Early Christianity's story
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can tell the story of how Christianity grew in different ways.
Key learning points
- Early Christians were persecuted in the Roman Empire, but under Constantine, the faith was encouraged and it spread.
- The division of the Roman Empire led to slightly different Christian traditions in each part.
- The Byzantine Empire carried on after the fall of Rome, but did not recognise the Pope's supremacy.
- A separate Christian tradition also emerged in the African kingdom of Aksum.
- A good story about the way Christianity grew will use knowledge from across this unit.
Keywords
Persecution - persecution is the unfair and cruel treatment of people because of their beliefs
Constantine - Constantine was the first Christian emperor of the Roman Empire
Tradition - a tradition is the beliefs and behaviours of a group of people that develop over a long period of time
Pope - the Pope is the head of the Roman Catholic Church
Missionary - a missionary is a religious person who is sent to other places to tell others about that religion
Common misconception
The only Church to emerge from the Roman Empire is the Roman Catholic Church.
Two Christian Churches with slightly different ideologies emerged: the Roman Catholic Church was a product of the Western Roman Empire and the Eastern Orthodox Church developed in the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire.
Teacher tip
Arrange a visit to a Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox Church to observe some of their traditions.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.What is a missionary?
Q2.In the 4th Century, where in north-east Africa did Christianity spread to?
Q3.What appeared on Aksumite coins that shows the spread of Christianity?
Q4.Complete the sentence. The Ezana stone tells the story of King Ezana’s to Christianity.
Q5.What was King Ezana's stele?
Q6.Complete the sentence. Churches carved into mountains with Christian were found that tells us that Christianity continued in Askum after King Ezana's reign.
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Complete the sentence. To be treated unfairly and sometimes harmed because of your beliefs is called .
Q2.Which Roman emperor was the first Christian emperor?
Q3.Which Christian traditions developed from the division of the Roman Empire?
Q4.Complete the sentence. The head of the Roman Catholic Church is called the .
Q5.What was the major difference between the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church?
Q6.Where was one of the earliest Christian kingdoms in the world?
To help you plan your 4 history lesson on: Early Christianity's story, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 4 history lesson on: Early Christianity's story, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 2 history lessons from the The Romans: what is the story of Christianity's rise? unit, dive into the full primary history curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.