Apocalyptic literature and thought had a major influence on Second Temple Judaism and early Christianity.Apocalypticism grew out of resistance to Hellenistic and later Roman rule. Apocalyptic writers considered themselves to be living in the end times and expected God to intervene in history, end the present sufferings, and restore his kingdom. Frequently, this was accomplished by a savior figure (such as amessiah or "Son of Man") who wins the final battle against the forces of evil and is appointed by God to rule.[15]Messiah (Hebrew:meshiach) means "anointed" and is used in the Old Testament to designateJewish kings and in some casespriests andprophets whose status was symbolized by being anointed withholy anointing oil. The term is most associated with KingDavid, to whom God promised an eternal kingdom (2 Samuel 7:11–17). After thedestruction of David's kingdom and lineage, this promise was reaffirmed by the prophetsIsaiah,Jeremiah, andEzekiel, who foresaw a future king from theHouse of David who would establish and reign over an idealized kingdom.[16]
Jesus grew up inNazareth, a village inGalilee. He started his public ministry when he was around 30 years old.[18] Traveling through the Galilee, theDecapolis, and to Jerusalem, Jesus preached a message directed at other Jews.[19] This message centered on the imminent arrival of theKingdom of God. He urged followers torepent in preparation for its coming and taught them how to live while waiting. This ethical teaching is summarized in theLord's Prayer and theGreat Commandment to love God and to "love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:37–39).[20][21] Jesus chosetwelve disciples, representing thetwelve tribes of Israel, from among his followers. They symbolized the full restoration of Israel, including theTen Lost Tribes, that would be accomplished through him.[22]
The gospel accounts provide insight into what early Christians believed about Jesus.[23] Asthe Christ or "Anointed One" (Greek:Christos), Jesus is identified as the fulfillment ofmessianic prophecies in the Hebrew scriptures. Through the accounts of his miraculous birth, the gospels present Jesus as theSon of God.[24] The gospels describe themiracles of Jesus which served to authenticate his message and reveal a foretaste of the coming kingdom.[25]
After three years of ministry,Jesus was crucified as a messianic pretender and insurgent. Paul, writing around 20 years after Jesus' death, provides the earliest account of theresurrection of Jesus in1 Corinthians 15:3–8.[26] The gospel accounts provide narratives of the resurrection, ultimately leading to theascension of Jesus intoHeaven. Jesus' victory over death became the central belief of Christianity.[27] For his followers, Jesus inaugurated aNew Covenant between God and his people.[28] The Pauline epistles teach that Jesus makessalvation possible. Throughfaith, believers experienceunion with Jesus and both share inhis suffering and thehope of his resurrection.[29]
While they do not provide new information, non-Christian sources do confirm certain information found in the gospels. The Jewish historianJosephus referenced Jesus in hisAntiquities of the Jews writtenc. AD 95. The paragraph, known as theTestimonium Flavianum, provides a brief summary of Jesus' life, but the original text has been altered byChristian interpolation.[30] The first Roman author to reference Jesus isTacitus (c. AD 56 – c. AD 120), who wrote that Christians "took their name fromChristus who was executed in the reign ofTiberius by theprocurator Pontius Pilate"(seeTacitus on Jesus).[31]
The decades after the crucifixion of Jesus are known as the Apostolic Age because the Disciples (also known asApostles) were still alive.[32] Important Christian sources for this period are thePauline epistles and theActs of the Apostles,[33] as well as theDidache and theChurch Fathers' writtings.
After the death of Jesus, his followers established Christian groups in cities, such as Jerusalem.[32] The movement quickly spread toDamascus andAntioch, capital ofRoman Syria and one of the most important cities in the empire.[34] Early Christians referred to themselves as brethren,disciples orsaints, but it was in Antioch, according toActs 11:26, that they were first called Christians (Greek:Christianoi).[35]
According to the New Testament, Paul the apostle established Christian communities throughout the Mediterranean world.[32] He is known to have also spent some time in Arabia. After preaching in Syria, he turned his attention to the cities ofAsia Minor. By the early 50s, he had moved on to Europe where he stopped inPhilippi and then traveled toThessalonica inRoman Macedonia. He then moved into mainland Greece, spending time inAthens andCorinth. While in Corinth, Paul wrote hisEpistle to the Romans, indicating that there were already Christian groups inRome. Some of these groups had been started by Paul's missionary associatesPriscilla and Aquila andEpainetus.[36]
Social and professional networks played an important part in spreading the religion as members invited interested outsiders to secret Christian assemblies (Greek:ekklēsia) that met in private homes (seehouse church). Commerce and trade also played a role in Christianity's spread as Christian merchants traveled for business. Christianity appealed to marginalized groups (women, slaves) with its message that "in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, neither male nor female, neither slave nor free" (Galatians 3:28). Christians also provided social services to the poor, sick, and widows.[37] Women actively contributed to the Christian faith as disciples, missionaries, and more due to the large acceptance early Christianity offered.
HistorianKeith Hopkins estimated that by AD 100 there were around 7,000 Christians (about 0.01 percent of the Roman Empire's population of 60 million).[38] Separate Christian groups maintained contact with each other through letters, visits fromitinerant preachers, and the sharing of common texts, some of which were later collected in the New Testament.[32]
At this early date, Christianity was still a Jewish sect. Christians in Jerusalem kept theJewish Sabbath and continued to worship at the Temple. In commemoration of Jesus' resurrection, they gathered on Sunday for acommunion meal. Initially, Christians kept the Jewish custom of fasting on Mondays and Thursdays. Later, the Christian fast days shifted to Wednesdays and Fridays (seeFriday fast) in remembrance ofJudas' betrayal and the crucifixion.[43]
James was killed on the order of the high priest in AD 62. He was succeeded as leader of the Jerusalem church bySimeon, another relative of Jesus.[44] During theFirst Jewish-Roman War (AD66–73), Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed after abrutal siege in AD70.[41] Prophecies of the Second Temple's destruction are found in thesynoptic gospels,[45] specifically in theOlivet Discourse.
