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Early Christians gathered in small private homes, [2] known as house churches, but a city's whole Christian community would also be called a "church"—the Greek noun ἐκκλησία (ekklesia) literally means "assembly", "gathering", or "congregation" [3] [4] but is translated as "church" in most English translations of the New Testament.
The New Testament books were connected by the early church to the apostles, though modern scholarship has cast doubt on the authorship of most New Testament books. In the traditional history of the Christian church, the Apostolic Age was the foundation upon which the entire church's history is founded. [122]
Early Church Texts; The Early Christians in Their Own Words (free Ebook – English or Arabic) Catholic Encyclopedia: The Fathers of the Church; PBS Frontline: The First Christians "The Old Testament of the Early Church" Revisited, Albert C. Sundberg, Jr. The Jewish Roman World of Jesus Archived 2010-08-17 at the Wayback Machine
[55] [56] Women in the church were prominent in church rolls, [57] [58] the Pauline epistles, [59] [60] and in early Christian art, [61] while much early anti-Christian criticism was linked to "female initiative" indicating their role in the movement. [55] [62] [63] [note 1] A key characteristic of early Christianity was its unique type of ...
The early Christian apologist Tertullian recorded that footwashing was a regular part of early Christian worship. [154] Footwashing was done with a basin "of water for the saints' feet" and a "linen towel". [151] Being commanded in John 13, footwashing done in the imitation of Jesus was a rite encouraged by Origen. [154]
Map of the Roman Empire with the distribution of Christian congregations of the first three centuries AD. The growth of Early Christianity from its obscure origin c. AD 40, with fewer than 1,000 followers, to being the majority religion of the entire Roman Empire by AD 400, has been examined through a wide variety of historiographical approaches.
Christianity in the 4th century was dominated in its early stage by Constantine the Great and the First Council of Nicaea of 325, which was the beginning of the period of the First seven Ecumenical Councils (325–787), and in its late stage by the Edict of Thessalonica of 380, which made Nicene Christianity the state church of the Roman Empire.
In this respect, the gatherings were places where early Christian traditions could develop. [20] The communal prayer of supplication was considered to be particularly effective (cf. Mt 18:19-20) and is likely to have played an important role in the gatherings. The Lord's Prayer is the only early Christian prayer form that has been passed down. [21]