The Decline of Christianity in America:

Notes from an eight-session class — Part Two of Eight

A Cannon Valley Elder Collegium course:

“Is The Decline of Christianity in America A Good Thing, Bad Thing, Neither or Both?” Led by Jan Linn.
The goal of this course is not to arrive at a definitive answer, but rather create a diversity of thought — These are my thoughts.

Note: This should be the longest of the eight articles (sorry about that), however, to understand what is happening today, it is essential that we understand what happened in the past — else we repeat our mistakes.

Part Two of Eight: A short history of the Christian church

Readings based on: Bruce L. Shelley, Professor of church history at Denver Seminary. Church History Institute. Text in quotes are his words. Reference: Christian History Institute article, “Church History in Brief.”

The Age of: Followers of The Way (33–70 CE) (Not included in the original readings.)

During this period Jesus’ followers were Jewish and continued worshiping in synagogues, and were considered simply another sect of Judaism. Then in 63 CE, there was a revolt against Roman occupation, resulting in the second Temple being destroyed in 70 CE. This disruption was the beginning of the Jewish diaspora, the migration of Jews to other parts of the world. Another rebellion in 132 CE accelerated this out migration, which continued through the middle ages.