Early Christianity

Jerusalem was the first center of the Christian Church according to the Book of Acts. The apostles lived and taught there for some time after Pentecost. The early church was led by the Apostles, foremost among them Peter and John. When Peter left Jerusalem after Herod Agrippa I tried to kill him, James, brother of Jesus appears to have become the leader of the Jerusalem church.

In this very early time, Christianity was still a Jewish sect. Christians in Jerusalem kept the Jewish Sabbath and continued to worship at the Temple. In commemoration of Jesus' resurrection, they gathered on Sunday for a communion meals but kept the Jewish custom of fasting on Mondays and Thursdays. James was killed on the order of the high priest in AD 62 and was succeeded as leader by Simeon, another relative of Jesus. During the First Jewish-Roman War (AD 66–73), Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed.

The first Gentiles to become Christians were people who believed in the truth of Judaism but had not become proselytes. As Gentiles joined the young Christian movement, the question of whether they should convert to Judaism and observe the Torah (such as food laws, male circumcision, and Sabbath observance) gave rise to various answers. Some Christians demanded full observance of the Torah and required Gentile converts to become Jews. Others, such as Paul, believed that the Torah was no longer binding because of Jesus' death and resurrection. In the middle were Christians who believed Gentiles should follow some of the Torah but not all of it.

In c. 48–50 AD, Barnabas and Paul went to Jerusalem to meet with James, Peter, and John. Later called the "Council of Jerusalem," the meeting confirmed the legitimacy of the missions of Paul to the Gentiles and confirmed that Gentile converts were not obligated to follow the Mosaic Law, especially the practice of male circumcision, (considered horrible among ancient Greeks and Romans who greatly valued the foreskin. In roughly the same period, Jewish legal authorities made their circumcision requirement for Jewish boys even more strict.

The Council of Jerusalem did not end all dispute, however. There are indications that James still believed the Torah was binding on Jewish Christians. This is the start of a split between Jewish Christianity and Gentile Christianity. While Jewish Christianity would remain important through the next few centuries, Gentile Christianity gradually became dominant. When Peter left Jerusalem after Herod Agrippa I tried to kill him, James became leader of the church. A 2nd-century historian named Hegesippus wrote that the Sanhedrin put him to death in 62 AD.

Antioch

Antioch was a major center of Hellenistic Greece, and the third-most important city of the Roman Empire. It was the site of an early church, traditionally said to be founded by Peter who is considered the first bishop. The Gospel of Matthew and the Apostolic Constitutions may have been written there. The church father Ignatius of Antioch was its third bishop, and the School of Antioch, founded in 270, was one of two major centers of early church learning. The Curetonian Gospels and the Syriac Sinaiticus are two early New Testament text types associated with Syriac Christianity.

Asia Minor (Anatolia)

The tradition of John the Apostle was strong in Anatolia. The authorship of the Johannine works likely took place in Ephesus, c. 90–110, although some scholars argue for an origin in Syria. This includes the Book of Revelation, although modern Bible scholars believe that it to be authored by a different John, (John of Patmos). The Apostle Paul was from Tarsus (in south-central Anatolia) and his missionary journeys were primarily in Anatolia. Also, the First Epistle of Peter (Peter 1:1–2) is addressed to Anatolian regions. Pontus, on the southeast shore of the Black Sea, was a Greek colony mentioned several times in scripture. People of Pontus were some of the first converts to Christianity. Pliny, governor in 110, addressed Christians in Pontus in his letters.

Smyrna was home to Polycarp, the bishop who knew the Apostle John personally. Papias of Hierapolis is also believed to have been a student of John the Apostle. In the 2nd century, Anatolia was home to Quartodecimanism, Montanism, Marcion of Sinope, and Melito of Sardis who recorded an early Christian Biblical canon. In 325 the emperor Constantine convened the first Christian ecumenical council in Nicaea and in 330 moved the capital of the Roman empire to Byzantium (later called Constantinople), and referred to as the Byzantine Empire.

Alexandria

Alexandria, in the Nile delta, was established by Alexander the Great. Its famous libraries were a center of Hellenistic learning. The Septuagint translation of the Old Testament began there. It had a significant Jewish population, of which Philo of Alexandria is probably its most noted. It produced superior scripture and notable church fathers, such as Clement, Origen, and Athanasius. By the end of the era, Alexandria, Rome, and Antioch were given authority over nearby centers. The Council of Nicaea affirmed Alexandria's traditional authority over Egypt, Libya, and North Africa. Some postulate, however, that Alexandria was not only a center of Christianity, but was also a center for Christian-based Gnostic sects.

