a brief essay on the development of christianity

Christianity developed as it did due to historical, political, and social circumstances. Major historical factors that contributed to the development of Christianity can be traced as far back as the Greek era when Alexander the Great was ruler. The history of the development of this religion leads all the way up to the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, where after Christianity began. During the early stages of Christianity as well as during the more recent years, there were many political and social influences which led to changes within the religion.

The history of the Jews leading up to the time of Jesus had a major impact on the development of Christianity. Alexander the Great conquered Jerusalem in 332 BCE and began a process of Hellenization, or the imposing of Greek culture and language. Soon after Antiochus IV took over and desecrated the temple and oppressed the Jews by building an alter to the Greek god Zeus between 175 and 164 BCE. The Macabees, a Jewish family, revolt successfully and being the Hasmonean dynasty to replace Greek rule between 134 and 63 BCE. During this time Apocalypticism develops which has a strong association with a belief in the coming of a messiah and a near end. The book of Daniel is written, which discusses the afterlife as a resurrection of the body rather than the survival of the soul. Also during this time, the Pharisees developed as well as the Sadducees. The Pharisees become important for Christianity because they believed in the resurrection of the dead and the coming of a messiah. Around 37 BCE and leading up to the birth of Christ, the Herodian Period was going on. Herod the Great was the ruler over the Jews, which he despised, despite his own Jewish heritage. Herod did however restore the temple for political reasons, but this left the Jewish people impoverished.

Around 4 BCE Jesus of Nazareth was born, bringing about a new religion: Christianity. Jesus’ teaching were apocalyptic in that he preached the nearness of the Kingdom of God. He taught, like well-know Pharisee Hillel, to love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus sacrificed himself for the people of the world, asking his disciples to follow example. He taught his followers servitude, to put themselves last, to love their enemies, to be morally straight and pure, and to put God above all else. After Jesus was killed by the Romans, the belief came about that He rose from the dead. This allowed many to believe He truly was the Son of God, and not just another failed messiah. This led Christians to reinterpret some of their beliefs, because Jesus had not brought about the Kingdom of God, nor radical peace, due to the wars still going on. Christians decided the radical peace was meant to be a spiritual inner peace and the Kingdom of God was in the hearts of Christians; and that the earthly aspect of the kingdom would be fulfilled upon His return.

During the time of the early church, Saul the Pharisee converted to Christianity, against which he had been leading persecution, and became Paul. Due to his Roman citizenship, Paul was able to travel the Mediterranean world as a missionary. He gave gentiles who found it too complicated to convert to Judaism a new option: Christianity. This also allowed them to receive baptism rather than circumcision, which was considered mutilation of the body by the Greeks and Romans. Paul established the difference between Judaism and Christianity by putting the focus on salvation, rather than adherence to the Jewish law.

Soon there was more persecution, this time for the Christians. They were accused of cannibalism, due to the claim during communion that the wine and bread are the blood and flesh of Jesus Christ. Christians were forced to reinterpret some of their beliefs again, because many of the people that lived during Jesus’ time were dying and he had not yet returned. They decided Jesus’ return would happen in the future and they must wait for that time. There were also a lot of social changes brought about, such as the marriage of church leaders. These changes took place in order for Christianity to be more widely accepted. Then in 70 ACE the temple was destroyed by the Romans, which led to the writing of the Gospels. This brought about a lot of tension between the Christians and the Jews, thus the Pharisees are talked about in a very negative light in the gospels. After the destruction of the temple, the only remaining Jews were the Pharisees. This was because the Sadducees’ sole place of worship had been destroyed and the Essenes had died out in a war they caused.

There were quite a few advances in Christianity during the fourth century. Emperor Constantine signed the Edict of Milan in 313 ACE, which ended the persecution of Christians. Then in 324 he declared Christianity a legally recognized state religion, in order to bring about political unity. This was good for the Christian because it brought an end to persecution of the Church and it allowed Christianity to expand. However, it also led to a mix of church and state, which in later years led to scandals. Also in the fourth century, the New Testament cannon was developed and accepted. The Septuagint became the Old Testament with the Apocrypha. Ecumenical Councils were set up in order to develop the doctrine of the Trinity and the doctrine of Christ. They primarily focused on concluding on what Christianity is not. The decisions made in these councils are still widely accepted in church beliefs today.

During the eleventh century there was a split between the eastern and western churches. This was due mainly because of differences of opinion on the use of Latin for worship, the celibacy of clergy, the use of icons, and the supremacy of the pope. Soon after the split, there was a major crusade by the Catholics in which many Eastern Orthodox Christians were slaughtered. In 1550 the textus receptus was written by Stephanus and humanist Erasmus, which became the basis for the King James Version of the Bible. Also during this century Martin Luther and John Calvin brought about a radical split from the Catholic Church: Protestantism. The belief was that salvation is not through works but through faith alone and that the Bible was to be the solitary authority on matters of faith, as opposed to the Bible and church tradition. The Bible was also made open to the public through translations into vernacular and the use of the printing press.

Shortly following this major split in Christianity, several other splits were approaching. Out of the Protestants came the Anabaptists and the Anglicans, the hippies of the reformation and the Anglo-Catholics. Anabaptists threw out infant baptism, made church membership voluntary, and rejected a state church. They were pacifists, very communal, and ignorant of established governments. The Anglicans however maintained many Catholic traditions. Since this split in Christianity, many other splits have followed thus leading to thousands of new denominations worldwide. Christianity has become the largest world religion with missionaries all over the globe. Thus, the development of this religion known as Christianity was brought about through historical, political, and social means.