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First Century:
The Birth of the Church
Five historical points define this century.
Pentecost
Our history begins on the Jewish feast of Pentecost. While the Blessed Virgin and the disciples were in the upper room praying, the promised Advocate, the Holy Spirit, descended upon them. At that moment the Catholic Church was born. From that glorious day in the upper room the disciples of Jesus formed a community, which according to the Acts of Apostles "…devoted themselves to the teachings of the apostles…communal life…and the breaking of bread and prayers."(Acts 2:42).
St. Paul
Because this small community consisted of Jews, outsiders saw them as another sect of Judaism. But some within the Jewish church saw this new community as a threat and decided to deal with it accordingly. One such Jew, a Pharisee named Saul, started to persecute the followers of Christ but on his way to Damascus, Saul met the risen Lord who asked, "Saul, Saul why do you persecute me?"(Acts 9:4) This meeting with the risen Christ, converted Saul (a.k.a. St. Paul) who later became a zealous missionary for the Church embarking on four missionary voyages, spreading the message of the Gospel to both Jews and Gentiles.
Council of Jerusalem
As the Christian message spread, many gentiles (non-Jews) began to accept the Gospel and Christ. This led the early Church to call its first council, the Council of Jerusalem, in 49 AD. The two main speakers at the Council were St. Peter, who was chosen by Jesus to be head of the twelve and the first Pope, and St. James, the brother of the Lord. Both convinced the assembly that God desired gentiles to be part of the community and that all people were "…saved through the grace of Our Lord Jesus."(Acts 15:11)
Evangelization
The Apostles and disciples wasted no time in taking the message of the Gospel to numerous regions throughout the Mediterranean. As Christianity spread, the Roman authorities became increasingly suspicious of the Church. When they finally looked more closely at the Church, they were shocked to discover that Christians were 1) Monotheistic – they believed in only one God, not many gods as they did. 2) Moral – they had a strange moral code that included, fidelity in marriage and the rejection of infanticide. 3) They were perceived as Cannibals – they claimed to eat the flesh of a man named Jesus of Nazareth.
Persecutions
The more the Roman government learned about Christians and Christianity the more hostile it became toward this new religion. This hostility eventually led to the beginning of the persecutions that would occur intermittently over the next three centuries. The first persecution was ordered by Emperor Nero in 64 AD. The second persecution occurred under Domitian in 95 AD who chose to reinstate the same anti-Christian laws that Nero had used.
It was quite evident, as the persecutions started that the early Church had a simple organizational structure in place. The pastoral letters of St. Paul that include I and II Timothy and Titus, reveal a hierarchical structure where the bishop/elder was head of the community and was helped by a deacon who was his assistant.