Irvin And Sunquist Summary

Outline some of the early disagreements within Christianity. See (Christianity for the First 3,000 Years) for details. Consider the nature of Jesus, the Gnostic gospels, the Council of Nicaea etc.

Christianity was born in western civilization, in Rome. Christianity may be one of the single most influential factor in modern culture, and it came completely from western civilization. Stark argues that most history courses do not educate students in the ways that Christianity has affected culture, which creates a largely inaccurate portrayal of the interaction between history and culture. Personally, in the western civilization course that I took we discussed the role of Christianity quite often and even my atheist professor admitted that Christianity had shaped culture in a way that nothing else ever

Christianity is one of the biggest religions that is still currently practiced today in society. However in the Middle Ages, it was perhaps the biggest religion in the world. So much so that they would go on crusades to either kill their enemies or converting them into Christianity. Ironically, it has been stated that Christians should love and respect everybody, including their enemies. Nonetheless, there has been works that portray Christians as battle-ready warriors and there are other works that tries to explain the understanding and purpose to Christianity. As such, depending on the books and/or poems, there can be many perspectives of Christianity. Even within 500 years from the Early Middle Ages to the Late Middle Ages, the viewpoints

Christianity was born and flourished in an empire where the common language was Latin and Greek. Two important people like Paul and Constantine further influenced and were a major part of the development of Christianity. The history of the Jews leading up to the time of Jesus had a major impact on the development of Christianity. “When Christianity was clearly identified as a distant religion, the new religion was considered by its members to be the fulfillment of Judaism rather than a new religion.” “Since Jesus was a Jew and preached to the Jews, Christianity was closely linked to Judaism.” The development of Christianity was due to several historical, political, and social circumstances.

Christianity during the early century was very difficult for many Christians. As many Christians were persecuted for not worshipping pagan gods.

As a religious/philosophical system, Christianity is one of the most prominent on Earth today. From 30A.D. to 1000A.D., Christianity had undergone some of its most vigorous changes while maintaining its core qualities through the Apostolic/Ante-Nicene Period, the First Seven Ecumenical Councils, and the Middle Ages.

The evidence that exists to prove the diversity of the early Christian community is the many other writings which have been discovered by historians from the same time period (Harris 2014). In addition, the writings reveal that each separate group of Christians from this era had their own understanding of what Jesus was teaching His followers. The “fifth gospel” of Thomas paints the picture of Jesus as a guide towards His disciples by enlightening them with the message that God’s Kingdom already rules, but many people would not believe him. The portrait that Thomas provokes is an example of the diversity of the early writers and several of his ideas are similar to Matthew, Mark, and Luke (Harris 2014).

It only seemed natural for the Orthodox East and the Catholic West to have a series of elements differentiating them from each-other. However, it is actually surprising that most of these differences emerged as a result of cultural practices influencing each branch of Christianity. Individuals in the East developed innovative methods of putting across Christian thinking and managed to create a cult that largely differed from the one in the West. In spite of the fact that the Byzantine Empire shrank across time, it managed to induce intense feelings in communities neighboring it. Some of these influences can be

Hagner, D., Hengel, M. & Barrett, C. (1999). Conflicts and challenges in early Christianity. Harrisburg, Pa: Trinity Press International.

In the novel title “The Lost History of Christianity”, author Philip Jenkins attempts to convey the message that there are many aspects of Christianity that are unknown to Christian followers today. Jenkins start by implying that Christianity essentially starts in Northern Mesopotamia. Jenkins then traces the history of Christianity from Africa to the Arab world to the heart of Asia, in what he consider to be the “golden age” of Christianity. He informs the readers of the stories of churches and movements that thrived over a millennium and then largely died out, though there are remnants of these churches here and there, spread across different parts of the world. Jenkins is a firm believer that Westerners are blinded by the impression the Christianity began in Europe and Northern America, and believe that in some ways they are superior among other religions. Jenkins suggest, “When they think about Christian history, most modern Westerners follow the book of Acts in concentrating on the church 's expansion west, through Greece and the Mediterranean world, and on to Rome. But while some early Christians were indeed moving west, many other believers-probably in greater numbers-journeyed east along the land routes, through what we today call Iraq and Iran, where they built great and enduring churches. Because of its location-close to Roman frontier, but just far enough beyond it to avoid heavy-handed interference-Mesopotamia or Iraq retained a powerful terms of the number and

Many believe that the writings of early Church Fathers were lectured to different sects. In fact, one may assume that there are Similarities and differences between Tertullian and Justin Martyr. Particularly, let’s compare Tertullian’s and Justin Martyr perspective of faith, reason, and philosophy! Justin Martyr is Known as the defender of the faith (Tony lane), (p.10) He looked for truth in Greek philosophy. Likewise, his apology is in defense of the Christian faith and belief of Christianity. Of the writings that subsist, his First Apology (c. 155 c.e.; English translation, 1861) contains a resilient appeal for justice lectured to Antoninus. In that work, he clarifies Christian morals to influence his reader of Christian faithfulness and honesty. However, also central to this writing is his claim that Hebrew prophecy and Greek philosophy, both informed by the divine Logos (the Word), pointed to the coming of Christ. Through such dispute, he facilitated to institute the early Christian theme which faith is greater than Greek philosophy and is the result of Judaic belief. In Justin’s awareness, merely those who were controlled by fears failed to recognize these facts. His Second Apology (c.

Christians are usually viewed in the same way, from one perspective. The perspective in which Christians are viewed is one created by themselves. Robert L. Wilkin’s main purpose for the book The Christians as the Romans Saw Them was to provide his audience with another viewpoint, one of Greeks and Romans. Wilkin describes this book as “a portrayal of pagan criticism of Christianity from its beginning in the early second century to the time of Julian in the late fourth century,” (Wilkin, xvii). Wilkin’s intent in his writing of the book is to analyze what pagan observers once said and then, attempts to coincide their views with the religious and social impacts of the world.

There are many different components that make up the Christian religion and ideology. The chapters and stories that made it into the Bible are what people see as the foundation of the different denominations of Christianity. However, what a lot of people do not realize is that there are several stories that did not make it into the Bible as well as a few denominations that have become “forgotten.” Those lost stories and denominations are the focus of Bart Ehrman’s book, Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew. The book was split into three parts and then each part had between three and five chapters. Part one discussed different discoveries that were made throughout Christian history. The second part covered the different types of Christianity that were fighting for power and competing against each other to be the successful form of Christianity. Lastly, the third section shows which texts and beliefs gained popularity and formed the Christian religion that is practiced today.

Throughout history, Christianity always had a reputation, or a “name” following it. Different perspectives approached the reputation that was attached to Christianity in different manners. Justin Martyr and Porphyry had objectives when defining whether this “name” really defined Christianity and the past. They wondered whether the past really represented Christianity. Additionally they honed in on the question of was the past that people represented as Christianity really the roots of Christianity? All around Porphyry and Justin was perceptions of what Christianity rooted from and stood for.

Gonzales, Justo L. The Story of Christianity: The Early Church to the Present Day. Peabody,