History of the Eartly Christian Church

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Throughout the early centuries of the church’s existence, the Roman government suppressed the spread of Christianity. Many emperors did their absolute best to try to stop the Christian populace from spreading with none succeeding (demonstrated by the fact that Christianity is still in existence today). It was not until 322 A.D. when Constantine united all of Europe under his throne that Christianity could be spread without threat of persecution. Under Constantine, Christianity, in terms of numerically, thrived. Councils were held, doctrine developed, and great strides were taken in order to have Christianity be one catholic church. However, in the next couple centuries, the church would grow apart and rulers would fall resulting in mass turmoil throughout the Western Empire. The Roman Catholic Church (as it would later be called) used these events to secure its grip over the entire western empire.
In the western half of the once great Roman Empire, Rome, along with the surrounding territories, fell to barbarians. The barbarians, primarily from Germanic tribes, had no system of government by which the people should live. In other words, each village and people-group were left to fend for themselves in terms of both rule as well as protection; however, the church never faltered or fell away while the barbarians took control. In light of this fact, the church began to grow in power and stability. With people flocking to the churches and monasteries for help and protection, the power began being transferred to the bishop rather than to a king/political ruler. This bishop was the Archbishop of Rome.
In the universal church, there were primarily five bishops in each of the primary Christian cities in the empire: Alexandria, Antioc...

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...Y: Oxford University Press,
2001.

Foote, G.W. and J.M. Wheeler. “The Rise of the Papacy.” The Nazarene Way. Accessed
April 18, 2014. http://www.thenazareneway.com/rise_of_the_papacy.htm.

Gonzalez, Justo L. The Story of Christianity. New York, NY: HarperOne, 2010.

McFarland Kathy L. “The Centered Power of Rome in the 6th-9th Centuries.” Becker Bible
Studies. December 2008. Accessed April 18, 2014. http://guidedbiblestudies.com/history/Centered_Power_Rome.html. Pinedo, Moisés. “The Origin of the Papacy.” Apologetics Press. 2008. Accessed April 18, 2014. http://www.apologeticspress.org/apcontent.aspx?category=11&article=2386. Walker, Williston. History of the Christian Church.New York, NY: Scribner, 1985.

Worldology. “How Christianity Rose to Dominate Europe.” Worldology. Accessed
April 18, 2014. http://www.worldology.com/Christianity/rise_christianity.htm.

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