A clear and student-friendly explanation of how Christianity developed—from Jesus’ original teachings, to Paul’s interpretations, John’s Logos philosophy, and finally the formation of the early Church as an institution. Ideal revision notes for philosophy and religion students.
Table of Contents
Formation of Christianity – Background and Need
- Christianity began within Jewish history, where Abraham, Moses, and the Ten Commandments shaped Jewish religious life.
- For Jews, religion meant strictly following God’s laws. Obedience to commandments was central.
- Jesus was himself a Jew, but he taught that simply following rules is not enough; inner transformation is necessary.
- Jesus tried to reform Judaism, shifting emphasis from external rituals to love, compassion, and internal moral change.
- Rituals had become primary in Judaism, and Jesus encouraged internalizing values rather than performing rituals only from habit.
- The question arises: If Jesus was a Jew, how did Christianity emerge? Christianity grew from the idea that Jesus’ teachings represented a new spiritual direction.
- We study this development because Medieval philosophers like St. Augustine and Thomas Aquinas tried to combine faith and reason, making Christianity philosophically significant.
- Thomas Aquinas is often shown with a church (faith) in one hand and a book (reason) in the other, symbolizing the harmony between belief and rational thought.
- To understand medieval philosophy clearly, we must understand both the evolution of philosophical reasoning and the development of Christian faith.
Summary
This section explains how Christianity began within Jewish tradition and how Jesus aimed to reform Judaism by focusing on inner moral change. We study this development to understand how later Medieval philosophers blended faith and reason.
Founder’s Experience vs Followers’ Interpretation
- In every religion, there is a difference between the founder and the followers.
- The founder has direct spiritual experience, which gives clarity to their thoughts and teachings.
- Followers do not have this direct experience, so they often follow blindly or interpret teachings in their own way.
- Example: Gautama Buddha had direct realization of truth, but his followers interpreted his message differently, leading to multiple branches of Buddhism.
- To truly understand a founder’s teaching, one must reach the founder’s level of understanding, not just read or memorize their words.
- The same pattern appears in all religions and even in literature: readers interpret a writer’s book according to their own viewpoint.
- In the case of Christianity too, Jesus’ original ideas and the later development of Christianity are not identical; there is a clear difference between the two.
Summary
This section explains that founders of religions speak from direct experience, while followers interpret those teachings differently. Because of this, Jesus’ original teachings and the religion of Christianity developed later are not exactly the same.
Jesus as Messiah – Spiritual and Political Views
- Jesus was given the title Christ or Messiah, meaning “the anointed one.”
- However, this title was interpreted in two different ways by people around him.
- Some followers saw Jesus as a spiritual leader, teaching moral and inner transformation.
- Others viewed him as a political leader who might help free Jews from Roman control.
- When Jesus spoke of the “Kingdom of God”, some understood it spiritually, while others thought it meant political liberation.
- The Romans eventually began to see Jesus as a potential political threat, especially when large crowds welcomed him in Jerusalem.
- To prevent any uprising, the Romans secretly arrested Jesus, held a quick trial, and crucified him.
- Crucifixion was used as a warning: anyone who challenged Roman authority would face the same punishment.
- After Jesus’ death, his followers were confused — if Jesus was truly the Messiah, why did he accept death instead of resisting it?
Summary
This section explains how Jesus was understood in two ways—spiritual and political—and how this led to his crucifixion by the Romans. After his death, his followers struggled to understand why a Messiah would willingly accept death.
Resurrection and the Revival of Faith
- After Jesus’ death, his followers were shocked and afraid, feeling that his mission had ended.
- Jesus’ body was placed in a tomb, but after three days, the tomb was found empty.
- For the next 40 days, Jesus was believed to appear to his followers, sharing meals and speaking about the Kingdom of God.
- This return after death is called Resurrection, a central event in Christian belief.
- Resurrection is different from resuscitation:
- Resuscitation means being revived from near-death through medical help.
- Resurrection means complete transformation after actual death, leading to a new, immortal life beyond death.
- After 40 days, Jesus is said to have ascended to heaven, known as the Ascension.
- These three events form a sequence:
Crucifixion → Resurrection → Ascension. - The Resurrection convinced followers that Jesus was not just a teacher, but a divine being.
- After this event, their focus shifted from Jesus’ teachings to his miracles and divine identity.
Summary
This section describes how Jesus’ Resurrection renewed the faith of his followers, leading them to see him as divine. The events of Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension became central to Christian belief and changed how followers understood Jesus.
