2. The Spread of the Church The Day of Pentecost

3. The Moving of the Holy Spirit While the apostles and disciples are meeting the Holy Spirit descends on the crowd and 3,000 souls are added to the church.

4. The Apostle Peter The people are persuaded by the kerygma given by the Apostle Peter and are they are welcomed into the Church.

5. The Expansion The fear of the Way

6. Jews Because of the number of people who were joining this new movement of “blasphemers” many Jews sought to crush this “rebellion.”

7. The Apostle Paul Persecutor turned Persecuted

8. Apostle to the Gentiles

9. Saul of Tarsus Saul was a devout Jew who wanted nothing better than to see the blasphemers persecuted. He sought permission to hunt and kill these blasphemers. He was even present at the death of Stephen, a powerful advocate of “the Way.”

10. Conversion This devout Jew has a conversion experience and becomes a “blasphemer” himself and joins the Christians. His name changes from Saul to Paul. His forever changes the Christian church through his letters, his visits, his influence and most of all through his ideas.

11. The Make Up of the Church New verses Old Conflicts arise

12. The Church The Church is composed of “gatherings” at various locales throughout Palestine. Each gathering has a different sort of make-up. Most of these gatherings are comprised of Jews. However, some of them include a very strong mixture of Jews and Gentiles.

13. Conflict Many Jewish believers maintained that the Gentiles need to convert to Judaism first before they can become Christians. They are called Judaizers. They are among the most vocal critics of Paul.

14. The Sect Judaism was protected by Rome. Although Christianity was considered by some to be a “sect” within Judaism, the Jews insisted that it was not and therefore, told the Romans.

15. The Christians do not worship the same gods as others of the Roman empire. The Christians were also accused of setting the fire that destroyed parts of Rome.

16. Martyrs As a result of the persecution many were imprisoned and killed. Those who were killed became martyrs. As Tertullian noted “The blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church.” Many Christians looked forward to the day when God would vindicate them and punish their enemies.

17. The New Testament The Development of the Christian Canon Canon

18. A New Era Christianity becomes a “valid” religion

19. The Emperor – Who Changed Christianity Constantine was emperor of Rome from 312 CE to 337 CE. Up until the time of the conversion of the Emperor Constantine Christianity was a persecuted religion. http://www.metmuseum.org /toah/ho/05/eust/ho_26.229. htm

20. Emperor Constantine Constantine converted Christianity in 318 BCE when he allegedly saw the sign chi-rho during a battle which he took to mean that God gave him the victory. Christianity’s status changed from being persecuted to being accepted. This signed formed by the first two letters of the Greek word “Christos” was a secret signed developed by Christians in the first century.

21. The Council of Nicea A number of issues arose during the time of Constantine. To deal with these issues the Emperor convened a council. The first council was convened at the city of Nicea in 325 CE. Christians worked out what constituted a valid interpretation of the Jesus.

22. Heresies Those who differed were called heretics. Among them was a powerful man named Arius. He contended that Jesus was “made” by God.

23. Ecumenical This ecumenical council affirmed the idea that Jesus was not made but was “begotten.” The Son was the same “essence” as God.

24. Other Heresies The were other heresies Adoptionists Jesus was human but was “adopted” by God at his baptism. Monophysites Jesus was essentially divine and not human.

25. Sources Slide 2 – http://feastofsaints.com/elgrecopentecost2.jpghttp://feastofsaints.com/elgrecopentecost2.jpg Slide 8 – http://www.ccel.org/bible/phillips/CNM15-Saul.gifhttp://www.ccel.org/bible/phillips/CNM15-Saul.gif Slide 9 – http://www.resourcesforlife.com/webresources/images/bible/paul.j pg http://www.resourcesforlife.com/webresources/images/bible/paul.j pg Slide 11 – http://www.salaam.co.uk/themeofthemonth/may02/images/churc hsepulchre1.gif http://www.salaam.co.uk/themeofthemonth/may02/images/churc hsepulchre1.gif Slide 15 – http://www.bible- history.com/past/images/The_Christian_Martyrs_Last_Prayer_by_l eon_gerome.jpghttp://www.bible- history.com/past/images/The_Christian_Martyrs_Last_Prayer_by_l eon_gerome.jpg Slide 21 – http://theology.freeyellow.com/arius.gifhttp://theology.freeyellow.com/arius.gif