Editing History of Christianity (section)

=== Ante-Nicene period (100–312) ===
{{Main|Christianity in the ante-Nicene period}}
{{further|Great Church|Gnosticism}}
The Christian faith spread east into Syria and Mesopotamia where the population spoke Aramaic, not Greek. Aramaic Christians were in [[Adiabene]] (northern Iraq) by the second century.{{sfn|Wilken|2013|p=26}} It had spread into North Africa in the first century, and by the third century, it had spread across the Mediterranean region, from Greece and Anatolia into the Balkans in the East, and as far as [[Roman Britain]] in the northwest.{{sfn|Trombley|2006|p=311}}{{sfn|Schäferdiek|2007|loc=abstract}} 

Christianity's different ideas, combined with the social impact of the church, were pivotal to this growth.{{sfn|Judge|2010|pp=217–218}}{{sfn|Hopkins|1998|p=224}} Christianity offered people new ways of thinking.{{sfn|Van Dam|1985|p=2}}{{sfn|Brown|1997|p=28}}{{sfn|Brown|1998|pp=24–25}}{{sfn|Judge|2010|p=262}} For example, the idea that the power of God was manifested through Jesus in a reversal of power challenged Roman concepts of hierarchy.{{sfn|Van Dam|1985|p=4}}{{sfn|Judge|2010|p=197}}{{sfn|Malcolm|2013|pp=14–18; 27}} 

The Ante-Nicene period included sporadic but increasing [[Persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire|persecution from Roman authorities]], as well as the rise of Christian [[sect]]s, [[cult]]s, and [[Sociological classifications of religious movements|movements]].{{sfn|Siker|2017|pp=207–212; 213–217}} Christians were persecuted because they did not uphold fundamental beliefs of Roman society and their withdrawal from public religion made them targets of suspicion and rumor.{{sfn|Castelli|2004|pp=38-39}}{{sfn|Gaddis|2005|pp=30–31}}{{sfn|Frend|2006|p=504}}{{sfn|Dodds|1970|loc=pp. 111–112, 112 n.1}} For most of its early centuries, Christianity was tolerated, and episodes of persecution were local.{{sfn|Moss|2012|p=129}} Emperor [[Nero]]'s persecution of Christians during the mid-1st century was confined to Rome. There were no empire-wide persecutions until the 250s.{{sfn|Barnes|1968|p=50}} Official persecution [[Diocletianic Persecution|reached its height under Diocletian]] in 303–311.{{sfn|Rives|1999|p=141}}{{sfn|Croix|2006|pp=139–140}}{{sfn|Gaddis|2005|pp=30–31}}

In sociologist Rodney Stark's view, Christianity constituted an "intense community" which provided a unique "sense of belonging".{{sfn|Stark|1996|pp=207, 215}}{{sfn|Praet|1992–1993|p=73}} Early Christianity demonstrates both inclusion and exclusion.{{sfn|Mitchell|Young|2006|p=588}} Baptism was free and there were no fees, which made Christianity more affordable than traditional Roman religions.{{sfn|Welch|Pulham|2000|p=202}}{{sfn|Praet|1992–1993|pp=45–48}} Belief in the resurrection of Jesus was the crucial and defining characteristic for becoming a Christian, and early Christianity was highly inclusive of any who expressed such belief.{{sfn|Meeks|2003|pp=79–81}}{{sfn|Dowley|2018|p=14}} [[Ancient philosophy]] Professor Danny Praet writes that believers were also separated from unbelievers by a strong social boundary in a unique type of exclusivity based on belief rather than traditional Roman ritual.{{sfn|Praet|1992–1993|p=36}}{{sfn|Green|2010|pp=126–127}}{{sfn|Praet|1992–1993|pp=68, 108}}  
{{multiple image
 | align = right
 | total_width = 500

 | image1 = Good shepherd 02b close.jpg
 | alt1 = photo of very old and slightly damaged representation of Jesus as the Good Shepherd from the catacombs, made {{circa|300|lk=no}}
 | caption1 = Jesus as the [[Good Shepherd]]; [[catacombs of Rome]], {{circa|300|lk=no}}

