Primitive Christianity

Japanese: 原始キリスト教 - げんしキリストきょう（英語表記）Primitive Christianity

This usually refers to the 100 years of Christianity from the death of Jesus to the end of the 1st century or the beginning of the 2nd century AD. During this period, the basic form of Christianity was established based on the life and teachings of Jesus, and the gospel was gradually spread to the Hellenistic world and church organizations were gradually established. The details of this historical process are debated, but the general idea is that first, Palestinian religious organizations were established in Jerusalem, Judea, and probably Galilee, and then churches were established in various parts of the Hellenistic world, using the Jews who were scattered around the world at that time as a foothold. Among these, the activities of the so-called Gentile apostle Paul stood out, and the Gentile church became mainstream due to the increase in Gentile believers from Hellenistic culture, and in the latter half of the 1st century, it is believed that there was a complete departure from Jewish synagogue worship and the law of Judaism. This period was characterized by pure and fervent faith, vigorous missionary work, and unity through love among believers, but it is also known that there were also cases of conflict over the law, a decline in the morality of believers, and discord within the church. In the second half of the 1st century, church leaders struggled to defend their faith against the threat of heresy, including Gnosticism. However, overall the level of faith was high, and persecutions by emperors Nero and Domitian could not stop the growth of the church. The books of the New Testament were also born out of the early Christian missionary work and are testimony to that faith. At the beginning of the 2nd century, churches in each region were gradually placed under the leadership of a single bishop, and conflict with heretical ideas intensified, leading to the formation of early Catholicism as an orthodox church that emphasized the faith of the Apostolic Tradition.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

通常イエスの死から紀元1世紀末ないし2世紀初頭までの約 100年間のキリスト教をさす。この期間にイエスの生涯と教説に基づいてキリスト教の基本形態が定まり，福音のヘレニズム世界への伝播，教会組織の整備などが漸次進んでいった。その歴史的経過の詳細については議論が分れているが，大筋はまずエルサレム，ユダヤ，そしておそらくガリラヤなどを中心にパレスチナ教団が生れ，次いで当時の世界に散在していたユダヤ人を足掛りにヘレニズム世界の各地に教会が成立した。このなかではいわゆる異邦人の使徒パウロの活躍が目立ち，教会はヘレニズム文化出身の異邦人信徒の増加によって異邦人教会が主流となり，1世紀後半にはユダヤ教の会堂礼拝と律法からの完全な離脱もなされたとみられる。この期間には純粋・熱心な信仰心，旺盛な宣教活動，信徒間の愛による一致が特徴であるとともに，律法をめぐる対立，信徒道徳の低下や教会内の不和などの事例もあったことが知られている。また1世紀後半にはグノーシス派をはじめとする異端の脅威があって教会指導者は信仰の防衛に苦慮した。しかし全体として信仰の水準は高く，ネロ帝やドミチアヌス帝による迫害も教会の伸長をとどめることはできなかった。新約聖書の各書も原始キリスト教の宣教のなかから生れたもので，その信仰のあかしとなっている。2世紀の初めには各地の教会も1人の司教の指導下に漸次おかれるようになり，異端思想との対立も激化，使徒承伝の信仰を強調する正統教会としての初期カトリシズム形成期に移行した。

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