The History of the Christian Community

p The early Christian Church of the first century was a wide and varied array of multiple secret sects that quickly spread and permeated along Jewish and Roman cultures . These early Christians were fraught with the alienation of their religion as well as fear of severe persecution that could very well lead to death , as it did for thousands of Christians during that time . According to The Acts of the Apostles and other church records , eleven of Jesus ' twelve disciples met untimely deaths as a result of their belief in the divinity of

Jesus . Christians met severe opposition from the Jewish community because of Jesus ' proclamation that he was the messiah that had been prophesized in the Old Testament and was seen as blasphemy . Persecution by the Roman authorities came out of a fear of losing power and authority over the region . It would not be until the fall of the Roman Empire in the beginning of the 5th century did Christians start to enjoy the spread of their religion and influence that was seen throughout the Middle Ages up until contemporary society The early Christians wore out their welcome in Jewish society can be seen in the New Testament and with Roman culture , in the historical accounts of the reign of Nero and Diocletian and in the general suspicion towards the early Christians

The New Testament reports that the earliest followers of Jesus suffered persecution at the hands of the Jewish leadership of the day . The first Christians were born and raised under Judaism , as Christianity began as a sect out of Judaism . The earliest examples of Jewish persecution of Christians could better be understood perhaps as examples of Jewish persecution of other Jews ' Stravinkas , Peter . 1998 . The Catholic Encyclopedia . Huntington , IN : Sunday Visitor Pub . This could be seen as such due to the fact that the early Christians kept so much of the ceremonial customs of their Jewish counterparts . They organized a synagogue , worshiped and brought animals for ritual sacrifice at the Jerusalem Temple . They observed the Jewish holy days , practiced circumcision of their male children . Another thing that the Jews and Jewish Christians had in common was the much larger persecution by the Roman authorities during this time . Even though there were many similarities between Jewish and Christian culture at the time , there was no love loss between the two groups during that time

As it is accounted in The Acts of the Apostles and other books written in The New Testament by Paul , stoning and calls for other forms of death for proclaiming that Jesus is the son of God , which was in direct conflict to the strongly held beliefs of the Jewish leaders , was widely used . Jesus disciples appear to have regrouped later in Jerusalem under the leadership of James which was one of Jesus ' brothers . The group viewed themselves as a reform movement within Judaism . Many were killed enslaved , or scattered during the Roman attack on Jerusalem in 70 CE According to the New Testament...