The Spread of the Gospel Outside Palestine

Back to: CHRISTIAN RELIGIOUS STUDIES JSS3

 

Welcome to JSS3 Second Term!

We are building on our work from the First term as we learn more about Christain Religious Studies.

In today’s class, We will be discussing The Spread of the Gospel outside Palestine. We hope you enjoy the class!

 

TOPIC: THE SPREAD OF THE GOSPEL TO ROMAN EMPIRE

Before Jesus left disciples, he commissioned them and instructed them to spread the gospel. He specifically told them to “Go and make disciples of all nation, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20). Since then, the disciples have been spreading the word of God in and outside Jerusalem to even the deepest part of the world.

Soon, the early Christians (who were mostly Jews) spread to the Roman Empire and were converting people. Unfortunately, the Christians were greatly persecuted until the emergence of Emperor Constantine. The mother of Constantine, Helena secretly converted to Christianity but was afraid to publicly proclaim her new religion in order that she may not be executed and also so that she will not contribute a problem to her son’s reign. She rather [secretly] persuaded her son to convert to her new Christian religion. But he was hesitant at first.

Constantine’s mother later made her new religion public. And it so happened that someday while in the battlefield facing very strong opposition, he saw his mother in a vision, standing beside Jesus Christ. He told Jesus that if he could help him win the war he would convert to Christianity. He won the war and fulfilled his promise. And not only did he convert to Christianity, but he also converted the entire Roman Empire to Christianity. This is because the religion of an emperor automatically became the religion of the entire empire. As the empire became Christianized, Constantine replaced all pagan officials to Christian officials, establishing Christianity in the empire and went as far as Israel to build the church of Nativity in Bethlehem; specifically on Mount Moriah. After the death of Constantine, his son Constantinus, also known as Constantine II took over. He was also a very strong and devout Christian. Through him, the Fathers gained control of the empire.

Factors that Assisted the Spread of the Gospel throughout the Roman Empire

1. The zeal of the early Christians
2. The confidence they had in communicating their faith
3. The miracles that occurred wherever they went
4. The good character of the Christians
5. The unity and the discipline of the local church

                                               

SELF EVALUATION

1. Why did Helena refuse to publicly proclaim her religion?
2. What made Constantine convert to Christianity?
3. After the death of Constantine who took over?

 

We have come to the end of this class. We do hope you enjoyed the class?

Should you have any further question, feel free to ask in the comment section below and trust us to respond as soon as possible.

In our next class, we will be talking about The Christain Missionary Journey. We are eager to meet you there.

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