The first Gentiles to become Christians wereGod-fearers, people who believed in the truth of Judaism but had not becomeproselytes (seeCornelius the Centurion).[48] As Gentiles joined the young Christian movement, the question of whether they shouldconvert to Judaism and observe the Torah (such asfood laws,male circumcision, and Sabbath observance) gave rise to various answers. Some Christians demanded full observance of the Torah and required Gentile converts to become Jews. Others, such as Paul, believed that the Torah was no longer binding because of Jesus' death and resurrection. In the middle were Christians who believed Gentiles should follow some of the Torah but not all of it.[49]
The Council of Jerusalem did not end the dispute, however.[51] There are indications that James still believed the Torah was binding on Jewish Christians. Galatians 2:11–14 describes "people from James" causing Peter and other Jewish Christians in Antioch to break table fellowship with Gentiles.[72] (See also:Incident at Antioch). Joel Marcus, professor of Christian origins, suggests that Peter's position may have lain somewhere between James and Paul, but that he probably leaned more toward James.[73] This is the start of a split betweenJewish Christianity andGentile (or Pauline) Christianity. While Jewish Christianity would remain important through the next few centuries, it would ultimately be pushed to the margins as Gentile Christianity became dominant. Jewish Christianity was also opposed by earlyRabbinic Judaism, the successor to the Pharisees.[74] When Peter left Jerusalem afterHerod Agrippa I tried to kill him, James appears as the principal authority of the early Christian church.[41]Clement of Alexandria (c. 150–215 AD) called himBishop of Jerusalem.[41] A2nd-century church historian,Hegesippus, wrote that theSanhedrin martyred him in AD 62.[41]
Romans had a negative perception of early Christians. The Roman historian Tacitus wrote that Christians were despised for their "abominations" and "hatred of humankind".[77] The belief that Christians hated humankind could refer to their refusal to participate in social activities connected to pagan worship—these included most social activities such as thetheater, the army, sports, andclassical literature. They also refused toworship the Roman emperor, like Jews. Nonetheless, Romans were more lenient to Jews compared to Gentile Christians. Some anti-Christian Romans further distinguished between Jews and Christians by claiming that Christianity was "apostasy" from Judaism.Celsus, for example, considered Jewish Christians to be hypocrites for claiming that they embraced their Jewish heritage.[78]
EmperorNero persecuted Christians in Rome, whom he blamed for starting theGreat Fire of AD 64. It is possible that Peter and Paul were in Rome and weremartyred at this time. Nero was deposed in AD 68, and the persecution of Christians ceased. Under the emperorsVespasian (r. 69–79) andTitus (r. 79–81), Christians were largely ignored by the Roman government. The EmperorDomitian (r. 81–96) authorized a new persecution against the Christians. It was at this time that theBook of Revelation was written byJohn of Patmos.[79]
The city ofAlexandria in theNile delta was established byAlexander the Great in 331 BC. Its famous libraries made it a center ofHellenistic learning. TheSeptuagint translation of the Old Testament began there, and theAlexandrian text-type is recognized by scholars as one of the earliest New Testament types. It had asignificant Jewish population, of whichPhilo of Alexandria is probably the most known author.[92] It produced superior scripture and notable church fathers, such as Clement, Origen, and Athanasius;[93][better source needed] also noteworthy were theDesert Fathers of Egypt. By the end of the early-Christian era, Alexandria, Rome, and Antioch were accorded authority over nearbymetropolitans. The Council of Nicaea in canon VI affirmed Alexandria's traditional authority over Egypt, Libya, andPentapolis (North Africa) (theDiocese of Egypt) and probably granted Alexandria the right to declare a universal date for the observance ofEaster[94] (see alsoEaster controversy). Some postulate that Alexandria was not only a center of Christianity, but was also, as a cradle ofGnosticism,[95][96]a center for Christian-basedGnostic sects.[97][98]
Caesarea, on the seacoast just northwest of Jerusalem, at firstCaesarea Maritima, then after 133Caesarea Palaestina, was built byHerod the Great, c. 25–13 BC, and was the capital ofIudaea Province (6–132) and laterPalaestina Prima. It was there that Peter baptized thecenturion Cornelius, considered the first gentile convert. Paul sought refuge there, once staying at the house ofPhilip the Evangelist, and later being imprisoned there for two years (estimated to be 57–59). TheApostolic Constitutions (7.46) state that the firstBishop of Caesarea wasZacchaeus the Publican.
Paphos was the capital of the island ofCyprus during the Roman years and seat of a Roman commander. In AD 45, the apostles Paul andBarnabas, who according toActs 4:36 was "a native of Cyprus", came to Cyprus and reached Paphos preaching the message of Jesus, see alsoActs 13:4–13. According to Acts, the apostles were persecuted by the Romans but eventually succeeded in convincing the Roman commanderSergius Paulus to renounce his old religion in favour of Christianity. Barnabas is traditionally identified as the founder of the Cypriot Orthodox Church.[103][better source needed]
Damascus is the capital ofSyria and claims to be the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world. According to the New Testament, the Apostle Paul was converted on theRoad to Damascus. In the three accounts (Acts 9:1–20,22:1–22,26:1–24), he is described as being led by those he was traveling with, blinded by the light, to Damascus where his sight was restored by a disciple calledAnanias (who is thought to have been the first bishop of Damascus)[citation needed] then he wasbaptized.
