From its very beginnings, Christianity has represented itself in a diversity of characters and movements that constitutes its unity. This diversity arises from the very essence of Christianity. The writings of the New Testament present Christianity as a “faith.” By using this term, they draw attention to the fact that the “good news” (Greek: “gospel”) of which they are bearers call on each and every one to forge a personal conviction based on hope and trust in God.
On the occasion of Pentecost, which celebrates the account in the Acts of the Apostles (the fifth book of The New Testament) of the descent of the Holy Spirit on Jesus’ first disciples, 50 days after Easter (Pentecost meaning “50th day” in ancient Greek), we take a look at the first steps of a community that would later give birth to humankind’s first religion.
A first nucleus around the apostles
Historically, but also in its faith, Christianity has its origins in the person of Jesus. Announcing the proximity of the “reign of God,” that is to say, the immediacy of the God’s presence, Jesus travelled to Galilee, accompanied by a group of disciples sometimes referred to by the symbolic number of the “Twelve.” According to the Gospels, Jesus and his disciples, the apostles, talked to people and ate with them, whether they were Greeks or Galileans, men or women, resistance fighters or collaborators in the face of Roman occupation, righteous or sinners.
From that era the Churches have preserved the memory of a conviviality that symbolizes, as the program of the Good News, a universal welcome taking no account of origins or affiliations. The open-mindedness practiced by Jesus was confirmed on Easter morning: God revealed as his Son a crucified man who, condemned by men and cursed by the law, had lost all dignity. In so doing, He manifests Himself as the God who recognizes every person, universally, regardless of their qualities.
What exactly happened on Easter morning? No one knows. What is certain is that a number of groups of witnesses, starting with Peter and James, a “brother” of Jesus who had hitherto kept his distance from his movement, claim to have seen Jesus alive, even though he had been crucified and buried. From then on, things moved very quickly.
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