The document summarizes the early life and teachings of Jesus Christ, the spread of Christianity through his disciples including Paul, and the persecution and eventual triumph of Christianity in the Roman Empire. It notes that Jesus was born in 4 BC in Bethlehem to Jewish parents and began preaching at age 30. His central teachings revolved around the Fatherhood of God and brotherhood of man. After his crucifixion, the disciples including Peter and Paul spread Christianity throughout the Roman world, establishing churches. Early Christians faced persecution but Christianity eventually became the official religion of Rome in the 4th century.

1. LIFE AND SPREAD OF
CHRISTIANITY
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3. Early Life of Jesus
 The inscribed property is situated 10 km south of
Jerusalem on the site identified by Christian
tradition as the birthplace of Jesus since the 2nd
century.
 According the history the founder of the Christian
religion was Joshua of Nazareth whom the
Romans called Jesus.
 The date of birth of Jesus Christ is 4 B.C.
 He was born to Jewish parents of humble means
during the reign of Augustus Caesar.
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5.  His father Joseph
was a carpenter and
his mother was
Mary.
 At the age of 30
Jesus was baptized
by John, a religious
reformer.
 At the same age he
begins to preach a
new way of life.
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6. TEACHINGS OF
JESUS
 Jesus possessed a magnetic personality and
wherever he went he attracted huge crowds.
 The central theme of his teaching was the
Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of
Man.
 He relentlessly carried on his mission of
mercy and campaign of compassion among
one and all for three years.
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7.  His “sermon on the Mount” contains
quintessence of his teachings.
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9. THE PRODICAL SON
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12. GOOD SAMARITAN
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14. SOWER
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16.  Some of his pithy
sayings are the
following
 “If someone slaps you
on the right cheek, turn
and offer him your left.”
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17. “Man does
not live by
bread
alone”
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19.  Love your neighbours
as yourself”.
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21. HIS CRUCIFICATION
 The orthodox Jews got annoyed at the
popularity of Jesus
 In fact the Jewish scriptures had predicted
that a Messiah would come to redeem them
from the clutches of the Romans.
 They were not prepared to accept him as a
Messiah because he preached about the
kingdom of heaven which was open to all
and not to the chosen people as expected by
the Jews.
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22.  But the followers of Jesus hailed him as the
Messiah (Saviour) or Christ (Anointed).
 So the Jews plotted against the life of Jesus.
 He was accused of blasphemy against the
Jewish religion and treason against the Roman
Emperor.
 In order to please the Jews, Pontius Pilate, the
Roman Governor of Judea, sentenced him to
death after some hesitation.
 It was during the reign of Emperor Tiberius
that Jesus was crucified that Jesus was
crucified in 30 AD on the hill called Calvalry
outside Jerusalem.
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24. SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY
 The teachings of Jesus were spread by his
disciples called Apostles.
 They were twelve in number.
 The foremost among them was peter whose
original name was simon.
 After preaching in Asia Minor and Greece, he
reached Rome.
 He became the first Bishop of Rome.
 Subsequently the bishops of Rome came to
be called as Popes.
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26.  Matthew, Mark, Luke and John composed the
gospels from which we get an account of the
life and teachings of Jesus.
 Paul was the founder of Christian theology.
 He had neither seen Jesus nor heard about
the preaching's of Jesus.
 He was a Jew and a well-educated Roman
citizen.
 In the beginning, he bitterly opposed the
Christian faith.
 But by some miracle he became a convert to
Christianity.
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28.  “To the pure all things are pure”
 “The love of money is the root of all evil”.
 And “evil communications corrupt good
manners” are some of the great phrases
attributed to Paul.
 He carried on his missionary activities for
thirty years.
 He established many churches.
 He attained martyrdom due to the
persecution of Emperor Nero.
 For the services rendered by the paul to
Christianity he is rightly called “ the second
founder of Christianity.
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29. Organisation of the church
 Early Christian Churches sprang up at
Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria, Ephesus,
Corinth and Rome.
 In places like Rome, the Christians assembled
in catacombs and held secret prayers.
 The Greek word for meeting or assembly is
known as ecclesia.
 The details of the early church organisation
are not known to us.
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31.  But in the 2nd Century A.D the hierarchy of
officers in the Church were the bishops,
priests and deacons.
 The bishops residing in the chief city was in
over-all supervision of the local Churches.
 The priests looked after the particular
churches.
 The deacons who assisted the priests
ministered to the care of the poor.
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32. Persecution of the
Christians
 The early Christians suffered severe
persecution under the hands of the Roman
Emperors.
 In the pre- christains days, the Roman
Government showed toleration to the subject
people of other faith as long as they
remained loyal to the Emperor and
recongnised his divinity.
 Troubles started when the christians refused
to accept the divinity of the Emperor.
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33.  Refused to Serve in the army.
 Refused to worship the Pagan Gods .
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34. Nero (54-68)
 The Christians of
Roman tortured to
death during the
Nero time.
 The Catholic faith
was made a
capital offence of
Nero.
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35. Marcus Aurelius (161-180)
 He thought Christians
responsible for the
natural calamities like
famine,plague and
flood.
 He ordered the
Christians should be
stoned to death.
 Those who were taken
as prisoners were
tortured to death.
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36. Emperor Septimius Severus
(193-211)
He criticized
baptism a
crime.
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37. DIOCLETIAN(284-305)
 The worst type of
persecution was leased
out by him on the
Christians.
 The commonest form
of torture used in olden
days was by throwing
the victims to lions in
amphitheatre.
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39. Triumph of Christianity
 The dawns of the 4th Century put an end to the
days of sorrows and tribulations of the Christians.
 Emperor Galerius (305-311) issued an edict granting
toleration to the Christians.By the Edict of Milan
issued in 313.
 Constantine I further enlarged and extended the
edict of Galerius.
 Though Constantine extended his patronage to
Christianity, he received baptism only in 337 just
before his death.
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40.  Theodosius (378-395) that Christianity became the
state religion.
 Constantine I convened the first Ecumenical
council of the Bishops at Nicaea in Asia Minor in
325.
 It was attended by more than 300 bishops.
 The popularity of Christianity led to the
organisation of the Church.
 The church was divided into five regions known as
Patriarchates.
 The five region had their headquarters at Rome,
Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem and
Constantinople.
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41. Reasons for the spread of
Christianity
 The prevalence of Pax Romana or Roman Peace
enabled the missionaries to freely move about
and spread the teachings of Jesus.
 The excellent Roman roads made
communication more easier.
 It was a creed open to all without class
distinctions.
 This readily appealed to the poorer sections
who embraced the new faith.
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42.  As the NewTestament was written in the
Greek language, the missionaries who were
quite at home in that language spread the
gospels of Jesus in the nook and corner of the
Empire.
 The Christians had the courage of their
convictions and drove home their ideas with
resolute will.
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