Nicopolis was a city in the Roman province ofEpirus Vetus, today a ruin on the northern part of the western Greek coast. In theEpistle to Titus, Paul said he intended to go there.[111] It is possible that there were some Christians in its population. According toEusebius,Origen (c. 185–254) stayed there for some time[112]
Athens, the capital and largest city in Greece, was visited by Paul. He probably traveled by sea, arriving atPiraeus, the harbor of Athens, coming fromBerœa of Macedonia around the year 53.[citation needed] According toActs 17, when he arrived at Athens, he immediately sent for Silas and Timotheos who had stayed behind in Berœa.[citation needed] While waiting for them, Paul explored Athens and visited the synagogue, as there was alocal Jewish community. A Christian community was quickly established in Athens, although it may not have been large initially.[citation needed] A common tradition identifies theAreopagite as the first bishop of the Christian community in Athens, while another tradition mentionsHierotheos the Thesmothete.[citation needed] The succeeding bishops were not all of Athenian descent: Narkissos was believed to have come from Palestine, andPublius from Malta.[citation needed]Quadratus is known for an apology addressed to EmperorHadrian during his visit to Athens, contributing to early Christian literature.[citation needed]Aristeides andAthenagoras also wrote apologies during this time.[citation needed] By the second century, Athens likely had a significant Christian community, asHygeinos, bishop of Rome, write a letter to the community in Athens in the year 139.[citation needed]
Cyrene and the surrounding region ofCyrenaica or the North African "Pentapolis", south of the Mediterranean from Greece, the northeastern part of modernLibya, was a Greek colony in North Africa later converted to a Roman province. In addition to Greeks and Romans, there was also asignificant Jewish population, at least up to theKitos War (115–117). According toMark 15:21,Simon of Cyrene carried Jesus' cross.Cyrenians are also mentioned inActs 2:10,6:9,11:20,13:1. According to Byzantine legend, the first bishop wasLucius, mentioned in Acts 13:1.[citation needed]
Exactly when Christians first appeared in Rome is difficult to determine. TheActs of the Apostles claims that theJewish Christian couplePriscilla and Aquila had recently come from Rome toCorinth when, in about the year 50,Paul reached the latter city,[119] indicating that belief in Jesus in Rome had preceded Paul.
However, Irenaeus does not say that either Peter or Paul was "bishop" of the Church in Rome and several historians have questioned whether Peter spent much time in Rome before his martyrdom. While the church in Rome was already flourishing when Paul wrote hisEpistle to the Romans to them from Corinth (c. 58)[127] he attests to a large Christian community already there[124] and greets some fifty people in Rome by name,[128] but not Peter,whom he knew. There is also no mention of Peter in Rome later during Paul's two-year stay there inActs 28, about 60–62. Most likely he did not spend any major time at Rome before 58 when Paul wrote to the Romans, and so it may have been only in the 60s and relatively shortly before his martyrdom that Peter came to the capital.[129]
The original seat of Roman imperial power soon became a center of church authority, grew in power decade by decade, and was recognized during the period of theSeven Ecumenical Councils, when the seat of government had been transferred toConstantinople, as the "head" of the church.[132]
Pope Victor I (189–198) was the first ecclesiastical writer known to have written in Latin; however, his only extant works are his encyclicals, which would naturally have been issued in Latin and Greek.[135]
Greek New Testament texts were translated into Latin early on, well beforeJerome, and are classified as theVetus Latina andWestern text-type.
During the 2nd century, Christians and semi-Christians of diverse views congregated in Rome, notablyMarcion andValentinius, and in the following century there were schisms connected withHippolytus of Rome andNovatian.[124]
The Roman church survived various persecutions. Among the prominent Christians executed as a result of their refusal to perform acts of worship to the Roman gods as ordered by emperorValerian in 258 wereCyprian, bishop ofCarthage.[136] The last and most severe of the imperial persecutions was thatunder Diocletian in 303; they ended in Rome, and the West in general, with the accession ofMaxentius in 306.
Carthage, in theRoman province of Africa, south of the Mediterranean from Rome, gave the early church the Latin fathersTertullian[137] (c. 120 – c. 220) and Cyprian[138] (d. 258). Carthage fell to Islam in 698.
The ancient Roman city ofAquileia at the head of theAdriatic Sea, today one of the main archaeological sites ofNorthern Italy, was an early center of Christianity said to be founded byMark before his mission to Alexandria.Hermagoras of Aquileia is believed to be its first bishop. TheAquileian Rite is associated with Aquileia.
It is believed that the Church ofMilan in northwest Italy was founded by the apostleBarnabas in the 1st century.Gervasius and Protasius and others were martyred there. It has long maintained its own rite known as theAmbrosian Rite attributed toAmbrose (born c. 330) who was bishop in 374–397 and one of the most influential ecclesiastical figures of the 4th century. Duchesne argues that theGallican Rite originated in Milan.
Syracuse was founded by Greek colonists in 734 or 733 BC, part ofMagna Graecia. Syracuse is one of the first Christian communities established byPeter, preceded only by Antioch. Paul also preached in Syracuse. Historical evidence from the middle of the third century, during the time ofCyprian, suggests that Christianity was thriving in Syracuse, and the presence ofcatacombs provides clear indications of Christian activity in the second century as well. Across theStrait of Messina,Calabria on the mainland was also probably an early center of Christianity.[143][better source needed]
According to Acts, Paul was shipwrecked and ministered on an island which some scholars have identified asMalta (an island just south ofSicily) for three months during which time he is said to have been bitten by a poisonous viper and survived (Acts 27:39–42;Acts 28:1–11), an event usually dated c. AD 60. Paul had been allowed passage fromCaesarea Maritima to Rome byPorcius Festus,procurator ofIudaea Province, to stand trial before the Emperor. Many traditions are associated with this episode, andcatacombs in Rabat testify to an Early Christian community on the islands. According to tradition,Publius, the Roman Governor of Malta at the time of Saint Paul's shipwreck, became the firstBishop of Malta following his conversion to Christianity. After ruling the Maltese Church for thirty-one years, Publius was transferred to the See ofAthens in AD 90, where he was martyred in AD 125. There is scant information about the continuity of Christianity in Malta in subsequent years, although tradition has it that there was a continuous line of bishops from the days of St. Paul to the time of Emperor Constantine.
