The spread of Christianity: The first thousand years

After Jesus was crucified, the apostles wandered around Jerusalem and Galilee, to spread Jesus’s message. They have what’s called a mission. They are missionaries. At this time Christianity is not a separate religion. Those who follow Jesus, the Jesus movement, are a part of judaism.

The first christians follow all the jewish rules and pray in the jewish religious places, the synagogues. Many of those who believed in Jesus thought that people had to convert to judaism, if they wanted to be part of the Jesus movement. But another group believed that God was god over the whole world, and not just the Jewish people. It should therefore be possible for people who haven’t converted to judaism to still be part of the Jesus movement. The apostles meet in Jerusalem to discuss this question.

The apostle Peter believes that you shouldn’t have to convert to judaism. That person over there, that’s a new apostle whose name is Paul. He agrees with Peter. Paul has many thoughts about what it means to be a Christian. According to Paul, God has performed miracles for all people, not just the Jewish people, and therefore it isn’t necessary to convert to judaism.

Peter and Paul’s thoughts will be very influential in Christianity. Rome is burning! It’s a very big fire and the people are very angry. The emperor has to blame someone for the fire. It’ll have to be the Jesus movement.

The authorities start to persecute and execute those who follow Jesus. Those who die because of their religious beliefs are called martyrs. Within the Christian tradition, it is said that both Peter and Paul become martyrs during this time. Meanwhile, things are also happening in Jerusalem. The Jewish people in Jerusalem don’t want to be ruled by the Romans anymore; they want to decide for themselves.

A long and brutal war breaks out, and the temple in Jerusalem is burned down by the Romans. The Jewish people spread widely throughout the region, while the Romans destroy large parts of Jerusalem. Since it is forbidden for many in the Roman empire to belong to the Jesus movement, the followers decide to meet in secret. During this time Christianity becomes a separate religion. After hundreds of years of persecution, there is a new emperor: Constantine.

And he becomes a Christian himself! Now Christianity is allowed! Since the different Christian groups spread to many other cultures during this time, many different thoughts have appeared about what Christianity means. There are many different holy texts that say many different things. That’s why the leaders, or bishops, from the various Christian churches, meet in the city of Nicaea.

This meeting is called the council of Nicaea. Here they decide what is the right thing to believe, and what is wrong. The council decides that there is only one God, and that Jesus is the son of God, but also that Jesus is of the same essence as God, therefore another form of God. But not everyone follows everything the Council of Nicaea tells them to do. They don’t agree.

Some of these are persecuted by other Christians. Fifty years later, the Roman Empire has another emperor: Theodosius the first. Now Christianity isn’t just allowed, it is the official religion in the whole of the Roman Empire. Suddenly, people are persecuted if they aren’t Christian. The Roman Empire is no longer as large and powerful as it once was.

But Christianity is still growing. Missionaries travel to many parts of the world to convince people to become Christians, to convert them. Christianity spreads across all of Western Europe, parts of Northern Africa, and also eastwards towards India, and even China. But eventually a new religion, Islam, emerges. The muslims are now spreading their message, and conquer many cities that were once Christian.

Christianity is threatened. What is going to happen next?