Comparison of Early Christianity & Presbyterianism

After the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, the apostles did not have an organized Christian Church. Instead, the Christian faith was a small movement consisting of a few Jews, who were really not Christian at all in the sense that we interpret the term today. Essentially, in the primitive form of the Christian religion, the apostles had not completely separated from Judaism.

With the experience of Pentecost, it was stated by Peter, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost" (Acts 2:38). This is truly a Christian statement based on a theological approach not found in Judaism. It was this theological stance and others like it that caused the early Christians to eventually break away from the Jewish religion. Christianity became a religion in its own right as it matured organizationally and developed and defined various theological doctrines. Agreement was often difficult.

Christianity as we have it today went through many growing pains. There were many ideas concerning what Christianity should be. We still see much evidence of this in the many denominations which form a part of modern Christianity.

It is certainly a tribute to the faith of the apostles that they were able to remain together as Christian believers after the d

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aced by them included political disfavor, besides having conflicts over doctrine, authority, and organization. Christian Scriptures did not exist in the primitive Christian community. Much of the teachings of Jesus had to be delivered orally or by letters to the various Christian groups in different cities of the Middle East. These apostolic proclamations form what is called the kerygma. Donald Guthrie states: First to be considered must be the view of Jesus found in the primitive kerygma (the content of preaching), the sources for which are the early Acts speeches and some earlier traditional material taken over by Paul. To this must be added any data that can be deduced from the manner in which the evangelists commented on their materials. That Jesus Christ immediately became the center of the church's proclamation is not only an undeniable fact, but in the nature of the case could not have been otherwise. It was His resurrection which transformed the tragedy of the cross into a triumph. The church was founded on the fact that Jesus was not dead, but alive (170). This idea is the basis for the existence of the Christian faith in modern times. A Look at a Modern Christian Community The Presbyterian Church
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1374
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)