It is accepted that theKingdom of Armenia became the first polity to adopt Christianity as its state religion. Although it has long been claimed that Armenia was the first Christian kingdom, according to some scholars this has relied on a source by Agathangelos titled "The History of the Armenians", which has recently been redated, casting some doubt.[144][page needed]
According to Orthodox tradition, Christianity was first preached inGeorgia by the ApostlesSimon andAndrew in the 1st century. It became the state religion ofKartli (Iberia) in 319. The conversion of Kartli to Christianity is credited to a Greek lady calledSt. Nino of Cappadocia. TheGeorgian Orthodox Church, originally part of theChurch of Antioch, gained its autocephaly and developed its doctrinal specificity progressively between the 5th and 10th centuries.The Bible was also translated into Georgian in the 5th century, as theGeorgian alphabet was developed for that purpose.
According to tradition, theIndo-Parthian king Gondophares was proselytized bySt Thomas, who continued on to southern India, and possibly as far as Malaysia or China.
According toEusebius' record, the apostlesThomas andBartholomew were assigned toParthia (modern Iran) and India.[148][149] By the time of the establishment of the Second Persian Empire (AD 226), there were bishops of the Church of the East in northwest India, Afghanistan andBaluchistan (including parts of Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan), with laymen and clergy alike engaging in missionary activity.[148]
An early third-century Syriac work known as theActs of Thomas[148] connects the apostle's Indian ministry with two kings, one in the north and the other in the south. According to theActs, Thomas was at first reluctant to accept this mission, but the Lord appeared to him in a night vision and compelled him to accompany an Indian merchant, Abbanes (or Habban), to his native place in northwest India. There, Thomas found himself in the service of theIndo-Parthian King, Gondophares. The Apostle's ministry resulted in many conversions throughout the kingdom, including the king and his brother.[148]
Piecing together the various traditions, the story suggests that Thomas left northwest India when invasion threatened, and traveled by vessel to theMalabar Coast along the southwestern coast of the Indian continent, possibly visiting southeastArabia andSocotra en route, and landing at the former flourishing port ofMuziris on an island nearCochin in 52. From there he preached the gospel throughout the Malabar Coast. The various churches he founded were located mainly on thePeriyar River and its tributaries and along the coast. He preached to all classes of people and had about 170 converts, including members of the four principal castes. Later, stone crosses were erected at the places where churches were founded, and they became pilgrimage centres. In accordance with apostolic custom, Thomas ordained teachers and leaders or elders, who were reported to be the earliest ministry of the Malabar church.
Thomas next proceeded overland to theCoromandel Coast in southeastern India, and ministered in what is nowChennai (earlier Madras), where a local king and many people were converted. One tradition related that he went from there to China viaMalacca in Malaysia, and after spending some time there, returned to the Chennai area.[151] Apparently his renewed ministry outraged theBrahmins, who were fearful lest Christianity undermine their social caste system. So according to the Syriac version of theActs of Thomas, Mazdai, the local king atMylapore, after questioning the Apostle condemned him to death about the year AD 72. Anxious to avoid popular excitement, the King ordered Thomas conducted to a nearby mountain, where, after being allowed to pray, he was then stoned and stabbed to death with a lance wielded by an angry Brahmin.[148][150]
Edessa, which was held by Rome from 116 to 118 and 212 to 214, but was mostly a client kingdom associated either with Rome orPersia, was an important Christian city. Shortly after 201 or even earlier, its royal house became Christian.[152]
Edessa (nowŞanlıurfa) in northwestern Mesopotamia was from apostolic times the principal center ofSyriac-speaking Christianity. it was the capital of an independent kingdom from 132 BC to AD 216, when it became tributary to Rome. Celebrated as an important centre of Greco-Syrian culture, Edessa was also noted for its Jewish community, withproselytes in the royal family. Strategically located on the main trade routes of theFertile Crescent, it was easily accessible fromAntioch, where the mission to the Gentiles was inaugurated. When early Christians were scattered abroad because of persecution, some found refuge at Edessa. Thus the Edessan church traced its origin to theApostolic Age (which may account for its rapid growth), andChristianity even became the state religion for a time.
The Church of the East had its inception at a very early date in the buffer zone between theParthian and Roman Empires in Upper Mesopotamia, known as theAssyrian Church of the East. The vicissitudes of its later growth were rooted in its minority status in a situation of international tension. The rulers of the Parthian Empire (250 BC – AD 226) were on the whole tolerant in spirit, and with the older faiths of Babylonia and Assyria in a state of decay, the time was ripe for a new and vital faith. The rulers of the Second Persian empire (226–640) also followed a policy of religious toleration to begin with, though later they gave Christians the same status as a subject race. However, these rulers also encouraged the revival of the ancient Persian dualistic faith ofZoroastrianism and established it as the state religion, with the result that the Christians were increasingly subjected to repressive measures. Nevertheless, it was not until Christianity became the state religion in the West (380) that enmity toward Rome was focused on the Eastern Christians. After the Muslim conquest in the 7th century, the caliphate tolerated other faiths but forbade proselytism and subjected Christians to heavy taxation.
