Icons

We just learned about the Muslim Conflict.

Another part of early Christianity is Icons.

In the old times of the church, people thought it was bad to use pictures of crosses, or even pictures of Jesus, Mary or any of the old leaders of the church.

The paintings were known as icons.

Because God said not to worship any idols, they felt that putting up artwork of something Christian was like worshipping an idol.

Later on people argued that having these paintings around was good because it helped people think about God and Jesus.


(from: wikipedia - byzantine iconoclasm)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Biblican Canon

Muslim Conflict

We just learned about the Church of the East in China.

Another part of early Christianity was the Muslim Conflict.

Around 610 AD, a man named Muhammad started a new religion called Islam, and the followers of Islam are called Muslims.

Christianity and Islam were both spreading around Europe, the Middle East and Africa all through the years 600 AD and 700 AD, and people fought over which one was true.

Most of the countries in the Middle East, northern Africa, and even Spain and Portugal became mostly Muslim.

Christianity was still spreading into Western Europe, but many countries that used to be Christian switched to Islam for hundreds of years.


(from: wikipedia - spread of islam)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Quartodecimanism

Church of the East in China

We just learned about the Christian Nations in 600 AD.

Another part of early Christianity is the Church of the East in China.

People were going all over the world to tell others about God and Jesus, like Germany, England and Africa.

In the year 635 AD, a monk from Syria named Alopen went into a city in China called Chang'an, and met with Emperor Taizong.

The Emperor said it was ok for Alopen to go all over China and tell people about Christianity.
After this he traveled around and told people in China learn about God and Jesus.


(from: wikipedia - murals from the nestorian temple at qocho)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Hildegard of Bingen

Christian nations in 600 AD

We just learned about the Saint David.

There were a lot of Christian nations in 600 AD.

Around 325 AD there had been a lot of people going around telling people about God and Jesus, but there were only some spots around the Middle East, Europe and Africa.

By 600 AD, Christianity was in Europe at Great Britain, France, Spain, Greece and more.
It was in the Middle East through Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel and more.
And it was in Africa at parts of Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco.


(from: wikipedia - christianity in the 7th century)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Didache - The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles

Saint David

We just learned about the Gregorian Chant.

Another part of early Christianity was when Saint David visited the country of Wales.

He told people about God and Jesus and helped people in Wales become Christians.
Saint David did not like monks or priests to be rich.
He said that they should not own anything, not even a book! And he even told them that they should pull their own carts instead of using horses.



(from: wikipedia - saint david)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Sabbath Day in Christianity

Gregorian Chant

We just learned about the Christianity in Britain.

Another part of early Christianity is Gregorian Chant.

This is a type of singing that monks or people in church would do, where choirs would sing very slowly with not a lot of different notes.

It was very popular in the churches for choirs to learn songs in Gregorian chant and then sing them during service.
They were usually sung in the Latin language.

Many people have believed for a long time that Pope Gregory I was the one who came up with this and told everyone to learn it, but other historians now think maybe it was someone else.

The legends say that a dove came down and spoke into Gregory's ear and told him what to do.


(from: wikipedia - gregorian chant)


Gregorian chant - Deum verum - Callixtus


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: The Great Fire of Rome

Christianity in Britain

We just learned about the Pope Gregory I.

Another part of early Christianity is Christianity in Britain.

Long ago living in England and Scotland were people called the Anglo Saxons.
They didn't believe in Jesus and God, so Pope Gregory I sent a man named Augustine on a mission to tell them about God.

Augustine talked to King Æthelberht of Kent and helped him be a Christian, and then people all over Britain became Christians too.


(from: wikipedia - gregorian mission)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Ante Nicene Period

Pope Gregory I

We just learned about Anno Domini.

Another part of early Christian history was Pope Gregory I.

When Gregory was younger, he was born to a rich family, and went to school.
Later on he joined the church and lived the life of a monk, giving to the poor and spending days quietly praying.
When his parents died, he took their land and turned it into a monastery for other monks to live.

One day he became Pope.
At that time there were many poor and sick people in Rome.
He worked to use his farms to make food to be sent to poor people all over the country.

He also tried to make it so the church was more organized, and he also sent people out as missionaries to other countries like England to tell them about Jesus.


(from: wikipedia - pope gregory i)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Christian Name

Anno Domini

We just learned about the Hagia Sophia ancient church.

Another part of early Christianity is Anno Domini.

When we talk about what year it is, we sometimes put the letters AD at the end, like 2019 AD.