 | image2 = Half-length portrait of a virgin consecrated to God, from the book Die Malereien der Katakomben Roms, plate 80.jpg
 | alt2 = photo of very old slightly damaged portrait of a woman in robes signifying her consecration to God
 | caption2 = Virgin consecrated to God in the clothes of her office, praying in [[orans]] position; [[Catacomb of Priscilla]] {{circa|275|lk=no}}.
}}
Women are prominent in the Pauline epistles{{sfn|MacDonald|1996|p=10-11, 169}}{{sfn|Guy|2011|pp=10, 75, 188}} and [[early Christian art]],{{sfn|Tulloch|2004|p=302}} while much early anti-Christian criticism was linked to "female initiative" indicating their role in the movement.{{sfn|Gardner|1991|p=67}}{{sfn|MacDonald|1996|pp=126; 157; 167–168; 202; 242}}{{sfn|LaFosse|2017|pp=385–387}}{{refn|group=note|The ascetic life was attractive to large numbers of women because it granted them some control over their destinies,{{sfn|Stewart|2017|p=308}}{{sfn|Kraemer|1980|pp=298; 300–301; 306–307}} offered them escape from marriage and motherhood, and an intellectual life with access to social and economic power.{{sfn|Castelli|2004|p=251}}{{sfn|Milnor|2011|loc=abstract}}{{sfn|Stewart|2017|p=308}}}} The church rolls from the second century list groups of women "exercising the office of widow".{{sfn|MacDonald|2003|p=169}}{{sfn|Guy|2011|pp=10, 75, 188}} There are few records of early Christian art, but the oldest emerged in the catacombs of Rome between 200 and 400.{{sfn|Grabar|2023|p=7}}{{sfn|Matthews|Platt|1998|pp=148–149}}{{sfn|Judith Anne Testa|p=80}} It typically fused Graeco-Roman style and Christian symbolism: the most common image was Jesus as the [[good shepherd]].{{sfn|Goodenough|1962|p=138}}{{sfn|Matthews|Platt|1998|pp=148–151}}

By 200, Christian numbers had grown to over 200,000 people, and communities with an average size of 500–1000 people existed in approximately 200–400 towns. By 250, Christianity had grown to over a million.{{sfn|Harnett|2017|pp=200; 217}}{{sfn|Hopkins|1998|pp=192–193}} House churches were then succeeded by buildings designed to be churches, complete with assembly rooms, classrooms, and dining rooms.{{sfn|Runciman|2004|p=5}}{{sfn|Hopkins|1998|pp=203, 206}} A more formal church government developed at different times in different locations. Bishops were essential to this development, and they rose in power and influence as they began to preside over larger areas with multiple churches.{{sfn|Carrington|2011|pp=153, 266}}{{sfn|Stewart|2014|loc=intro}}{{sfn|Siker|2017|p=216}}{{sfn|Wilken|2013|p=90}}

The four gospels and the letters of Paul were generally regarded as authoritative, but other writings, such as the [[Book of Revelation]] and the epistles [[Epistle to the Hebrews|to the Hebrews]], [[Epistle of James|James]], and [[Johannine epistles|1 John]], were assigned different degrees of authority.{{sfn|Siker|2017|p=205}}{{sfn|Noll|1997|pp=36–37}}{{sfn|De Jonge|2003|p=315}} [[Gnosticism|Gnostic texts]] challenged the physical nature of Jesus, [[Montanism]] suggested that the apostles could be superseded, and [[Monarchianism]] emphasized the unity of God over the Trinity.{{sfn|Siker|2017|pp=212–217}} In the face of such diversity, unity was provided by the shared scriptures and bishops.{{sfn|Siker|2017|pp=216–217}}{{sfn|Cullmann|2018|p=1}}

The fluidity of the New Testament in the first century does not seem to have affected belief in the [[Trinity]] as it connected to Christology and salvation. Christianity's [[Sacred mysteries|central mystery]], the Trinity, defines the Holy Spirit, Father, and Son as one God in three persons.{{sfn|Olson|Hall|2002|p=15}} However, there is an evolution of thought in the [[Church Fathers|Patristic writings]], then the development of the [[Biblical canon|canon]], and later in the theological controversies of the fourth century, that shaped the concept's development and gradually created a more technical Trinitarian vocabulary.{{sfn|Emery|Levering|2011|pp=1-2, 5-6}}{{sfn|Olson|Hall|2002|pp=15-16}}