History of Christianity
This topic surveys the history of Christianity from its origins in first-century Judaism through its growth, doctrinal development, and division into many traditions across two millennia.
Definition
The study of the historical development of Christianity, its doctrines, institutions, and traditions, from antiquity to the present.
Scope
It covers Christian origins and the early church, the formation of doctrine and the ecumenical councils, the spread and institutionalization of the faith in late antiquity and the Middle Ages, the Eastern and Western churches, the Reformation, and the modern global expansion of Christianity. The treatment is historical, describing developments, texts, and debates rather than affirming Christian doctrine.
Core questions
- How did Christianity emerge from and separate from Judaism?
- How were core doctrines and the canon formed through controversy and council?
- How did the church divide into Eastern, Western, and later Protestant traditions?
- How has Christianity been transformed by its global spread?
Key theories
- Development of doctrine
- Jaroslav Pelikan's history of how Christian teaching developed over time through debate and definition, treating doctrine as a historical phenomenon that grew and changed rather than a fixed deposit.
- Late-antique transformation and diversity
- Peter Brown's account of the rise of Western Christendom emphasizing the diversity, adaptation, and gradual Christianization of the post-Roman world rather than a simple linear triumph.
History
Christianity arose within first-century Judaism, spread across the Roman Empire, defined its doctrines at councils such as Nicaea and Chalcedon, divided between Eastern Orthodoxy and Western Catholicism in 1054, fragmented further in the sixteenth-century Reformation, and became a worldwide religion through missionary expansion and, more recently, rapid growth in the global South.
Debates
- Continuity versus rupture in Christian origins
- Scholars debate how far early Christianity represented continuity with Judaism and how far a decisive break, and when a distinct Christian identity emerged.
Key figures
- Diarmaid MacCulloch
- Jaroslav Pelikan
- Peter Brown
Related topics
Seminal works
- macculloch2009
- pelikan1971
- brown2003
Frequently asked questions
- What were the ecumenical councils?
- They were assemblies of bishops, such as Nicaea (325) and Chalcedon (451), that defined key Christian doctrines and addressed controversies, shaping the creeds shared by many later churches.
- What caused the major divisions in Christianity?
- Principal divisions include the East–West schism of 1054 and the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century, each arising from a mix of doctrinal, political, and cultural factors.