The Early Church

Pentecost was an important Jewish festival which marked the harvest. Often Jews would travel to Jerusalem to celebrate it there.

Pentecost was celebrated fifty days after the Passover.

The disciples of Jesus had seen him after his resurrection and witnessed his ascension to Heaven. Before his ascension He said to them, “…you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

Chapter two in the book Acts describes how the disciples were staying in Jerusalem when a miraculous event occurs.

“Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” (Acts 2)

After this, the disciples did exactly as Jesus had told them to. They told everyone, who had come to Jerusalem for the festival, who Jesus was, his life, his death and resurrection. They spoke in many different languages that the visitors would understand.

Pentecost is still important to Christians today because:

• It represents the beginning of the Christian Church;
• It reminds them that Jesus fulfils his promises;
• They believe the Holy Spirit continues to help them to live their lives;
• They believe the Holy Spirit continues to help them tell others about Jesus.

Early Christians did not have an easy time.

The Roman authorities who were in power persecuted them because the new Christian religion was different from the official Roman religion.

This meant that Christians could be put in prison, tortured, and even killed. That was what happened to most of the apostles.

Despite these problems and sometimes because of them, conflicts continued to occur among Christian communities after the time of the apostles.

The Early Christians knew the way that Jesus thought and reacted because they had spent so much time with him. From early on, it was believed that the Christian community in Rome was special. Peter and Paul were among the founder members of the community there.

Local bishops sorted out local religious disputes. Sometimes, however, people could not agree. When that happened, they naturally turned to Rome and its bishop.

The Bishop of Rome became known as the Pope and emerged as an authority for settling conflict among the Early Christians.