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Christianity is one of the most prominent religions in today’s world. According to a recent study done by the Pew Research Center, “approximately 78% of our World’s population practices [this religion]” (The Pew Research Center, 2012). The global importance of Christianity in today’s society can be evaluated by looking at the evolution of its doctrine since its formation. Christian theology has vastly progressed since its beginning sometime in the first century of the Common Era, but its exact origin is a controversial topic. Some believe that it began with the resurrection of Jesus Christ, while others believe that since Jesus Christ was Jewish which would in turn mean that Christian roots trace further back into Jewish history to before Jesus was even born. It is certain though, according to an article published by The Boise Center that, “Christianity began because of the Jewish rabbi Jesus Christ“(An Introduction to Christian Theology, 2). Jesus of Nazareth was born in the first year of the Common Era to a man and a woman by the names of Joseph and Mary. The Book of Matthew in the Bible touches on the story of how Mary, a virgin, came to be pregnant by stating that, “… the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’ All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had [planned]” (Matthew 1:18-25 NIV). After his birth, not much detail is described about Jesus in the Bible until he began his teachings on the Kingdom of God, around the age of thirty, to local outcast and poor people in present day Israel. Through these teachings that lasted about three years, Jesus’ popularity throughout Jerusalem grew, and he was rumored to be the Son of God or the Messiah. His popularity even became known by the Roman rulers of the time, and they began to see Jesus as a threat to their empire. In 33 C.E. during the Jewish holiday of Passover, Jesus was arrested due to the worries of the Roman Government and was brought to their Governor, Pilate. The dialog of Pilate’s decision concerning the crimes of Jesus can be found in the book of John in the bible. It reads that, “he (Pilate) went out … to the Jews … and said, ‘I find no basis for a charge against him. But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release the king of the Jews or Barabbas?’ They shouted back, ‘No, not him! Give us Barabbas!’(John 18:38-40 NIV). With this Pilate released Barabbas and took Jesus back inside the palace fitted him with a crown of thorns and a purple robe and took him out to the people once more. During this meeting the book of John tells us that, “Pilate came out and said to the Jews gathered there, ‘Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.’… As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, ‘Crucify! Crucify!’ But Pilate answered, ‘You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.’ (John 19: 5-6 NIV). With this Jesus was taken by Roman soldiers and prepared for crucifixion with beatings from the soldiers and mocking from the unbelievers. Jesus was crucified on Calvary Hill the morning that Pilate returned him to his people. Three days after his crucifixion, Jesus’ followers that had stayed loyal to him through his persecution say that Jesus rose from the dead and promised to return for them in God’s time. This event is said by Christians to be a symbol of God’s love for his people, and a fulfillment in the teachings that Jesus had spoken on throughout his adult life. Christians also believe that Jesus Christ sacrificed his life so that the sins of God’s people could be forgiven eternally so that they could enter the Kingdom of God. This event sparked the beginning of Christianity, and the religion flourished from this point on. As the religion grew through the years after Jesus’ death, “Christians became identified as a separate sect within the Judaism religion” (An Introduction to Christian Theology, 2). This was due to the fact that some Jews believed that Jesus Christ was the Son of God and some did not. According to an article by Bible.org this was mainly due to the fact that, “in the Hebrew Scriptures, the Jews somehow formed a completely wrong idea of the purpose of the Messiah’s coming. They thought that He would come as a military and political leader to destroy their enemies and establish Jewish sovereignty over all the nations. Because of this belief they rejected Jesus Christ and continue to reject to this day the Christian belief that Jesus is the Messiah” (Bible.org, 2013). These disagreements among Jews continued until Christianity slowly and eventually split entirely from its host religion.

Christians continued to go throughout the world telling about the life of Jesus and the miracles that he performed. Eventually these stories were compiled into what today is known as the four Gospels named Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. These appear as the first four books in the new testament of the Bible. Along with the collection of these Gospels, letters that were written by the apostle Paul and a handful of other authors were circulated around Jerusalem. These letters spoke further on “Jesus’ life and how Christians should live and worship” (An Introduction to Christian Theology, 2), and close to three hundred years later were included in Christian scriptures. 

After scriptures pertaining to the story of Jesus began to travel across the Middle East, many Christians began to be persecuted and even executed under Roman law for practicing the teachings in these scriptures. These persecutions ceased in 313 C.E. when the Roman emperor Constantine converted to Christianity, and legalized it throughout the Roman Empire. This legalization did not bring the unity that Constantine had hoped for and disagreements among Christians arose on key concepts in the religion concerning Jesus’ life and his relationship to God. Constantine came to the conclusion that “these debates were causing unrest and confusion in his empire, [so he] called bishops from across the [Roman] Empire to a council [that would be held at] Nicaea in 325 C.E. This first major council of the Christian church clarified key points of theology, and [also published these] key points into a written work known as the Nicene Creed. Debates continued to arise and a second council was held in Constantinople in 381 C.E. where the Nicene Creed was expanded into a longer statement of faith that was used and recited in churches”(An Introduction to Christian Theology, 3). After Constantine’s great works for Christianity during his reign, Emperor Theodosius and Bishop Augustine continued to try and expand the religion throughout the world. The massive spread of Christianity began seven decades after Christianity was legalized when Theodosius continued on Constantine’s mission and established the Christian faith as the official religion of the Roman Empire. Shortly after this decree, Bishop Augustine became the official bishop of Hippo in North Africa. With his new position, “Augustine would come to speak on and clarify on subjects such as the Trinity, Human sinfulness, and the relationship between the church and the state” (An Introduction to Christian Theology, 3). Through both Theodosius and Augustine’s exploration into Christianity the disputes within the religion’s people still did not come to an end. Church councils continued to take place every fifty to one hundred years to try and aid in making these disputes disappear. As the cycle of these councils and disputes continued to grow with the population of the religion, a gradual spilt between Christians of the Latin West and Greek East began to become prominent. Finally these disagreements concluded in 1054 C.E. to what is known today as the Great Schism. The title of this movement, according to an article published by Theopedia can be defined as “division or the great separation,” (Theopedia), is used to describe the splitting of the Christian churches of that time. It is said that the Great Schism was not just a result of disputes over key points in the religion but also was a result of disputes due to papal authority according to the above said article. During this time the Roman Pope and the Eastern atriarch both claimed that they had authority over the other, thus a division in the religion was inevitable and the two major strands would never be mended again. It is said by Theopedia’s researchers that the two strands, “reconciled their differences and reunited due to the Second Council of Lyons in 1274 C.E. and in 1439 C.E. due to the Council of Basel, but in each case the councils were renounced by the by the Orthodox as a whole, [due to the fact] that the hierarchs had overstepped their authority once again in consenting to these unions” (Theopedia). These were the last instances that the two churches tried to mend their broken history. Christianity is a religion that has greatly shaped the history of the world since the beginning of the Common Era. It was founded on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ and has overcome many obstacles. From the dispute over whether or not Jesus was in fact the Son of God to who held the highest power amongst the religion’s leaders, a split into two separate beliefs was inevitable. These obstacles were difficult and frequent among the people that devoted their lives to practicing Christianity; however through this adversity the religion has grown to be the most prominent religion in today’s world’s society.

Works Cited The Holy Bible. New International Version. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2006. Print. “An Introduction to Christian Theology.” The Boise Center for Religion and American Public Life. Boston College, n.d. Web. 26 November, 2013. “The Great Schism.” Theopedia, n.d. Web. 29 November, 2013. “The Global Religious Landscape.” Pew Research. Religion and Public Life Project, 18 December, 2012. Web. 1 December, 2013.