Overview of the early years of the spread of the Christian Church in the first centuries.

1. The Rise of
Christendom
The early Church

2. Gospel
2

3. Acts 1:8[Jesus said,] “But you
will receive power when the
Holy Spirit comes on you; and
you will be my witnesses in
Jerusalem, and in all Judea
and Samaria, and to the ends
of the earth.”

4. When
did he
say
this?
4

5. When would
the Holy Spirit
come to them?
5

6. ἀπόστολος
apostolos
6

7. What job
did Jesus
give
them to
do?

8. Acts 10:9-48
[Peter] saw heaven opened and
something like a large sheet being let
down to earth by its four corners. It
contained all kinds of four-footed
animals, as well as reptiles and birds.
Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter.
Kill and eat.”

9. Acts 10:9-48
“Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I
have never eaten anything impure or
unclean.”
The voice spoke to him a second
time, “Do not call anything impure that
God has made clean.”
This happened three times, and
immediately the sheet was taken back
to heaven...

10. Acts 10:9-48
[Peter] said to them: “You are well
aware that it is against our law for a
Jew to associate with or visit a
Gentile. But God has shown me that I
should not call anyone impure or
unclean...
I now realize how true it is that God
does not show favoritism but accepts
from every nation the one who fears
him and does what is right.”

11. Acts 10:9-48
While Peter was still speaking these
words, the Holy Spirit came on all who
heard the message. The circumcised
believers who had come with Peter
were astonished that the gift of the
Holy Spirit had been poured out even
on Gentiles...

12. Acts 7:55-59
But Stephen, full of the Holy
Spirit... said, “I see heaven open
and the Son of Man standing at
the right hand of God.” At this...
they all rushed at him, dragged
him out of the city and began to
stone him...

13. Acts 8:1-4
On that day a great persecution
broke out against the church in
Jerusalem, and all except the
apostles were scattered
throughout Judea and Samaria...
Those who had been scattered
preached the word wherever they
went.

14. Summary
14

15. God no longer made the nation
of Israel the place where He
would focus His Word and
blessings

16. While there were missionaries
like Paul doing major
missionary work in the
decades following the
Resurrection, He wanted to
force the believers out into
Gentile lands

17. Matthew 23:37, 24:1-2
[Jesus said,] “O
Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
you who kill the
prophets and stone
those sent to you, how
often I have longed to
gather your children
together, as a hen
gathers her chicks
under her wings, but
you were not willing.”…

18. Matthew 23:37, 24:1-2
Jesus left the temple
and was walking away
when his disciples
came up to him to call
his attention to its
buildings. “Do you see
all these things?” he
asked. “I tell you the
truth, not one stone
here will be left on
another; every one will
be thrown down.”

19. When was this
prophesy,
recorded in all
three of the
synoptic
gospels,
fulfilled?

20. Jewish scholars began writing
the Talmud and redefining
Judaism outside of the
covenants and rituals of the Old
Testament

21. Prior to 70 AD, the Church was
primarily led by Jews focused
out of Jerusalem. Now it was
much more decentralized and
Gentile.
21

22. Rome and
Christianity
22

23. With some notable exceptions
(e.g., Nero), Romans couldn’t
care less about the new Jewish
sect
23

24. (That will change in 250 AD,
but more on that later...)
24

25. There was basic religious
freedom, and most pagans
didn’t even see saying that
Jesus was a god was all that
unusual
25

26. “Death to the
atheists!”
26

27. Rome really didn’t care what
religion you were, as long as
you’re not an “atheist”
27

28. Daniel 3
Plato’s Phaedo
28

29. 29

30. Matthew 10:34-36
[Jesus said,] “I did not come to
bring peace, but a sword... A
man’s enemies will be the
members of his own
household.”
30

31. Rebuffed friends and family became
extremely suspicious.
Think about how you’d react if your sister
suddenly stopped doing all the stuff that
you know she enjoys, joined some cult,
sold all of her possessions, and started
talking about how you’d be damned to
eternal torture if you didn’t do the same.
31

32. Many of the Christian
communities were communes
Communes had the same
reputation then as they do
now...
32

33. Christians referred to each
other as “brother/sister,” gave
each other “holy kisses”,
participated in “love feasts” (cf.
Jude 1:12), ate the body and
blood of a man, met primarily at
night, etc.
33

34. 34

35. Tacitus’ Annals (15.44)“Consequently, to get rid of the
report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most
exquisite tortures on a class hated for their
abominations, called Christians by the populace.
Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered
the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the
hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and
a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the
moment, again broke out not only in Judæa... but
even in Rome. Accordingly, an arrest was first made
of all who pleaded guilty; then, upon their information,
an immense multitude was convicted, not so much of
the crime of firing the city, as of hatred against
mankind.”
35

36. Regardless, the Gospel was
still preached, and the Holy
Spirit continued to do His work
36

37. At the turn of the 4th
century, Emperor
Diocletian rebuilt the
crumbling empire
Part of doing that was
a recommitment to the
gods that had made
Rome great
37

38. After distinguishing himself in Britain,
Constantine became a Caesar (of 2 or
4, depending how you count) when his
father died. He made it illegal to
persecute Christians, mostly as a waste
of resources and to “buy off” more
supporters.
38

39. According to tradition, on his
way to conquer Rome he
received a vision of the ChiRho and the words “In hoc
signo vinces” (“In this sign,
conquer”)
39

40. He had his soldiers put this sign on the
standards of his army (shields, flags, etc.)
He routed an army four times his in
number (though not nearly as
experienced) at the battle of Milvian
Bridge in 312 A.D., and clinched his
military control of the Empire
40

41. Constantine issued the Edict of Milan,
granting universal religious freedom
While not officially favoring Christianity,
he made it clear he leaned that way,
including calling the Council of Nicaea
He was baptized on his deathbed
The capital was move to
Constantinople (Istanbul)
41

42. Theodosius united the split Empire
and declared Catholic (Nicene)
Christianity to be the sole official
religion. (Upon his death, his sons
re-split the East and West, and it
was never reunified.)
He actively worked to crush
Hellenistic religion, destroying
temples, banning the Olympics,
etc.
42

43. Over the years it became more and more
“advantageous” to be associated with the
Christian Church
Unfortunately – as with anything else that
grants political or social advantage – a lot of
people became “Christian” because they
wanted those advantages, not because of
religious conviction
This lead to a great deal political intrigue inside
the church, which would curse her from that
time on...
43

44. A Different
Kind of Empire
44

45. A forged document, claiming to
have been written by
Constantine celebrating his
baptism, made the bishop of
Rome the Pope and gave him
the city of Rome
The document acted as a
primary justification for Papal
authority until it was proven to
be a fake, but by then
“possession being nine tenths of
the law” in both land and power,
it was a moot point
45

46. Council of
Nicaea
46

47. Shortly after consolidating
his power and the Edict of
Milan, Constantine called
for the Council of Nicaea
The purpose of the Council
was to unify Christendom
47

48. As part of that effort he also
commissioned St. Jerome to
compile the books of the Bible
together and translate them into
Latin
48

49. Constantine needed a
united Christian Church to
help unify his Empire
The Church Fathers
needed a united Church
and an official statement of
faith from her in order to
fight heresy
49