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Early Christian art used not only Roman forms but also Roman styles. Late classical style included a proportional portrayal of the human body and impressionistic presentation of space. Late classical style is seen in early Christian frescos, such as those in the Catacombs of Rome, which include most examples of the earliest Christian art. [3 ...
Church architecture refers to the architecture of Christian buildings, such as churches, chapels, convents, seminaries, etc. It has evolved over the two thousand years of the Christian religion , partly by innovation and partly by borrowing other architectural styles as well as responding to changing beliefs, practices and local traditions.
Early church architecture did not draw its form from Roman temples, as the latter did not have large internal spaces where worshipping congregations could meet. It was the Roman basilica , used for meetings, markets and courts of law that provided a model for the large Christian church and that gave its name to the Christian basilica .
A church, church building, or church house is a building used for Christian worship services and other Christian religious activities. The earliest identified Christian church is a house church founded between 233 AD and 256 AD. [1] Sometimes, the word church is used erroneously to refer to the buildings of other religions, such as mosques and ...
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 conversion of pre-Christian places of worship, rather than their destruction, was particularly true of temples of Mithras, a religion that had been the main rival to Christianity during the 2nd and 3rd centuries, especially among the Roman legions. An early 2nd century Mithraeum stands across the Roman street from the house and can be visited.
The term church may be used in the sense of "Christian denomination" or in the singular as the Christian Church as a whole. The "church" (Greek ekklēsía , 'assembly') is traced to Pentecost and the beginning of the Christian mission in the first century and was not used in reference to a building.
[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 ...