New Testament Part 3

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Mark the Evangelist.

When Mark was working on his Gospel, he wrote in a way that he thought would be believable and even left out some of the miracles that were described in the other three Gospels. Mark stated that after Jesus’s death, thousands of Jews converted to Christianity. He confirmed that Jesus was a well-known religious figure, even by those who didn’t believe his message. 

Before Jesus ascended to heaven, he told the Disciples to preach to every nation on earth, not just Jews. Then Jesus ascended into Heaven, because his time on earth had been completed. The Disciples continued preaching, calling the people to repent and be baptized. They also told the Hebrews that they did not have to follow the Old Law anymore since Jesus had fulfilled it. The Jewish religious leaders arrested many of the Apostles and forbade them to speak Jesus’s name. 

After escaping imprisonment by a miracle, the Apostles continued preaching and appointed deacons to help spread the Gospel. Stephen, one of the first deacons, was accused by the Pharisees of being a blasphemer. Stephen, who was filled with the Holy Spirit and had a light glowing out of him, refused to denounce Christ, and was stoned to death by the Chief Priests, making him the first Christian martyr. 

Icon of the Conversion of Saint Paul.

Saul was a Jewish religious leader and was a prime persecutor of Christians. When he was on his way to Damascus, Saul had a vision of Christ who asked him “Why do you persecute me?” Saul changed his name to Paul and decided to start preaching Christ. The Book of Acts tells stories about the journeys of the Apostles. Christianity started expanding across borders, and Jews were no longer the only Christians. Antioch, Corinth, and Thessaloniki were the first major non-Jewish Christian cities. 

Viking Invasions, Feudalism, and William the Conqueror

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Viking Raiders Pillaging a Town.

Vikings, also called Northmen of Norse, were Scandinavians from Denmark, Norway, and Sweden who raided coastal towns in England, Scotland, Ireland, and France. After the death of King Louis the Pious, the attacks from Vikings intensified and overwhelmed the French region of the Holy Roman Empire. The Norsemen raided towns, burned churches and farms, and killed or enslaved hundreds of civilians. The French city of Tours was pillaged seven times, in 853, 856, 862, 872, 886, 903, and 919. Over a 40 year period, Paris was besieged four times, pillaged three times, and burned twice. 

The Kings of France were too weak to provide protection to civilians, so this led to the development of feudalism. King Charles the Simple gave the Vikings Normandy, a part of Northern France, that they could rule. In the East, the Magyars terrorized the population of Germany, but posed less of a threat than the Vikings. The Magyars were eventually christianized and formed the nation of Hungary. 

Peasants doing Labor in Exchange for Protection.

Feudalism is the exchange of free labor for protection and it took hold in Europe during the 9th century after the Viking, Magyar, and Muslim invasions. Civilians worked for dukes, earls, and kings in exchange for safety. A lord kept his own part of the realm and dispensed justice, collected taxes, maintained infrastructure, and protected the poor, orphans, and widows. Vassals were given large land grants to provide smaller land grants for peasants. They were also the protectors of the realm and chose knights as physical protectors of the people. 

In the British Isles, the Anglo-Saxons became the most powerful tribe and subjugated most of England, which was made up of seven kingdoms: Kent, Essex, Sussex, Wessex, Northumbria, East Anglia, and Mercia. In the late 8th century, Viking invasions devastated the British Isles. Alfred the Great (ruled 871-899) was the king of Wessex and defeated the Vikings after building a navy and also helped translate classical Latin works into the Anglo-Saxon language. Some of the Danish Vikings stayed in England after the war, became Christianized, and married Anglo-Saxons. 

William the Conqueror.

From the mid-900s to 980, England was relatively peaceful, until Vikings invaded again, and a Danish Norseman named Canute became England’s ruler. Norman-raised Saint Edward the Confessor ruled England from 1042 to 1066. After Edward’s death, Harold, the Earl of Wessex and William of Normandy both claimed the crown. William of Normandy invaded England and defeated Harold at the Battle of Hastings, making him the new king. William, now known as William the Conqueror, gave large tracts of English land to French nobles from Normandy. William and his successors governed England as a part of France, but the Normans lost these holdings by 1204. 

New Testament Part 2

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Catholic Painting of the Transfiguration of Jesus.

As Jesus continued his public ministry, the Pharisees got more and more scared of his influence. Jesus even started publicly condemning the Pharisees, proclaiming to “Beware the leaven of the Pharisees,” which meant to be wary of their faulty doctrine. The Jewish religious leaders plotted to kill Jesus and to use treason against Caesar as the reason. Jesus even predicted that this would soon happen and that after he would be resurrected. 

One day, Jesus took his disciples James, John, and Peter to a mountain outside of Jerusalem. There he Transfigured Himself in front of them and the Prophets Moses and Elijah mystically appeared. Jesus stated that poverty for His sake will bring riches in the next life. The Temple, a Jewish place of worship, was being used as a marketplace for moneychangers, so Jesus overturned their tables and said to not make His Father’s house into a place of money. 

After three years of public ministry, Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem on a colt, as the people laid palm leaves at his feet. In Jerusalem, Jesus prophesied that the Temple would be razed, that there would be war, famine, drought, and suffering, and that some of the disciples would be alive to see this. All these things would come true, when the disciple John witnessed the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple by the Romans in AD 70. 

Orthodox Icon of the Last Supper.

In his last days on earth, Jesus celebrated the Jewish holiday of Passover with His disciples and had a meal with them. After the Last Supper, Judas Iscariot, handed over Jesus to the authorities for 30 pieces of silver. The Jews came to arrest Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, where he was preparing for His coming death. Peter tried to defend Jesus when he cut off the ear of one of the guards, but he was told by Jesus to lay down his sword. 

After Jesus was arrested, most of the disciples fled and Peter even denied knowing Jesus three times. Judas tried to give the silver back to the chief priests, but when they refused, he hung himself in shame. The next morning, Jesus was questioned by the Roman Governor of Judea Pontious Pilate, who asked the people whether they wanted to free Jesus or Barabbas (a well-known murderer) and they chose Barabbas. 

Jesus was crucified between two thieves. One of the criminals scolded Jesus and the other said to Jesus: “Remember me when you enter into Your Kingdom,” and Jesus replied, “Today you will be with me in Paradise.” 

Icon of the Crucifixion of Jesus.

After Jesus died, the sky became dark, the earth shook, the Veil of the Temple was torn in half, and the graves of the dead were opened. One of the Roman soldiers who crucified Jesus saw this and repented. When Jesus gave up his earthly life, He completed the mission for which God the Father had sent him to earth: to give His life for the sins of man.