The missionaryAddai evangelizedMesopotamia (modernIraq) about the middle of the 2nd century. An ancient legend recorded byEusebius (AD 260–340) and also found in theDoctrine of Addai (c. AD 400) (from information in the royal archives of Edessa) describes how KingAbgar V of Edessa communicated to Jesus, requesting he come and heal him, to which appeal he received a reply. It is said that after the resurrection,Thomas sent Addai (or Thaddaeus), to the king, with the result that the city was won to the Christian faith. In this mission he was accompanied by a disciple, Mari, and the two are regarded as co-founders of the church, according to theLiturgy of Addai and Mari (c. AD 200), which is still the normal liturgy of the Assyrian church. TheDoctrine of Addai further states that Thomas was regarded as an apostle of the church in Edessa.[148]
Addai, who became the first bishop of Edessa, was succeeded byAggai, then byPalut, who was ordained about 200 bySerapion of Antioch. Thence came to us in the 2nd century the famousPeshitta, or Syriac translation of the Old Testament; alsoTatian'sDiatessaron, which was compiled about 172 and in common use until St.Rabbula, Bishop of Edessa (412–435), forbade its use. This arrangement of the fourcanonical gospels as a continuous narrative, whose original language may have been Syriac, Greek, or even Latin, circulated widely in Syriac-speaking Churches.[153]
A Christian council was held at Edessa as early as 197.[154] In 201 the city was devastated by a great flood, and the Christian church was destroyed.[155] In 232, the Syriac Acts were written supposedly on the event of the relics of the Apostle Thomas being handed to the church in Edessa. Under Roman domination many martyrs suffered at Edessa: Sts.Scharbîl andBarsamya, underDecius; Sts. Gûrja, Schâmôna, Habib, and others underDiocletian. In the meanwhile Christian priests from Edessa had evangelized Eastern Mesopotamia andPersia, and established the first churches in the kingdom of theSasanians.[156] Atillâtiâ, Bishop of Edessa, assisted at theFirst Council of Nicaea (325).
By the latter half of the 2nd century, Christianity had spread east throughoutMedia, Persia,Parthia, andBactria. The twenty bishops and many presbyters were more of the order of itinerant missionaries, passing from place to place as Paul did and supplying their needs with such occupations as merchant or craftsman. By AD 280 the metropolis of Seleucia assumed the title of "Catholicos" and in AD 424 a council of the church at Seleucia elected the first patriarch to have jurisdiction over the whole church of the East. The seat of the Patriarchate was fixed atSeleucia-Ctesiphon, since this was an important point on the east–west trade routes which extended to India and China, Java and Japan. Thus the shift of ecclesiastical authority was away from Edessa, which in AD 216 had become tributary to Rome. the establishment of an independent patriarchate with nine subordinate metropoli contributed to a more favourable attitude by the Persian government, which no longer had to fear an ecclesiastical alliance with the common enemy, Rome.
By the time that Edessa was incorporated into thePersian Empire in 258, the city ofArbela, situated on theTigris in what is nowIraq, had taken on more and more the role that Edessa had played in the early years, as a centre from which Christianity spread to the rest of the Persian Empire.[157]
Bardaisan, writing about 196, speaks of Christians throughoutMedia,Parthia andBactria (modern-dayAfghanistan)[158] and, according toTertullian (c. 160–230), there were already a number of bishoprics within the Persian Empire by 220.[157] By 315, the bishop ofSeleucia–Ctesiphon had assumed the title "Catholicos".[157] By this time, neither Edessa nor Arbela was the centre of the Church of the East anymore; ecclesiastical authority had moved east to the heart of the Persian Empire.[157] The twin cities of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, well-situated on the main trade routes between East and West, became, in the words of John Stewart, "a magnificent centre for the missionary church that was entering on its great task of carrying the gospel to the far east".[159]
During the reign ofShapur II of theSasanian Empire, he was not initially hostile to his Christian subjects, who were led byShemon Bar Sabbae, thePatriarch of theChurch of the East, however, the conversion of Constantine the Great toChristianity caused Shapur to start distrusting his Christian subjects. He started seeing them as agents of a foreign enemy. The wars between the Sasanian and Roman empires turned Shapur's mistrust into hostility. After the death of Constantine, Shapur II, who had been preparing for a war against the Romans for several years, imposed a double tax on his Christian subjects to finance the conflict. Shemon, however, refused to pay the double tax. Shapur started pressuring Shemon and his clergy to convert to Zoroastrianism, which they refused to do. It was during this period the "cycle of the martyrs" began during which "many thousands of Christians" were put to death. During the following years, Shemon's successors,Shahdost andBarba'shmin, were also martyred.
A near-contemporary 5th-century Christian work, theEcclesiastical History ofSozomen, contains considerable detail on the Persian Christians martyred under Shapur II. Sozomen estimates the total number of Christians killed as follows:
The number of men and women whose names have been ascertained, and who were martyred at this period, has been computed to be upwards of sixteen thousand, while the multitude of martyrs whose names are unknown was so great that the Persians, the Syrians, and the inhabitants of Edessa, have failed in all their efforts to compute the number.
To understand the penetration of theArabian Peninsula by the Christian gospel, it is helpful to distinguish between theBedouin nomads of the interior, who were chiefly herdsmen and unreceptive to foreign control, and the inhabitants of the settled communities of the coastal areas and oases, who were either middlemen traders or farmers and were receptive to influences from abroad. Christianity apparently gained its strongest foothold in the ancient center of Semitic civilization in South-west Arabia orYemen (sometimes known as Seba orSheba, whose queen visitedSolomon). Because of geographic proximity, acculturation withEthiopia was always strong, and the royal family traces its ancestry to this queen.
The presence of Arabians at Pentecost and Paul's three-year sojourn in Arabia suggest a very early gospel witness. A 4th-century church history, states that the apostleBartholomew preached in Arabia and thatHimyarites were among his converts. The Al-Jubail Church in what is nowSaudi Arabia was built in the 4th century. Arabia's close relations with Ethiopia give significance to the conversion ofthe treasurer to the queen of Ethiopia, not to mention the tradition that the Apostle Matthew was assigned to this land.[148]Eusebius says that "onePantaneous (c. AD 190) was sent fromAlexandria as a missionary to the nations of the East", including southwest Arabia, on his way to India.[148]
Then the Angel of the Lord said to Philip, Start out and go south to the road that leads down from Jerusalem to Gaza, which is desert. And he arose and went: And behold, aman of Ethiopia, anEunuch of great authority under Candace, Queen of E-thi-o'pi-ans, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem to worship.[161]
Ethiopia at that time meant any upper Nile region.Candace was the title and perhaps, name for theMeroë orKushite queens.