Early Christian Community and Spread of Teachings
- After the Resurrection, Jesus’ followers waited for the “Kingdom of God” to arrive, though its exact meaning was unclear to them.
- To support each other during this waiting period, they formed a shared community, where food, money, and resources were collectively shared.
- For Jesus, the focus had been on God and living an ethical life (love, compassion, humility), but for his followers, Jesus himself became the center.
- Followers struggled with questions like why the Kingdom was delayed and why Jesus accepted death if he was divine.
- Calling Jesus divine created conflict with traditional Jews, who were strict monotheists and saw such claims as blasphemy (disrespecting God).
- Due to this tension, Jesus’ followers began spreading their message to non-Jews (Gentiles).
- Many Jews living outside Palestine (in places like Alexandria, Rome, and Antioch) were more influenced by Roman and Greek culture, and they were more open to new ideas.
- These diaspora Jews, and even many non-Jews, found Jesus’ message appealing.
- As Jesus’ teachings spread to new cultures, they started to take new forms, shaped by the beliefs and perspectives of those cultures.
Summary
This section explains how early followers formed a supportive community while waiting for God’s kingdom. Due to conflict with strict Jewish beliefs, the message spread to more open and culturally mixed groups, leading Jesus’ teachings to evolve into new shapes across different regions.
The Gentile Mission and Role of Saint Paul
- Non-Jews were called “Gentiles.” When Jesus’ followers started teaching his message to non-Jews, it was known as the Gentile Mission.
- The key figure in this mission was Saint Paul, who played the most important role in shaping early Christianity.
- The Bible has two parts:
- Old Testament – the old agreement between God and the people of Israel, mediated by Moses.
- New Testament – the new agreement between God and all humanity, mediated by Jesus.
- The New Testament contains 27 books, and almost half of them were written by Saint Paul, showing his major influence on Christian thought.
- Saint Paul was born a Jew in a Greek city, which exposed him to Greek culture and philosophy from an early age.
- He later studied Judaism deeply in Jerusalem, gaining strong knowledge of Jewish law and identity.
- Because Judaism was strictly monotheistic, Paul initially opposed the group that claimed Jesus was divine, seeing it as blasphemy.
- At first, he viewed Jesus’ followers as a misguided group and was angry at their message.
Summary
This section introduces the Gentile Mission and highlights Saint Paul as the key figure who helped shape Christianity. With strong backgrounds in both Jewish tradition and Greek culture, Paul originally opposed Jesus’ followers before eventually redefining their message for a wider audience.
Paul’s Transformation and His Vision
- Saint Paul initially opposed the early Christian community and worked with strict Jews to persecute them.
- Persecution here means arresting, torturing, or even killing those who believed Jesus was divine.
- Paul was considered the strongest opponent of the early Christians, though the exact number of people he persecuted is unknown.
- During a journey to Damascus, Paul had a divine or extraordinary experience, known as Paul’s Vision.
- This experience completely changed Paul’s perspective, and he accepted Jesus and began preaching his teachings.
- Different explanations are given for this event: divine miracle, medical condition, hallucination, or exhaustion — but the effect of the vision is what matters historically.
- Because Paul had a background in Greek culture, he understood the idea of mystery cults, where followers share a symbolic connection with a god’s death and resurrection.
- After his vision, Paul saw Jesus not just as a prophet or messiah, but as a divine being whose death and resurrection opened the path to immortal life for believers.
Summary
This section explains how Paul, once a strong opponent of Christians, had a transformative vision that led him to accept Jesus as divine. His Greek cultural background shaped how he interpreted Jesus’ death and resurrection, influencing the future direction of Christian belief.
Paul’s Teachings on Faith and Salvation
- Paul’s ideas are mainly found in his letters, where he teaches that salvation is universal and meant for all people.
- He says God’s grace is open to anyone who has faith, whether they are Jew or non-Jew.
- For Paul, faith in Jesus is more important than following external laws or rituals.
- He emphasizes inner transformation, calling it “circumcision of the heart”, instead of physical practices like circumcision.
- Paul introduces the idea of Original Sin: because Adam and Eve disobeyed God, all humans are born under the power of sin.
- He balances Adam and Jesus:
- Adam’s single act of sin brought corruption to humanity.
- Jesus’ single act of sacrifice restores humanity and offers freedom from sin.
