Paul of Tarsus and the spread of Christianity Students will use a map to cite evidence as to how Christianity spread

Warm Up: Recall: What are the holy books of Judaism and Christianity?

Homework Page 174 use the map to complete the 2 map skills questions.

Early years after Jesus’ death As we learned from analyzing the chart the other day Jesus’ followers dropped at first because many people felt they were lied to since he didn’t save himself and/or they were afraid to admit they followed his teachings.

Along comes Paul of Tarsus Paul of Tarsus never met Jesus, but heard about him. Originally fought to stop the word of Jesus from spreading. Born Jewish, but became Christian.

Turn and Talk If Paul worked trying to stop the spread of Christianity why do you think he later became a Christian?

Then something happened One day while walking in Damascus Paul was confronted with a blinding light. This light was said to be Jesus calling to him and teaching him about his ways. That led to Paul’s conversion.

A change of heart Paul quickly became one of the biggest supporters of Jesus and traveled throughout Asia to spread Jesus’ message

Paul’s Journeys

Rome and Christianity For hundreds of years despite the travels of Paul it was a crime to be a Christian in Rome. People who chose to be Christian had to do so in hiding. Even though it was illegal there was a slow, but there was an increase in the number of Christians in Rome.

Turn and Talk: Why do you think a religion was outlawed?

Constantine Emperor of Rome who spent many years making sure Christians were punished one day had a change of heart As he prepared for fight a battle he sees a cross in the sky. He took this as a sign that if he converted to Christianity he would win. So he converted and he won the battle

A huge difference After Constantine converted to Christianity he decided to call together Christian leaders from all over the empire to help in the spread of Christianity 60 years after the death of Constantine all non- Christian religions are outlawed in the Roman Empire.

Work Time: Using the provided graph and map answer the assigned tasks for your group.