Who are the Christians? History of the origin of Christianity

The topic related to the emergence of early Christianity is quite interesting and profound. Let us try to understand as briefly as possible the question of who such Christians are and when this world religion arose . And it all began with evangelical events, from the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to earth.

Who are the Christians?

Christians are those who believe in Jesus' teaching and that he is a long-awaited messiah who came to save people. Christianity is the most widespread and numerous by the number of adherents of the world religion, numbering about two-odd billion of believers.

The first Christians appeared on the land of Palestine in the I century in the Jewish environment as the messianic movement of Old Testament Judaism. At the time of the Roman emperor Nero, Christianity was preached in the provinces of the Roman Empire. The dogma is rooted in Old Testament Judaism.

Ancient Christians

Jesus Christ was circumcised, visited the synagogue on Saturday, observed Torah and religious holidays, in general, he was brought up as a real Jew. His disciples, who later became apostles, were Jews. Three and a half years after the death of the first martyr Stephen and after the crucifixion of Jesus, Christianity spread throughout the Holy Land and throughout the Roman Empire.

From the Gospel in the text of the Acts of the Apostles the word "Christians" was first designated, and it was interpreted as "people who support the new faith in Antioch" (Syrian-Hellenistic city of the 1st century).

After several decades, a large number of followers of faith appeared. These were the first Christians from the pagan peoples, who became such, in large part due to the apostle Paul.

The Milan Edict

For as long as three centuries, Christians were persecuted and martyred if they did not renounce the teachings of Jesus and refused to sacrifice pagan idols.

Asking who Christians are, I must say that Christianity as a state religion was first approved in Great Armenia in 301. In 313 the Milan Edict was signed. This letter was endorsed by the Roman emperors Constantine and Licinius. The document itself became an important moment on the way of adopting Christianity as the official religion of the Empire.

Until the fifth century, Christianity spread mainly within the Roman Empire and then in the sphere of cultural influence on Armenia, Ethiopia, eastern Syria, and in the second half of the first millennium it came to the German and Slavic peoples. And later, from the 13th to the 14th century, the people of Finland and the Baltic countries. In new and modern times outside Europe, Christianity spread, thanks to missionary activity and colonial expansion.

The split of the Christian church

In a topic called "Who are Christians", it is necessary to note the fact that in 1054 there was a split: the Christian church was divided into Orthodox and Catholic. In turn, the latter, as a result of the reform movement in the XVI century, formed a Protestant branch. Until now, the Orthodox Church has retained its relative unity. Thus, there were three major Christian currents: Orthodoxy, Catholicism and Protestantism.

The Roman Catholic Church became a single organism, governed from a common center - the Vatican. But there are many Orthodox churches, the largest of them - Russian. Among them is the eucharistic communion, which presupposes the possibility of the joint celebration of the liturgies.

As far as Protestantism is concerned, it has become that motley Christian direction, which consists of a large number of independent denominations with varying degrees of recognition by other Christian movements.

Russian Orthodoxy

By the ninth century, Orthodox Christians appeared in Russia. Neighborhood with powerful Byzantium influenced this process. The first preachers were Cyril and Methodius, who were engaged in educational activities.

Also the first princess Olga was adopted (in 954), and then her grandson, Prince Vladimir, baptized Rus (988).

The very word "Orthodoxy" is translated from Greek as "correct teaching", "judgment" or "glorification" ("glorification"). In Russia, the earliest use of this word in writing was found in the First Russian Metropolitan Hilarion (1037-1050) in The Word of Law and Grace. But the very term "Orthodox" began to be used in the official language of the church in Russia by the end of the fourteenth century and was already actively used in the 16th century.