Definition of Early Christianity

The followers of Jesus interpreted that what God had promised in the original covenant with the Jews was a new covenant and for them Jesus was the one who brought the kingdom of God to Earth.

In Greek, the word to refer to the Messiah is christos and for this reason his followers were known as Christians. For them Jesus was more than just a Leader or a healer, since everything he said or did came from God himself.

Consequently, Jesus became the reincarnation of God. Those who spread this idea founded early Christianity.

During the Roman Empire

The first Christians were initially persecuted by the Roman authorities, as they refused to offer sacrifices and pay tributes to the emperors. The main Christian leaders were Pedro and Pablo, as well as a small group formed by Esteban, Bernabé, Priscilla, Jaime and Tito.

The main historiographical sources of this period are collected in the book of the Acts of the Apostles and in the epistles of the New Testament.

After the death of Jesus there was no

leadership defined among his followers. At the same time, the crucifixion of Jesus represented a notice for all those who would like to make their doctrine. On the other hand, the figure of Jesus as the true Messiah generated all kinds of controversies and theological debates between Jews and Christians.

In the first and second centuries the movement Christian Gnostic and his supporters held that man's salvation was possible through knowledge interior and not of faith (some Gnostics denied the crucifixion of Jesus and questioned other episodes of the Bible).

In the ranks of the new religion there were diverse currents: Judeo-Christianity, Pauline Christianity and Synoptic Christianity.

Despite all this, Christians organized because they believed that their leader was the authentic Messiah who would bring the kingdom of God to this world.

Those who made up the early Christian church began to spread the gospels and were convinced that their words were inspired by the Holy Spirit. In this way, they became preachers of the Gospel.

Over time, a unified set of standards and criteria was created. In this sense, a canon was formed. The canon of early Christianity is a set of normative texts to establish a unified criterion in religious matters. With these new norms the different currents of the Christian movement were considered heresies.

For most theologians, the canon marked the end of early Christianity and the beginning of a new era.

In the fourth century Constantine accepted Christianity as the official religion of the Empire.

From a historical point of view, the conversion to Christianity of Emperor Constantine was the origin of the Catholicism.

In the Edict of Milan of the year 313 the Christians stopped being persecuted definitively and the Christian church evolved towards a new model, Catholicism.

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