- In this view, disobedience (Adam) is healed through obedience (Jesus).
- By interpreting Jesus’ death and resurrection in this way, Paul presents Jesus as a Savior God who brings spiritual renewal to all believers.
Summary
This section shows how Paul taught that salvation is available to everyone through faith in Jesus, not through strict rituals. He links humanity’s fall through Adam with its restoration through Jesus, presenting Jesus as the source of spiritual renewal and freedom from sin.
Paul’s Idea of Sin and Dualism
- Paul explains sin by connecting it with the physical body.
- He introduces a kind of metaphysical dualism:
- The inner self (mind, will, or spirit) wants to follow God’s law.
- But the body is under the influence of sin.
- Paul says that sometimes a person knows what is right, wants to do it, but still ends up doing the wrong thing.
- This conflict shows that the body has become a slave to sin, while the inner self desires goodness.
- Paul believes that a person cannot escape sin through personal effort alone.
- To be free from sin, one needs God’s divine grace, which comes through faith in Jesus.
- This view differs from Jesus’ original teachings, which focused more on inner moral effort and the belief that humans can change themselves through love, compassion, and ethical life.
Summary
This section explains how Paul saw sin as controlling the physical body, creating a struggle between inner will and outer action. While Paul believed only God’s grace can free a person from sin, Jesus emphasized personal inner transformation and ethical living as the way to change.
Paul’s Interpretation of Jesus and Salvation
- Paul views Jesus through the lens of dualism: Jesus is both human and divine.
- Crucifixion represents Jesus’ human, physical side, while Resurrection represents his divine nature.
- For Paul, salvation means becoming one with Jesus — symbolically dying with him and then being reborn into a new, spiritual life.
- This rebirth means leaving behind the physical body’s desires and sins and living through the divine will.
- Here we see a difference among the three:
- Jews: Focus on following laws given by Yahweh.
- Jesus: Focuses on internal moral change along with following laws.
- Paul: Makes faith in Jesus central, emphasizing spiritual rebirth through Jesus.
- Paul teaches that true faith in Jesus leads to transformation, not just forgiveness.
- Some misunderstood Paul and thought that faith allowed them to continue doing wrong, like a license for sin.
- Paul rejects this idea — he says that genuine faith transforms a person so deeply that they no longer desire sinful actions.
Summary
This section explains how Paul sees Jesus as both human and divine, and how salvation means joining Jesus in symbolic death and rebirth. While Jews focus on laws and Jesus emphasizes inner change, Paul makes faith in Jesus central, teaching that true faith transforms behavior from within.
Paul’s Mixed Influences and Philosophical Issues
- Paul combines multiple ideas: Jewish stories, Jesus as Messiah, and concepts from mystery cults.
- This mixture helped Christianity become a universal religion open to all people.
- However, mixing many traditions also created contradictions and unresolved questions.
- Paul teaches that Adam’s sin corrupted all humanity and that humans cannot choose goodness on their own.
- This raises philosophical problems:
- How did Adam’s sin pass to everyone?
- If humans are not free to choose, then how can they be morally responsible?
- If human choice is limited, then blaming or praising someone becomes unfair.
- Paul emphasizes faith in Jesus, yet sometimes also mentions rituals, leading to confusion about what is actually required.
- He accepts monotheism (one God) but also describes Jesus as divine, without giving a clear explanation of the relationship between God and Jesus.
- Paul teaches that love is the highest virtue, similar to Jesus.
But while Jesus focuses on loving God and others, Paul speaks of mystical love directed toward Christ himself.
Summary
This section explains how Paul combined many different ideas to form a universal Christian message, but this mixture created philosophical problems about sin, free will, responsibility, and the relationship between God and Jesus. While Paul emphasized faith and love, many of his ideas remained unclear and open to interpretation.
The Incarnation Problem and John’s Solution
- Calling Jesus divine creates a problem for monotheism (belief in one God): if God is one, then how can Jesus also be divine?
- Another issue arises: If Jesus is divine, why did divinity appear in this one person specifically? This is known as the Incarnation Problem.
- The Gospel writer John tries to answer this by introducing the idea of the Logos (Greek for Word).
- John says: “In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
- This Logos existed before creation and God created the world through it.
- John identifies Jesus with the Logos, meaning Jesus existed before his human birth.
- According to John, the Logos entered human life in the form of Jesus — expressed as “the Word became flesh” or “Logos assumes human flesh.”