In the fourth century, bishopAthanasius ofAlexandria consecrated Marcus as bishop ofPhilae before his death in 373, showing thatChristianity had permanently penetrated the region.John of Ephesus records that aMonophysite priest named Julian converted the king and his nobles of Nobatia around 545 and another kingdom of Alodia converted around 569. By the 7th centuryMakuria expanded becoming the dominant power in the region so strong enough to halt the southern expansion ofIslam after theArabs had taken Egypt. After several failed invasions the new rulers agreed to a treaty with Dongola allowing for peaceful coexistence and trade. This treaty held for six hundred years allowing Arab traders introducing Islam to Nubia and it gradually supplantedChristianity. The last recorded bishop wasTimothy atQasr Ibrim in 1372.
^abHitchcock, Susan Tyler; Esposito, John L. (2004).Geography of Religion: Where God Lives, where Pilgrims Walk. National Geographic Society. p. 281.ISBN978-0-7922-7313-4.By the year 100, more than 40 Christian communities existed in cities around the Mediterranean, including two in North Africa, at Alexandria and Cyrene, and several in Italy.
^abBokenkotter, Thomas S. (2004).A Concise History of the Catholic Church. Doubleday. p. 18.ISBN978-0-385-50584-0.The story of how this tiny community of believers spread to many cities of the Roman Empire within less than a century is indeed a remarkable chapter in the history of humanity.
^abP. H. R. van Houwelingen, "Fleeing forward: The departure of Christians from Jerusalem to Pella",Westminster Theological Journal 65 (2003), 181–200.
^St. James the LessCatholic Encyclopedia: "Then we lose sight of James till St. Paul, three years after his conversion (A.D. 37), went up to Jerusalem. ... On the same occasion, the "pillars" of the Church, James, Peter, and John "gave to me (Paul) and Barnabas theright hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the Gentiles, and they unto the circumcision" (Galatians 2:9)."
^Kohler, Kaufmann;Hirsch, Emil G.;Jacobs, Joseph; Friedenwald, Aaron;Broydé, Isaac."Circumcision: In Apocryphal and Rabbinical Literature".Jewish Encyclopedia.Kopelman Foundation. Retrieved3 January 2020.Contact with Grecian life, especially at the games of the arena [which involvednudity], made this distinction obnoxious to the Hellenists, or antinationalists; and the consequence was their attempt to appear like the Greeks byepispasm ("making themselves foreskins"; I Macc. i. 15; Josephus, "Ant." xii. 5, § 1; Assumptio Mosis, viii.; I Cor. vii. 18; Tosef., Shab. xv. 9; Yeb. 72a, b; Yer. Peah i. 16b; Yeb. viii. 9a). All the more did the law-observing Jews defy the edict ofAntiochus Epiphanes prohibiting circumcision (I Macc. i. 48, 60; ii. 46); and the Jewish women showed their loyalty to the Law, even at the risk of their lives, by themselves circumcising their sons.
^Neusner, Jacob (1993).Approaches to Ancient Judaism, New Series: Religious and Theological Studies. Scholars Press. p. 149.Circumcisedbarbarians, along with any others who revealed theglans penis, were the butt of ribaldhumor. ForGreek art portrays the foreskin, often drawn in meticulous detail, as an emblem of male beauty; and children with congenitally short foreskins were sometimes subjected to a treatment, known asepispasm, that was aimed at elongation.
^Catholic Encyclopedia: Jerusalem (A.D. 71–1099): "Epiphanius (d. 403) says that when the Emperor Hadrian came to Jerusalem in 130 he found the Temple and the whole city destroyed save for a few houses, among them the one where the Apostles had received the Holy Ghost. This house, says Epiphanius, is "in that part of Sion which was spared when the city was destroyed" – therefore in the "upper part ("De mens. et pond.", cap. xiv). From the time of Cyril of Jerusalem, who speaks of "the upper Church of the Apostles, where the Holy Ghost came down upon them" (Catech., ii, 6; P.G., XXXIII), there are abundant witnesses of the place. A great basilica was built over the spot in the fourth century; the crusaders built another church when the older one had been destroyed by Hakim in 1010. It is the famous Coenaculum or Cenacle – now a Moslem shrine – near the Gate of David, and supposed to be David's tomb (Nebi Daud).";Epiphanius'Weights and Measures at tertullian.org.14: "For this Hadrian..."
^It was still known asAelia at the time of the First Council of Nicaea, which marks the end of the Early Christianity period (Canon VII of the First Council of Nicaea).
^Schaff'sSeven Ecumenical Councils: First Nicaea: Canon VII: "Since custom and ancient tradition have prevailed that the Bishop ofAelia [i.e., Jerusalem] should be honoured, let him, saving its due dignity to the Metropolis, have the next place of honour."; "It is very hard to determine just what was the "precedence" granted to the Bishop of Aelia, nor is it clear which is the metropolis referred to in the last clause. Most writers, including Hefele, Balsamon, Aristenus and Beveridge consider it to beCæsarea; while Zonaras thinks Jerusalem to be intended, a view recently adopted and defended by Fuchs; others again suppose it isAntioch that is referred to."
^Quinisext Canon 36 from Schaff'sSeven Ecumenical Councils at ccel.org: "we decree that the see of Constantinople shall have equal privileges with the see of Old Rome, and shall be highly regarded in ecclesiastical matters as that is, and shall be second after it. After Constantinople shall be ranked the See of Alexandria, then that of Antioch, and afterwards the See of Jerusalem."
