christianity

• Christianity is a religion with one God.
• Jesus Christ is a historical person, Christians believe he is the Son of God.
• The Holy Bible is divided into the Old and New Testaments.
• The New Testament is a collection of books according to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, translated from the Greek word “evangelion” meaning “good news”.
• The first Christians were persecuted because they did not participate in the public worship of the Roman state religion.
• The persecuted leaders became symbols of the new religion.
• Christianity was an illegal sect for more than the first two hundred years of its existence.
• The Roman Emperor Constantine the Great proclaimed tolerance of Christianity in the Roman Empire with the Edict of Milan in 313 AD.
• theodosius freed the clergy from paying taxes and gave them further privileges.
• theodosius made Christianity the state religion and outlawed worshiping the traditional Roman gods.
• On the first official meetings – councils – bishops created and reorganized the church in the similar way the Roman Empire was organized.
• The hierarchy of bishops, deacons and priests was established.
• The Roman bishop became the head of the church, because he identifies himself as the successor to holy Peter.
• Pope Gregory I the Great (590) involved the pope in politics.
• The Church became an important part of medieval society.
• Despite The Western Roman Empire being abolished, the Church continued and played a major role in creating feudal kingdoms in the Middle Ages.
• Almost everyone believed in God and tried to reach eternal life, which was only possible through sacraments (Eucharistia) administrated in churches.
• The clergy had the important responsibility of keeping, teaching and generally spreading the Word of God.
• In the Middle Ages, monasteries were the centers of knowledge, where the monks copied books.
• Benedict of Nursia created the first concept of organized religious communities, which is called “the rule – regula - of Saint Benedict”.