The First Christianity

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Description

This program brings viewers to exceptional sacred sites throughout the Near East and Asia to trace the first expansion of Christianity from Jerusalem - which was not to Rome with Paul, but to Turkey, Syria, Egypt, Armenia, and Ethiopia. After the Siege of Jerusalem in 70 AD followers of Jesus fled to Asia Minor, establishing a thriving ecclesiastical community at least 100 years before Constantine made Christianity Rome's official religion. The video highlights the significance of the Syriac Orthodox Church and discusses differences between Eastern and Roman imperial Christianity, the doctrine of the Trinity, and the impact of Islam in Syria. It covers the rule and the rivalries of Constantine, Nestorius, Cyril, and Timothy I; the Councils of Nicaea and Chalcedon; and a stronghold of the faith even further east of Rome: the powerful Baghdad-based Nestorian Church, whose dominion by the 8th century included parts of India and China.