^Cross, F. L., ed. (2005). "Antioch".The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. New York: Oxford University Press.
^Cross, F. L., ed. (2005). "patriarch (ecclesiastical)".The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. New York: Oxford University Press.Their jurisdiction extended over the adjoining territories ... The earliest bishops exercising such powers... were those of Rome (over the whole or part of Italy), Alexandria (over Egypt and Libya), and Antioch (over large parts of Asia Minor). These three were recognized by the Council of Nicaea (325).
^Catholic EncyclopediaAlexandria: "An important seaport of Egypt, on the left bank of the Nile. It was founded by Alexander the Great to replace the small borough called Racondah or Rakhotis, 331 B.C. The Ptolemies, Alexander's successors on the throne of Egypt, soon made it the intellectual and commercial metropolis of the world. Cæsar who visited it 46 B.C. left it to Queen Cleopatra, but when Octavius went there in 30 B.C. he transformed the Egyptian kingdom into a Roman province. Alexandria continued prosperous under the Roman rule but declined a little under that of Constantinople. ... Christianity was brought to Alexandria by the EvangelistSt. Mark. It was made illustrious by a lineage of learned doctors such as Pantænus, Clement of Alexandria, and Origen; it has been governed by a series ofgreat bishops amongst whom Athanasius and Cyril must be mentioned."
^Philip Schaff'sHistory of the Christian Church, volume 3, section 79: "The Time of the Easter Festival": "...this was the second main object of the first ecumenical council in 325. The result of the transactions on this point, the particulars of which are not known to us, does not appear in the canons (probably out of consideration for the numerous Quartodecimanians), but is doubtless preserved in the two circular letters of the council itself and the emperor Constantine. [Socrates: Hist. Eccl. i. 9; Theodoret: H. E. i. 10; Eusebius: Vita Const ii. 17.]"
^Pearson, Birger A. (2006) [1990]. "Friedländer Revisited: Alexandrian Judaism and Gnostic Origins".Gnosticism, Judaism, and Egyptian Christianity. Studies in Antiquity and Christianity. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Fortress Press. p. 11.ISBN9781451404340. Retrieved12 May 2025.Friedländer put forth the thesis that Gnosticism is a pre-Christian phenomenon which originated in antinomian circles in the Jewish community of Alexandria.
^van den Broek, Roelof (26 October 2020) [1996]. "Preface". Invan den Broek, Roelof (ed.).Studies in Gnosticism and Alexandrian Christianity. Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies ISSN 0929-2470, volume 39. Leiden: Brill. p. vii.ISBN9789004439689. Retrieved12 May 2025.Ancient Gnosticism and the beginnings of Alexandrian Christianity are closely connected [...] gnostic teachers played an important part in at least some groups of Alexandrian Christians and [...] their ideas were influential in the formation of an early Alexandrian theology.
^Ferguson, Everett, ed. (8 October 2013) [1990].Encyclopedia of Early Christianity. Garland reference library of the humanities, volume 1839 (2, reprint ed.). Routledge. p. 467.ISBN9781136611582. Retrieved12 May 2025.Gnostic Christian teachers had ties to Alexandria, which had an extensive, educated, and pluralistic Jewish community.
^Catholic Encyclopedia: Asia Minor: Spread of Christianity in Asia Minor: "Asia Minor was certainly the first part of the Roman world to accept as a whole the principles and the spirit of the Christian religion, and it was not unnatural that the warmth of its conviction should eventually fire the neighbouring Armenia and make it, early in the fourth century, the first of the ancient states formally to accept the religion of Christ (Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., IX, viii, 2)."
^Catholic Encyclopedia: Jerusalem (A.D. 71–1099): "As the rank of the various sees among themselves was gradually arranged according to the divisions of the empire, Caesarea became the metropolitan see; the Bishop of Ælia [Jerusalem as renamed by Hadrian] was merely one of its suffragans. The bishops from the siege under Hadrian (135) to Constantine (312) were:".
^"Orthodox Christianity in the 21st Century".Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project. 8 November 2017.Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church has an estimated 36million adherents, nearly 14% of the world's total Orthodox population.
^Philippi:Catholic Encyclopedia "Philippi was the first European town in which St. Paul preached the Faith. He arrived there with Silas, Timothy, and Luke about the end of 52 A.D., on the occasion of his second Apostolic voyage."
^Historians debate whether or not the Roman government distinguished between Christians and Jews prior to Nerva's modification of theFiscus Judaicus in 96. From then on, practising Jews paid the tax, Christians did not. Wylen, Stephen M.,The Jews in the Time of Jesus: An Introduction, Paulist Press (1995),ISBN978-0-8091-3610-0, pp 190–192.; Dunn, James D.G.,Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways, 70 to 135, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing (1999),ISBN978-0-8028-4498-9, pp. 33–34.; Boatwright, Mary Taliaferro & Gargola, Daniel J & Talbert, Richard John Alexander,The Romans: From Village to Empire, Oxford University Press (2004),ISBN978-0-19-511875-9, p. 426.;
^abcdThe Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (Oxford University Press 2005ISBN978-0-19-280290-3), articleRome (early Christian)
^Irenaeus Against Heresies 3.3.2: the "...Church founded and organized at Rome by the two most glorious apostles, Peter and Paul; as also [by pointing out] the faith preached to men, which comes down to our time by means of the successions of the bishops. ...The blessed apostles, then, having founded and built up the Church, committed into the hands of Linus the office of the episcopate."
^"Irenaeus Against Heresies 3.3.2"....[the] Church founded and organized at Rome by the two most glorious apostles, Peter and Paul; as also [by pointing out] the faith preached to men, which comes down to our time by means of the successions of the bishops. ...The blessed apostles, then, having founded and built up the Church, committed into the hands of Linus the office of the episcopate.
