-
33
Jesus Christ and the Start of Christianity
“This history of Christianity is focused on the life, death and resurrection of one person, Jesus Christ, the son of God” (BBC, 2009). Without Jesus, there would be no Christianity because Jesus is known to be the Son of God. Ultimately, Jesus Christ was God’s most gracious sacrifice that was sent down to Earth in the form of a human being, who died for all the sins that humans did and will do in the future. Jesus’ death was not the end of the story. -
33
continued...
The resurrection of Jesus marks the commencement of Christianity because it represents the hope He presented to us; that if we believe in Him, death will not be the end for us, much like it was not for Jesus. “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16, New International Version). -
37
Roman Persecution of Christians
-
37
continued...
The Romans persecuted Christians because they did not want to tolerate the fact that there was such a mighty religion that threatened what they already believed in. “In the provinces, the great territorial gods—such as Saturn in North Africa and Jehovah among the Jews—were accepted…” (Ferguson, 1990). The persecution got to the extent that even the title of being ‘a Christian’ was a “sufficient death warrant” (Ferguson, 1990). -
50
Saul: Persecutor of Christians to Apostle Paul
"But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison” (Acts 8:3, New International Version). -
63
Apostle Paul and His Influences on Christianity
“While he never met Jesus, Paul played a crucial role in focusing early Christianity on Jesus's birth, death, and resurrection” (Dotinga, 2012). Apostle Paul was known to have a special relationship with God and produced the most books (14 books) in the Bible. Paul’s story is especially surprising and influential to Christianity because he started off as a persecutor of Christians. -
313
Constantine
Constantine was the first Roman Emperor to convert into a Christian. “But in 312, a dream he had before the Battle of Milvian Bridge changed his life.” The Emperor dreamt of God instructing him to use the labarum against his enemies during battle (Vizier, 2010). After becoming Christian, Constantine allowed the practice of Christianity for all people within the empire. Therefore, Christians no longer had to undergo any sort of persecution. -
1054
The Great Schism
This was the time when medieval Christianity split into two branches. “Charlemagne’s crowning made the Byzantine Emperor redundant, and relations between the East and the West deteriorated until a formal split occurred in 1054” (Dummies). Over time the the Eastern and Western Church became more distant because of the geography, difference in theologies, and the differences in personalities and politics. -
1483
Martin Luther
Martin Luther is the man who started the Protestant Reformation and “changed the course of Western history for the better” (Christianity Today). Luther started to believe that salvation comes through faith, not through their own efforts. The Catholic Church did not like this idea. However, his “...influence spread across northern and eastern Europe…” (BBC, 2014). -
1483
continued...
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8, New International Version). -
1517
continued...
Luther realized that those who get to heaven will get there by faith alone, not by doing good works. Luther and other reformers looked into the Word and identified that many of the teachings of the Church did not match with Christ’s teachings in the Bible. -
1517
The Protestant Reformation
The Reformation was started by Martin Luther who experienced a spiritual crisis. “He concluded that no matter how good he tried to be, no matter how he tried to stay away from sin, he still found himself having sinful thoughts” (Harris & Zucker, 2013). He was afraid that he would ever be able to go to heaven no matter how good he tried to be. “...the righteous shall live by faith” (Romans 1:17, New International Version). -
Present Day Christianity
Christianity is currently the largest religion with 2.2 billion followers (Pew, 2011). Regardless of this fact, society is finding it difficult to accept Christianity in public. -
continued...
Nowadays, you cannot display the ten commandments in public, you cannot have the Holy Bible in school, the Christian faith cannot be taught in the public schools, and you cannot openly pray in the public schools without being discriminated. These were all things that were encouraged in the past. Society is steering towards an atheist world, although the Christian population has been growing.
