Get Ready to Read (cont.)

Get Ready to Read (cont.)

Focusing on the Main Ideas

The First Christians

• Roman rule of Judaea led some Jews to oppose Rome peacefully, while others rebelled.

• Jesus of Nazareth preached of God’s love and forgiveness. He was eventually crucified and then reported to have risen from the dead.

• Jesus’ life and a belief in his resurrection led to a new religion called Christianity.

The Jews and the Romans

• Jerusalem was the capital of the kingdom of Israel.

• Emperor Augustus made Judah into a Roman province called Judaea in A.D. 6.

(page 343)

• During the 900s B.C., Israel was divided into two kingdoms: Israel and Judah.

• The Zealots were Jews who rebelled against the Romans in A.D. 66 to take back their kingdom.


The Jews and the Romans (cont.)

• The Zealots were defeated and the temple was destroyed.

• In retaliation, the Romans forced the Jews to leave Jerusalem and banned them from ever returning.

(page 343)

• The Jews rebelled again in A.D. 132 and were defeated again.


The Life of Jesus

• A messiah is a deliverer.

(pages 344–347)

• The Jews believed God would send a messiah to restore the kingdom.

• Jesus, a Jew born in the city of Nazareth, traveled throughout Judaea preaching his ideas.


The Life of Jesus (cont.)

• Jesus’ message was contained in a group of sayings called the Sermon on the Mount.

• Jesus believed in love and forgiveness, not simply following religious laws.


(pages 344–347)


• Jesus used parables to give his message.

• Parables are stories that use events from everyday life to express spiritual ideas.

• Jesus’ followers believed he was the messiah the Jews had been waiting for.


(pages 344–347)


• Leaders in Jerusalem charged Jesus with treason and crucified him.

• Jesus’ followers believe in Jesus’ resurrection, or rising from the dead.

• They founded a new religion called Christianity.


(pages 344–347)

Why did Roman rulers punish Jesus with death?

They feared his preaching would create a strong reaction among people that would threaten law and order.



• People who accepted Jesus and his teachings were called Christians.

• The Apostles were early Christian leaders who had been chosen by Jesus to spread his message. They helped establish churches and spread Jesus’ word.

• Peter and Paul were two of Jesus’ apostles.

(pages 348–350)


The First Christians (cont.)

• Christians believe Jesus is the Son of God who came to save people.

• Christians believe people can gain salvation, or be saved from sin and allowed to enter heaven, by accepting Jesus.

• Christians believe in the Trinity, or one God who exists as three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.


(pages 348–350)

What are parables, and why did Jesus use them?

A parable is a story that uses events from everyday life to express spiritual ideas.




The Christian Church

• Early Christians set up a church organization and explained their beliefs.

• Christianity won many followers and eventually became the official religion of the Roman Empire.

A Growing Faith

• Christianity became popular for several reasons.

• It appealed to the lower classes because it offered them hope.

• Christianity spread throughout Rome.

(pages 352–354)

• The ideals of Christianity were similar to what the people already believed.


A Growing Faith (cont.)

• Roman officials began to feel threatened by Christians.

• Also, Christianity gave people an opportunity to be part of a caring group of people.

• The Romans began to persecute, or mistreat, the Christians in A.D. 64.

• Martyrs are people willing to die rather than give up their beliefs.


(pages 352–354)


• The Edict of Milan in A.D. 313 gave religious freedom to all people and made Christianity legal.


(pages 352–354)


• Helena, Constantine’s mother, helped build churches in Rome and Jerusalem.

• Theodosius, the emperor after Constantine, made Christianity the official religion of Rome in A.D. 392.


(pages 352–354)

The Early Church

• Early Christians modeled their church after the Roman Empire’s government structure.

(pages 355–356)

• A hierarchy is an organization with different levels of authority.

• The Christian community’s hierarchy included five levels: the laity, clergy, bishops, archbishops, and patriarchs.

• Church members were the laity.


The Early Church (cont.)

• Church leaders were the clergy.

• Later, clergy were called priests.

• Several churches grouped together form a diocese, which was led by a bishop.

• An archbishop was a bishop in charge of an entire region.

• The five leading archbishops were known as patriarchs.


