How to build a Church

Right on Henry — that’s a big sweep of history, but I’ll give you a structured account of how Christianity grew out of, and alongside, the Roman Empire, eventually becoming the Holy Roman Church.

🌱 1. Roots in the Roman World

• 1st century CE:

  • Christianity began as a small Jewish sect in Roman-ruled Judea (modern Israel/Palestine).

  • Jesus’ followers preached his message after his crucifixion (ca. 30 CE).

  • Early Christians faced suspicion for refusing to worship Roman gods or the emperor — seen as subversive.

• Early spread:

  • Roman roads, trade networks, and the Greek language made it possible for Christianity to spread quickly across cities like Antioch, Alexandria, Corinth, and Rome itself.

  • The Apostle Paul was key: he framed Christianity in universal terms, making it appealing to non-Jews (Gentiles).

🔥 2. Persecution & Underground Growth

• 1st–3rd centuries:

  • Sporadic persecutions under emperors like Nero (64 CE), Decius (249 CE), and Diocletian (303 CE).

  • Christians often gathered in catacombs (subterranean burial sites) — both symbolic and practical.

  • Despite this, Christianity kept growing, especially among the poor, slaves, and women, offering hope, community, and charity.

• By 300 CE, estimates suggest maybe 5–10% of the Empire’s population was Christian.

✝️ 3. Constantine & the Turning Point

• 313 CE – Edict of Milan: Emperor Constantine (after his vision of the Cross at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312 CE) legalized Christianity alongside other religions.

• Constantine funded church building (e.g., Old St Peter’s Basilica in Rome), granted bishops power, and convened the Council of Nicaea (325 CE) to unify doctrine.

• Christianity now shifted from persecuted sect → favored imperial religion.

👑 4. The Roman Empire Becomes Christian

• 380 CE – Theodosius I issued the Edict of Thessalonica, making Nicene Christianity the official religion of the Empire. Pagan temples were closed, and non-Christian practices gradually outlawed.

• The Church gained wealth, land, and influence, merging with imperial administration. Bishops often functioned like civic leaders.

• Rome fell to the Goths in 410 CE, and the Western Empire collapsed in 476 CE — but the Church survived, filling the vacuum of authority.

⛪ 5. The Birth of the Holy Roman Church

• In the West, the Bishop of Rome (the Pope) increasingly claimed primacy, tracing authority back to Peter (“Prince of the Apostles”).

• Monasticism (Benedictines, ca. 6th century) preserved learning and Christian practice through the so-called “Dark Ages.”

• The Church gradually Christianized pagan festivals and sites, absorbing Roman traditions (ritual, law, architecture, Latin language).

🦅 6. The Holy Roman Empire

• 800 CE – Christmas Day: Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne as Imperator Romanorum (“Emperor of the Romans”), creating the Holy Roman Empire in Western Europe.

• This linked Christian kingship with papal authority — the Pope crowned emperors, and emperors defended the faith.

• The Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire in Constantinople had already been Christian for centuries, but its patriarchs resisted papal supremacy (leading to the Great Schism of 1054).

⚖️ 7. Legacy

• From then on, the Holy Roman Church (Western Latin Christianity under the Pope) became the dominant spiritual, cultural, and often political force in Europe for a millennium.

• Roman law, imperial structure, and classical philosophy were repurposed into Christian theology (e.g., Augustine, Aquinas).

• The empire was gone, but its skeleton lived on in the Church’s hierarchy, ritual, and even architecture.

✅ In short:
Christianity started as a marginalized Jewish sect → spread through Roman roads and cities → gained imperial favor under Constantine → became Rome’s official religion under Theodosius → preserved and reshaped Roman traditions after the fall of the Empire → emerged as the Holy Roman Church, carrying the Roman legacy into medieval Europe