LO-2 Christianity in the Era of the Roman Peace

Jesus:

• What is known of Jesus is found in the gospels
• The authors did not feel the need to write down all of what happened in Jesus life, just death and preach and birth
• Gospels written when Jewish people were against each other.
• Jesus obeyed the law and called for acceptance of Roman Rule
• One must "be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect"
• Gospel tells many of Jesus signs and wonders
• Jesus of Gospel is different then Jesus that Jewish groups hoped for
• he said I have not come to bring peace, but a sword
• He meant he will separate the sinful from the righteous
• The gentiles saw the god and went into the world and proclaimed the good news to the whole creation
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• aul had recently come to Judaea as a studious Pharisee and opponent of the new belief 
• A vision made his a passionate believer in Jesus as Messiah
• Paul kept in touch by letter
• Predestination: The doctrine that God determines in advance who will be saved and who will be damned
• Within the earliest Churches, there was no formal structure of authority and power
• People claimed that they should be the head of the Church because God or the Holy Spirit gave them something special
• The Churches' worship included two formal services
• Paul died in about 60 A.D. probably beheaded in Rome as a Jewish troublemaker
• The believers in Jesus began calling themselves by a name originally given them by Gentile disbelievers -"Christians"
• For the Christians, there were only three groups: 
• The Jews: God's former chosen people
• The Gentiles: a word that Christians sill often used to describe worships of the gods and goddesses
• Themselves, the Christians: who were Gentiles no longer but God's chosen people