The AD stands for "Anno Domini" which means "Year Of"
"Anno Domini" is just a short way to say "anno Domini nostri Jesu Christi" which means "year of our Jesus Christ".

A long time ago a man named Dionysius Exiguus was working on a new calendar to be different than the one that the old emperor Diocletian had used.
Diocletian was very bad for Christians and had many of them killed.

So Dionysius made a new calendar and said that the year was 525 AD.
By putting AD at the end, he was taking away the naming of the years from the bad Diocletian and giving it to Jesus.

In the new AD calendar, people believe that Jesus was born around 1 AD.
The time before that we call "BC" for "Before Christ".

In the old days before people used English they used "aCn" which was for "Ante Christum Natum" meaning "before Christ's birth".


(from: wikipedia - anno domini)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Split of Christianity and Judaism

Hagia Sophia

We just learned about the Pentarchy of people ruling the church.

Another part of early Christianity is the Hagia Sophia.

This is a very big church that was built in the city of Constantinople in the year 532.
For almost a thousand years it was the biggest church in the world.

It is now a museum in the city that is now called Istanbul.


(from: wikipedia - hagia sophia)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Apostolic Age

Pentarchy

We just learned about the Baptism of Clovis I.

Another part of early Christianity is the Pentarchy.

We've already learned that the head of the big churches were called Bishops, and that the Bishop of the church in Rome is called the Pope.

In the old days there were 5 churches in the Roman empire that were seen as the most important:

Rome - in what is now Italy
Constantinople - in what is now Turkey, and renamed Istanbul
Alexandria - in what is now Egypt
Antioch - in what is now Turkey, renamed Antakya
Jerusalem - in what is now Israel

There were other churches, but the leaders of these churches were put in charge, so if there as disagreement between all of the many churches around these leaders would decide what to do.

It was the start of the churches really getting organized and turning into a really big group instead of a bunch of small churches spread around that argued with each other.


(from: wikipedia - pentarchy)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Christianity after Jesus

Baptism of Clovis I

We just learned about the Leo and Attila.

Another part of early Christianity is the Baptism of Clovis I.

In the land we now call France, there were a lot of people who did not believe in God.
One of them was a very powerful king named Clovis I.

His wife was named Clotilde, and she grew up as a Christian.
When she married Clovis I she begged him to become a Christian, and after a while he finally agreed.

This helped spread Christianity through France, and because the King was a Christian it was safe for other people to talk about God.

There is still a statue of Clovis I being baptized in the city of Reims.


(from: wikipedia - clovis i)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Cæsar - bishop of Dyrrachium

Leo and Attila

We just learned about the Saint Patrick who told people in Ireland about Jesus.

Another part of ancient Christianity was the meeting between Leo and Attila .

Leo was a leader called a Bishop of the church in Rome, Italy.
Rome was usually thought of as the most important city of all, so the Bishop in Rome was usually the most important Bishop and got called the "Pope".

Attila the Hun was a warrior who was attacking all over the place, and in 452 AD came to Italy to try and take over.
The Emperor of Rome sent Pope Leo and a few other people to meet Attila and try to see if they could talk to him and make him not come attack Rome.

No one knows really what was said, but after meeting with Pope Leo, Attila packed up his troops and left Italy.

A person who goes and meets with other leaders of countries is called an "Ambassador" and Pope Leo was thought to be a very good ambassador because he helped save Rome from Attila the Hun.


(from: wikipedia - pope leo i)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Epaphroditus - Bishop of Andriace

Saint Patrick

We just learned about Mariology the study of Mary.

Another part of early Christianity is Saint Patrick.

Some time around 430 AD, at the age of 16 a man named Patrick was captured by pirates from the island of Ireland.
He was taken back to Ireland, and was made a slave for 6 years.

Later on he escaped and went back to his home in Britain, and learned to be a Christian.
He knew the people in Ireland were not Christian, so he decided to go back there and tell people about Jesus.

When he went there, some people listened to him and became Christians, and other people did not like him and would put him in jail.
After many years of traveling around Ireland, he helped many people become Christians, and even after he died people still believed and spread the news.

When he died, because he did such a good thing they named him a Saint, so now they call him Saint Patrick.
The day of his death was March 17th, so on that day people celebrate Saint Patrick's day, and his life of service bringing news of God to the people of Ireland.


(from: wikipedia - saint patrick)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Tychicus - Bishop of Colophonia

Mariology

We just learned about the wise man Saint Augustine of Hippo.

Another part of early Christianity is Mariology.

This is the study of Mary the mother of Jesus, and exactly who she was and how she gave birth to Jesus.