- This explains Jesus’ divine status and resolves the question of why divinity appears in him.
- John gives two purposes for the Incarnation:
- To reveal God to humanity, since God cannot be seen directly.
- To show that God loves humanity, and wants to save, not judge.
Summary
This section explains the Incarnation Problem — how Jesus can be divine in a monotheistic system. John solves it by identifying Jesus with the eternal Logos (Word) that existed before creation. By becoming human, the Logos reveals God’s nature and expresses God’s love for humanity.
John’s Use of Logos and Its Importance
- John’s explanation of Incarnation may seem philosophically weak, but it plays an important role.
- The term Logos was already used by Greek philosophers, so connecting Jesus with Logos helps bridge religion and philosophy.
- This shifts Christianity from being just a set of moral teachings to a theology based on a revealed person (Jesus), not just abstract concepts.
- John came from a Hellenistic (Greek-influenced) background, so he understood philosophical language and used it to express Christian ideas more clearly.
- Together, Paul and John helped give Christianity new terms, new interpretations, and new vocabulary, making the religion easier for diverse cultures to understand.
- Greek thinkers believed the world operated through Logos — a rational principle.
- John reinterprets Logos as a way for God to create and interact with the world, and as the principle that became human in Jesus.
- These ideas later became very important in Medieval philosophy, where scholars tried to connect faith and reason.
Summary
This section shows how John used the concept of Logos to make Christianity more philosophical and universal. Paul and John together helped reinterpret Jesus’ message, shaping how Christianity would continue to grow and develop.
Movement, Organization and Institution
- A movement begins when a few people come together for a common goal.
Here, Jesus, Paul, John, and their early followers formed a religious movement based on shared teachings. - As more people join, the movement becomes an organization — a structured but flexible group.
- An organization allows change and varied interpretations, so teachings often become simplified or modified during this stage.
- Eventually, the organization becomes an institution — a fixed and rigid system with established rules and authority.
- In the institutional stage, the original message becomes formalized, and changing it becomes difficult, but it also gains long-term stability.
- In Christianity, Jesus’ simple teachings were later systematized through Paul and John’s interpretations, and finally formed into a stable institutional religion.
Summary
This section explains how Christianity developed through three stages: a small movement, a growing organization, and finally a long-lasting institution where teachings became formal and fixed.
From Direct Experience to Institution
- Jesus had direct experience of truth, so he did not need intermediaries or complex interpretations to understand God.
- His followers, including Paul and John, did not have this same direct experience, so their understanding depended on interpretation.
- A person with direct experience does not need strict rules, but followers usually need systematic guidelines to practice the teachings.
- As the movement grew, there was a demand to preserve Jesus’ message in a stable form, which led to the creation of an institution.
- An institution is often rigid and conservative, with fixed rules that are difficult to change.
- However, life is dynamic, constantly changing, so fixed rules can sometimes fail to match real situations.
- Jesus responded to life with flexible and intuitive action, while later followers systematized his teachings into fixed doctrines.
Summary
This section explains the shift from Jesus’ direct and dynamic spiritual experience to later followers’ interpreted and systematized forms of his teaching. As Christianity became an institution, the fluid and intuitive nature of Jesus’ message became more rigid and rule-based.
The Need for a Fixed Christian Doctrine
- As different interpretations of Jesus’ teachings spread, the question arose: Which interpretation is correct?
- To solve this, early Christian leaders wanted to create an orthodox system — a fixed set of beliefs accepted by all Christians.
- A bishop named Irenaeus argued that Jesus shared his core truths with his closest followers, known as the Twelve Apostles.
- He suggested that these core truths should be listed and preserved, and anyone who accepted them would be considered a true Christian.
- This began the process of forming a systematic doctrine — a structured set of official beliefs.
- However, creating this doctrine was very difficult, because four different traditions had to be combined:
- Jewish prophetic tradition and the Ten Commandments
- Jesus’ simple ethical teachings (love, compassion, humility)
- Paul’s interpretation of Jesus through the idea of spiritual salvation
- John’s philosophical interpretation using the concept of Logos
- Reconciling these four different viewpoints into one unified doctrine was a complex task.
- How this doctrine was eventually formed will be discussed in the next lecture.
Summary
This section shows how early Christian leaders tried to establish a clear and unified doctrine to avoid confusion among different interpretations. Combining Jewish tradition, Jesus’ ethics, Paul’s salvation teachings, and John’s philosophical ideas made the process challenging.
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