8 Surprising Fact : Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Early Christianity

Globally, the one prominently dominant religion is Christianity. It stands head and shoulders above the rest with current statistics indicating it has 2.3 billion followers, the equivalent of about 31% of the worldwide population.

The faith is centered around the life and lessons of Jesus Christ, whom Christians view as the Savior of the world and the Son of God.

Once the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles on the day of Pentecost, it is widely assumed that everything about Christianity settled down for a time and ran harmoniously while the apostles and disciples went out and preached the Word of God, making converts wherever they went.

That is most likely not the truth. The historical actuality is probably much more complicated than that. The Christian movement in all likelihood sprang not from a single origin in one main location, but from many different sources in many areas where various groups of disciples of Jesus convened and tried to interpret his teachings.

They were all struggling to comprehend what they had experienced as followers of Jesus, listening to he preach and trying to obey his teachings and the unsettling and disturbing manner in which his ministry came to an end. Although well-meaning, each of these groups almost certainly had a very different concept as to what the importance of Jesus really was.

What made him so extraordinary in comparison to the many public preachers who were spread throughout the region of Galilee and beyond, all claiming to be in direct communication with God. What was it that made Jesus, and thus Christians everywhere, unique?

So there was a great deal of controversy in the beginnings of Christianity, with many diverse groups debating exactly what Jesus meant to the world, much more so than the Bible tells us. Each group presented their own extremely different view of Jesus, and thus each was really arguing for a different type of Christianity. So there was no universal unity as the Bible would lead us to believe.

This is only one fact that is little known about the Christian movement. The real truth about Christianity is a bit darker than all that. Let’s do a quick review of the early years of Christianity, back when the religion was just getting off the ground, and enlighten you to 8 amazing facts that you are probably not aware of.

THE JESUS MOVEMENT

Nowadays, Christianity can certainly be labeled as an organized religion, but that was hardly the case when it got its start after the death of Jesus. Back then, while it seemed that his apostles were making converts in the blink of an eye, the fact is that his followers were only around a hundred people.

Christianity didn’t even start out as a religion, but instead, was considered a _movement, _with the Romans, who took a dim view of it anyway, labeling it as a sect.

Furthermore, the movement did not open its collective arms to anyone and everyone but was focused almost exclusively on the Jewish people. The earliest followers of Christianity were Jews living in Jerusalem who were not looking to become Christians. Instead, they saw themselves as believers and followers of a Jewish sect.

CHRISTIAN IS COINED

Interestingly enough, the followers of Jesus never called themselves Christians at the start of the Jesus Movement. Originally the Greek word Christianos, which translates into “follower of Christ”, came from the word Christos, which translates into “anointed one”. The name Christian was first coined to describe the followers of Jesus by the people in the ancient Greek city of Antioch. This was in reference to a small group of His followers who moved into the city about 10-15 years after Jesus was crucified. Although it is unclear whether this is true or not, the name may have been used as an insult when it first came into being.

PAUL SPREAD THE WORD

Before his conversion to Jesus, Paul was an unbeliever known as Saul working for the Roman government, who actually persecuted the early Christians. Ironically, he was converted when he claimed to have seen the living Jesus, in the flesh, appear to him asking him why he was persecuting Him.

Since then he has become widely known as one of Jesus’ disciples who did the most to cause the word of Christ to be spread throughout the world. Thus he evolved into one of the most significant individuals in early Christianity. Certain historians have even stepped forward to state that Jesus’ teachings might have never become so well known had Paul not carried out his prominent missionary work.

It is known that he traveled all over the Roman Empire, using both word and written text to place Jesus’ ideas in front of the people. Furthermore, he founded many churches across Africa and the Mediterranean.

PROMISE OF AN AFTERLIFE

The earliest believers in Christianity were men and women who came from all ranks in society. They were attracted to the Christian message of compassion, humbleness, helping others, and the treatment of all people as equal. This teaching particularly resonated with the poor, downtrodden, and weak.

