Where was the world's first Christian state?

Answer 1

Some will say Rome because Constantine made Christianity into a political construct and institutionalized it as the official state religion. However, every aspect of his actions had political motivations rather than religious ones. Even the cross he saw going before his army that he claimed was his spiritual awakening was bunk; the Roman armies nearly always carried a large cross at the front of their columns, often with a dying man nailed to it to intimidate their foes, so of course Constantine saw a cross. The symbol for Christians at the time wasn't a cross but a fish, the symbol for the age of Picses, which Jesus' birth ushered in. Jesus said, "let no man call me Christ" and the early followers were divided into several camps. It was the Pauline camp that advocated calling themselves what Jesus specifically prohibited and it was this sect that was perverted by Constantine into the Roman Catholic church. But there always was a Roman Catholic church because catholic just means universal and the state religion of Rome was Roman Catholic long before Jesus' time. There were many feudal and city-states that officially adopted the teachings of Jesus in the 2nd and 3rd centuries in Africa, the Middle East, India and the Mediterranean, even as far as the British Isles. Some followed the teachings of Paul rather than Jesus, and virtually all the original followers of Jesus were massacred by the Pauline christians. But would that be called Christianity or Paulinity?

Answer 2

Armenia adopted Christianity as their State Religion in 301 AD

Aram K.

The first Christian state was Ethiopia. Read below please.

Armenia's claim on being first Christian State primarily based upon the celebrated fifth-century work of Agathangelos titled "The History of the Armenians." In it, he says as an eyewitness that after the Armenian King Trdat III was baptized (c. 301/314 A.D.) by St. Gregory the Illuminator, he decreed Christianity was the state religion. The truth is that we have no solid proof to support that Armenia was first Christian state. We are forced to rely solely on the authenticity of Agathangelos and his contemporaries.

Michael Richard Jackson Bonner, a linguist at Oxford University, contends that Agathangelos had a clear agenda. He "wished to stress the independence and uniqueness of the Armenian church ... [and 'The History'] is a tendentious compilation, which has expanded and elaborated earlier traditions ... and greatly increased the prestige of the patriarchs of the fifth century."

In addition, recent studies date "The History of the Armenians" to c. 450 A.D., making it impossible for Agathangelos to have been an eyewitness. If Armenia's claim is based on nothing more than oral history, how can it hold any more credibility than Ethiopia's own Christian legends?

As for the spread of Christianity in Armenia, historian Peter Brown argued that "Armenia became a nominally Christian kingdom" after the king's baptism. The Armenian people in fact "did not receive Christianity with understanding ... and under duress."

The Kingdom of Aksum or Axum, also known as the Aksumite Empire, was an important trading nation in the area which is now Eritrea and northern Ethiopia, existing from approximately 100-940 AD.

Under Ezana (fl. 320-360), Aksum became the first major empire to convert to Christianity, and was named by Mani (216-276) as one of the four great powers of his time along with Persia, Rome, and China. Aksum's ancient capital, also called Aksum, is in northern Ethiopia. The Kingdom used the name "Ethiopia" as early as the 4th century.

The Acts of the Apostles describe the baptism of an Ethiopian eunuch shortly after the death of Christ. Eusebius of Caesaria, the first church historian, in his "Ecclesiastical History," further tells of how the eunuch returned to diffuse the Christian teachings in his native land shortly after the Resurrection and prior to the arrival of the Apostle Matthew.

Before the Ethiopian king Ezana (whose kingdom was then called Aksum) embraced Christianity for himself and decreed it for his kingdom (c. 330 A.D.), his nation had already constituted a large number of Christians.

During the persecutions of Diocletian (284-305 A.D.), commerce ports like Adulis, along the Red Sea, served as a sanctuary for Christians in exile, and the Christian faith began to grow rapidly in these areas. Pagans still comprised the religious majority at this time, but, as historian Kevin O'Mahoney argued, the Christian faith first took root in "the upper social classes and gradually spread downwards to become the religion of the people."

Such was the religious climate that St. Frumentius faced when his ship was pillaged by the native Ethiopians at the start of the fourth century A.D. The Ethiopian king spared his life, and Frumentius received a place of honor at the royal court. In this position, he nourished the Christian faith by locating Christians and helping them find places of worship. He also educated the king's heir, Ezana, and converted him to Christianity.

For this people, Ezana's conversion became a public conversion for Aksum, and Christianity continued to serve as a point of reference for the nation. Unlike the case of Armenia, we have tangible proof of this conversion:

Historians have uncovered a public acknowledgement of the Christian faith from Ezana. Also, coins bearing Ezana's image depict the cross after his conversion.

