This column is part of an extended religion series that the Clarion hopes will inform and enlighten the students and faculty at Sinclair Community College. We encourage you to start discussions and comment on our website at www.sinclairclarion.com and Facebook by searching Clarion Press.
How did Christianity go from being a small, persecuted Jewish sect to the dominant world religion of the Roman Empire and beyond? It all started with a Roman occupied Palestine/Judea. Let’s start with a little history.
A “Messiah”
During this extremely volatile time of brutal oppression, Jews were ready for their long awaited messiah (“anointed one”) to intervene. Long before Christianity’s existence, Jews believed this messiah (or warrior king) would lead a military uprising against the Romans and restore the glory for Israel.
However, when the “King of the Jews” was claimed to have finally arrived, named Yeshua (Jesus in Greek), only a small portion of Jews ended up following this leader. Most Jews felt this carpenter who preached turning the other cheek to an audience of fishermen and lepers didn’t quite fit the bill of their military warrior King. Further, Jews believed their Kingdom would be physical, of this earth while Jesus continually insisted his Kingdom was “not of this world.”
Persecution
Since they were all almost entirely Jewish at first, followers of Jesus were thought to be a “new” kind of Judaism. Their teachings soon expanded to the Gentiles (non-Jews), a very controversial development which planted the seed for some early divisions in the church. These believers would not be called “Christians” until a couple of decades later in the town of Antioch.
As Christianity grew in numbers, heavy persecution followed. Because early Christians denied the divinity of the Emperor and refused to enlist in the Roman army among other rebellions, Roman authorities, such as the Emperor Nero, tortured, burned, and crucified Christians in the streets to make an example. The Book of Revelation is believed to be have been written during this brutal reign – in coded messages – to give hope to those still alive.
One persecutor from Tarsus contributed greatly to the suffering of what he deemed “wayward Jews” until one day, he had a vision, fell off his horse, and became a major driving force behind Christianity’s spread. His name was Saul, or as Christians refer to him – Paul. By making missionary journeys all over the Mediterranean, Paul turned this “new Judaism” into a separate “Christ theology.” With his goal of conversion, he replaced ritual circumcision with baptism instead, which as you can imagine, helped aid his conversion tactics immensely!
The Spread
During the second century, Christianity was still illegal, but spread like wildfire. As it grew in numbers and across cultures, converts began arguing over doctrine, perceptions and beliefs, leading to various splinter groups (prototypes of what now are known as denominations).
In 313, the Emperor Constantine had a vision of a fiery cross in the sky at the Milvian Bridge on his way to the battlefield. While he himself remained pagan, his efforts as a result of this vision contributed to Christianity becoming more widely accepted, especially among the elite and upper class Romans. It was also becoming more infused and influenced by pagan practice, in doctrine, art, music and architecture (examples: protective gargoyles, saints, stained glass windows, “Christmas” trees, etc). Because of Constantine, who established the “new Christian Rome” or Constantinople, Christianity was no longer a religion of the poor and downtrodden, but of the wealthy and dominant, the cross now a symbol of triumph and salvation instead of Roman death. With popularity and prosperity came the dark side of such success, including corruption, class divisions, and disagreement over the “Truth.” The Council of Nicaea in 325 CE established doctrine that would be accepted as “Universal Truth.” Its principles manifested in the Nicene Creed, which is still recited today.
Things came full circle in 379 when the Emperor Theodosius began brutally persecuting anyone who was not a Christian. Christianity was now the legal and sole religion of the empire and other religions were looked upon with suspicion (though many of their practices and beliefs were still very influential). After the fall of Rome (beginning in 410 CE), the only real power left was the Catholic (“Universal”) Church. Like a phoenix rising out of the ashes, the church becomes a powerful force and institution that shapes western civilization and the course of history.
The Creation of Denominations
Catholic Organization
Up until this time, the teachings of Jesus and the writings of the Apostles and Paul had been circulating and told through oral tradition. The many writings were finally compiled into 27 books around 300-400 CE. Written in Greek, the various books of the New Testament were written by several different authors for different purposes and different audiences. Because it covered a much shorter time period than the Hebrew Bible, it resulted in a much smaller volume of material. It was later translated into Latin (called the “Vulgate”) and for a very long time, only priests and the very educated were allowed to read and interpret it. It was not translated into vernaculars (common languages of the people) until centuries later.
For a long time, the Pope (Latin for “Papa”) was simply the Bishop of Rome, but over time, this status was elevated to a position of divine authority and infallibility regarding church matters. St. Augustine, an African bishop and sinner turned saint, codified Catholic doctrines of predestination and free will, the problem of evil, the nature of humanity, and the most influential – the doctrine of Original Sin. During this time, the veneration of saints, use of ritual items and holy pilgrimage rose in popularity as well as the status of Mary. The church declared Mary to be more than a saint, but the Mother of God, as well as a perpetual virgin, herself born of Immaculate Conception.
Several holy wars, known as the Crusades (11th-15th centuries) took place in order to “recover” the Holy Land from the Muslims, but were for the most part, unsuccessful in the eyes of the Church. Amidst all of this violence, mystics like St. Francis of Assisi, St. Catherine, and St. Teresa of Avila, echoing the early desert ascetics, sought peace by rejecting the wealth and corruption of the church, feeling that God was a direct, embodied experience which could not be explained in words or doctrine.
The Protest
Many important historical changes occurred over the next few hundred years, including the Black Plague that killed a third of Europe, invasions, wars, the Renaissance in which new artists and thinkers questioned medieval church values, and the invention of the Printing Press, which allowed mass circulation of literature. Many Catholics began protesting the selling of indulgences (a kind of “buy your way out of purgatory” card) and various other corruptions and scandals within the church. One of these influential protestors was German Catholic monk Martin Luther, who declared Sola Fide, Sola Gratia, Sola Scriptura, or “faith alone, grace alone, scripture alone.” He nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the church, defying papal authority, declaring a universal priesthood in which all should marry and have families, rejecting several sacraments, as well as the veneration of Mary and the saints. Luther refused to recant any of his criticisms and was declared a heretic in 1520 and excommunicated in 1521. The New Testament was soon translated into German, much to the church’s dismay. Soon after, William Tyndale translated the Bible into English. Declared a heretic for this act, Tyndale was strangled and burned at the stake in 1536. (In case you were wondering, Luther was not killed because he had certain connections and protection among famous German princes, something poor Tyndale did not have). Even in the 16th century, it was all about who you knew.
Today
From this Protestant split, we have several hundred denominations of Christianity today, including the early Puritans, Calvinists, and Presbyterians and other more well known sects such as Baptists, Methodists, Nazarene, Brethren, Amish, Mennonites, Anabaptists, Mormons, Church of Christ, Pentecostal, etc. Within these sects are often splinter groups as well, making Christianity a very diverse religion. Besides the counter-reformation in the 16th century, the Catholic Church also went through a dramatic reformation with the Vatican II council in the 1960s, resulting in many modern updates (including changing Latin mass to the vernacular and nuns forsaking their old habits). Whatever denomination, one thing is certain – the history of Christianity has certainly been eventful, diverse and fascinating. And it continues to be as it grows and changes today.