Origins and Growth of Early Christianity

1Why this topic matters

About two thousand years ago, Christianity began with a small group of followers of Jesus in Palestine, a narrow land at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea. Today about 2.3 billion people, including most Rwandans, are Christians. Islam, which began in Arabia in the 7th century, now has about 2 billion followers. How did two faiths spread so far?

The spread of a religion to new people and places is called religious expansion. It happens through preaching, the example of believers, trade, migration, education and, in some periods of history, political power. In this unit you will study how Christianity and Islam spread, and why both faiths today insist that faith must be shared peacefully and accepted freely.

21. Jesus and the first disciples

Jesus was born in Bethlehem and grew up in Nazareth, in Galilee. From about AD 27 he taught and healed in Galilee and Judea, and chose twelve apostles. Around AD 30 he was crucified in Jerusalem under the Roman governor Pontius Pilate. His followers proclaimed that he had risen from the dead.

Before leaving his disciples, Jesus gave them a task that Christians call the Great Commission:

"Go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you." (Matthew 28:19–20)

He also set out a map of how the message would spread:

"You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth." (Acts 1:8)

32. Pentecost: the Church is born

Fifty days after Easter, at the Jewish feast of Pentecost, the disciples received the Holy Spirit. Peter preached to crowds in Jerusalem. The Bible records: "Then those who gladly received his word were baptised. There were added that day about three thousand souls." (Acts 2:41). The new believers "continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and prayer" (Acts 2:42).

43. From Jerusalem to the Roman Empire

• Persecution scattered the believers. After Stephen, the first Christian martyr, was killed, many believers fled from Jerusalem and preached wherever they went.
• Antioch, in Syria, became a great centre: "The disciples were first called Christians in Antioch." (Acts 11:26)
• Paul, once a persecutor, became the greatest missionary. On three missionary journeys (about AD 46–57) he founded churches in Asia Minor (today's Turkey) and Greece, and wrote letters that are now part of the New Testament. He was later taken to Rome.

54. Why Christianity spread quickly

1. Good Roman roads and sea routes, and peace inside the empire.
2. A common language, Greek, understood across the eastern empire.
3. Jewish communities and synagogues in many cities, where the apostles first preached.
4. The care Christians showed for the poor, widows and the sick.
5. The courage of believers who died for their faith (martyrs), for example under the emperor Nero in AD 64.

65. From persecuted faith to state religion

Worked example

Question: Explain two factors that helped Christianity to spread in the Roman Empire. (4 marks)

Model answer: First, Roman roads and sea routes, together with peace in the empire, allowed missionaries such as Paul to travel safely from city to city (2 marks). Second, Greek was spoken across the eastern empire, so the apostles could preach and write letters that many people understood without translation (2 marks).

Practice