The Early Christian Faith

About this article

The earliest followers of Jesus came to believe that he was both fully human and fully divine. This meant that he was both a man, whose actions could be trusted, and God, who loved them.

Early Christians adopted many of the concepts that had been developed in Judaism, including a belief in monotheism, one god. This was based on the idea that an ethereal first being, a god, emanated a concept known as logos to organize matter in the universe. Logos became manifest as Christ, which is why portraits of him often have halos over his head.

In addition, early Christians adopted some of the ideas from ancient Greek philosophy and ethics. They emphasized a life of asceticism, or abstaining from pleasurable activities, especially sexual activity. This included a call for clergy to be celibate (no marriage). The early Church encouraged this, as it believed that by being chaste and disciplined, the clergy could live more easily for God.

Healing of the Sick

The Bible is full of examples of people being healed by faith in Jesus. These healings, sometimes called miracles, were not only common in Jesus’ days, but continue to happen today. Jesus gave his disciples training on how to cast out demons and heal the sick. Demons still affect people and the power to command them to leave is available to everyone who is in a close and growing relationship with Jesus. It is important to remember that this kind of ministry is not magic, it takes a relationship with the Holy Spirit.