The early days of Christianity were quite complex. There were numerous beliefs, interpretations, and schisms. Most of them ...

Christian faith proclaims that Jesus was God’s divine son. But church historians have long known that certain Jewish followers of Christ, in the early decades after his death, regarded him as ...

Early Christians The spread of Christianity was made a lot easier by the efficiency of the Roman Empire, but its principles were sometimes misunderstood and membership of the sect could be dangerous.

But these sects that rivaled Christianity did not martyr Christian missionaries; to that extent at least they were harmless foes. ONE RARE, UNANALTTICAL, AND MERRY DAY One rare, unanalytical, and ...

Another sect, led by a wealthy individual named Marcion (ca A.D. 85–160), son of the bishop of Sinope (today’s Sinop in Turkey), believed that Christianity should be uncoupled from Jewish ...

A silver amulet found next to a skeleton in a 1,800-year-old grave in Germany speaks to the importance — and the risk — of being Christian in Roman times.

Two other early rivals to Christianity should be considered, the first because of its attractiveness, the second because of its persecuting power. Both are equally operative in the Asian world of ...