1. The Life and Teachings of Jesus
1.1. Jesus of Nazareth
1.1.1. Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea
1.1.2. at age 30, Jesus began his public ministry
1.1.3. he taught ideas based on Jewish tradition, monotheism, and the 10 commandments
1.2. A growing movement
1.2.1. 12 men were called apostles
1.2.2. his teachings were simple and direct
1.2.3. he traveled town to town teaching everyone about God.
1.3. Jesus' death
1.3.1. Jesus visited Jerusalem in AD 29, and was called the Messiah
1.3.2. Pontius Pilate ordered Jesus to be crucified.
1.3.3. Christos: messiah/savior. Christianity: comes from the word Christ.
2. a World Religion
2.1. Constantine Accepts Christianity
2.1.1. Constantine prayed for divine help during battle in AD 312. he received the help, won the battle, and from then on thanked the gods.
2.1.2. AD 313 Constantine acconced and end to Christian persecution.
2.1.3. in 380, Theodosius made this the official religion.
2.2. Early Chrisitian Church
2.2.1. When Crhistians had structure to their religion, the Roman Empire had a heirarchy.
2.2.2. Every major city has its own bishop
2.2.3. Rome was the capital of the Empire, and the center of the Church.
2.3. a Single Voice
2.3.1. as the religion grew, dissagreements rose about the formal beliefs
2.3.2. New Testament was established
2.3.3. Nincene Creed was written
2.4. the Fathers of the Church
2.4.1. early writers and scholars have been called the Fathers of the Church
2.4.2. Augustine was the most important
2.4.3. most famous book: The City of God
2.4.4. Chrisianity rose, Roman Empire weakened.
3. Christianity spreads through the Empire
3.1. Paul's Mission
3.1.1. Paul had a big influence on Christianity development.
3.1.2. spoken in Greek and Latin; easy to understand
3.1.3. Pax Romana made travel to spread to word easy
3.1.4. Paul stressed that Christians should accept everyone; Jews and Gentiles.
3.2. Jewish rebellion
3.2.1. AD 66 a group of Jews rebelled against Rome
3.2.2. AD 70, Romans stormed Jerusalem and destroyed the temple complex
3.2.3. AD 132, Jews attempted to break free. 1/2 a million died in 3 years
3.2.4. Diaspora: disperal of Jews
3.3. Persecution of the Christians
3.3.1. Christians posed a problem for Roman leaders. they refused to worship Roman Gods.
3.3.2. some leaders used the Christians as scapegoats for political/economic troubles
3.3.3. 2nd century, Pax Romana started to crumble, and Romans began to exile/imprison/execute Christians,
3.3.4. Christians were then known as martyrs.