11/11/2024
"Christianity Before Rome's Christening"
Presented By Aye Tizzo
CHRISTIANITY IN EGYPT (300 A.D.):
The Church of Alexandria, Egypt was established by Saint Mark the Evangelist (a disciple of Saint Peter) around 49 A.D. (264 years before Christianity was legalized in Rome by Constantine, & 331 years before Christianity was declared the state religion in Rome by Theodosius I).
Saint Mark is considered the first Bishop of Alexandria and is believed to have arrived in the city around 42 A.D. He is said to have converted many to Christianity and performed miracles during his time in Alexandria. According to tradition, Saint Mark was martyred in 68 A.D. by being dragged through the streets during a festival of Serapis. He was buried under the church he had founded.
The Church of Alexandria was the center of Christianity in the region by 300 A.D. (13 years before Christianity's legalization in Rome). The church's dominance shifted around 451 A.D. when the Council of Chalcedon led to divisions. Those who spoke the native language of the area, called Coptic, became the Coptic Orthodox Church. The Coptic Orthodox Church is considered one of the earliest Christian groups outside the Holy Land.
( https://study.com/academy/lesson/church-alexandria-overview-history.html #:~:text=Founded%20around%2049%20CE%20by,as%20the%20Coptic%20Orthodox%20Church. )
CHRISTIANITY IN ETHIOPIA (330 A.D.):
The story of the Ethiopian eu**ch, Simeon Bachos The Black (Treasurer of Queen Candace of Ethiopia) is told in Acts 8:26-40 of the Bible. According to the Bible, Saint Philip introduced Christ to the Ethiopian eu**ch (Simeon) around noon:
Acts 8:26: "Or go at about noon"
Acts 8:35: Philip told the Simeon the good news about Jesus.
In Acts 8:35, Philip tells Simeon about Jesus and the Ethiopian expresses a desire to be baptized.
Church tradition says that Simeon spread Christianity as he returned to Africa. The events of Acts 8:35 in the Bible likely took place between 33-35 A.D. (The Book of Acts describes events that took place in the 1st century A.D. in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and other areas of the Greco-Roman empire). The book was likely written in Rome between 70 and 90 A.D., though some think it may be slightly earlier.
Saint Philip died in 80 A.D. at age 77 (one tradition claims it was due to natural causes, and crucifixion according to another tradition).
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church was later founded in 328 A.D. (52 years before 'Theodosius I' declared Christianity to be the state religion of Rome, & 15 years after Christianity was legalized in Rome by Constantine). The church is also one of the oldest Christian churches in sub-Saharan Africa. The church's history includes:
Frumentius, a Greek-speaking Syrian missionary who was raised in the palace of Axum, became the first bishop of the Ethiopian Church after being consecrated in Alexandria, Egypt by Saint Athanasius.
According to Ethiopian tradition, Christianity became the state religion of Ethiopia in 330 A.D., after Frumentius converted King Ezana to Christianity (52 years before 'Theodosius I' declared Christianity to be the state religion of Rome).
The Ethiopian Empire was the only African region to remain a Christian state after the expansion of Islam, before European colonization.
From the first half of the 4th century until 1959, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church was part of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria.
In 1959, Pope Cyril VI of Alexandria granted the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church autocephaly, giving it its own patriarch.
In 2022, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church had between 36 million and 49.8 million adherents in Ethiopia.
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church is one of the largest Oriental Orthodox Churches. The word "Tewahedo" is Ge'ez for "united as one".
'The Garima Gospels' are thought to be the world's oldest surviving illuminated Christian manuscripts.
The Ethiopian Bible is nearly 800 years older than the 1611 King James Bible, holding from 81-88 books in comparison to the 80 books in the 1611 KJV. The Ethiopian Bible is also the world's first 'illustrated' Christian bible.
( https://www.oikoumene.org/member-churches/ethiopian-orthodox-tewahedo-church # )
( https://www.ethiopianorthodox.org/english/indexenglish.html )
( https://study.com/academy/lesson/ethiopian-orthodox-tewahedo-church-origin-history-beliefs.html #:~:text=7.3K%20views-,History%20of%20Ethiopian%20Christianity,Orthodox%20churches%20in%20the%20world. )
CHRISTIANITY IN ROME (380 A.D.):
"Although initially a small sect of Judaism and heavily concentrated in Israel, Christianity began to spread throughout the Roman Empire. Missionaries such as Paul of Tarsus visited parts of modern-day Greece, Turkey, and Italy to preach Christianity. When the city of Jerusalem was sacked by Rome in 70 CE after an ill-fated rebellion, many Jews and Christians left the Near East and settled elsewhere.
By the time Nero, emperor from 54 AD to 68 AD, rose to power, known Christians were frequently arrested, tortured, and killed, forcing Christians to worship in secret. Roman emperors often blamed Christians when unfortunate things occurred in the Empire that threatened the political stability of the emperor and senate. A famous example of this type of scapegoating was the massive fire, known as the Great Fire of Rome. The fire lasted at least three full days and burned a large portion of the city of Rome. Nero was quick to blame the rebellious Christian population for the fire that killed many Romans and left thousands of people homeless. Hundreds of Christians were arrested and killed as a result.
By 305 AD, Diocletian became gravely ill and was forced to resign his position. His successors generally did not improve the persecutions, with the exception of Emperor Constantine who was the first Christian emperor of Rome. The reign of Constantine brought the end of state-supported Christian persecution. Constantine had reportedly long been fascinated by Christianity, and he claimed he had a vision of a cross in the sky on the eve of the Battle of Milvan Bridge in 312 AD, a vision he believed was a divine Christian signal that he would be victorious in his pending battle against Maxentius and led to his Christian conversion. Constantine and his army were successful in battle, effectively reuniting the Roman Empire under one government again."
( https://study.com/academy/lesson/growth-of-early-christianity-in-rome.html #:~:text=In%20313%20AD%2C%20Constantine%20issued,religion%20continued%20to%20openly%20flourish. )
In 313 A.D., Emperor Constantine issued the Edict of Milan, which accepted Christianity: 10 years later, it had become the dominant religion of the Roman Empire.
In 380 CE, the emperor Theodosius issued the Edict of Thessalonica, making Christianity the official state religion of the Roman Empire.
OLDEST ROMAN CHURCH: PRISCA VS PUDENZIANA
"Two churches on contend for the title of oldest churches in the capital: Santa Prisca and Santa Pudenziana, both linked to the first Christians and to the figure of Peter. It must be said that the first basilicas built by Constantine are San Pietro and San Giovanni in Laterano, even if their present appearance has nothing to do with the structures built by the first Christian Emperor. Lately, however, the idea based on specific studies has been spreading that the oldest Christian church is precisely that of Santa Pudenziana, which houses one of the most beautiful and ancient mosaics in Rome.
If the dates hypothesized by historians were true, the basilica would have been built around 380 AD."
( https://www.italyrometour.com/which-is-the-oldest-church-in-rome/ #:~:text=Lately%2C%20however%2C%20the%20idea%20based,been%20built%20around%20380%20AD. )
( https://www.britannica.com/place/Rome/The-churches )
