Introduction

Christianity took root in the early Roman Empire, a time and place in which there was a great mixing of cultures and traditions. The religion developed initially in the Roman province of Judaea in the Middle East. There, movements opposing Roman occupation were spreading among Jews. Many of them came to believe that a final struggle was near and that it would lead to the coming of a savior, or Messiah. This figure would destroy the Roman army and introduce a period of happiness for the Jewish people.

Into this setting came Jesus of Nazareth (ca. 3 BCE–29 CE), who according to Christian scripture, or texts, was born to deeply religious Jewish parents. His ministry began when he was about thirty, and he taught by preaching and telling stories, or parables, that circulated orally among his followers. Beginning in the late first century, accounts of his life and teachings were collected and written down to help build a community of faith, in books later called the gospels.

Jesus’ followers agreed that Jesus preached of life after death and of the importance of devotion to God and love of others. His teachings were based on Hebrew Scripture and reflected a conception of God and morality that came from Jewish tradition. He said that he was the Son of God and the Messiah (Christus in Greek, the origin of the English word Christ). However, he also asserted that he had come to establish a spiritual kingdom, not an earthly one based on wealth and power. A Roman official named Pontius Pilate worried about maintaining order in Jerusalem. He had Jesus arrested then executed. On the third day after Jesus’ death by crucifixion, some of his followers declared that he had risen from the dead. His resurrection became a central element of the Christian faith.

Religious ideas and practices

After his death, Jesus’s memory and his teachings survived and spread. Believers in his resurrection and divinity met in small groups, often in private. They held a ritual (later called the Eucharist or Lord’s Supper) to celebrate his last meal Jesus shared with his disciples and spoke of Jesus’ imminent return.

Paul of Tarsus was a well-educated Jew who converted to Christianity. Paul then traveled the Roman Empire promoting Jesus’ ideas. His writings transformed Jesus’ ideas into more specific moral teachings and later became part of Christian scripture. The earliest Christian converts included men and women from all social classes who were attracted to Christian teachings for a variety of reasons. They offered the promise of a blissful life after death for all who believed and urged concern for the poor. They also provided a sense of identity, community, and spiritual kinship welcome in the changeable world of the Roman Empire.

As the number of converts increased, permanent institutions were established. They included large buildings for worship and a hierarchy of officials—priests, bishops, archbishops—often modeled on those of the Roman Empire. Christianity became more formal and centralized. Christianity had sacred books, however most people in the ancient world could not read making rituals more important than texts in the spread of Christian teachings.

Educated men who converted to Christianity developed complex theological interpretations of issues that were not clear in early texts. These interpretations became official doctrine through decisions made at church councils. Not everyone agreed with these conclusions, however. Splits over doctrinal issues led to the formation of different branches of the Christian religion.

Saints were people who had lived (or died) in a way that was spiritually heroic or noteworthy. Objects connected with saints, such as their bones or clothing, became relics with special power. Churches that housed saints’ relics became places of pilgrimage for those seeking help or blessing.

Society and family life

Because they expected Jesus to return soon, many early Christians regarded earthly life and institutions as unimportant. Instead, followers of Jesus should depend on their new spiritual family of co-believers. Some women and men decided to give up life in the world, and devote themselves to worship and prayer.

These ideas seemed dangerous to many Romans, who viewed marriage and family as the foundation of society. They worried about women who were not under the control of a father or husband. In his teachings about salvation, Jesus considered women the equal of men. By the late first century male church leaders began to place restrictions on female believers, forbidding women to preach or hold official positions in Christianity outside of women’s convents.

According to Scripture, Jesus had harsh words to say about wealth. As an institution, though, the Christian Church became very wealthy, owning land and buildings, and running agricultural estates and commercial enterprises.

Political developments and the spread of Christianity

In the early centuries, Christians were sometimes persecuted by governors of Roman provinces and the emperor. The third century brought civil war, invasions, and chaos to the Roman Empire. Hoping that Christianity could be a unifying force in an empire plagued by problems, Emperor Constantine (r. 306-337 CE) supported the Christian Church financially and legally, in return expecting the support of church officials in maintaining order.

Helped in part by its favored position, Christianity eventually became the leading religion in the empire. In 380 CE the emperor Theodosius made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire.

As Christianity became more politically powerful, it also spread. Christian missionaries and travelers ventured beyond the borders of the Roman Empire. They brought Christianity to Kush and Aksum (now Ethiopia) in eastern Africa. Missionaries and converts often fused existing local religious customs with Christian teachings, so that rituals, practices, and doctrines differed significantly from one place to another. By 400 CE, there may have been 10 million Christians in the world, while today, there are over 2 billion.

Primary source: The Gospel of Matthew

The Gospel of Matthew, the first book in the Christian New Testament, contains a long collection of Jesus’ teachings, usually called the Sermon on the Mount. Among these are the following:

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also… (Matthew 6:19–21)