Christianity Spreads

How did Christianity spread And Its Role in the Empire?

​Adjusted from MyWorld Interactive Topic 8 Lesson 2

​Jesus and his early followers were Jews. But those who believed Jesus was the Messiah eventually formed a new religion known as Christianity. During his life, Jesus chose twelve trusted followers, called disciples or apostles. After his death, they spread his teachings.

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When Jesus died, Peter, a key apostle, became a leader of the new church.

​Peter and other apostles such as James and, a few years later, Paul, spread belief in Jesus as the Messiah. They carried their faith to many parts of the world.

They visited Europe, Asia, and North Africa.

​The Work of His Apostles

Multiple Choice

Who spread Jesus' teachings?

• Messiah

• apostles

• gentiles

The first followers of the new faith considered themselves Jews. They respected Jewish laws and traditions, read the Hebrew Bible, and prayed in Jewish synagogues.

​But differences grew between Jewish followers of Christianity and other Jews. Christians began sharing their beliefs with non-Jews outside of Judea. The apostle Peter even traveled to Rome itself. People from different backgrounds heard the apostles’ message. More and more gentiles, or non-Jews, became Christians.

​Christians and Jews

Multiple Choice

What are the non-Jews who became Christians?

• Messiah

• apostles

• gentiles

 

A man named Paul helped spread Christianity around the Roman Empire. Early in his life, he was opposed to Christians. He had an experience that led to his conversion to Christianity. A conversion is a heartfelt change in one’s opinions or beliefs. Paul believed that Jesus had appeared to him and told him to spread the new faith. Paul is called an apostle, even though he was not one of the original twelve.

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​Travels of the Apostle Paul

Paul helped both spread and define Christianity. Paul traveled to Greece and other areas. He founded churches and preached. Paul also wrote letters called epistles to various Christians. He helped spread the belief that non-Jews did not need to follow all Jewish laws to become Christians. They still needed to live moral lives and could not worship other gods. He taught many basic Christian beliefs, including the resurrection of Jesus. He also preached that Jesus’ death saved believers from sin and guilt. Almost half of the text of the New Testament comes from Paul’s epistles or writings of those he influenced.​

​Paul Spreads Christianity

Christianity is Born

As more non-Jews came into the church, Christianity became a separate religion and no longer a part of Judaism. Christian communities soon arose around the Mediterranean as well as in Persia and Central Asia.

Open Ended

How did Christianity spread?

​Several factors helped the new faith grow quickly.
Roman Roads and kept travel safer. It allowed Christians to move more easily from place to place, spreading their beliefs. Paul’s journeys, for example, might not have been possible in an earlier period.

Greek was widely spoken in the eastern half of the empire, and by educated people everywhere. Christian scriptures were in Greek, so a large number of people could understand them. Later, the scriptures were translated into Latin

Many appreciated Christianity’s moral teachings and its monotheism, or belief in one God. Some were also attracted by the Christian belief that all people are equal in God’s sight, including poor and enslaved people. Women were drawn to the new religion and may have led some of the growing Christian communities.

Why Did Christianity Grow Rapidly?

Match

Match the following

• Roman Roads

• Greek

• Moral Teachings

Safety and Easy to Travel

Easily Spoken and Scriptures Written

All People Equal

• Safety and Easy to Travel

• Easily Spoken and Scriptures Written

• All People Equal

Labelling

Where did Paul go on his 4 journey's?

Drag labels to their correct position on the image

Greece

Asia Minor

Israel

Italy

Multiple Choice

________ of Tarses traveled throughout the Roman world, spreading Christian teachings.

• Persecution

• martyrs

• Paul

• Apostles

The alpha & omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. In Christianity, the alpha & omega symbolize Jesus and that he is eternal.

​​​The Alpha and Omega

The dove symbolized the Holy Spirit in Christianity. Doves are also associated with the birth and baptism of Jesus. According to the Gospels, the Holy Spirit appeared as a dove at the baptism of Jesus by John.

​​The Dove

​The symbol of the fish represents Jesus. The symbol was likely used as a secret code to identify other Christians. It comes from the Greek symbol for fish, which consists of two overlapping arcs that resemble a fish.

​​The Fish

​An anchor was often used as a symbol of Christianity before the symbol of a cross was used. The anchor symbolized hope during times of persecution of Christians. The anchor was often shown in the epitaphs in catacombs. 

The Anchor

Christianity and the Empire

The growth of Christianity worried Roman officials. They sometimes persecuted or mistreated Christians.

The Romans generally allowed people to worship their own gods, so long as they also worshiped Roman gods and emperors as a sign of loyalty. Jews did not worship Roman gods, but this did not greatly bother the Romans. They respected the Jewish traditions that forbade worshiping more than one God.

Christianity, however, was a new religion. The government opposed it because when non-Jews became Christians they stopped worshiping the old gods. Officials feared that Christians were disloyal and that the gods would be angry if people who became Christians stopped worshiping them. It was considered the government’s job to keep the gods happy.

A fire destroyed much of Rome in 64 C.E.. Emperor Nero falsely blamed Christians. Many Christians were killed.

After 250 C.E., emperors persecuted Christians. Persecution scared some away from Christianity.

However, it caused others to bond to their faith. Persecution produced martyrs, or people who die for their beliefs. Their courage strengthened many Christians’ faith.

​​Christians Are Persecuted

Multiple Choice

People who die for their religious beliefs are called ___________.

• Persecution

• martyrs

• Paul

• Apostles

​Persecution continued, on and off, until the reign of Emperor Constantine. According to tradition, he had a dream just before a battle that told him to fight under the sign of the cross. He won the battle. In 313, he ended persecution of Christians and eventually became a Christian himself.

Constantine thought the Christian Church could help hold together the divided Roman empire. A later emperor made Christianity Rome’s official religion around 380. Church leaders chose a Roman structure to organize the Church. They also chose the gospels and letters to be included in the Christian Bible. As the western Roman empire declined, Roman cities were often led by Christian bishops.

Multiple Choice

__________ means punishing a group because of its beliefs.

• Persecution

• martyrs

• Paul

• Apostles