The Bible is the main source of reference for Christians and contains a collection of major events that depict the authority and divinity of God. An analysis of the history of Christianity illustrates various aspects of the transformation of the religion. This paper from the freshessays going to analyze all the aspects of this issue.
Historical evidence shows that Christianity began in Judea about 2000 years ago due to the activities of Jesus Christ and his followers. Jesus offered new hope to the Jews who faced oppression under Roman rulers and strict Jewish religious authorities. The prophecy of a Messiah had prepared and encouraged the Jews to accept Jesus as their religious leader. As a Jew, Jesus travelled to various parts of Judea and taught people about the Christian doctrine while emphasizing the need for reforms in the traditional systems of leadership. Unlike other religious authorities in Judea, Jesus highly criticized the oppressive Roman rule and challenged people to accept Christianity to avoid the wrath of God. Jesus became a highly influential figure in Judea, and, thus, the Roman and Jewish authorities began to perceive him as a threat. Jewish religious authorities opposed Jesus’ teachings on practices such as the interaction with gentiles whose traditions and practices differed greatly from those of Jews. The conflicts between early Christianity, Jewish authorities, and Roman rulers led to the martyrdom of various Christian leaders. Events relating to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ became the cornerstone of the Christian doctrine. After the death of Jesus, his disciples continued to exist with the work of teaching people about the will of God. The disciples established churches that became centers of Christian gathering. Despite the large-scale persecution of early Christians by the Roman authorities, the religion continued to spread. Although the martyrdom of key apostles, such a Peter and Paul, created fear among Christians, the religion’s role in transforming people’s lives ensured its triumph over paganism and Judaism. The concept of resurrection in Christianity, which emphasized that the survival of the body was the only measure on true immortality, was a new aspect of spirituality that did not exist among other beliefs. The distinction between Christianity and Judaism was crucial to the spread of the religion. Elements of Judaism in early Christianity created perceptions that the religion was a reflection of Jewish traditions rather than a collection of beliefs and practices regarding spirituality. The connection of the early Christianity and Judaism consists in the fact that Jesus began his ministry among fellow Jews as evident by his first disciples. Various events that were pivotal to the acceptance and growth of Christianity in the world happened after early Christianity developed practices that were different from Judaism.
The Apostolic Church played a crucial role in spreading Christianity beyond the Greco-Roman world. The apostles established the Church to accomplish Jesus’ desire that his teachings should spread throughout the world (George 21). The commissioning of the church provided a framework for apostles to impart non-Jew groups with Christian teachings and expand their followers to include the people of the Eastern Mediterranean. Bishops emerged in the post-Apostolic era of Christianity and played most of the roles of the early apostles. Furthermore, the increase in urban Christian populations necessitated the creation of positions of priests and deacons. The Episcopal structure led to new concepts on spiritual succession as evident in Roman Catholicism. The diversity of views on Christian practices among Hebrews, Jewish, and Gentiles amplified intra-church conflicts relating to relevant theological concepts and leadership structures. The disagreements over contemporary doctrines led to the development of dissident groups that sought to establish different concepts of Christianity. The influence of missionary expansion arose due to the decline in the Roman Empire’s dominance in the West. Celtic Christianity developed in various parts of Britain and was instrumental to the conversion of pagan tribes to Catholicism. Missionary centers in Britain promoted the acceptance of Christianity through Kings who had converted from paganism. Such kings as Clovis insisted that their subjects should convert to Christianity. The expansion of Roman Catholicism introduced new challenges due the diversity of cultural and political interests. The transfer of the Roman capital created disagreements between the East and West regarding the authority of the bishop of Rome. Concerns on economic supremacy influenced the engagement of European Christians in the Crusades, which caused a further expansion of Christianity, as the Crusades completely demised the powers of some religions in particular regions. In addition, the Crusades promoted doctrinal unity, as Christianity expanded in Eastern Europe.
Major theological reforms in Christianity began in the sixteenth century under the influence of Martin Luther and Zwingli. The two theologians considered the increased corruption in the Church as a factor of inappropriate doctrinal interpretations rather than the diversity of cultural, political, and economic interests. The era of the Protestant Reformation began with Martin Luther theses that challenged the lack of appropriate action by church leaders to address the prevalence of corruption (Hamer 74). The modification of contemporary doctrines to address doctrinal concerns led to the emergence of Lutherans, Reformists, and Anglicans. The Protestant Reformation gained support in various parts of Europe, and the spread of associated movements became a threat to the dominance of the Roman Catholic. In this regard, Catholic leaders responded by reevaluating various traditional doctrines to address moral concern and ecclesiastical discipline among Catholics. In addition, the leaders enhanced policies on missionary activity to promote the expansion of Christianity. Reformations in the Roman Catholic were successful, as evident by the fact the about 30 percent of the population in Northern Europe embraced Catholicism irrespective of the influence of the Protestant Reformation in the area. In addition, the reassessment of missionary activity led to the spread of Catholicism outside Europe to America and countries in Africa and Asia. Catholic leaders expanded missionary activity to include seminaries for training priests. Furthermore, the Council of Trent developed a revised version of Roman Catechism that incorporates traditional and modern aspects of spirituality. On the other hand, the spread of Protestantism outside Europe occurred on a relatively small-scale. The Catholic Reformation promoted the renewal of convictions in the traditional Christian practices by retaining most of the traditions and practices in early Christianity while addressing moral reforms. The Catholic Reformation successfully halted the spread of Protestantism, as evident by the fact that the greatest portion of Christians is Catholic. Overtime, the main branches of Christianity have undergone numerous changes to produce other subcategories.
Before the twentieth century, Christianity was largely a religion of the European countries where it had great influence on various social, economic, and political aspects. However, later, it rapidly spread to various parts of the world to have become one of the dominant religions. Modernism has had great impacts on the moral, philosophical, and spiritual aspect of Christianity, as individuals and organizations continue to promote rights and agendas that conflict with doctrinal aspects of Christianity. The rift between various branches of Christianity is evident by the diversity in views regarding concerns on social, economic, and political trends that deviate from the Christian doctrine yet gaining worldwide acceptance.
Works Cited
George, Maya. Faith Philosophy of Christianity. New Delhi: Gyan Publishing House, 2009.
Print.
Hamer, John. The European Reformation 1500-1610. Oxford: Heinemann Educational, 2002.
Print.