Caesarea

Caesarea, on the seacoast just northwest of Jerusalem was built by Herod the Great, c. 25–13 BC, and was the capital of Iudaea Province (6–132) and later Palaestina Prima. It was there that Peter baptized the centurion Cornelius, considered the first gentile convert. Paul sought refuge there, once staying at the house of Philip the Evangelist, and later being imprisoned for two years (ca 57–59).

After Hadrian's siege of Jerusalem (c. 133), Caesarea became the metropolitan see with the bishop of Jerusalem as one of its subordinates. Origen (d. 254) compiled his Hexapla there and the city held a famous library and theological school. St. Pamphilus (d. 309) was a noted scholar-priest. St. Gregory the Wonder-Worker (d. 270), St. Basil the Great (d. 379), and St. Jerome (d. 420) visited and studied at the library, which was later destroyed, (likely by the Persians in 614 or the Saracens in 637). The first major church historian, Eusebius of Caesarea, was a bishop, c. 314–339. F. J. A. The Caesarean text-type is recognized by many textual scholars as one of the earliest New Testament types.

Greece

Thessalonica, a major northern Greek city where Christianity was founded by Paul, and the surrounding regions of Macedonia, Thrace, and Epirus were early centers of Christianity. Of note are Paul's Epistles to the Thessalonians and to Philippi, which is often considered the first contact of Christianity with Europe. The Apostolic Father Polycarp wrote a letter to the Philippians, c. 125.

Ancient Corinth, today a ruin near modern Corinth in southern Greece, was an early center of Christianity. According to the Acts of Apostles, Paul stayed eighteen months in Corinth to preach. He initially stayed with Aquila and Priscilla, and was later joined by Silas and Timothy. After he left Corinth, Apollo was sent from Ephesus by Priscilla to replace him. Paul returned to Corinth at least once and wrote the First Epistle to the Corinthians from Ephesus in AD 57. The earliest evidence of the primacy of the Roman Church can be seen in the First Epistle of Clement written to the Corinthian church, dated around 96.

Athens, was the capital and largest city in Greece. Paul probably traveled there by sea, arriving at Piraeus around the year 53.According to Acts 17, when he arrived he immediately sent for Silas and Timotheos who had stayed behind in Berœa. While waiting for them, Paul explored Athens and visited the synagogue. A Christian community was quickly established in Athens, although it may not have been large initially.

When Christians first appeared in Rome is difficult to determine. The Acts of the Apostles claims that the Jewish Christian couple Priscilla and Aquila had recently come from Rome to Corinth when, in about the year 50, Paul reached that city. This indicates that belief in Jesus in Rome had preceded Paul.

Historians consistently consider Peter and Paul to have been martyred in Rome under the reign of Nero ( ca. AD 64), after the Great Fire of Rome, which the Emperor blamed on the Christians (according to Roam historian, Tacitus). In the second century Irenaeus of Lyons recorded that Peter and Paul had been the founders of the Church in Rome and had appointed Linus as bishop. However, Irenaeus does not say that either Peter or Paul was "bishop" of the Church in Rome and several historians have questioned whether Peter spent much time in Rome before his martyrdom. It appears that the church in Rome was already flourishing when Paul wrote his Epistle to the Romans from Corinth (c. 58) since he attests to a large Christian community already there and greets some fifty people in Rome by name. He does not mention Peter, whom he knew. Most likely Peter did not spend any major time at Rome before 58 when Paul wrote to the Romans, and so it may have been only in the 60s and relatively shortly before his martyrdom that Peter came to the Rome.

The earliest Bishops of Rome were all Greek-speaking, the most notable of them being: Pope Clement I (c. 88–97), author of an Epistle to the Church in Corinth; Pope Telesphorus (c. 126–136), probably the only martyr among them; Pope Pius I (c. 141–154), said by the Muratorian fragment to have been the brother of the author of the Shepherd of Hermas; and Pope Anicetus (c. 155–160), who received Saint Polycarp and discussed with him the dating of Easter.

The Roman church survived various persecutions. Among the prominent Christians executed as a result of their refusal to perform acts of worship to the Roman gods as ordered by emperor Valerian in 258 were Cyprian, bishop of Carthage. The last and most severe of the imperial persecutions was that under Diocletian in 303. (see Roman Emperors)