In May we looked at early Jewish education of children. It is very likely that, at first, Christian education of the young shared at least some of the characteristics of the Jewish approach. But as Christianity was becoming a distinct religious movement, it was evolving rapidly. In response to widespread non-Jewish converts, as well as to persecution, Christianity became increasingly independent of its Jewish roots. While the focus of our series is primarily the spiritual education of young people, in describing this fluid early period of Christianity we found it wasn't easy to separate the approach taken to spiritually educating the young from that of educating adult pagans attracted to the faith. So this installment explores the context in which such education would have taken place for both.
The longing for an ethical life became a turning point.
Accepting Christianity was a dangerous business. While there were moments of peace, even as late as the fourth century Christians faced harassment and death because of their faith.
