Christianity originate from the preaching of Jesus of Nazareth. The first phase of his preaching takes place in Galilee, the northern region of Palestine where Jesus was born. Here he recruits the first disciples. So he moves to Jerusalem. The word of Christ or Messiah (the Greek Christòs corresponds precisely to the Hebrew Mashiah ), accompanied by miraculous healings and other prodigies, arouses widespread enthusiasm, even in Jerusalem; at the same time, however, it provokes the resentment of the two most essential sects, the Pharisees and the Sadducees.

It scandalizes, in particular, that Jesus proclaims the need to move away from ritual observations. And literal respect for the Law to reach a personal moral perfection manifested in the love of God and neighbor. It also causes a sensation, especially among the Sadducees, that he addresses the poor and dispossessed in the first place and considers them closer to God than the rich.

The fear of social unrest then spreads. In agreement with the Roman authority, the Jewish ruling class intervened. Jesus is consequently arrested and judged by the Sanhedrin and the prefect Pontius Pilate. He is then put to death with the torture of crucifixion.

Diffusion of Christianity

After the death of Jesus, the One who revealed where did Christianity originate from, His apostles spread the new religion, first in Asia Minor and Africa, then also in Rome. They preach that God became incarnate in Jesus of Nazareth. The Messiah rose again and appeared to his disciples.

Around 60 AD, despite the persecutions carried out by the Jewish religious authorities. And communities of Christians, who practice their faith in secret, have now taken root throughout the Roman East and in the capital. These communities are still immersed in the realm of Judaism. At least until the middle of the second century AD, it was challenging to speak of Christianity as an organized and autonomous religion concerning the Jewish one.

What distinguishes Christians from other Jews is that they identify Jesus Christ as the anonymous Messiah awaited by the Jewish religion. The separation of Christianity from Judaism represents a later evolution and is the work of Paul of Tarsus, the father of Christian theology.

Representation of the origins of Christianity

Source: bohatALA.com

The importance of Paul of Tarsus in the spread of Christianity

The importance of Paul of Tarsus in the space of Christianity is enormous. He does not limit himself to advocating the need to spread the new faith among the pagans.

He also preaches a message devoid of ritual observances. That set of prohibitions and prescriptions falls within the Jewish tradition. Extraneous instead of the Greco-Roman culture. First, it refers to circumcision and absolute abstinence from certain foods, such as pork, a whole genus in the Roman diet.

The triumph of Christianity over Judaism

For about three centuries after Christ’s death, Judaism and Christianity worked in mutual competition to conquer pagan souls. In the end, however, Christianity prevails with overwhelming success, determined by its universalistic character. In fact, by preaching the equality of all human beings before God, the new message does not privilege “chosen” people. 

Significant is also the fact that, unlike Judaism, the Messiah has already appeared in Christianity. And the hopes of salvation connected with it seem less remote. In the first Christian communities, the fundamental aspect of worship was prayer in common, which took place in the private homes of the faithful.

The typical Christian cult building, the basilica (architecturally modeled on the civil basilica of the Romans), is, in fact, a later creation that spread from the 4th century AD onwards. In the religious life of some Christian communities, the underground necropolises, known as the catacombs, are also of great importance.

Persecutions of Christians

Offering itself to the humblest as a refuge against suffering, injustice, and abuse, Christianity continues to proselytize among the poorest strata of the population. But even among the more educated classes, the new doctrine was not slow to spread—various exponents of the middle class and numerous aristocrats. Dissatisfied with traditional cults, they look favorably on a more intensely felt and practiced religion.

Christianity, the religion that originate from Jesus, thus begins to worry the imperial authority because it appears as a phenomenon infiltrated throughout the social fabric. Despite the Roman tolerance in religious matters, many Christian principles are potentially at odds with the current mentality and with power:

• the affirmed equality between men, free and enslaved people, rich and poor, allies and enemies;
• the priority of spiritual values ​​over material ones, and therefore of spiritual authority over political ones;
• the refusal to worship the emperor as a god.

Christians, therefore, appear to be unreliable and dangerous subjects and become easy scapegoats for any difficulty or fatal event. Moreover, they have long been confused with the Jews, who are also frowned upon because of their monotheism. As in the case of the Jews, gathering Christians into separate communities linked by a strong identity arouses suspicion and distrust. Hence the first persecutions, such as the one that unleashed Nero due to the fire in Rome in 64.

You might also want to know.

1. Who created religion?

It is said that the first man to believe in one God and who created religion was Abraham. A nomadic shepherd with whom the Lord made a covenant about 4,000 years ago. But, according to the Jews, around 1250 B.C. God, whom they call Yahweh, decided to renew that covenant with all the Jewish people.

2. Who was the founder of Christianity?

Christianity originate from the founder Jesus Christ that arose from Judaism in the first century.

3. What religion originated before Christianity?

The Jewish religion originate before Christianity and is a monotheistic religion. The sacred book of Christians is the Bible, the holy book of the Jews, with the addition of the Gospels. Which contain the preaching of Jesus and some other texts.

4. Who Wrote the Bible?

The Bible was written over about 1,500 years, and the writing of the texts composed has been attributed to about 40 men. There are very few references in the books in the Bible that explicitly state the authors’ names. However, we can name a few: Isaiah, Moses, Luke, John, Matthew, and Paul.

5. Why did the Romans become Christians?

The Roman pagan religion, based on multiple deities, had always been a state religion, public and connected to power. At this time, Eastern mystery cults were spreading in Rome, and Christianity spread along with them.

Conclusion

At the beginning of the second century AD, the widespread Diffusion of Christianity in the eastern provinces is testified by the correspondence between the emperor Trajan and the governor of Bithynia Pliny the Younger: the drama of persecutions emerges.

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