Early Christianity
Overview
In the early decades of the first century A.D., Jesus of Nazareth preached that He was the Christ, the long-promised Messiah. Following Christ’s crucifixion, the number of Christians began to expand dramatically. Later in the early fourth century, the Roman Emperor Constantine announced his own conversion and ended the persecution of Christians. The acceptance of Christianity raised questions about the proper relationship between religion and politics.
Recommended Readings
Christianity proposed a radical community consisting of heretofore neglected groups such as women, socially unacceptable types such as tax collectors, children, and slaves. None of these groups would have endeared the Christian message to the Greco-Roman cultural context. Nonetheless, Christianity seemed to have a wide appeal and spread quite rapidly; however, not without significant opposition. Christianity appeared to be just one of the several mystery religions arising from the East. In the socially conservative Roman world tradition was favored and innovation was not. Begrudgingly, over time, some of these Eastern religions, including Christianity, spread quite far and penetrated even to higher social circles within Rome itself. In the religious economy of the time Christianity had an appealing message to those Romans who had doubts about the efficacy of traditional Roman religion and philosophy.