Lesson 2: Origins and the Early Phase of Christianity

Christianity has its origins in what could be described as the ‘Jesus Event’, which unfolded in
the mission, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The mission embodies a proclamation of
the Reign of God, given out in the miracles and teachings of Jesus in the first century
Palestine. The death and resurrection became the nucleus of a lasting faith in the
eschatological hope.

As per the account of the Acts of the Apostles, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit occasioned
the birth of a new community of faith. This community believed that Jesus was the Messiah,
the Christ, and that he would come soon back to inaugurate the Reign of God on earth. This
eschatological faith, expressed in apocalyptic visions, held them together as a closely knit
community, gathering in private houses for early forms of worship – reading scriptures or
letters of apostles, listening to preaching by elders, brining offerings, blessing and sharing.
Charity was an important practice of early Christianity. They shared everything in common
(Acts 2, 4). They showed concern to one another, shared food with the needy, and prayed for
healing of one another. (The Acts of Thomas narrates the story of the apostle Thomas building
riches in heaven by helping the poor...). They admitted a new person under a sacred oath,
which came to be known as baptism (sacramentum), so as to participate in the Eucharist.
Responsibilities, which came to be known as ‘episcopoi’, ‘diakonoi’, and ‘presbyteroi’ were
named and carried out.

The apostles played an important role to constitute Christianity. They articulated the faith of
the early Christians in public – Peter and Paul played vital roles. Peter defended the faith in
Christ as the expected Messiah. Paul took Christianity to various cities of the then Roman
Empire.

Paul made major journeys in the Mediterranean world along the major cities – Antioch,
Corinth, Galatia, Asia Minor, etc. He met with people of Greek culture (Hellenistic culture)
and preached Christ among them. Acts 17 speaks about Paul’s oration in Athens, wherein the

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Greek culture and religions thrived. He gathered the diaspora Jews as well as Greek people
and constituted them as new ekklesias. It was in Antioch that the believers in the new Way
came to be addressed as Christians. Christianity began to spread across the Roman Empire.
Rome, being an important mercantile city, had attracted several religions and philosophies,
and Christianity too took a firm root in it.

The spread of Christianity came to be noticed by the Roman Emperor, who began to
persecute them for various reasons. One of the main reasons for the persecution was the
Christian faith in Jesus Christ as the expected Messiah and therefore the refusal to worship
any other God than Jesus Christ. They also did not participate in the Roman civil religion of
the emperor worship, and therefore, were accused of being ‘atheists’ (not in the modern
sense). This threatened the stability of the Roman Empire. The pillars of Christianity, like
Peter and Paul, are said to have been killed during the early days of Christianity. As days
went on, Christians could also be used as scapegoats for the vagaries of the emperors (e.g.
Nero). Several prominent Christians were burnt at stake, or thrown to wild animals in
amphitheatres. Christians bore these killings as valiant acts of martyrdom. They deemed it an
honour to be killed for the sake of Christ. Persecution reached a peak during the third century,
when Diocletian was the Roman Emperor. Deacon Lawrence’s martyrdom was typical of
Christian witness. When the Emperor wanted the riches accumulated in the churches, he
showed the poor, the destitute, and the sick... The catacombs in Rome contain even to this
day the tombs of Christians killed in persecutions. Christianity grew through the persecutions.

Christianity unfolded a new and unique faith which appealed to the people. It was different
from the then existing Judaism and the Graeco-Roman religions and cults. Though the early
Christians continued to gather in Synagogues for sometime, they distinguished themselves
from the Jews in that they believed in Jesus Christ as the long waited for Messiah or the
fulfilment of Judaism (Mathew). When they began to distinguish themselves, they faced
opposition and persecution. There were also matters of beliefs and practices. Early Christians
began to move away from Jewish customs like circumcision, which alienated them from
Judaism. More than anything, the faith in Jesus Christ, which became the benchmark of
Christianity was a hurdle for the Jews. However, Christianity kept an organic continuity with
the Judaic faith in a monotheist creator God, who revealed God’s self in history. Though
there were persons like Marcion who attempted to deny the Judaic roots and shape up a
Gnostic form of Christianity, his attempts were opposed by the early Christians.

When Paul took Christianity to the diaspora Jews and Greek people, early Christian faith had
to explain itself to an alien religio-cultural world. Paul spoke convincingly of the unique faith
of Christianity, which he presented as superior to Judaism as well as the Greek religion and
philosophies. Early Christians, as we find in the Johanine Gospel, adapted to the Greek
philosophical categories (e.g. logos) to present Jesus Christ as the logos, not ordinarily
present among human beings, but as a divine logos that came down from heaven, ‘word made
flesh’.

There were also several socio, cultural and political reasons for the spread of Christianity.
First of all, it was the time of early urbanisation of the Roman world. Cities, especially port
cities, grew in view of commerce and trade. People began to travel from one place to another.
The orthodox Judaism was too cultic and legalistic to become agile to go along the journey of
the moving world. The diaspora Jews, who had already moved along the cities for mercantile
purposes, could relatively easily become followers of a new religion. Similarly, the
traditional Greco-Roman religionists too found Christianity appealing because it was an

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ethical religion, with a monotheistic faith, free of ritual burdens and political control. Even
the philosophically inclined Greek mind was attracted to the ethical pull of Christianity.

Christianity began to have at least five major centres: Jerusalem, Alexandria, Antioch,
Constantinople and Rome. As the capital of the Roman Empire moved to Constantinople
during the fourth century, Christian culture became more diversified and rich. While Latin
was the main language of the Western part of the Roman Empire, it was Greek that became
the main language of the Eastern part of the Empire. Accordingly, Christianity adapted to
these languages and cultures. During the fourth century, Christianity, which was an unofficial
religion thus far, became an officially recognised religion of the Roman Empire (we will
study this later).