As the authors of "Abyssinian Christianity" conclude, "the promotion of the new faith developed into the single point of personal and public identification and unity for Abyssinians." Christianity became the centralizing force behind the Ethiopian empire, which endured through 1974, despite religious and political threats from all sides.

Can a nation only become Christian if there is an official decree from its sovereign? If that were the case, then the Kingdom of Edessa would be the first Christian city-state (in modern terms) in c. 218. As we see with Abyssinia, and Israel before it, a nation isn't confined to political boundaries. Rather, it is defined by a group of people who share a common heritage.

Another answer:

Since Christ is the "WORD"... the Creator God of the Old Testament [John 1:3]... the first recorded truly "Christian state," liberated from slavery and established and led by Christ Himself -- would be the Israelites.

Fresh out of Egyptian bondage, the Israelites were about ten generations deeply ensconced and influenced by the religion of Egyptian state with all their gods, customs and traditions.

But Christ began turning them around, immediately, with His laws and began establishing HIS WAY OF DOING THINGS, having Moses write it down for future reference.

"...He was the mediator between the people of Israel and the angel who gave him Life-Giving Words on Mount Sinai to pass on to us." (Acts 7:38 NLT)

But, Jesus' way of doing things has never gone over well with carnal minded men -- including that little nation that Christ founded and sanctified unto Himself:

"'How long will these people refuse to obey My Commands and instructions?' the Lord [Jesus Christ] asked Moses. 'Do they not realize that I have given them the seventh day, the Sabbath, as a day of rest? That is why I give you twice as much food on the sixth day, so there will be enough for two days. On the Sabbath day you must stay in your places. Do not pick up food from the ground on that day.' So the people rested on the seventh day." (Ex.16:28-30 NLT New Living Translation)

Jesus Christ, I AM, the WORD of God, was establishing the first "Christian state" or nation in the world... though the world [and the Israelites, themselves] doesn't and didn't recognize it as such.

The Israelites, however, rejected Christ's leadership and eventually opted for a "man" to be their "king" like all the heathen nations around them. And even opted for the heathen religions as well.

"...Give us a king like all the other nations have... 'Do as they say,' the Lord replied, 'for it is Me they are rejecting, not you. They don't want Me to be their King any longer... they have continually forsaken Me and followed other gods. And now they are giving you the same treatment. Do as they ask, but solemnly warn them about how a king will treat them.'" (I Sam.8:5-9 NLT)

So, the ancient nation of Israel was the first truly small-scale "Christian state" [only a few million people] established on earth - DIRECTLY LED BY CHRIST HIMSELF, the WORD of God!

The next "Second Exodus" will occur when Christ returns to earth with the Kingdom of God... and the resulting truly "Christian State" will become THE WHOLE EARTH... when Jesus Christ once more will be KING, only over all the world.

"...the time is coming, says the Lord, when people... will no longer say, 'As surely as the Lord Lives, who rescued the people of Israel from the land of Egypt.' Instead, they will say, 'As surely as the Lord Lives, who brought the people of Israel back to their own land from the land of the north and from all the countries to which He had exiled them.' ...'But now I am sending for many fishermen who will catch them,' says the Lord..." (Jer.16:14-16 NLT). ["...'Come, be My disciples, and I will show you how to fish for people!'..." - Matt.4:19 NLT]

"...Nations from around the world will come to you and say, 'Our ancestors were foolish, for they worshiped worthless idols. Can people make their own god? The gods they make are not real gods at all!' 'So now I will show them My Power and Might,' says the Lord. 'At last they will know that I AM the Lord." (Jer.16:19-21 NLT)

"And the Lord WILL BE KING OVER ALL THE EARTH. On that Day there will be One Lord - His name alone will be worshiped." (Zech.14:9 NLT)

Then, will the SECOND "Christian State" be establish on earth: all the nations of the earth truly led by Jesus Christ, the King:

"...'The whole world has now become the Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever.'" (Rev.11:15 NLT)

Answer 3

AnswerIt is thought that the first Christian community was in Palestine. Certainly, Paul wrote of a Church community in Jerusalem, and the gospels speak of Jesus living and preaching in Galilee, before his crucifixion in Jerusalem.

Answer 4

When Bardaisan (155-233) converted his king to Gnostic Christianity, Edessa became probably the first Christian state, and the only Gnostic state, in history. Armenia adopted the orthodox Christian faith as its sole religion in 301 CE, and so became the first orthodox Christian country.

Answer 5

It is impossible to know what city first had a predominantly Christian demographic, but the first Christian church was in Jerusalem.