(pages 355–356)


• Doctrine is official church teaching.

• Jesus’ followers, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, left a written record of his teachings.

• Each of the apostles’ works is called a gospel, and all four gospels together are part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible.


(pages 355–356)


• Gradually the pope claimed power over other bishops.

• The Latin-speaking churches in the West that were led by the pope became the Roman Catholic Church.

• The pope was the bishop of Rome.


(pages 355–356)

What is a martyr?

A martyr is a person willing to die rather than give up his or her beliefs.



• Church and government worked closely together in the Byzantine Empire.

• Christians founded new communities and spread their faith to various parts of Europe.


The Spread of Christian Ideas

The Byzantine Church

• The Greek-speaking Christians in the East developed their own form of Christianity, the Eastern Orthodox Church.

• The Byzantines believed their emperor represented Jesus Christ on Earth.

(pages 359–361)

• The emperor appointed the patriarch of Constantinople, the leader of the Eastern Orthodox Church.


The Byzantine Church (cont.)

• Different parts of the Eastern Orthodox Church argued over the use of icons, or images of Jesus, Mary, the saints, or other Christian holy people.

• In A.D. 726, Emperor Leo III ordered all icons removed from churches.

• People who carried out the order were known as iconoclasts, or image breakers.

(pages 359–361)



• The Byzantines did not accept the pope’s claim that he was head of all Christian churches, including the Eastern Orthodox Church.

• After stopping an invasion of Italy by the Franks, the pope named Charlemagne, a Frankish king, as Byzantine emperor.

• The Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church eventually excommunicated each other.

(pages 359–361)



• Excommunication is a declaration that a person or group no longer belongs to the church.

• The split of the two churches was known as a schism.

(pages 359–361)


Christian Ideas Spread

• Religious men called monks formed communities called monasteries.

• Christianity helped people achieve order after the fall of Rome.

(pages 361–364)

• Religious women became nuns and formed religious communities of their own, called convents.

• Paula was a widow who gave up her wealth to build churches, a hospital, and a convent in Palestine.


Christian Ideas Spread (cont.)

• Basil was a bishop who created a list of rules for monks and nuns called the Basilian Rule.

• She also helped translate the Bible into Latin.

• Benedict was an Italian monk who created the Benedictine Rule, the rules for Western monks.

(pages 361–364)



• Cyril was a Byzantine missionary who created the Cyrillic alphabet, so Slavic people could read and understand the Bible.

• Missionaries are people who teach their religion to those who are not followers.

• Christianity spread north of the Byzantine Empire into Slavic countries and west into Britain and Ireland.

(pages 361–364)



• The Celts, who lived in Britain before the invasion of the Anglos and Saxons, fled to Ireland.

• Anglos and Saxons invaded Britain and united to form the Anglo-Saxons.

• Patrick was a priest who brought Christianity to Ireland.

(pages 361–364)



What are icons, and why was their use controversial?

Icons are images of Jesus, Mary, and the saints. Some Byzantines believed they were idols.


What roles did monks and nuns play in Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox life?

They ran hospitals and schools, aided the poor, preserved Greek and Roman writings, and acted as missionaries.

Section 1: The First ChristiansFocusing on the Main Ideas

The Rise of Christianity

• Roman rule of Judaea led some Jews to oppose Rome peacefully, while others rebelled.

• Jesus of Nazareth preached of God’s love and forgiveness. He was eventually crucified and then reported to have risen from the dead.

• Jesus’ life and a belief in his resurrection led to a new religion called Christianity.

Section 2: The Christian ChurchFocusing on the Main Ideas

• Christianity won many followers and eventually became the official religion of the Roman Empire.

• Early Christians set up a church organization and explained their beliefs.



• Church and government worked closely together in the Byzantine Empire.

Section 3: The Spread of Christian Ideas

• Christians founded new communities and spread their faith to various parts of Europe.


How and where did the Christian religion spread?

It spread through missionaries to Eastern Europe, Britain, and Ireland.


Section 3 The Spread of Christian Ideas

Review Main Ideas

Click the map to view an interactive version.

Click the map to view an interactive version.

Documents

Get Ready to Read (cont.)