In the mid-2nd century CE, Christianity began a gradual process of identity-formation that would lead to the creation of a separate, independent religion from Judaism. Initially, Christians were one of many groups of Jews found throughout the Roman Empire. The 2nd century CE experienced a change in the demographics, the introduction of institutional hierarchy, and the creation of Christian dogma.
Christianity in the 1st Century CE
Jesus of Nazareth was a Jewish prophet who preached the imminent kingdom of God (the reign of the God of Israel on earth), which had been predicted in the books of the Jewish prophets. The Prophets claimed that God would intervene to restore Israel to its past glory in the final days. He would raise up a messiah figure (meaning “anointed one”), a descendent from King David (c. 1000 BCE), to lead the movement. After a final battle and the defeat of the nations, there would be a resurrection of the dead, a final judgment, and God would restore the original plan (the Garden of Eden) for the righteous on earth. The wicked would be condemned to annihilation, Gehenna (the Jewish hell).
