THE

BEGINNING OF
THE CHURCH

BY: BRYLL BRYAN M. PON

GRADE 11 STEM 1
WHAT THE CHURCH IS

-a community called together by God

-acommunity of love whose source is the Father who sent Christ to be our
Redeemer in the unity of the Holy Spirit.

-a Christian Community which has her origin in Christ

-The Church was not established overnight, Jesus founded the Church through
series of events.
JESUS ESTABLISHED THE CHURCH THROUGH THE FOLLOWING:

1.The Public Ministry of Jesus

2.The Call of the First Disciples
3.The Confession of Peter
4.The Birth of the Church
 THE PUBLIC MINISTRY OF JESUS

 Christ commenced his Public Ministry

(proclamation the Good News and Healing) in
different places in Galilee in fulfillment of the
prophecy. The central message of his Preaching is
repentance and the coming of the kingdom
 Matthew 4:12- 17, 23-25  -Jesus Begins His
Ministry in Galilee
 THE CALL OF THE FIRST DISCIPLES
 Matthew 4: 18-22

As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of

18 

Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called

Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a
net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19 “Come,
follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to
fish for people.” 20 At once they left their nets and
followed him.
Going on from there, he saw two other brothers,
21 

James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They

were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing
their nets. Jesus called them, 22 and immediately
they left the boat and their father and followed him.
THE CONFESSION OF PETER
 Matthew 16:13-20

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his

13 

disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still
14 

others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
15 

Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living
16 

God.”
17 
Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not
revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And
I tell you that you are Peter, [a] and on this rock I will build my
church, and the gates of Hades[b] will not overcome it. 19 I will give you
the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be [
c]
 bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be [d] loosed in
heaven.” 20 Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was
the Messiah.
 THE BIRTH OF THE CHURCH

• The Pentecost Event is the inauguration of the Church, the beginning of the
Missionary activities of the Church
• ACTS 2:1-11
 2 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a
sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house
where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated
and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and
began to speak in other tongues[a] as the Spirit enabled them.
 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under
5 

heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because
each one heard their own language being spoken. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t
all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in our
native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and
Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,[b] 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya
near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and
Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!”
z

THE
PERSECUTIONS
OF THE EARLY
CHURCH
BY: BRYLL BRYAN M.
PON
GRADE 11 STEM 1

z
THE BASIS OF CHRISTIAN PERSECUTION

 a. The Christians found themselves alienated from the rest of the society.
They were believed to engage in some form of cannibalism in their
Eucharistic rites that were celebrated in the secret.
 b. Public spectacles of bloody games, like the gladiatorial contests, were
condemned by Christians as inhuman.
 c. Natural disasters and catastrophes were attributed to the refusal of the
Christians to participate in the worship of the gods.
 d. The Christians showed disloyalty to the state by not paying the imposed
temple tax.
 FIRST PERIOD

• The first great persecution by Nero ( 54-60 A.D.) was

limited to the city, devoid of any lawful foundation. He
blamed the Christians for six days of fire that
destroyed three fourths of the city of Rome. The
Christians were persecuted and turned into living
torches in the garden of Nero. Among the victims were
Peter and Paul. The various measures of Domitian
( 81-96 A. D.) were also the murderous acts of a tyrant.
According to oldest tradition, the Apostle John was
exiled to Patmos (during the reign of Domitian), where
he wrote the Book of Revelation of Apocalypse.
  
SECOND PERIOD

 The persecutions stated from 100 A.D. to 250 A.D.

Christianity continued to be illegal religion in the
Roman Empire. Informers were hired to report o
then authorities those engaged in the Church
worship and practice. Many were forced o deny
and abandon their faith. Trajan ( 98-117 A. D.)
issued a decree stating that simply to be a
Christian was punishable by death. The
implementation of the decree was left in the hands
of the governors of the Roman provinces. The
famous martyr of this period was Ignatius of
Antioch.
 SECOND PERIOD

 When Emperor Hadrian ascended to the throne ( 117-138 A.

D.). he issued a decree that governors should not follow the
desires of the mob. Chrisitians who were accused of a crime
must be judged according to the nature of their crimes. The
decree gave some relief to the suffering Christians.
 -When Antoninus Pius (138-161 A. D.) became the emperor
of Rome, Christian were accused of being atheists for not
worshipping the emperor. They were executed singly or in
groups.
 -During the time of Marcus Aurelius ( 161-180 A. D.), the
Christians faced another tyrannic emperor. He decreed the
legalization of persecution. Among those persecuted were
Justin the philosopher, Polycarp of Smryna, and the martyrs
of Lyons.
 SECOND PERIOD

  Septimus Severus ( 193-211 A.D.) ordered

the cruel persecution of the Christians.
Tertullian wrote that Christians were fed to
the lions wherever there was a disaster or
famine.
  In 244-249 A. D. there was peace in the
empire when the emperor by the name
of Philip the Arabian ascended the throne.
But it lasted only few years. His reign
provided the lull before the last and most
severe of the persecutions.
 THIRD PERIOD

 This was the last course of the persecution of

Christians. Decius, who became the emperor of Rome in 249-
251 A. D., saw Christianity as terrible poison. He ordered all
Christians to make a public act of homage to the Roman gods.
A great number of Christians abandoned their faith but many
also suffered persecution in its defense. Decius passed a law
that required the return of all citizens to the worship of the state
religion.
 Emperor Valerian ( 257 A. D.), he decreed that all bishops,
presbyters, and deacons were to offer sacrifice to the gods.
Whoever was caught conducting services or secret meetings in
the cemeteries or catacombs was punished by death. In 258 A.
D., he ordered the immediate arrest and execution of all clerics
who refused to offer sacrifice to the gods. Famous martyrs of
this period were Cyrian of Carthage and Pope Sixtus II of Rome.
THIRD PERIOD

 Emperor Diocletian ( 284-305 A. D.),conducted the last and bloodiest

persecution of the Christians. In 303 A. D., he decreed that all Christian
churches be destroyed and Bibles burned. All meetings of the Christians
were banned and the immediate arrest and execution of all priests and
deacons were ordered. In 304 A.D/, he passed a general order that all
Christians must sacrifice to the gods. The bloody executions of
Christians were made into spectacles for the crowds.
 Galerius ( 311 A. D). issued an Edict of Tolerance, granting  Christianity
the right to exist. But the edict was changed when Galerius died
and Maximinus Daia once again demanded Christian blood.
• In early 313 A. D. Constantine, who attributed his victory to the help of
the Christian God, issued the Edict of Milan, which established a policy
of complete religious tolerance. Christians were allowed to get back
their properties.