Early Christianity

History of Christianity

Christianity is a religion encompassing on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ conforming to the belief that there is only one God . Since its beginnings in the ministry of Christ as a Jewish sect , Christianity has spread to various neighboring regions and to the Roman Empire in the 4th century . The influence of Christian faith to the Roman Empire is attributed to Emperor Constantine who issued religious toleration in the Edict of Milan

Primarily , Roman persecution of Christians were rampant during the reign of Emperor Nero , the

latter blamed Christian for the great fire of Rome . In the year 150 , Christian leaders otherwise called the Church fathers started producing theological texts implying apology to defend Christianity (McManners , 2002 . The Battle of Milvian Bridge was constantines turning point as the Roman emperor saw a cross upon looking at the sun prior to the battle 's beginning . Constantine subsequently commanded his army to embellish their shields with Christian insignias which consequently made them the victors of the battle (McManners 2002 . Though Constantine 's account was the turning point of Roman Christianization , It was emperor Theodosius who enacted the legislation decreeing Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire in 380 . Theodosius ' enacment was then followed by the acceptance of the Canon of the Bible by the Council of Rome (McManners , 2002

Medieval leaders united Europe in a progression of several missionary work , initially on the nearby barbarian territories (McManners , 2002 The doctrines of Christianity , particularly , Catholicism soon spread among the German population and the Scandinavians . Saint Benedict 's establishment of the monastic rule also contributed to the Eropean unification as a set of systematized regulations for monasteries (McManners , 2002 . In any case , the division and long lastinf conflicts among Europeans during the Medieval period was united by a single fundamental element , thetheir faith

References

McManners , J (2002 . The Oxford history of Christianity . Oxfordshire Oxford University Press

Christianity PAGE 2...