The Separation of Early Christianity from Judaism By Marianne Da ...

Chapter 1

The Spread of Christianity

Christianity grew out of Judaism. The process of separation that began in the first century of the Common Era would take several centuries. On the physical level, Christians continued to live in close proximity to Jews for some time, especially in the eastern part of the empire, and to show a certain dependence on Jews. Again, Christianity also spread to the West, where there were no recorded Jewish populations.

The earliest evidence for the name ‘Christian’ is derived from the Book of Acts and is found in early Greek and Roman authors. The evidence from Acts suggests that early Christian organisation was modelled on that of the synagogue. It would take until the fifth century for the Bishop of Rome to assert his influence and begin to centralise power over the western part of the church.

Though the exact number of Jews scattered throughout the Roman Empire in the first century of the Common Era is not known, it has been estimated that they may have numbered between four and five million, and numerically formed a significant portion of the population.¹ Jewish populations were to be found in all the principal cities of the