Essay on the Development of Christianity

This paper highlights and discusses events that have taken place at given dates in Christianity. The paper gives the dates, the major players, and the significance of such events in the Christian religion. The chronology of the events ranges from the early church, the imperial church, medieval Christianity, colonial Christianity, and the church reformation period.

The history of Christianity concerns the Christian religion, Christendom, and the church. It gives the events, dates, and facts of the Christianity as they happened. This paper analyzes the development of Christianity by describing events that have taken place since the religion began in the world.

The Early Church

The early Christian church began in Jerusalem and its surrounding areas in 54 AD (“History of the Early Church,” n.d.). Christians then did not meet in separate churches but they did meet in the local Jewish synagogues. During the time, Saint Paul was among the main leaders in of the church and the main players were the Jews and Romans (González, 2010). It was during this time that Saint Paul demonstrated to the Christians that the gospel was for all people and not only the Jews as it was initially believed.

The Imperial Church

During the period 313-590 AD, Licinius, and Constantine took the full control of the Roman Empire (Durham, n.d.). Emperor Constantine favored Christianity and he used his time as the emperor to rebuild all the destroyed churches. Constantine was determined to end the persecution of Christians. During his reign, he played an important role in legalizing Christianity and laying the foundation for making it the official imperial religion. It was during Emperor Constantine’s time that the church and the state worked together to bring about God’s purpose on earth.

Medieval Christianity

The fall of the Western Roman Empire resulted in the immediate creation of many independent kingdoms. Each subsequent Kingdom had great significance in the history of the church. The two branches of the church drifted apart and the final schism took place in 1054 (González, 2010). The sorry state of the church during the fourteenth and fifteenth century led to the formation of various movements of reform. John Wycliffe and John Huss held that the doctrine of the church as well as the life needed immediate reforms.

The Beginning of the Colonial Christianity

Towards the end of the middle ages, Portugal and Spain started an expansion process that would later have significant impacts on the subsequent history of the church (González, 2010). During this time, the Catholicism enjoyed its most rapid expansion. In 1054, the church was divided between the East and West (González, 2010). In the fifteenth century, Prince Henry the navigator encouraged the exploration of Africa resulting in the missionary process in the continent.

The Call for Reformation

As the fifteenth century neared its end, it became apparent that many Christians longed for a profound reformation of the church (González, 2010). Some Christians viewed Martin Luther as the ogre who destroyed the unity of the church while others considered him as the great hero through whose efforts the preaching of the pure gospel was restored. Luther had challenged the authority of the Pope and that of the Emperor by burning the Papal bull and refusing to recant (González, 2010). His writings were responsible for fractionalizing the Catholic Church and sparking the protestant reformation.

As highlighted above, Christianity has undergone a number of phases. The early church was established in Jerusalem which later led to the imperial church under Emperor Constantine. His fall led to the formation of numerous churches and eventual development of the colonial Christianity. Martin Luther later started the church reformation campaign and this led to him being hated and loved in equal measure. However, he succeeded in fractionalizing the Catholic Church and bringing reformations to the Protestants.

References

Durham, F. Church history. Bible for life. Retrieved 9 March 2018, from https://www.fbcdurham.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Introduction-to-Church-History-3-The-Imperial-Church.pdf

González, J. (2010). The story of Christianity. New York: HarperOne. Vol. 1

González, J. (2010). The story of Christianity. New York: HarperCollins. Vol. 2

History of the Early Church. Request.org.uk. Retrieved 9 March 2018, from http://request.org.uk/people/history/history-of-the-early-church/#