2. Historical Sources
• We have quite detailed historical sources for the
early years of Christianity after Christ…
• The Acts of the Apostles was a second book
written by the Greek physician Luke
• Many of the epistles (letters) refer to incidents,
heresies, issues, people and churches
• As Christianity became a growing force other
writers and commentators started to make
reference to it… not always in a complimentary
way!
6. Context for early Christianity
• Pax Romana (the Peace of Roam) meant all of
Europe and the middle east were relatively
stable
• Roman obsession for communication meant
linking roads were built
• Romans allowed freedom of religion (in
general) though strongly suppressed any
religion thought to attack their power
7. Religion
• Romans: polytheist… the official religion
• Greek: wide spread due to earlier Greek
empire… polytheist
• Romans blended or identified Greek gods as
Roman gods
• Other cults and local religions were plentiful
• Practices included idol worship, talismans,
witchcraft, necromancy, temple prosititution,
sacrifice, superstition
8. Opposition
• Jewish synagogues and leaders were hostile to what was
seen as a false messiah cult
• Local religions were hostile to the idea of losing revenue
and adherents
• Some people saw Christianity as a interesting new way for
them to seek power (or extort money) and claimed to be
Christian exorcists, healers or teachers
• All of this can be read about in Acts 19
• Romans, while initially without interest, became concerned
as numbers grew, despite the emphasis in Christianity on
peace and personal holiness
• Nero persecuted Christians in Rome after the great fire of
64 CE
9. Roman Empire
• The roman empire reached its maximum
coverage in the rule of Trajan (to 117 AD)
• There were various crises in the 3rd C
• Christianity became the official religion in 4th C
under Constantine
• Western part collapsed in 5th C
