The Origins and Spread of Christianity

“Christianity was founded by Jesus, a man who lived from about 6 B.C.E to about 30 C.E.

“The New Testament of the Christian Bible tells that Jesus was put to death by crucifixion, a form of execution in which a person is tied or nailed to a cross.

“Christians believe that Jesus was the Son of God and call him Jesus Christ.

“As time went on and Christianity gained followers, many Romans saw the faith as a threat to Roman order and tradition. Several emperors tried to stop the spread of the new religion through violent persecutions.

Constantine

“Then, in 312 C.E., the day before going into battle against a rival, the emperor Constantine had a vision of a cross hanging in the sky. Around the cross were the words “In this sign, you will conquer.” That night he had a dream about Jesus. The emperor saw the vision and dream as a sign that he would win the battle if he accepted Christian beliefs. Constantine’s soldiers went into battle with the first two letters of the word Christ on their shields. At the Battle of Milvian Bridge, near Rome, they won a great victory. From that time on, Constantine favored the Christian God over all others. His mother became a leader in the faith.

“By 380 C.E., Christianity was the official religion of the Roman Empire.

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It is interesting to note that by the year 1 C.E., Judea did not include Mesopotamia, the area between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Most Bible scholars believed that the Garden of Eden was in Mesopotamia, and that was the original home of Adam and Eve. Most Bible scholars also believe that the story of Noah and the flood took place in Mesopotamia. The Hebrew leader Abraham was born in Mesopotamia–in the city of Ur. But Abraham and his immediate family moved to Canaan, and by the year 1 C.E., Judea included Canaan. Areas of the Asia Minor, Greece [Macedonia], Italy, Spain, and Egypt were also part of Judea by 1 C.E.

Christianity acknowledges the Old Testament beliefs of Judaism, but it also believes in the teaching of the New Testament.

Judaism – Ancient Religions

Judea: The Birthplace of Christianity

“The birthplace of Christianity was a remote territory at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea. According to the New Testament, Jesus, the founder of Christianity, was born in this region. The Romans called it Judea. It had once been part of the ancient kingdom of Israel ruled by kings David and Solomon.

“The Jews of the region were devoted to their homeland and to their belief in a single God. This belief, together with their religious customs, set them apart from their neighbors in the ancient world. Once an independent kingdom, Judea came under Roman rule in 63 B.C.E. The Romans tried to govern the country by putting in charge Jewish rulers who agreed with Roman rule. But several times, groups of Jews rebelled against Roman control.

“In 37 B.C.E., Rome appointed a man named Herod to be the king of Judea. Although Herod was not Jewish by birth, he practiced the Jewish religion and rebuilt the Temple of Jerusalem. However, many Jews distrusted him. They saw him as a puppet of the Romans.

“When Herod died in 4 B.C.E., his kingdom was divided among his three sons. Once again, unrest broke out. Finally, Rome sent soldiers to Judea to take control. They replaced Herod’s sons with a military governor. The military governor kept order and made sure Judeans paid taxes to Rome. But he usually left local affairs to the Jews themselves.

“For example, a council of Jewish leaders ruled the holy city of Jerusalem. The council was headed by a high, or chief, priest. Judea was outwardly peaceful. But many Jews hated the Romans. In their sacred writings, they saw prophecies that one day God would send a savior to restore the glorious kingdom of David. This savior was called the Messiah, or “anointed one.” Anointed means “blessed with oil.” More generally, it means specially chosen by God. 36.3

The Birth of Jesus

“No one knows exactly when Jesus was born. Our modern calendar dates the start of the Common Era from the supposed year of Jesus’s birth.But after careful study, historians now believe that Jesus was probably born in about 6 B.C.E., during the reign of King Herod.

[My picture book The Donkey’s Song is about the Birth of Jesus in Bethlehem — from the Donkey’s point of view–as I imagined it.]

