1.

Early Christianity
a. Communal gatherings
● They met regularly at Solomon's Porch in the Temple courts for their daily devotions
● Early Christian community was founded and maintained by the Apostles

b. Persecutions
● Arrest of Peter and other apostles (​Acts 4​ and 5.)
● Persecution by Herod, with the martyrdom of James, and the arrest and imprisonment
of Peter. (​Acts 12​:1-11.)

c. Stephen - 1st Christian Martyr

d. Philip - the Evangelist

e. Saul to Paul
● Paul persecutes Christians.
Acts 8:1-3​ When believers are found guilty of what is considered to be ‘blasphemy’,
Saul calls for them to be stoned to death (see Acts 26:10).
● Acts 9:1-9 ​From ​Jerusalem, Saul goes to​ to ​Damascus
● The risen Lord Jesus appears to Saul before reaching Damascus. Saul falls to the
ground blinded.

● Acts 9:10-22​ Ananias has heard of Saul’s reputation and objects, but the Lord says,
“Go! I have chosen Saul for an important work. He must tell about me to those who
are not Jews, to kings, and to the people of Israel” (Acts 9:15).
● Saul is changed. He can see again.
● Returns to ​Damascus​ where he preaches the Good News to the Jewish community
for three years.

References:
thebiblejourney.org/biblejourney1/8-pauls-journey-to-damascus942/saul-persecutes-t
he-believers/
http://www.truthunity.net/books/herbert-hunt-a-study-of-the-new-testament-2-the-earl
y-christian-community
 ● began in Jerusalem
● grew out of Jewish tradition
● met in Local Jewish Synagogues
● St. Paul also set up church within the Roman Empire
● Persecution of Christians

3. Period of Persecution to Edict of Milan

The Edict of Milan was a mandate authorized in 313 A.D. by the Roman emperors
Constantine and Licinius declaring the practice of Christianity legal in the Roman empire.
The full text of this edict can be found translated to English in the first reference link below.

The edict contains the following declarations: "no one whatsoever should be denied the
opportunity to give his heart to the observance of the Christian religion, of that religion which
he should think best for himself" and "it has pleased us to remove all conditions whatsoever,
which were in the rescripts formerly given to you officially, concerning the Christians and now
any one of these who wishes to observe Christian religion may do so freely and openly,
without molestation."

In addition, the edict called for property which had been appropriated from Christians to be
"restored without any hesitation or controversy at all." The decree concludes with the
intention that the edict "shall be announced everywhere and brought to the knowledge of all."

The Edict of Milan began a new era of freedom from religious persecution for Christians who
had faced oppression from the Roman empire since the formation of the Christianity
approximately three hundred years prior. More information concerning the edict itself can be
found in the third link below.

Emperor Constantine's tolerance and acceptance of Christianity paved the way for its rapid
spread throughout the Roman empire and Europe. Constantine and the Edict of Milan
ushered in a significant period of time in the western world in which the Christian religion and
political power were extensively and elaborately interwoven. More information about
Emperor Constantine and his legacy can be found in the second reference below​.

4. Reformation Period

Reformation, also called Protestant Reformation, the religious revolution that took place in the

Western church in the 16th century. Its greatest leaders undoubtedly were Martin Luther and John
Calvin. Having far-reaching political, economic, and social effects, the Reformation became the basis

for the founding of Protestantism, one of the three major branches of Christianity.

● The office of papacy involved in the political life of western Europe.

● The church continued to have increasing power and wealth; this contributed to the

bankrupting of the church as a spiritual force.

● Corruption in the church is prevalent.

● For most people, the church continued to offer spiritual comfort.

● The political authorities increasingly sought to diminish the public role of the church and

thereby triggered tension.

Dating the Reformation

● The start of the Protestant Reformation is the 1517 publication of Martin Luther's "95 Theses."

● It allowed for the coexistence of Catholicism and Lutheranism in Germany, to the 1648 Treaty

of Westphalia, which ended the Thirty Years' War.

● The key ideas of the Reformation: A call to purify the church and a belief that the Bible, not

tradition, should be the sole source of spiritual authority.

● Luther and other reformers became the first to skillfully use the power of the printing press to

give their ideas a wide audience.

The Reformation: Germany and Lutheranism

● Martin Luther (1483-1546) was an Augustinian monk and university lecturer in Wittenberg

when he composed his "95 Theses."

● In 1521, he was summoned before the Diet of Worms and excommunicated.

● Luther translated the Bible into German and continued his output of vernacular pamphlets.

● When German peasants, inspired by Luther's empowering, revolted in 1524, Luther sided with

Germany's princes.
 ● By the Reformation's end, Lutheranism had become the state religion throughout much of

Germany, Scandinavia and the Baltics.

The Reformation: Switzerland and Calvinism

● The Swiss Reformation began in 1519 with the sermons of Ulrich Zwingli.

● In 1541, John Calvin, a French Protestant was invited to settle in Geneva and put his

Reformed doctrine- which stressed God's power and humanity's predestined fate into

practice.

● The result was a theocratic regime of enforced, strict morality.

● Calvin's doctrines quickly spread to Scotland, France, Transylvania and the Low Countries.

The Reformation: England and the "Middle Way"

● In England, the Reformation began with Henry VIll's quest for a male heir.

● When Pope Clement Vll refused to annul Henry's marriage to remarry, the English king

declared in 1534 that he should be the final authority in matters relating to the English church.

● Henry dissolved England's monasteries to confiscate their wealth and worked to place the

Bible in the hands of the people.

● After Henry's death, England tilted toward Calvinist-infused Protestantism.

● In 1559, Elizabeth I took the throne and cast the Church of England as a "middle way"

between Calvinism and Catholicism.

The Counter-Reformation

● The Catholic Church was slow to respond systematically to the innovations of the reformers.

● The Council of Trent, which met off and on, articulated the Church's answer to the problems

of the Reformation.

● The Catholic Church of the Counter Reformation era grew more spiritual, more literate and

more educated.
 ● New religious orders, notably the Jesuits, combined rigorous spirituality with a globally

minded intellectualism.

References:

● https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.history.com/.amp/topics/reformation/reformation

● https://www.britannica.com/event/Reformation