in 369. Early in the fifth century, St Jerome translated the whole Bible into Latin from the original languages. This translation, known as the Vulgate. This is the first period from which any remains of churches have come down to us; and in some places, like Syria and North Africa. Another new practice was pilgrimage to the holy places in Palestine, especially those connected with the life of our Lord. St Helena, the mother of the Emperor Constantine, paid a visit to Palestine at a great age in 326.
Easter or the Passover, the yearly anniversary of our Lord’s resurrection, had been celebrated by Christians from the very first, but the later, more elaborate ceremonies connected with Holy Week date from this time. Another celebration which is first heard of now is Christmas. The first mention of its observance comes from 336, and December 25th was probably chosen to oppose the pagan celebration of the birthday feast of the Invincible Sun by the celebration of the birthday of the Sun of Righteousness. This period also faced many different types of heresies like Nestorianism, Arianism, Monophysitism.
[Read augustine stand on different topics from 89 to 92, chrome]
THE DARK AGES 451—1000
Now World History was in its most turbulent period. After the fall of the Roman Empire in the fifth century, Europe entered what historians call the “Dark Ages.” This name does not necessarily mean everything was gloomy, but rather that there was political chaos, cultural decline, and constant invasions. Christianity was both welcomed and criticised, thinkers like Augustine and other defended the faith but their was also many thinkers like gibbon who said that christianity has turned the viewpoint of people and that is the reason the Roman spirit is weakened because people focus was too much on heaven instead of civic duty. But the real reasons for Rome’s collapse were deeper — political disorganization, lack of military strength, and social decay.
[Meanwhile, in the East, Justinian I tried to rebuild the Roman Empire and left a powerful legacy by codifying Roman law. But the dream of rebuilding Rome faded with new invasions like the Lombards, who were even less civilized than the earlier invaders. At the same time, in Western Europe, a turning point came with Clovis, the Frankish king, who converted to Catholic Christianity around 496. His conversion had less to do with personal faith and more with political strategy — by becoming a Catholic, he gained the support of the Roman Catholic majority in Gaul (modern France). This alliance allowed the Franks to become powerful protectors of the Church, and France eventually emerged as a stronghold of Catholic Christianity.]
On the islands of Britain, the natives were attacked by Anglo-Saxons who were German people. These English invaders pushed the native Christian Celts into the western hills of Wales and established pagan kingdoms. The Christianity here was brought by missionaries again. St Augustine is one of the important missionaries sent by Pope Gregory the Great in 597 AD. St. Columbia at same time helped in spreading the faith to Scotland and Northern England.
Then came the most powerful shock for christianity was the rise of islam in the 7th century founded by Prophet mohammand. Islam quickly swept through lands that were once centers of Christianity: Syria, Egypt, North Africa, and even into Spain. Islam was similar to Christianity in its roots, drawing on Jewish and Christian ideas. As Islam rose in the East, the Eastern Christian Church — centered in Constantinople (Byzantium) — continued to function but started moving in a different direction from the West. The Byzantine Empire held on to some territories and maintained a strong imperial church system. One major issue was the Iconoclastic Controversy, where some leaders tried to ban the use of religious images, seeing them as idols. Though the image-breakers lost, this debate deepened the division between East and West. Over time, differences in worship styles, theology, and especially the role of the Pope led to a formal schism in 1054, where the Eastern Church became what we now call the Greek Orthodox Church, and the Western Church became Roman Catholic. In the west, the pope took a lead role due to weak rulers of that time. Pope Gregory the Great not only led the church but also took charge of civil matters in Rome. Under his leadership, the Church became both a religious and political force. His influence spread as Christian missionaries moved into pagan Europe. St. Boniface who worked in Germany, his = efforts helped bring Germanic tribes into the Christian fold, often under the support of powerful rulers like Charles Martel and his grandson Charlemagne. Charlemagne was crowned as emperor in 800AD, he created a vast Christian empire in Western Europe and worked closely with the Pope. He saw himself not just as a king, but as a Christian leader responsible for education, justice, and Church reform. Though his empire didn’t last long after his death, the idea of a Holy Roman Empire remained for centuries. The growth of the Church during this time was also supported by monasteries. Monks lived lives of prayer, work, and study. Monasteries were centers of learning, places of hospitality, and missionary hubs. They preserved books, educated future leaders, and often became the only safe, stable places in a violent world. Without them, Christianity would have struggled to survive.
