Origins of Christianity

What was responsible for the beginning of Christianity? What event(s) and/or what people started Christianity? Answering this question requires a careful review of the first century - the century that everyone agrees was the beginning of the Christian religion.

The Rise of Christianity

It is easier to trace the rise and spread of Christianity, than to address the origins of Christianity. The origins of Christianity are explained in the Bible, specifically the New Testament, but critics and skeptics are generally averse to the Bible. More on this later. However, non-biblical sources provide enough information to establish the general time-frame and scope of the rise of Christianity.

Roman historian Cornelius Tacitus (c. A.D. 55-120) wrote that the Emperor Nero, in order to evade charges that he destroyed Rome, "falsely charged with the guilt, and punished with the most exquisite tortures, the persons commonly called Christians, who were hated for their enormities." Tacitus went on to explain that "Christus" was their "founder" and was "put to death by Pontius Pilate." (Annals XV. 44)

This second century passage found in Tacitus' famous Annals bolsters the early Christian tradition that Jesus was put to death by Pilate and it confirms that Christianity had spread to Rome and had attracted imperial attention by the sixth decade of the first century.

The Roman historian Suetonius also wrote of Nero's punishment of the Christians, whom he described as a "class of men given to a new and mischievous superstition." (Lives of the Caesars, 26.2)

Suetonius, in fact, had the Christians in Rome even earlier than Nero's time. He explained that the Jews in Rome were "making constant disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus" and were therefore expelled from the city. (Life of Claudius 25.4). This event, which took place in A.D. 49, is likely the same event described in Acts 18:2.

Other non-biblical references to Jesus and/or his followers include letters and documents written by Lucian, a Greek satirist; Pliny the Younger, the Roman governor of Bithynia in Asia Minor; Mara Bar-Serapion, a Syrian philosopher; Josephus, the Jewish historian; and the Jewish Talmud. These sources all confirm the rise and spread of Christianity in the first century.

The Writing of the New Testament

Many refuse to grant the writings of the Bible the same level of respect given to other documents of antiquity. To these critics, if it's in the Bible, it's automatically suspect. Such a dismissal is academically invalid, since the writings of the Bible are at least writings collected and contained in an ancient religious book. Accordingly, they warrant the same scholarly standards of evaluation and analysis as any other ancient document.

What does an academic, scholarly analysis of the New Testament provide? The answer is quite a lot -- too much for this article. However, one of the more significant facts established by the New Testament (the part of the Bible most in focus here) is the time frame for Christianity's expansion.

The writings of the New Testament contain portions of early creeds recited by first century Christians. Many of these creeds, such as the one found in I Corinthians 15, have been dated to the third or fourth decades of the first century.

The New Testament books themselves were written in the first century (though a few scholars put a small number of the New Testament writings into the early second century). Renowned biblical archaeologist William Foxwell Albright declares: "We can already say emphatically that there is no longer any solid basis for dating any book of the New Testament after about A.D. 80."

These books contain the most information about the life of Jesus, his ministry and teachings, and of course his death and reported resurrection. What's more, the New Testament provides the best overview of the history of the early church and contains the writings of its most effective missionaries, including and perhaps especially the Jewish convert named Paul.

Who Was Jesus?

The documentary records of the first century (both Christian and non-Christian) confirm that Christianity began in the first century and rapidly spread throughout the Graeco-Roman world, reaching the capital city of Rome by at least the end of the fourth decade.

So, how did Christianity start? Some critics contend that Christianity arose from embittered Palestinian Jews seeking to establish a new social order. Others claim that Christianity was inspired by pagan religions, such as Mithraism. Still others say that it was a dizzying array of beliefs, traditions, and rituals cobbled together by Constantine at the Council of Nicaea. Is it possible to get to the truth?

The key to the origin of Christianity is a man. Who was Jesus? Was he real? And if so, who was he and how did he become the founder of Christianity? To answer those questions and to explore more on this topic, consider the following sources:

The Evidence for Christianity: Historical Evidences for the Christian Faith by Josh McDowell (Thomas Nelson, 2002)

The Case for the Real Jesus by Lee Strobel (Zondervan, 2007)

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