Our speaker on 13th December was Rev. Mike Russell, a retired Episcopal priest, who gave us a very interesting talk on the history of Christianity making it to the 8th century with a brief jump to the 16th century before running out of time. He said that there are three things that tie the history together - politics, economics, and social media. Jesus was born into time when Rome controlled a lot of the world - people could travel on paved roads around the empire. It was an anxious time, as Rome coming towards its end, with upheavals around the empire. Through 325 AD, Christianity was in its infancy. At that time, Constantine ended prosecution of the Christians and adopted Christianity. Before that, things were in flux with faith passed mouth to mouth and by codexes which were transported around the empire; this is how the letters of Paul survived. These were were the first Christian texts. The Gospels, which came later, could be considered corrections of Paul's letters. The shape of the early Church starts forming in 3rd and 4th centuries, with beginning of fighting between different factions including Constantinople vs Rome. This lasts for a 1000 years with the losers getting pushed out. In the 5th century, the fall of Rome happened, when it was destroyed by its client states. Rev. Russell’s belief is that the Book of Revelation tells the destruction of Rome. The Dark Ages began at that time with learning stopped except in monasteries. In the 8th century, Islam bursts forth with a new interpretation, and Mohammed taught for 30 years. Rev. Russell then jumped ahead to the 16th century reformation. At that time, the church in Rome was corrupt, and Martin Luther read the original Greek texts of the scriptures, which led to his thesis; these were spread by the use of the printing press. We hope that Rev. Russell will return to continue his interesting history lesson!