Which christianity is the oldest

The discovery of the church and its contents confirm Ethiopian tradition that Christianity arrived at an early date in an area nearly 3, miles from Rome. The find suggests that the new religion spread quickly through long-distance trading networks that linked the Mediterranean via the Red Sea with Africa and South Asia, shedding fresh light on a significant era about which historians know little.

Helina Woldekiros, an archaeologist at St. That trade, by camel, donkey and boat, channeled silver, olive oil and wine from the Mediterranean to cities along the Indian Ocean, which in turn brought back exported iron, glass beads and fruits. The kingdom began its decline in the eighth and ninth centuries, eventually contracting to control only the Ethiopian highlands. Yet it remained defiantly Christian even as Islam spread across the region.

At first, relations between the two religions were largely peaceful but grew more fraught over time. In the 16th century, the kingdom came under attack from Somali and then Ottoman armies, but ultimately retained control of its strategic highlands. For early Christians, the risk of persecution from the Romans sometimes ran high, forcing them to practice their beliefs in private, posing a challenge for those scholars who study this era.

It was the Greek Jews who became the first priests and bishops of the Christian Church. Greek Jews were called "Romaniotes" or citizens of Rome. Initially, the Christian religion was a scattered, persecuted underground religion but as it became more focused and organized, it was called the "catholic" church, which means "universal" in Greek.

The word "catholic" in ancient times did not refer to the present Roman Catholic Church. Eventually, Christianity became a religion separate from Judaism.

The Romans persecuted Christians because they refused to accept the Roman emperor as the ultimate power. Emperor Constantine changed this and became the first Roman emperor to embrace Christianity, some say because he saw a flaming cross in the sky suggesting mental illness, hallucinatory drug use, a delirious fever or maybe divine intervention, who knows?

Besides, if he claimed to be the Pope, or head of Christianity, the Christians would recognize him as the ultimate power. At first, many Christians did not like the idea of a Roman emperor self-appointing himself as the head of the universal or catholic church, but most realized that it would be easier to accept him than fight him - after all, he seemed to believe in the Christian doctrine. So, the Patriarch of Rome became the primary patriarch because of its power and influence even though it was established well after the other four patriarchs all Greek Orthodox were established, although these four patriarchs were not called Greek Orthodox at the time.

The Greek Orthodox Church to this day calls itself the Catholic Church, which is recognized by the Roman Catholic Church but the name "orthodox" came about because the Greek Orthodox Church claims to have held on to the basic tenets of Christianity.

By the way, when Rome fell, power of the Roman Empire was transferred to Constantinople, where the leading Greek Orthodox Patriarch still resides and the Greek Orthodox Patriarch actually became the dominant Christian patriarch for centuries until the Turks captured Constantinople. Since Constantinople now called Istanbul was under Muslim control, the Greek Orthodox Church of Constantinople lost its influence and the Russian Orthodox Church started to gain in power.

Eventually, the Patriarch of Rome or the Pope became influential again. Many theologians and historians have claimed that the Greek Orthodox Church is the oldest Christian sect but for the sake of political correctness they say that the Greek Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church are both descendants of the original Christian Church while the Protestants rebelled against the Roman Catholic Church because they felt that the Roman Catholic Church had become too hierarchal - focused on the authority of bishops and the Pope rather than on Christianity.

Originally Posted by Verdor. DNick, My post was confusing as I was trying to discuss a variety of subjects at once and I apologize for this. It is true that Emperor Constantine was not the Pope but he did act as a head of the Christian Church even though he did not declare himself to be the Pope. Eventually, this title came to mean the Pope by courtesy. You are correct in that I never said in my earlier post that Constantine was the Pope but I can see that the ambiguity of my post may lead many to believe that I was saying that.

In my posts, I am trying to answer the question of "Which is the oldest Christian sect? The Greek Orthodox Church rejects this claim. Yes, the Bishop of Rome had the highest honor long before Emperor Constantine but not the primacy. Basically, the Bishop of Rome was given the honor of "first among equals" but not the primacy. Today, the Greek Orthodox Church of Constantinople Istanbul is called by the Russian Orthodox, Serbian Orthodox, Romanian Orthodox and other Orthodox churches as being the "first among equals" in the Eastern Orthodox religion but this doesn't mean that this church is the head of the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Let me expand on my earlier, ambiguous post. The Romans made a deal with the various religious groups in its territories - you can worship in your own religion as long as you accept the Roman Emperor as being the ultimate political and spiritual authority.

The Jews accepted this for the most part and avoided persecution until Jesus challenged the authority of the Roman Emperor, claiming that God is the ultimate authority not the Roman Emperor.

Many secular historians claim that other Jews, the Greeks, as well as other groups also rejected the Roman Emperor's authority although for some reason, Jesus became the most prominent. This became the major tenet of Christianity, which aggravated the Romans. When the Romans executed those Christians who refused to recognize the superiority of the Roman Emperor, these executed Christians became known as martyrs and more people began to challenge the Roman Emperor.

It is interesting to note that Jesus never intended to create a new religion. He simply disagreed with the way Jews were conducting their own religion. Jesus did not like the fact that Jews were giving into the Romans and conducting business in the temples.

But he never turned his back on Judaism and was hoping to strenghten Judaism, not establish a new religion. When historians look at writings from Jesus' period, there isn't any mention of him for the most part - only some indirect references.

It was many years later that Jesus became prominent so obviously people were passing down stories of Jesus. Anyway, the Roman Empire was beginning to weaken and the Romans realized that they had to reach a deal with the increasing number of devout Christians once again, this is secular history, not religious history.

A patriarch was established in Rome and the Christians gave this patriarch the highest honor. The Roman Catholic Church claims that there is a spiritual reason for holding the highest honor but once again spirituality is a matter of interpretation, which is why I like to focus on secular history.

Many Christians did not necessarily like the idea of setting up a Roman patriarch and giving this patriarch the highest honor but once again they were tired of persecution and the Roman patriarch accepted the Christian faith and did not recognize the Roman Emperor as being the ultimate authority so they relented.

According to Genesis , God created the heavens and the world, and the world was unformed. The relationship between the unformed world and the six days in which God created it is vital to the entire Bible. It is also central to why God created humanity.

Images are a copy or reflection of the original, much like a photograph. God made us in His image so that the world would be filled with image bearers, mirrors or reflectors of God, so that nobody would miss the point of His creation. Throughout eternity past, God enjoyed an intimate communion within his own being. The three persons of the Godhead—Father, Son, and Spirit—-enjoyed perfect relationships.

Unlike other religions, God was not lonely or empty. He was self-satisfied and content. Instead he created everything out of nothing in order to put His glory on display for the delight of his created beings, that they declare his greatness.

Hinduism and Christianity are quite different. Hinduism worships many man-made idols whereas Christianity teaches that God is the one true God and the only way to Him is through Jesus Christ. No one comes to the Father except through me.