The Middle ages (1000-1517)
This was a golden era of Christianity or a spiritual glow-up for Europe. Around the year 1000, big beautiful churches were built, crusades were fought to get Jerusalem back, and even the society tried to make ‘Kingdom of God on the earth”. There was a genuine belief that society could be shaped by Christian values. But there were problems too in the church, the Bishop and priest were more involved in politics and wealth. This time gave rise to a small reform by Cluniac reformers They wanted the clergy to stop being landlords and start being spiritual shepherds again. This led to reforms in the papacy, like celibacy for priests and new rules for electing popes, making the process more independent of kings. Duroing the middle ages pope and king at one time came in clash on the election of Bishops. Church said that they had power to elect bishops because it is spiritual matter whereas the state argued that it was his own matter as the bishops were one to hold land and power. This led to the Investiture Conflict, which climaxed with Emperor Henry IV humiliated in the snow before Pope Gregory VII at Canossa. Eventually, they compromised, but the Pope came out with more respect and control than before. This set up the Church to become not just a spiritual guide but a political superpower. During this time Europe went to war in the name of God. The First Crusade (1096–1099) was successful in taking Jerusalem. But later crusades were less about faith and more about politics and greed. The Fourth Crusade even ended with Christians sacking Constantinople, a Christian city! Instead of unity, the Crusades led to bitter fights with the Eastern Orthodox Church and deepened hatred between Christians and Muslims. Even through these situations there were certain new theologians in this time, like St. Francis of Assisi who left a wealthy life to live in poverty, care for the poor, and preach in the streets. His followers were called the Franciscans who were known for their joy, poverty, and street sermons. St. Dominic founded the Dominicans, which focused on education and fighting false teachings with knowledge not swords. At same time universities like oxford, Paris, Bologna were made where student learned about theology more in latin. Scholastic thinkers like Anselm and Aquinas tried to logically explain faith, mix Greek philosophy with Bible truth, and explore big ideas like: "Why did Jesus have to die?" and "Can we prove God exists?"
But then came the downfall of the church that once stood so tall started to wobble. Because too much power made it proud, corrupt, and distant from the people. One major disaster was the Babylonian Captivity of the Papacy (1309–1377)—when the popes left Rome and lived in Avignon, France, under the French kings. Due to this people started to think that the pope became a puppet of french kings rather than being an head of the holy church. Then came the Great Schism (1378–1417)at one point, there were two popes claiming to be the real one. The Church looked ridiculous and lost its spiritual authority in the eyes of many believers. Soon the Black Death (1347–1351), wiping out a third of Europe. On other hand, England and France were stuck in the Hundred Years' War, People started to wonder: If the Church has all this power, why can’t it stop death, war, and chaos? Writers like John Wycliffe and Jan Hus began to challenge Church teachings, calling for a return to Bible-based faith. By the late 1400s, the Church was practically selling salvation. Rich people could buy indulgences and some popes lived like kings, not servants of Christ.
Reformation
The reformation was not the product of one day or some weeks, but it was outceom of years of cry that turned into rebellion. The united Western church was now no more a single authority to decide what christianity was. Even for a normal christian at this time would completly a differnet world, his eighbour who use go with him now he goes to other church. His firneds call me heretics. The missionary also exported this to the o christian lands from the land of europe.
All this started by a monk named Martin luther because of the doctrine of justification. Martin stated that a human is saved not by his good works, deeds or by church rituals but he/she is saved simply by faith. The Church at this time was busy in politcal rule and interest. Pope like Alexander VI, whose papal campaign was funded by bribery, he even fathered children which was not allowed for catholics. Pope Leo X, who is considered as better pope was also more into art, wine and parties. Bishops were interested in becoming mini politicians instead of shepherds. We have record of bishops who didnot even visited their assigned regions.
The martin luther originally didnot wanted to strat a revolt against the church, but he wanted the huirch to reform itself and especially to stop selling the indulgences. But when he posted his 95 Theses in 1517, the fire spread fast. Luther’s ideas grew bolder. By 1520, he was calling for a priesthood of all believers, attacking the sacraments, and declaring that popes weren’t infallible. The Pope excommunicated him, and he burned the letter. At the Diet of Worms in 1521, he stood before Emperor Charles V and refused to back down.