The glittering promise of an afterlife also played an important part in bringing people into the Christian fold when the movement was just starting out. It seemed so simple. Everyone who believed in Jesus was guaranteed life after death, an immortal and blissful existence in heaven.

THE SAVIOR WILL RETURN

Early Christians did not look upon the day of Judgement as something that would happen sometime off in the distant future. They fully anticipated that Jesus would return soon and would joyfully assemble in small groups, frequently in houses, to pray, sing, and honor their Savior.

Other believers turned their backs entirely on their prior earthly lives and committed themselves to a life consisting only of prayer, worship, and devotion, frequently alone in out of the way places such as caves, waiting without complaint about the impending return of Jesus. These people became the first monks and nuns, as they took vows of celibacy and poverty to show their love for God.

THE ULTIMATE FATE OF THE APOSTLES

They dined with Jesus at the first Passover Supper in Jerusalem prior to His crucifixion, and after his death, they went out into the world to sow his message about the Kingdom of God. Unfortunately, most of the 12 apostles suffered greatly and died in horrible ways for their faith.

Paul, a Roman citizen no less, was beheaded in Rome, while James son of Zebedee met his end in the same manner in Jerusalem. Peter found his destiny in Rome, where he was crucified upside down, at his request, as he felt unworthy to die in the same manner Jesus had.

It is said that Philip, Simon the Zealot, and Andrew also perished on the cross. Thomas was slain by spears in India, while Bartholomew was skinned alive prior to being beheaded. It is thought that James son of Alphaeus was also stoned before ultimately being clubbed to death.

Mathew’s method of martyrdom is under a shroud of mystery with stabbing, burning, beheading, or stoning all suggested as ways in which he was killed. It is possible that Jude might also have been crucified or met up with the sharp end of an ax, but accounts are too varied to make a determination. And of course, Judas infamously hung himself after committing the ultimate sin of betraying Jesus.

Of them all, John is considered to be the only one to die of natural causes resulting from aging.

WOMEN LED THE MOVEMENT

Scripture has it that Jesus had absolutely no gender bias, viewing men and women as equals. There were many women within his inner circle of disciples, including Mary Magdalene. In fact, in a bit of irony, women were the last of the disciples to remain at the cross and the first to come across the empty tomb.

The intrinsic part that women played in the development and expansion of early Christianity is quite often not only forgotten but tends to slip by people unnoticed. In the decades after the death of Jesus, people had no complaints as women actually served as leaders of the house churches that appeared across the Roman Empire. Moreover, women accompanied the apostles on their missionary journeys, and they didn’t play merely a supportive role. They weren’t subordinates to the men or married to them, but treated as equals nonetheless.

CHRISTIANS AND THE CATACOMBS

Although early Christians may have been Roman, like their pagan contemporaries, they did not hold with the Roman tradition of burning the dead. They wanted to bury them, but in ancient Rome it was. Illegal to do so if you remained inside the city limits. Thus, from about the second century AD, miles of underground burial grounds were dug outside the city walls and became known as catacombs.

When they were first discovered, historians were convinced that they were used as clandestine meeting places where Christians would come together to escape persecution. Nowadays, it is known that they were, in actuality, burial tunnels where the dead were carefully wrapped in sheets and placed in recesses along the subterranean tunnels. It wasn’t just Christians who were buried there either. Jews and even Roman pagans also used these areas as their final resting place.

Despite their grisly purpose, we must be grateful for the catacombs, as they give us essential insight into the history of art. This is because they hold a large number of sculptures and frescos identified as the earliest existing examples of Christian art.

Ultimately, it was in the early part of the fourth century AD, when the Roman Emperor Constantine finally designated Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire that persecution of Christians ceased. In response, churches were being built and the dead were at last able to be buried in their connected cemeteries. This led to the end of placing the dead in the catacombs for eternity in the fifth century AD.