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Like above said there
developed three main primitive Christian movements:
1. Jewish
Christian movement (a.k.a The Nazoreans): Jesus
disciples appear to have regrouped later in Jerusalem
under the leadership of James, one of Jesus' brothers. The
group viewed themselves as a reform movement within
Judaism; they viewed Jesus as a prophet and rabbi, but not
as a deity. They organized a synagogue, worshiped and
brought animals for ritual sacrifice at the Jerusalem
Temple. They observed the Jewish holy days, practiced
circumcision of their male children, followed Kosher
dietary laws, and practiced the teachings of Jesus as they
interpreted them to be. They are frequently referred to
today as the Jewish Christians.
(These should not be confused with followers of modern-day
Messianic Judaism who generally follow an Evangelical
Christian theology and who are sometimes also called
Jewish Christians.) Many were killed, enslaved, or
scattered during the Roman attack on Jerusalem in 70 AD.
Messianic Judaism, a new religious movement, is sometimes
referred to as Jewish Christianity. Their theological
beliefs match those of Evangelical Christianity, and bear
little resemblance to the Jewish Christianity of the 1st
century AD.
2. Pauline
Christianity: Saul, a Jew from Tarsus, originally
prosecuted the Jewish Christians on behalf of the priests
at the Jerusalem Temple . He experienced a powerful
religious conversion, after which, he departed for places
unknown for three years. He later became the single most
active Christian missionary, from about 36 AD until his
execution by the Romans in the mid-60's. He created a new
Christian movement
Paul abandoned most of the Laws of Moses and rejected many
of the Jewish behavioral rules that Jesus and his
disciples had followed during his ministry. Paul taught
that God had unilaterally abrogated his covenants with the
Jews and transferred them to the Pauline Christian groups.
Paul went on a series of missionary journeys around the
eastern Mediterranean and attracted many Gentiles
(non-Jews) to his movement. He was assisted by many
co-workers, both male and female. Paul organized churches
in many of the areas' urban centers, in competition with
Greek Paganism, Mithraism, Mystery Religions, Judaism,
competing Christian movements, and other religions. His
Epistles record how he and his movement were in continual
theological conflict with the Jewish Christian movement
centered in Jerusalem, and with Gnostic Christians. Paul
ran afoul of the Roman Empire, was arrested, and was
transported to Rome where he was held under house arrest.
He was executed there about 65 AD. Paul's churches
survived his death and flourished. Some of his letters to
various of his church groups were later accepted into the
canon of the Christian Scriptures (New Testament).
Christian groups typically met in the homes of individual
believers, much like home churches do today. Leaders were
both men and women. There was no central authority, no
standard style of organization at the local level, no
dedicated church buildings or cathedrals. The Greek words
episkopos (bishop, overseer), presbuteros (elder,
presbyter) and poimen (pastor, shepherd) were originally
synonymous terms which referred to the leader of a group
of believers.
3. Gnostic
Christianity: Gnosticism is a philosophical and
religious movement with roots in pre-Christian times.
Gnostics combined elements taken from Asian, Babylonian,
Egyptian, Greek and Syrian pagan religions, from
astrology, and from Judaism and Christianity. "Among
Gnostic Christians there were communities under the name
of John and Thomas and many other lesser and later
disciples." 6 They claimed to have secret knowledge about
God, humanity, and the rest of the universe of which the
general population was unaware. They were/are noted for
their: Novel interpretations of the Bible, the world and
the rest of the universe.
Belief that the Jehovah of the Hebrew Scripture (Old
Testament) was a defective, inferior Creator-God, also
known as the Demiurge. He was viewed as fundamentally
evil, jealous, rigid, lacking in compassion and prone to
committing genocide.
Tolerance of different religious beliefs within and
outside of Gnosticism.
Lack of discrimination against women.
Some Gnostics formed separate congregations. Others joined
existing Pauline Christian groups. Still others were
solitary practitioners.
In addition to the above three main groups, there were
many smaller religious communities, which have been
referred to as Matthean Christianity, Johannine
Christianity, etc. "Among Jews especially in the East
there were Christian communities and literature under the
name of Peter and James that stood in opposition to Paul
and John." Together produced over 80 gospels and hundreds
of Epistles (letters). "Many of these other Gospels
outside the New Testament had very different views of
Jesus, produced in communities that held widely different
understandings of Jesus."
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