What is the History of Christianity? | GotQuestions.org

Hi there, many others like you have asked, what is the history of Christianity? Let's find out, shall we?

You can discover this answer and even more on GotQuestions .org. The history of Christianity is really the history of Western civilization.

Christianity has had an all -pervasive influence on society at large. Art, language, politics, law, family life, calendar dates, music, and the very way we think have all been colored by the

Christian influence for nearly two millennia. This story, therefore, is an important one to know.

The church began 50 days after Jesus' resurrection. Jesus had promised that He would build

His church and with the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, Ecclesia officially began.

3 ,000 people responded to Peter's sermon and that day chose to follow Christ. The initial converts to Christianity were

Jews or proselytes to Judaism and the church was centered in Jerusalem. Because of this,

Christianity was first seen as a Jewish sect. However, the apostles preached that Jesus was the

Jewish Messiah. This message infuriated many Jewish leaders and some, like Saul of Tarsus, acted to squelch

Christianity. It is quite proper to say that Christianity has its roots in Judaism.

The Old Testament laid the groundwork for the New, explains the necessity of a Messiah and predicts

His arrival, thus making it impossible to fully understand Christianity without knowledge of both

Testaments. In His life, Jesus fulfilled over 300 specific prophecies, proving that He was the

Messiah the Old Testament had anticipated. Not long after Pentecost, the doors of the church were opened to non -Jews.

The Evangelist Philip preached to the Samaritans. The Apostle Peter preached to the

Gentiles. The Apostle Paul spread the Gospel all over the Greco -Roman world, reaching as far as Rome itself and possibly all the way to Spain.

By AD 70, the year Jerusalem was destroyed, most of the books of the

New Testament were complete and circulating among the churches. For the next 240 years,

Christians were persecuted by Rome. In the 2nd and 3rd centuries, the church leadership became more and more hierarchical.

Several heresies were exposed and refuted during this time, and the New Testament canon was agreed upon.

Persecution continued to intensify. In AD 312, the

Roman Emperor Constantine claimed to have had a conversion experience, and about 70 years later,

Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire. Bishops were honored in government, and by AD 400, the terms

Roman and Christian were virtually synonymous, and persecution ended.

In time, pagans came under persecution, unless they converted to Christianity.

Such forced conversions led to unchanged hearts and pagan idol influx. The church changed.

Icons, elaborate architecture, pilgrimages, and the veneration of saints were added to the simplicity of early church worship.

About this same time, some Christians chose to live in isolation as monks, and infant baptism was introduced.

Through the next centuries, various church councils were held in an attempt to determine the church's official doctrine, to censure clerical abuses, and to make peace between warring factions.

As the Roman Empire grew weaker, the church became more powerful, and many disagreements broke out between churches.

Theological, political, procedural, and linguistic divides all contributed to the

Great Schism in 1054, in which the Roman Catholic Church and the

Eastern Orthodox Church broke all ties. During the Middle Ages in Europe, the

Roman Catholic Church continued to hold power, with the popes claiming authority over all levels of life and living as kings.

Corruption and greed in the church leadership was commonplace. From 1095 to 1204, the popes endorsed bloody and expensive crusades in an effort to repel

Muslim advances and liberate Jerusalem. Through the years, several individuals had tried to call attention to the theological, political, and human rights abuses of the

Roman Church. All had been silenced in one way or another. But in 1517, a

German monk named Martin Luther took a stand against the church, bringing in the

Protestant Reformation. The Reformers, including Luther, Calvin, and Zwingli, differed in many finer points of theology, but they were consistent in their emphasis on the

Bible's supreme authority over church tradition and the fact that sinners are saved by grace through faith alone, apart from works.

Although Catholicism made a comeback and a series of wars ensued, the Protestant Reformation had successfully dismantled the power of the

Roman Catholic Church and helped open the door to the modern age. From 1790 to 1900, the church showed an unprecedented interest in missionary work.

Colonization had opened eyes to the need for missions and industrialization had provided people with the financial ability to fund the missionaries.

Missionaries went around the world, preaching the gospel and planting churches. Today, the

Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church have taken steps to amend their broken relationship, as have

Catholics and Lutherans. The Evangelical Church is strongly independent and rooted firmly in Reformed theology.

The church has also seen the rise of Pentecostalism, the Charismatic movement,

Ecumenicalism, and various cults. In conclusion, if we learn nothing else from church history, we should individually be responsible to know what the scripture says and to live by it.

There are many churches today, but only one gospel. It is the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.

May we be careful to preserve that faith and pass it on without alteration, trusting that the

Lord will continue to fulfill His promise to build His church. Alright, that answers your question, what is the history of Christianity?