Unity Church of Tucson

It is becoming clear to me and many others that the early Christians were not people who all thought alike or even interpreted Jesus’ teachings in the same way. The Greek word, “ecclesia” translated as the English word “church” would not have had the same meaning to them. Scholars say that the word translated as […]

by Mary Ellen Swartz
Initially a sect of Judaism, Christianity first organized itself in Jerusalem. However, although Jewish Christianity was dominant at first, within 20 years it had moved out into the Gentile (non-Jewish) world.” (Encyclopedia of New Religions)
The Early Christians were not one group with one set of beliefs but several groups with many […]

by Mary Ellen Swartz
If anyone thinks diversity within Christianity is a recent thing then they may want to take a closer look at Church history, or perhaps better put, Church histories. The early developing church wasn’t just one group of people or one set of beliefs about Jesus, his life and teachings. Some were […]

A brief recap of this series of articles shows after the crucifixion of Jesus the Jerusalem church was comprised predominantly of Jews who believed he was the promised messiah and for several generations it was led by his disciples, family and others who had actual memory of him. They saw Jesus’ teachings as being mainly […]

The first division in what could be called “Early Christianity” probably began a few years after Jesus’ crucifixion and lasted into the second half of the second century. Out of it has come what might be thought of as two distinct branches of the “tree” which is now known as Christianity. One branch was led […]