How did Christianity begin?

It began with the resurrection of Jesus and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, around AD 30, when his followers in Jerusalem began proclaiming the risen Christ and about three thousand believed in a single day (Acts 2).

Who started Christianity?

Christians hold that Jesus himself founded the church (Matthew 16:18). After his resurrection, his apostles, led at first by Peter and later joined by Paul, carried the message across the Roman world.

When did Christianity begin?

The church was born at Pentecost, about fifty days after Jesus’ resurrection, usually dated to around AD 30 to 33, in Jerusalem.

Christian History

How Christianity Began

Christianity began not with a book or an institution but with an event: the followers of Jesus became convinced that the man they had watched die had risen from the dead. About fifty days later, at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came upon them in Jerusalem, and they began to proclaim the risen Christ. Three thousand believed that day (Acts 2). From that small beginning the faith spread across the Roman world and beyond, and it has never stopped.

It began with an empty tomb

“For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.”

1 Corinthians 15:3-4

Christianity did not begin as a philosophy or a set of morals. It began as news, the report of something that had happened. Jesus of Nazareth had been publicly executed by Rome, and then his followers began to insist, at the cost of their lives, that they had seen him alive again. This claim, the resurrection, is the seed from which everything else grew.

Pentecost and the birth of the church

“And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

Acts 2:4

About fifty days after the resurrection, at the Jewish feast of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples in Jerusalem. Peter preached the risen Jesus to the crowd, and about three thousand believed and were baptized that day (Acts 2:41). This is rightly called the birthday of the church. From the very first sermon, the message was already the death and resurrection of Jesus as Lord and Messiah.

How it spread

“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”

Acts 1:8

The apostles carried the message outward: Peter to the Jewish world, Paul across Asia Minor and Greece, and by tradition Thomas as far as India. Within a single generation there were churches throughout the eastern Mediterranean and in Rome itself. It grew not by force but by the witness of changed lives, the care of Christians for the poor and the sick, and the courage of those who would rather die than deny Christ.

For the rest of the story, in order, walk through the full Christian timeline.

The thread through it all

Read the whole story and one thing becomes plain: through every century, every council and controversy, every rise and fall of empires, one Person holds it together. The church has been divided, persecuted, corrupted, and renewed, and yet it has never once disappeared, because it was never finally ours to keep. Jesus said he would build it, and he has.

“And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

Matthew 16:18

“Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”

Matthew 28:20

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Come and meet him yourself

This whole story runs back to a Person you can still meet. You do not have to take the church’s word for it, or ours. Read his own words and see. The Gospel of John is a gentle place to begin, and it costs you nothing but a little quiet and an honest look.

Meet Jesus The whole story The church around the world

Jesus Christ is Lord.

Explore furtherThe full timeline The early church The resurrection Who is Jesus?Christian history

Frequently asked questions

How did Christianity begin?: It began with the resurrection of Jesus and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, around AD 30, when his followers in Jerusalem began proclaiming the risen Christ and about three thousand believed in a single day (Acts 2).
Who started Christianity?: Christians hold that Jesus himself founded the church (Matthew 16:18). After his resurrection, his apostles, led at first by Peter and later joined by Paul, carried the message across the Roman world.
When did Christianity begin?: The church was born at Pentecost, about fifty days after Jesus’ resurrection, usually dated to around AD 30 to 33, in Jerusalem.