The First and Second Century Church The goal if this paper is to look and analyze how the church grew in the first and second centuries. During this period of time, there was a lot of Christian persecution, misunderstanding, and conflict. Unpopular Christians Christians were unpopular during the first and second centuries for multiple reasons. One such reason is that they were greatly misunderstood. The Romans considered Christians to be both incestuous and cannibals based on Christians honoring Christ by consuming the body and the blood of Christ.  By Christians referring to each other as brothers and sisters, the Romans took that to mean that they were taking sexual partners in their siblings (Jones, 2009). The cannibalism and incestuous thoughts would have seen odd, but there were the thoughts of Christianity being a dangerous Cult. Since Christians rejected all God’s except the God of Israel, made them seem arrogant to the Roman. Romans typically worshipped and made sacrifices to many gods in order to cover all of their basis (Jones, 2009). To put it in other words, “non-Christians imagined Christian worship as an orgiastic celebration filled with Christians eating and drinking to excess, then extinguishing the candles, and venting their lusts in indiscriminate and even incestuous unions” (González, 2010). Christians lived by the words of Christ and believed that no one is greater than anyone else. Paul wrote to the church of Galatia that “There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female; since you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28, Christian Standard Bible). This challenged the entire order of social classes. Romans thought nothing of the lower class the slaves, but Christians said they were just as equal as everyone else (Jones, 2009). Growth While being Persecuted The primary reason the Christian church grew despite the persecution of Christians simply was that “God’s Spirit was working” (Jones, 2009). However, Christian morality drew Gentiles into Christianity, many of these Gentiles, believe in God’s laws of morality. They would not convert fully to the faith of Judaism for fear of the pain that accompanies circumcision. Christianity removes that fear, as circumcision was not a requirement (Jones, 2009) Christianity was not exclusive; it was an all-inclusive movement. Christianity did not care if the person was a woman, a child, a slave, a Gentile, or a Jew; they only cared that they believed. Everyone was equal in Christianity, which attracted more people. Furthermore, Christianity allowed everyone to finally have a personal one on one relationship with God (Jones, 2009) False Teachings Gnosticism and Marcionism were the two primary false teachings that tried to circumvent the teachings of Christianity. Marcion, who set the basis for Marcionism, had some unusual beliefs. Marcion was a significant proponent of Gnostic theology. Marcion worked to get sixteen books removed from the Hebrew Bible. Marcion believed that “the wrathful God of the Jewish Scriptures was not the same deity as the Father of Jesus” (Jones, 2009). The God (Yahweh) of Israel was a lesser God and the one who created the physical world. Yahweh was not the all-loving Father of Christ, for that was the supreme god of the universe claimed Marcion. Marcion’s supreme god of the universe, would not perform resurrections or punish anyone as well. Marcion, after failed attempts to turn him away from his perverse view of God, was removed from the fellowship of the church. Marcion was denounced by Christian opponents and labeled at heretic and would go on to form his own church. Eventually, all of his writings were lost, and Marcionism began to fade away. Importance of Edict of Milan and the Council of Nicea The Edict of Milan created an alliance between Constantine and Licinius. A Christian victory came out of this alliance. One agreement of the alliance was that the persecution of Christians would stop. All stolen properties of Christians, including, buildings, cemeteries, and more, would be returned to the Christian people. The Edict of Milan allowed Christians to finally gather and worship together without the fear of death (González, 2010). The Nicene Creed came out of the council of Nicea. The creed would outline precisely what Christian faith believed. Furthermore, this creed was writing in such a way that it would clearly exclude Arianism. This agreed-upon creed is recognized by both Western and Eastern churches. These churches included the Russian and Greek Orthodox and churches of the like. Conclusion The church in the first and second century was seen as a pagan cult based on misunderstood beliefs and vernacular. This led to the persecution of Christians, who never lost sight of God, and their faith continued to grow. With the growth of their faith, the church also grew. Rome, under Constantine, would eventually begin to believe in the Christian movement, and the persecution would end. Throughout this growth period, many would come forward and try to deliver false teachings. Christianity always overcame.     References González, J. L. (2010). The story of Christianity. Volume 1: The early church to the reformation (Rev. and updated [ed.], 2nd ed). HarperCollins. Jones, T. P. (2009). Christian history made easy (Rev. ed.). Rose Pub.