History of Christianity : Introduction To The Region

Three days after Jesus’ crucifixion, on what is now Easter, three women returned to his tomb to anoint his body and discovered the tomb empty. An angel announced that Jesus had been resurrected. Jesus subsequently appeared to the Disciples and performed miracles. Later, on Pentecost, the Disciples were given “tongues of fire,” and were directed to spread the Gospel (Greek for “good news"). At first, Christianity was a sect of Judaism, accepting the Hebrew Bible. Gradually, it diverged further and further, as it proclaimed that Jesus was the Christ (a translation of Messiah) and began to accept uncircumcised members into the faith. The Book of Acts documents these early Christians, and the Letters of Paul, which comprise most of the rest of the New Testament, gave advice to the early Christian communities.

In 325 AD, the Roman Emperor Constantine ended the persecution and martyrdom of Christians, and made Christianity the official religion of the ailing Empire. He convened the Council of Nicea, which came up with an explicit creed. The Church Fathers declared that Jesus Christ was of the same essence as the Father, and that there were three equal parts to God. This caicial doctrine of the trinity maintains that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinct persons yet all one God.