Christianity
By Merry Wiesner-Hanks
Christianity emerged among a Jewish population living under Roman rule. The teachings of Jesus Christ included a universalism that appealed to many different communities. Today its many sects and churches include over 2 billion practitioners worldwide.
Christianity first developed during the early Roman Empire, when there was a lot of blending of cultures, languages, and customs, and it was relatively simple to move about and interchange ideas and practices via highways and sea routes. It began in the Roman province of Judaea, when anti-Roman groups were flourishing among the Jews. Many Jews believed that a last battle was approaching, and that it would result in the arrival of a savior, or Messiah, who would defeat the Empire and usher in an era of pleasure and more than enough Jews.
The teachings and memory of Jesus have persisted and thrived. Believers in his divinity and resurrection gathered in small groups, frequently in each other's houses. With his followers, they observed a rite remembering his final meal. They expected Jesus' coming any day now. Early Christians addressed one another as brother and sister, a novel metaphorical usage of family terminology under the Roman Empire. Paul of Tarsus was a well-educated Jew who fit well in among the Romans. Following his conversion, Paul toured across the Roman Empire, advocating Jesus' beliefs and penning widely disseminated letters of guidance. His works expanded on Jesus' principles and became part of Christian tradition. Men and women from various socioeconomic backgrounds were among the first Christian converts. People were drawn to Christian teachings for a plethora of ways: they promised a blissful life after death to all who believed; they emphasized the ideal of striving for a goal; they urged concern for the poor; and they provided an individuality, community, and spiritual identity that was welcome in the Roman Empire's often highly mobile world.
Christianity was evolving by the second century CE. The expectation that Jesus would return quickly faded. As the number of converts grew, permanent institutions were formed, including vast worship halls and a hierarchy of officials based after the Roman Empire's priests, bishops, and archbishops. Christianity became more concentrated and formalized. Christian educated persons produced sophisticated theological interpretations of topics that were not obvious in early writings. They worked out understandings of such questions as how Jesus could also be both divine and human, and how God could be both a parent and a son, often depending on Greek philosophy. Through judgments made by church councils, these perspectives became official theology. However, not everybody agreed with these judgments, and theological disagreements led to the development of other branches.
Although Christianity possessed sacred books, most individuals in the ancient world couldn't read, therefore rituals played a larger role in the pathogenesis of Christian doctrines than texts. Saints' adoration, including that of Jesus' mother Mary, became particularly prominent. Saints were those who lived (or died) in a spiritually heroic or notable manner. They were thought to offer protection and help, and anything associated with them, such as their bones or clothes, became powerful relics. Saints' days afforded respite and celebration, and churches that contained saints' relics became destinations of pilgrimage for those seeking aid or blessing.
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