History of Christianity Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Early geographical spread=== {{See also|Christianization of the Roman Empire as diffusion of innovation|Christianity in Asia|Christianity in Egypt|Christianity in Gaul|Christianity in the Roman Africa province|Christianity in Syria}} {{further|Chronicle of Arbela|Religion in Rome|Christianity in Africa}} [[File:Distribution of the documented presence of Christian congregations in the first three centuries.tif|upright=1.5|thumb|Map of the Roman empire with distribution of Christian congregations of the first three centuries displayed for each century{{sfn|Fousek|2018}}|alt=a digital map showing where congregations were in the first three centuries]] Beginning with less than 1000 people, by the year 100, Christianity had grown to perhaps one hundred [[Early centers of Christianity|small household churches]] consisting of an average of around seventy (12–200) members each.{{sfn|Hopkins|1998|p=202}} It achieved [[Critical mass (sociodynamics)|critical mass]] in the hundred years between 150 and 250 when it moved from fewer than 50,000 adherents to over a million.{{sfn|Harnett|2017|pp=200, 217}} This provided enough adopters for its growth rate to be [[Self-sustainability|self-sustaining]].{{sfn|Harnett|2017|pp=200, 217}}{{sfn|Hopkins|1998|p=193}} In [[Asia Minor]], ([[Athens]], [[Corinth]], [[Ephesus]], and [[Pergamum]]), conflicts over the nature of Christ's divinity first emerged in the second century, and were resolved by referencing apostolic teaching.{{sfn|Trevett|2006|pp=314; 320, 324–327}} Egyptian Christianity probably began in the first century in Alexandria.{{sfn|Pearson|2006|pp=331; 334–335}} As it spread, [[Copts|Coptic Christianity]] developed.{{sfn|Pearson|2006|p=336}} Both [[Gnosticism]] and [[Marcionism|Marcionite Christianity]] appeared in the second century.{{sfn|Pearson|2006|pp=337, 338}} Egyptian Christians produced religious literature more abundantly than any other region during the second and third centuries. The church in Alexandria became as influential as the church in Rome.{{sfn|Pearson|2006|pp=332, 345; 349}} [[Church of Antioch|Christianity in Antioch]] is mentioned in [[Pauline epistles|Paul's epistles]] written before AD 60, and scholars generally see Antioch as a primary center of early Christianity.{{sfn|Harvey|2006|pp=351; 353}} Early Christianity was also present in [[Gaul]], however, most of what is known comes from a letter, most likely written by [[Irenaeus]], which theologically interprets the detailed suffering and martyrdom of Christians from Vienne and Lyons during the reign of [[Marcus Aurelius]].{{sfn|Behr|2006|pp=369–371; 372–374}} There is no other evidence of Christianity in Gaul, beyond one inscription on a gravestone, until the beginning of the fourth century.{{sfn|Behr|2006|p=378}} The origins of Christianity in North Africa are unknown, but most scholars connect it to the [[History of the Jews in Carthage|Jewish communities of Carthage]].{{sfn|Tilley|2006|p=386}} Christians were persecuted in Africa intermittently from 180 until 305.{{sfn|Tilley|2006|pp=387–388: 391}} Persecution under Emperors Decius and Valerian created long-lasting problems for the African church when those who had recanted tried to rejoin the Church.{{sfn|Tilley|2006|p=389}} It is likely the Christian message arrived in the city of Rome very early, though it is unknown how or by whom.{{sfn|Edmundson|2008|pp=8–9}} Tradition, and some evidence, supports [[Saint Peter|Peter]] as the organizer and founder of the Church in Rome which already existed by 57 AD when Paul arrived there.{{sfn|Edmundson|2008|pp=14; 44, 47}} The city was a melting pot of ideas, and according to [[Markus Vinzent]], the Church in Rome was "fragmented and subject to repeated internal upheavals ... [from] controversies imported by immigrants from around the empire".{{sfn|Vinzent|2006|p=397}} [[Walter Bauer]]'s thesis that heretical forms of Christianity were brought into line by a powerful, united, Roman church forcing its will on others is not supportable, writes Vinzent, since such unity and power did not exist in Rome before the eighth century.{{sfn|Hartog|2015|p=242}}{{sfn|Robinson|1988|p=36}}{{sfn|Sanmark|2004|p=15}} Christianity spread in the Germanic world during the latter part of the third century, beginning among the Goths. It did not originate with the ruling classes.{{sfn|Schäferdiek|2007|p=abstract}} Christianity probably reached Roman Britain by the third century at the latest.{{sfn|Schäferdiek|2007|p=abstract}} From the earliest days of Christianity, there was a Christian presence in [[Edessa]] (ancient and modern [[Urfa]]). It developed in [[Adiabene]], [[Armenia]], [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], [[Persia]] (modern Iran), [[Ethiopia]], [[Central Asia]], [[India]], [[Nubia]], [[South Arabia]], [[Soqotra]], [[Central Asia]] and [[China]]. Christianity's development followed the trade routes as it was spread east of Antioch and south of Alexandria by merchants and soldiers moving into eastern [[Turkey]], [[Azerbaijan]], [[Syria]], [[Afghanistan]], [[Pakistan]], the [[Arabian peninsula]], and the [[Persian Gulf]] in the fourth century.{{sfn|Bundy|2007|p=118}}{{sfn|Wilken|2013|p=4; 235; 238}} By the sixth century, there is evidence for Christian communities in [[Sri Lanka]] and [[Tibet]].{{sfn|Wilken|2013|pp=4, 235, 238}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page