Christianity

When it comes to Christianity, I find that although I am a Christian myself, I know little there is to know about the entire faith. Christianity is obviously based on the life and death of Christ, as he is the savior, but it was truly the disciples and apostles that made Christianity what it is today. Upon watching The Rise of Christianity: First Thousand Years, I have a better knowledge of the early years of Christianity, and luckily, this time the movie was on DVD, what an upgrade.

Jesus’ death can be accounted by the Roman Empire as an effort to squash the rebellion of these new beliefs. He is said to be executed because of treason, and after his demise, Simon Peter claimed to see Jesus after his burial and watched him resurrect into heaven. However, the disciples did not know what to do until the Holy Spirit came to them on the last day of Pentecost placing flames over their heads and giving them the ability to go spread the word of the Lord. This is the day the new religion was born, and from that day forward, there was a movement of people to spread the word of the Lord.

Although most people dictate Simon Peter to be the first leader of the church, it is actually James the Just, Jesus’ brother. There is still a debate today over the relationship James had with Jesus, but he is considered to be the first leader of the church. However, the biggest movement of Christianity would not start with either of these two men, but instead would start with a man who first started out persecuting Christians. This is Paul, and it is said that the Lord came to Paul one day while he was traveling, forced him to the ground, and said this is Jesus your lord. From that day on, Paul would be the person who headed the movement of Christianity.

Paul traveled all over the area spreading the word of God, but he is the first person to travel to Rome to spread the word of God. At first, the movement went well as gentiles could become Christians immediately and did not need to be Jewish beforehand. However, Paul was eventually imprisoned by the Roman Government as the views of Christianity went against the views of the gods of the Roman Empire. Eventually others arrive in Rome, Simon Peter is of importance, and continue to spread the word of God. However, Rome orders that any Christian be persecuted, and this starts the darkest era for the Christians. Paul is beheaded, and Simon Peter is crucified upside down. Some would think the end of Christianity, but the religion continued to grow.

It was not till Christians added Roman rituals and customs were brought into the Christianity worshipping did the persecutions stop. The persecutions soon died out with time as more and more Romans began worshipping of the religion. This was great for Christianity as they now had a basis for their religion and strength behind their religion. This is very interesting to me how this all came about because there are several parts that are unclear about what was really happening in Christianity. Unlike Islam, many people were spreading the word of Jesus, and that is why there was so much evolution of the religion as many people were putting forth their opinions. However it is important to understand that the disciples of Jesus were the ones who created and spread Christianity and not Jesus himself.