During this
century Christianity spread throughout the Roman Empire. In particular it
established deep roots in the hellenistic towns and villages of Syria, Asia
Minor (present-day Turkey), Greece and Italy. Hellenists are people who had
adopted the Greek culture of the day.
Christians were
treated with suspicion by the Roman authorities, by Jewish groups and
by the adherents of traditional religions. This led to the first persecutions.
Christian communities began to become an underground church.
The art of the
catacombs reflects this reality.
Meanwhile the Christian
faith itself was threatened from within by heresies that distorted the meaning
of Christ's message, mainly by Gnosticism which tried to reduce Christian
belief to an inner experience of the divine.
Gnostic groups attributed
key roles to women in worship. In an overreaction, some Christian leaders began
to restrict the ministry of women, taking Jewish or pagan customs as their
norm. This can be seen especially in the
first letter to Timothy and in an addition to
1 Corinthians.
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