A Brief History of Christianity: How Did Europe Become Christian?

An abbreviated timeline for the world’s most popular modern religion

Everyone knows the story of Jesus. The three wise men, the crucifixion, the resurrection, etc. What’s not discussed is the before and after. What are the roots? What are the branches?

The timelines around early Christianity are convoluted. There are vast reams of text to sift through, requiring a lot of incidental knowledge. Most people just don’t have the time for that.

Here, I’ve attempted to chart a concise path in a way I haven’t seen elsewhere. Most people write about this in a convoluted way or delve too deeply into miscellaneous details.

Here’s a tl;dr to the intro -

Christianity developed in Greek/Roman-controlled areas of the Middle East. Over time, Levant beliefs essentially merged with Greco-Roman philosophies and religious beliefs. The controversial figure of Jesus solidified a split between Monotheists. Christians believed Jesus was THE messiah, while others thought of him more as a prophet or one of many messiahs. This is one of many disagreements.