The World's Christians. Douglas Jacobsen

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PART II How They Got There: A Global History of Christianity

      Introduction

      Christianity began as a small religious movement in the Middle East, and it now encircles the world. No other religion has ever attracted so many followers in so many different places. The next four chapters tell the story of how this happened. These same chapters also explain how Christianity’s beliefs and practices have changed and developed over the centuries. Before launching into that long and fascinating Christian history, however, it is important to look at Christianity’s pre‐history. Christianity did not spring into existence fully formed. It began as a small religious movement within Judaism, and deciding if and how Christianity might remain connected with Judaism was one of the thorniest issues the new movement would faced.

      Christianity’s Pre‐History and Relationship with Judaism

      Many of the core beliefs and practices of Christianity derive from Judaism. Judaism itself has a complex history, and its origins cannot be described in detail because the historical record is so thin. The Bible tells a vivid story of exodus from Egypt and conquest of Palestine, but the archaeological record reflects a slower and less dramatic process that eventually gave birth to Israel and to Jewish religious consciousness. It is clear that by about 1000 BCE an Israelite kingdom had been established in Palestine with religious life focused on rituals performed at the Temple in Jerusalem.

      This early form of Judaism confronted a tremendous challenge when Palestine was conquered by the powerful Babylonian emperor Nebuchadnezzar II in the year 587 BCE. The Jewish Temple was destroyed, and many Israelites were deported to Persia. Without a temple, Jews began developing other practices to preserve their faith. The single most important innovation was the synagogue, a place where Jews could gather to worship God, teach their children, and discuss religious and moral matters. In many different synagogues scattered throughout the Middle East, Jews hashed out their faith and debated their differences. When disputes arose and conflicts of interpretation had to be settled, Jews turned to another new institution, local religious courts known as sanhedrins, for decisions. These institutions continued to shape Jewish faith and life after Jews returned to Palestine (starting around 540 BCE) and even after a second Temple was built and Temple worship resumed around 520 BCE.

The region of Palestine and the Jewish people had a convoluted history during the next five centuries. The Middle East was conquered by Alexander the Great in 333 BCE, and after his death several of his military generals fought for control over Palestine. Eventually one of those generals, Seleucus, established a kingdom in the region, and later one of his descendants, Antiochus IV, launched a period of persecution directed against Judaism in general and especially against more religiously conservative Jewish traditionalists. His actions sparked a twenty‐five‐year revolt against Seleucid rule, led by a person named Judah Maccabee. Eventually the revolt was successful, and for about a century Jews once again had their own kingdom in Palestine. In 63 BCE, however, the expanding Roman Empire annexed the region and ended Jewish self‐rule.

      By the first century CE, Judaism had developed its own inner diversity with parallels to the diversity that would later characterize Christianity. Four Jewish sub‐groups were especially prominent: the Pharisees, who stressed the law and personal piety; the Sadducees, who emphasized traditional temple worship; the Zealots, who were violently opposed to Roman rule; and the Qumran community (also known as the Essenes), who assumed that the end of the world was near and that a final battle between good and evil was about to commence. The Samaritans, another quasi‐Jewish group, claimed descent from two of Israel’s ancient СКАЧАТЬ