‘Historical records tell us a great deal about the days of the Roman Empire. The lives of the emperors, for example, were recorded in detail. But there were few historians to write about Jesus. Instead, most of the information about him comes from the writings of his followers. These writings make up the New Testament of the Christian Bible. Among them are four Gospels.

“The Gospels are accounts of Jesus’s life that were written in Greek by four of his followers, some years after Jesus’s death. The followers’ names have come down to us as Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

“The Gospel of Luke tells the story of Jesus’s birth. According to Luke, Jesus’s mother, Mary, lived in a town called Nazareth in the Roman territory of Galilee. There, the Gospels claim, an angel appeared to her. The angel told Mary she would have a child and that she should name him Jesus. Luke’s gospel says that around this time the Roman emperor Augustus ordered a census, or head count, of all the people in the Empire. Each man was supposed to go to the town of his birth to be counted.

“Mary’s husband, a carpenter named Joseph, set out from Nazareth to his hometown of Bethlehem (BETH-lih-hem), in the territory of Judea. Mary went with him. In Bethlehem, she gave birth to Jesus.

“According to the Gospel of Luke, Jesus’s family returned to Nazareth after his birth. The New Testament gospels say little about Jesus’s childhood. It is likely that he grew up in Nazareth and learned carpentry.

“According to Luke, at age 12, Jesus astonished the rabbis, or teachers, in the great Temple of Jerusalem with his wisdom and his knowledge of Jewish law.

“When Jesus was about 30, a preacher known as John the Baptist identified Jesus as the Messiah—the savior the Jews had been waiting for.

“After 40 days of praying in the wilderness, Jesus began to preach in Galilee.

The Life and Death of Jesus

According to the Gospels, Jesus began preaching in Galilee, an area in present-day Israel. At first, he preached in synagogues, or Jewish places of worship. Larger and larger crowds gathered to hear him. So Jesus began teaching in open areas—in the street, on hillsides, and by the Sea of Galilee.

“Jesus called a small number to be his followers, or disciples. The disciples were mostly simple people, such as laborers and fishermen.

“Throughout his life, Jesus spent time with ordinary people, the poor, and the sick, rather than those who were wealthy and important.

The Teachings of Jesus

“Jesus based his teachings on traditional Jewish beliefs. But the Gospels say he put special emphasis on love and mercy. Of all the Jewish laws, he said, two were the most important.

“The first was, “You shall love your God with all your heart and all your soul.”

“The second was, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

“According to the Gospels, Jesus told his followers that the kingdom of God was coming soon. But to Jesus, God’s kingdom was not an earthly kingdom of power and riches. Instead, the kingdom of God meant a time when people would live according to God’s will.

“Then, Jesus said, everyone would know God’s love for all people, even those who suffer or who are looked down upon by others.

“One of Jesus’s favorite ways of teaching was through parables, simple stories with moral or religious messages.

“Jewish law says that you should love your neighbor as yourself. When asked, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus told the Parable of the Good Samaritan. Once a traveler was beaten and robbed on the road. Two people passed by and ignored him. Then a Samaritan stopped and helped the injured traveler.

“In Jesus’s time, the Judeans and Samaritans did not get along. Because of the Samaritan’s good deed, however, Jesus considered him a neighbor, worthy of love.

“Teachings like this shocked and angered some of Jesus’s listeners. To some Jews, this way of thinking was wrong and dangerous. Others worried that Jesus’s growing following would cause trouble with the Romans.

“Jesus did not preach revolt against the Romans. Still, it was easy for some people to see him as a troublemaker.

The Crucifixion and Resurrection

According to the Gospels, after a year or two of traveling and preaching, Jesus went to Jerusalem for the Jewish festival of Passover. The festival celebrated God’s rescue of the Jews from Egypt more than a thousand years before Jesus’s time. Every year, thousands of Jews came to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover. Roman soldiers kept a sharp eye out for anyone who might start a demonstration against Rome.” History Alive Textbook