^Brown, Raymond E.; Meier, John P. (1983).Antioch and Rome: New Testament Cradles of Christianity. Paulist Press.As for Peter, we have no knowledge at all of when he came to Rome and what he did there before he was martyred. Certainly he wasnot the original missionary who brought Christianity to Rome (and thereforenot the founder of the church of Rome in that sense). There is no serious proof that he was the bishop (or local ecclesiastical officer) of the Roman church—a claim not made till the third century. Most likely he did not spend any major time at Rome before 58 when Paul wrote to the Romans, and so it may have been only in the 60s and relatively shortly before his martyrdom that Peter came to the capital.
^ab"In the life of Peter there is no starting point for a chain of succession to the leadership of the church at large." While Cullmann believed the Matthew 16:18 text is entirely valid and is in no way spurious, he says it cannot be used as "warrant of the papal succession."— "Religion: Peter & the Rock."Time, December 7, 1953.Time.com Accessed October 8, 2009
^Cullmann, Oscar "In the New Testament [Jerusalem] is the only church of which we hear that Peter stood at its head. Of other episcopates of Peter we know nothing certain. Concerning Antioch, indeed ... there is a tradition, first appearing in the course of the second century, according to which Peter was its bishop. The assertion that he was Bishop of Rome we first find at a much later time. From the second half of the second century we do possess texts that mention the apostolicfoundation of Rome, and at this time, which is indeed rather late, this foundation is traced back to Peter and Paul, an assertion that cannot be supported historically. Even here, however, nothing is said as yet of an episcopal office of Peter."
^Schaff'sSeven Ecumenical Councils: The Seventh: Letter to Pope Hadrian: "Therefore, O most holy Head (Caput)", "And after this, may there be no further schism and separation in the one holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, of which Christ our true God is the Head."; Pope Hadrian's letter: "the holy Catholic and Apostolic Roman Church your spiritual mother ... the head of all Churches"; Canon IV: "For Peter the supreme head (ἡ κερυφαία ἀκρότης) of the Apostles"; Letter to the Emperor and Empress: "Christ our God (who is the head of the Church)".
^"Patriarch (ecclesiastical). A title dating from the 6th cent., for the bishops of the five chief sees of Christendom ... Their jurisdiction extended over the adjoining territories ... The earliest bishops exercising such powers, though not so named, were those of Rome (over the whole or part of Italy, Alexandria (over Egypt and Libya), and Antioch (over large parts of Asia Minor))" [Cross, F. L., ed.The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005, articlePatriarch (ecclesiastical)]. "Nobody can maintain that the bishops of Antioch and Alexandria were called patriarchs then, or that the jurisdiction they had then was co-extensive with what they had afterward, when they were so called" (ffoulkes,Dictionary of Christian Antiquities, quoted inVolume XIV of Philip Schaff'sThe Seven Ecumenical Councils).
^Cross, F. L., ed.The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005, article "Victor I, St"
^Gonzáles, Justo L. (2010). "The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation".The Story of Christianity. Vol. 1. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. pp. 91–93.
^Catholic Encyclopedia: Reggio di Calabria: "Through a misinterpretation of Acts 27:13, St. Paul was said to have preached the Gospel there, and to have consecrated his companion, St. Stephen, bishop; it is probable, however, that it was evangelized at an early period. The first bishop known isMark, legate of Pope Sylvester at the Council of Nicaea (325)."
^Portella, Mario Alexis; Woldegaber, O. Cist Abba Abraham Buruk (2012). Pringle, Brendan (ed.).Abyssinian Christianity: The First Christian Nation. Pismo Beach, California: BP Editing.ISBN978-0-615-65297-9.
^Hewson, Robert H. (1975). ""The Primary History of Armenia": An Examination of the Validity of an Immemorially Transmitted Historical Tradition".History in Africa.2:91–100.doi:10.2307/3171466.JSTOR3171466.
^abcdefghA. E. Medlycott,India and The Apostle Thomas, pp. 18–71;M. R. James,Apocryphal New Testament, pp. 364–436;A. E. Medlycott,India and The Apostle Thomas, pp. 1–17, 213–97;Eusebius,History, chapter 4:30;J. N. Farquhar,The Apostle Thomas in North India, chapter 4:30;V. A. Smith,Early History of India, p. 235;L. W. Brown,The Indian Christians of St. Thomas, pp. 49–59.
^von Harnack, Adolph (1905).The Expansion of Christianity in the First Three Centuries. Williams & Norgate. p. 293.there is no doubt that even before 190 A.D. Christianity had spread vigorously within Edessa and its surroundings and that (shortly after 201 or even earlier?) the royal house joined the church
^Cross, F. L., ed.The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005, articleDiatessaron
^Dickens, Mark (1999)."The Church Of The East"(PDF). Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 25 April 2017. Retrieved2023-04-25.We are Christians by the one name of the Messiah. As regards our customs our brethren abstain from everything that is contrary to their profession.... Parthian Christians do not take two wives.... Our Bactrian sisters do not practice promiscuity with strangers. Persians do not take their daughters to wife. Medes do not desert their dying relations or bury them alive. Christians in Edessa do not kill their wives or sisters who commit fornication but keep them apart and commit them to the judgement of God. Christians in Hatra do not stone thieves.
^John Stewart, Nestorian Missionary Enterprise (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1928)
Schnelle, Udo (2020).The First One Hundred Years of Christianity: An Introduction to Its History, Literature, and Development. Translated by Thompson, James W. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic.ISBN978-1-4934-2242-5.
Pelikan, Jaroslav Jan (1975).The Christian Tradition: The Emergence of the Catholic Tradition (100–600). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.ISBN978-0-226-65371-6.
Stark, Rodney (1997).The Rise of Christianity. New York: HarperCollins.ISBN978-0-06-067701-5.
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