He later married a nun, translated the Bible into German.
Then came the renaissance, Thinkers like erasmus started reading bible in greek, trnaslting ancient text related to christianity and most of these thinker figured a lot of things that church was doing had no basis in ealry church traditions. Erasmus even printed the first Greek New Testament in 1516. This spread like the fire, every one could hold the bible and people began forming opinions of their own rather than depending on the church. A saying got famous that was “I don’t need a priest to tell me what God says. I’ve got a Bible!”. This was a very great move but it led to more divisions in the church further becuase everyone was formulating and understand the bible according to their own context and situations. Meanwhile the kings and govermnaet also opposes pope. Countries like france, england and spain were forming a strong identities and they did not like the rule of pope above them. In Germany the Pope’s taxes and appointments were hated. Other reformers like ulrich awingli and calvin also played an important role.
On the other hand, England’s Reformation was weird. King Henry VIII kicked out the Pope—not because he had strong theological opinions—but because the Pope wouldn’t let him divorce his wife, Catherine of Aragon. Henry wanted a male heir and had fallen for Anne Boleyn. So the Parliament of England passed laws which made Henry the supreme head of the Church of England.His advisor, Thomas Cranmer crafted the beautiful Book of Common Prayer. Monasteries were shut down, their wealth seized, and the Bible was finally translated into English and put in every church in england. Then this church passed through various stages and finally when Elizabeth I came to power, she settled things. Protestant in doctrine, but with a traditional-looking church structure and liturgy was made and applied. That “Elizabethan Settlement” is still the backbone of the Anglican Church today.
By the end of this period, Western Christianity was no longer one Church but many. Denominations like Lutherans, Calvinists, Anabaptists, Anglicans, and more came into the scene and all of them claimed to be a true Church. But the ideas of personal faith, the authority of Scripture, and national control of religion would define the modern era.
The Period of Reformation reshaped politics, education, economics, and identity across Europe and beyond. And it all started because a few people started reading their Bibles and asking bold questions.
The Eighteenth Century (1688–1815)
The Fire of reformation was no more and the church came to same path again but this time it was not as powerful as in early centuries. The Worship & preaching become formalities for the church. But within this silence two major Anglican missionary societies were born: the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge (1698) and the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (1701). These were signs that although sleepy, the church wasn't entirely comatose. The Protestant members weren’t doing anything as powerful they did in previous centuries. Their numbers were dropping and some Presbyterians accepted Unitarianism, denying the Trinity.
During this time the science also came into the scene. People like newton, Copernicus and Galileo blew minds by showing that the universe runs like a machine governed by fixed laws. So the educated men now moved their attention to “natural law”. This all Gave rise to Deism, the theory that God Created the Universe and then he walked away i.e, he does not interfere in world matter and he had set certain rules and regulation for the world to function. In response, Joseph Butler, an Anglican bishop, fought back with his book Analogy of Religion, showing that Christianity made more sense than people gave it credit for—and was more likely to be true than many decisions people make every day without a second thought.
In Germany people just recovered from 30 year war and it started experinceing the Pietism. The Core idea of this movement was that faith doesn’t only increase the knowledge in the head but it also changes the mind and the heart. Philipp Jakob Spener, a pastor from Alsace, was the main person behind this movement . He started Bible study groups called Collegia Pietatis and tried to bring believers back to faith. His student, August Hermann Franke, turned the University of Halle into a Pietist main centre and even started schools and orphanages. While many of the Pietists stayed in the Lutheran church, they were less concerned about sacraments and they focused more on inner transformation. They wrote hymns and lived simple lives.
Around this time, the first protestant mission called Tranquebar Mission started in 1706 in Tranquebar by two German missionaries - Ziegenbalg and Plutschau. They were sent by the Danish King and Pietists of the halle. They landed on Indian soil and made it their mission to spread the Gospel. Ziegenbalg learned Tamil, translated the New Testament into native language, and planted seeds of Protestant Christianity in India. Later, scholars like Fabricius and Schwartz carried the mission further by building schools, translating hymns, and they were even able to earn the respect of local kings. Schwartz became so trusted that he was made guardian of a young Rajah, Saraboji, who even wrote a touching English poem for Schwartz’s tombstone.
