01. Part One: When the Christian Church Was Young

Part One
WHEN THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH WAS YOUNG
(From Pentecost to Gregory the Great, 33-604)

• The New Testament Church Is Born on the Day of Pentecost

• The Church Grows Outwardly in Extent and Numbers

• The Church Grows Inwardly in Knowl­edge of the Truth and Spiritual Strength

• The Church Is Tempered

• The Church Is Victorious over the Hea­then World into Which It Was Born

• The Church Consolidates in Doctrine and Organization

• The Church Deteriorates

• The Church Survives the Barbarian Invasion and Grows Again

TIME LINE - PART I - WHEN THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH WAS YOUNG: PEOPLE

TIME LINE - PART I - WHEN THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH WAS YOUNG: EVENTS

PART ONE WHEN THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH WAS YOUNG In this first part of our book we are going to observe the early growth of the Christian Church. We shall see it develop from one small congregation in Jerusalem to a giant organization reaching into many lands. As the Church grew in numbers and in territory it also grew in its understanding of the truth, and issued carefully worded statements of belief. Not long after the Church’s beginning it began to suffer perse­cution, first at the hands of the Jews and then at the hands of the pagans. We shall see how the Church was delivered from this perse­cution and how Christianity became the approved religion of the State. In this early period, too, the Church had to withstand .a great invasion of barbarians from the North, who plundered the towns and cities of the great Roman Empire and overthrew the government. As the first section of our book closes we find the Church carrying on the stupendous task of Christianizing and educating the newly established barbarian kingdoms. When beginning our reading of each new chapter it will be well for us to take note of the dates given in the heading; for often a new chapter will take us over the same period of time covered in the previous chapter. If we bear this in mind and compare the dates we shall know just where we are in point of time. And that will help us to gain a clear picture of the story of the Christian Church.