The Early Church and

The Roman Christian Empire

Group 5
Andrei Gambalan
Gwen Dela Vega
Jodi Gavano
Kristoffer Gelbolingo
Aj Anana
Yanah Siason
Roman Christian Empire: The reign of Emperor Constantine
• During the reign of the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great (AD 306–
337), Christianity began to transition to the dominant religion of the Roman Empire.
Historians remain uncertain about Constantine's reasons for favoring Christianity.
Constantine's rule Christianity expanded throughout the Empire, launching the era
of Christian Church's dominance under the Constantinian dynasty.[1] Whether
Constantine sincerely converted to Christianity or remained loyal to Paganism
Constantine's decision to cease the persecution of Christians in the Roman
Empire was a turning point for early Christianity, sometimes referred to as the
Triumph of the Church, the Peace of the Church or the Constantinian shift. In 313,
Constantine and Licinius issued the Edict of Milan decriminalizing Christian
worship. The emperor became a great patron of the Church and set a precedent
for the position of the Christian emperor within the Church. People started
converting themselves to Christians, that resulted making most of the Empire
Christians. It later on resulted to the 3 Branches of Christianity.
 Important People in the Early Church & The Roman
Christian Empire
• Jews- Gave Christianity ideas and some
of their roots to make up the Church
• Christians- The followers of Christ or the
“Church”
• Romans- Converted mostly as Christians;
made Christianity the state’s main religion.
• Emperor Constantine- Stopped the
Roman persecution and granted religious
freedom to the Christians by signing a law
known as Edict of Milan A.D. 315
 Important People in the Early Church & The Roman
Christian Empire
• St. Jerome- He translated the old and new testament to
Latin
• St. Agustin of Hippo- Declared that it is only the authority of
the Roman Catholic Church that they’ll accept any book of
scripture that is translated to a certain language.
• Emperor Nero and Diocletian- Ordered the persecutions of
the Christians
• Simon Peter- The one who led the Apostles after Jesus left
• Saul AKA Paul – He renew some Jewish roots and
practices in order for people to join easily the religion.
 How did it spread?
• Although Jesus had died, his message had not. Word of his teachings spread to
Jewish communities across the empire. This was helped by energetic apostles,
such as Paul and by the modern communications of the

What Paul did?

Over 30 years, Paul clocked up around 10,000 miles, traveling across the Roman
Empire. He preached in some of the empire’s most important cities. Although
places like Ephesus, Philippi, Corinth and Athens looked magnificent, they were
also home to tens of thousands of poor, desperate people who were the perfect
audience for the Christian message of eternal life.

Like Jesus, Paul spoke to people in their homes and synagogues. But he went
beyond Jesus, who had only preached to Jews. Paul believed his message should
also be taken to gentiles – the non-Jews.
What Simon Peter and the Apostles did for their mission
• They spread
out
Christianity
throughout
Israel and
Rome.
Some say
even
outside
Europe.
How did Christianity spread?
What is the Early Church & The Roman Christian Empire?
• Early Church- The early church is a period of time where
people are converted as Christians and started worshipping
Jesus Christ because of the apostles. Because of their belief
of Christ, the separation between Jews and Jew Christians
and the period of persecution of the early Church in Rome.
• The Roman Empire- Is a period of time where in the the
Roman prosecutions stopped when Emperor Constantine
granted religious freedom to the Christians by signing a law
known as the Edict of Milan which paved its way to convert
most Romans as Christians.
Persecution?

• Persecution is the
systematic mistreatment of
an individual or group by
another individual or
group. The most common
forms are religious
persecution, racism and
political persecution,
though there is naturally
some overlap between
these terms.
Where did the Early Church & The Roman Christian
Empire start?
• Jerusalem
• Rome
• Israel
• Palestine
When did the Early Church & The Roman Christian
Empire Start?
• The Early Church- A.D. 70-312

• The Roman Christian Empire- A.D 313-590

Why did the Early Church & The Roman Christian
Empire happened?
• Because of the faith of the followers of Christ, they were
given a mission to spread out the Gospels everywhere
How did the Early Church & The Roman Christian
Empire happen?
• After Pentacost or the day the Apostles receiving their
tongues of fire, they were inflamed to spread out the
gospel, converted some Jews as Christians making the
early church happen

• Because of the freedom of Christianity to spread around

the empire, most Romans started believing in Christ and
converting their faith to this religion; making up 80%+ of
Romans as
Further discussion of the Early Christians

• https://youtu.be/sWKCMuyst-8