Early Christianity

Our next topic by Tien is about the early days of Christianity. About 10 years ago, I travelled to Israel as part of a 3 week study tour. We visited all the historically significant locations for Christianity. There we learned archeology, history, church history and the conflicts that this land has endured over time. The pictures posted are of Capernaum a fishing village located on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. Archaeological excavations have revealed two ancient synagogues built one over the other. The first is one of the oldest to date. This town is also significant to the Christian’s New Testament. The town is cited throughout the New Testament. For example: Gospel of Luke where it was reported to have been the home of the apostles Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John, as well as the tax collector Matthew. In Matthew 4:13 the town was reported to have been the home of Jesus. According to Luke 4:31–44, Jesus taught in the synagogue in Capernaum on Sabbath. Jesus then healed a man who had the spirit of an unclean devil and healed a fever in Simon Peter's mother-in-law. According to Luke 7:1–10, it is also the place where a Roman Centurion asked Jesus to heal his servant. Capernaum is also mentioned in the Gospel of Mark (2:1), it is the location of the famous healing of the paralytic lowered through the roof to reach Jesus. In the pictures you will see me with two of my friends entering the historical part of the city, and the oldest Synagogue (Jewish place of worship) and a home where evidence suggests that Christians had their religious service in secret.
Tien gives you a nice overview emphasizing Christianity's change over time. Thanks Tien and enjoy reading.
Mrs. Jordan

Historical Context: In the Classical period, Roman Empire started to expand and took over Greek lands. Religion in Greece influenced the Roman people. They became polytheistic, which means they who worshipped many gods and goddesses. About 117 C.E., Roman Empire controlled Western European lands: Anatolia, Syria and Jerusalem (which was the origins of Christianity). As Christianity gained popularity, the Roman emperor became very angry and pledged to persecute followers of this new religion. He did not like that Christians put their hope and faith in God and the promise of a heavenly afterlife instead of him.

Summary: Why did people convert? Many people endured great suffering under the Roman Empire and found peace in this new faith. Also the great missionary, Paul, had shared the tenets of his faith and the miracles that Jesus performed with people throughout the empire. The faith’s emphasis on equality and love of all people was something the early people had not encountered. As the religion continued to spread, the persecution began. According to tradition, ancient Christians, during their persecution by the Roman Empire in the first few centuries after Christ, used the fish symbol to mark meeting places and tombs, or to distinguish friends from foes. The "Jesus Fish" has become an icon of modern American Protestant Christianity. The dangers faced by the Christians in Rome meant that they had to meet in secret. They usually used underground tombs as these were literally out of sight. Rome had a large number of poor people within its population and Christianity continued to grow.
Despite this, Christians remained in Rome, and by the reign of the next emperor, Nero, the first major incident of Christian persecution took place in 64 AD. The fire that ravaged Rome in that year, and the subsequent building of Nero's golden palace on the destroyed property was wildly unpopular in Rome. Many placed blame directly on Nero, accusing him of intentionally lighting the fire, in order to build his palace. Nero burned his own palace to perfect his poem and then accused the Christians.
At that time, the emperor and his military started to persecute the Christians. The people, who followed Christianity, hid in the cave or underground to protect them. Miles of underground passageways were built outside of the city walls to obey the Roman law of the times that the dead must be buried away from the city. For five centuries the catacombs were used for burial, although very rarely as hiding places during persecution. The catacombs were still visited frequently however, especially by raiding forces from enemies through the eighth and ninth centuries.But when they get caught; Roman soldiers killed or imprisoned them. Oppression, persecution, crucifixion, burning were all that the Christians in ancient Rome had to go through or they could be feed to the hungry lion in front of the crowd. There was no way they could escape; the barbarians enjoyed and laughed at what Christian people had to suffer and die. The death tolls were as high as 100,000 people during that period.
However, Christians felt peaceful when Emperor Constantine claimed Christianity as a main religion. Now in this new government, Christian people played a prominent role. Only people, who were Christians, were able to work in the government and the priest became the advisor and was under the emperor in the social organization. In chapter 13, the schism between Roman and Byzantium Empires divided Christianity into two parts, Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox. Christianity is important in the Western Europe history. During the exploration and the imperialism, the motive of Europeans was to spread Christianity throughout the world.

Question to ponder:
Why were Christians persecuted?
What made Emperor Constantine claim Christianity as a state religion?



About our Blogger:
My name is Tien Nguyen and I am a sophomore. When I have free time, I usually read book or watch television. One day, I was watching television about traveling to Rome. It was very interesting how the host talked about the buildings, pictures and religions in Rome from the ancient time. It had information about the persecution of Christianity in early Rome but there were not a lot of details that explained why Christian got persecuted. So I was curious and wanted to know more about this event. I hope this information will help you to understand how Christian people suffered in the classical period.