In 431 AD, a bunch of people met at the city of Ephesus, which is now in Turkey.
They met together because there were people who did not agree on what Mary should be called, and what Jesus was like as a baby.

Some people thought she should be called "Theotokos" which means Mother of God, and others thought she should be called "Christotokos" which means Mother of Christ.

This might not seem like a big deal, but at the time people were still arguing about whether Jesus was a God and Man as one person, or whether he was like a person who also had a separate God personality living inside him.

About 250 different church leaders showed up to argue about this, and they decided she should be called Theotokos, Mother of God.

After this time there were a lot of other people talking about who Mary was, and what her life was like, so this became known as the study of Mariology.


(from: wikipedia - mariology)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Apollos - Bishop of Cæsarea

Saint Augustine of Hippo

We just learned about the Saint Ninian in Scotland.

Another person from early Christianity is Saint Augustine of Hippo.

Saint Augustine wrote over 50 books, that helped Christians understand the Bible.

His most famous ones were:

- The City of God: In the year 410 the city of Rome was attacked and defeated by some other people who didn't believe in God. Many people were nervous that this would mean the end of Christianity, so he wrote this book to help give people hope.

- On Christian Teaching: This book helps people understand the books of the Bible, and tells Christian teachers and preachers how to teach the truth.

- Confessions: This was Saint Augustine's book about his own life, and how he became a Christian and asked for forgiveness.

He wrote many other books about things like the Trinity and about people needing free will to believe in God.


(from: wikipedia - augustine of hippo)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Sosipater - Bishop of Iconium

Saint Ninian in Scotland

We just learned about the Latin Vulgate Bible.

Another part of early Christian history is Saint Ninian in Scotland.

The center of emperor Constantine's missions to spread Christianity to the Roman empire was in Constantinople, in what is now called Turkey.
It spread west, to Greece, Italy, France and Spain, and even all the way to England.

North of England is the country of Scotland, and at the time there were people living there known as "Picts".
They worshiped animals, trees and all sorts of other mythological things.

A man named Ninian went to visit Scotland around 400 AD to talk to the Picts and tell them about Jesus and Christianity.
He built a church in the town of Whithorn and called it "Candida Casa" which means white house, and many of the Picts became Christians.


(from: wikipedia - ninian)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Jason - Bishop of Tarsus

Latin Vulgate Bible

We just learned about the The Great Persecution - Persia.

Another part of early Christianity was the Latin Vulgate Bible, made in 382 AD by Saint Jerome.

The original writings in the Bible from the Old Testament to the New Testament were in all different languages.
Some of the books were in the languages of Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek.
So if someone wanted to read the whole Bible they had to know how to speak three different languages!

Some people had translated a few parts of the Bible into Latin, which was the most commonly spoken language in the Roman empire.

A man named Jerome was given the job of putting together one whole copy of the Bible in Latin, and trying to make it as perfect as possible with no mistakes.
Jerome did such a good job that he is called Saint Jerome, and the Bible that he made called the Vulgate became the most trusted Bible anywhere.
Even today some churches use the Latin Vulgate version for some of their church services in Latin.


(from: wikipedia - vulgate)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Lucius - Bishop of Laodicea in Syria

The Great Persecution - Persia

We just learned about the city of Constantinople.

Another part of early Christianity is the The Great Persecution - Persia.

The great persecution is the name for when Christians were killed or put in jail for being Christian.
It had happened in Rome a long time ago, until Constantine took over.

After he created the city of Constantinople and was the ruler of the Roman empire, some of the other countries did not like him and were worried that he would come and try to take them over.

In the country of Persia, there was an emperor named Shapur II who was at war with the country of Rome.
The leader of the Christian church in Persia was named Simeon Barsabae.
Shapur II got angry with him and all the other leaders of the church because they were Christian, and the Roman empire was the head of the Christian church, so he killed Simeon and thousands of other Christians to try and stop Christianity from coming into his country.


(from: wikipedia - shemon bar sabbae)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Olympus and Rhodion

Constantinople

We just learned about the life of monks, called Monasticism.

Another part of early Christianity is the city of Constantinople.

In the old Roman empire, the head of the capital was the city of Rome in Italy.

When Constantine was the emperor, he wanted to make a new city to rule from that wasn't Rome. In the city of Byzantium in what is now the country of Turkey he built up the city and called it "Nova Roma" or "New Rome", and it was later called Constantinople.

In this city the emperor ruled the Roman empire and also helped churches get started and help spread Christianity.


(from: wikipedia - constantinople)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Philologus - Bishop of Sinope