History of the Christan Community

br Over the past two thousands years , the Christian Church has experienced a rapid increase of converts as well as increased influence on the world stage . With over two billion Christians in this world and Western Culture being shaped by Christianity as well as numerous places around the world , Christianity can be seen as the most influential religion in the world today . But that certainly was not always the case . For hundreds of years following the death of Jesus , Christianity could accurately be described as a sect . In Jewish and Roman cultures

Christianity was against the law and Roman authorities set forth hundreds if not thousands of crucifixions of Christians . Of Jesus twelve disciples , only John died of natural causes while the other eleven were put to death for their belief and preaching of the divinity of Jesus . Christians were on the fringe of society during that time . And even after Constantine made Christianity the official religion of Roman culture , the old established religions that served Rome for a thousand years , would not die easily but rather there was a slowly but steady progression from the Christian sect to the Christian Church that seemed to dominate Western culture throughout the middle ages in a way that no other force ever did

Early Christianity began as a Jewish sect of the followers of Jesus during the late Second Temple period of the 1st century . From the beginning , Christians were subject to various persecutions . This involved even death for Christians such as Stephen and James the brother of John . Saul , who later converted to Christianity and is best known as Paul of Tarsus , the "Apostle to the Gentiles (Rom 11 :13 , Gal 2 :8 ) The Holy Bible . 2000 . London : Oxford Press , was a vigorous agent (Acts 9 :1-2 , Acts 22 :5 ) Ibid in the persecution by the Jerusalem authorities having been present at the stoning of Stephen and approving it Stravinskas , Peter . 1998 . The Catholic Encyclopedia . Huntington , IN Sunday Visitor Pub . Larger persecutions followed at the hands of the authorities of the Roman Empire , beginning in the year 64 , when the Emperor Nero blamed them for that year 's great Fire of Rome . In spite of these persecutions , the Christian religion continued its spread throughout the Mediterranean Basin . During this time , Christianity continued many of the patterns of Judaism , adapting to Christian use of synagogue worship , prayer , use of Sacred Scripture , a priesthood , a religious calendar commemorating on certain days each year certain events and /or beliefs , use of music in worship , giving material support to the religious leadership , and practices such as fasting , charity and baptism ' Smith , Katherine . 1956 . The First Jewish Christians . Chicago Pocket Books . So in that way , the religion was still considered a sect and had not made its own name as an independent religion on its own

One of the reasons Christianity went from a sect to what could be considered a church was the steady increase of size and influence of Christianity . Christians went from worshiping in...