1. THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION Background

2. ROOTS OF CHRISTIANITY  Why is it called Christianity? Jesus of Nazareth  Who was he? Rabbi in Israel Teaching radical sets of beliefs Love ALL people Give away your wealth to the poor because they are the most beloved “Blessed are the meek” i.e. Be a good person Challenges Judaism and Romans

3. DEVELOPMENT OF CHRISTIANITY  Why did he gain so many followers? Your social status doesn’t matter Roman gods – behaving like humans (not inspirational) Show devotion through sacrifice ($) Judaism – 1 st monotheistic religion at this time, Strict hierarchy  Execution Crucifixion, buried, 3 days later rises  When does he become Christ? After he rises, walks around and tells people to spread faith, ascends to heaven  Bible New testament – Christian story Old testament – Judaic tradition

4. THE SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY  Peter and Paul (canonized) Peter – goes to Rome 1 st bishop of Rome Petrine Doctrine  Pope, did not become accepted for ~2 centuries Paul – has a vision of Jesus Travels around Mediterranean to have a cohesive belief system. Letters to communities  First 200 years Jews who believed Jesus was the messiah Paul’s letters explained what it meant to be a Christian  Who was Jesus? Divine? Son of God? Christians= Christ = son of God Jews and Muslims = Jesus is a prophet

5. THE SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY: ROME  Romans persecute them: thought Christians would destabilize society because followers tended to be poor Despite this, it still becomes popular. “Can’t beat them, join em”  312 Emperor Constantine: allows Christianity to become a legal religion  Council of Nicea 325 Church leaders gather to work out differences agree on the trinity  380 Theodosius: Christianity is the official religion of the empire Canon Law – Church law. Sanction to persecute non-orthodox. Church courts. Church becomes formal

7. PROTESTANT BELIEF CHART  Look over the belief chart  Identify key similarities and differences between the different branches.