Few would argue against the historic importance of Christianity. The very way our culture measures time is, in fact, based on the birth of Jesus. However, for all the importance tha Christianity holds it is still not very well understood by most people. The events surrounding the early years of the Church can be quite convoluted at times. However, by looking further into the early Church it’s possible to better understand our present.

The first thing one needs to understand is the difference between the teaching of Christ and the Church itself. One might say that Christianity began with Jesus and the Church only came into benig after his death. The main reason for this is the nature of the message. One doesn’t really need a solid infrastructure of a religion when the figurehead is walking about and answering questions. It’s only when the answers are difficult to come by that one finds need of a solid body of people to help. Read more »

From its humble beginnings, Christianity had, within three hundred years, spread throughout the Mediterranean region. The coming centuries would see the explosive growth of Christianity well beyond confines of its birthplace. What exactly is it that helped Christianity to spread so rapidly in a time when traditional beliefs were ingrained in the population?

There are actually several factors that helped the spread of Christianity. Factors such as the promise of life after death, a community positive message and the unity of the faith as a whole are often acknowledged but the adoption of orthodoxy across Christianity played a greater role then some might think.

The major problem early Christianity suffered from was the disparity of its message. The accepted beliefs in one town might vary greatly from those one town over. Read more »