In 380, under Emperor Theodosius, Christianity was proclaimed the official religion of the Empire. By this time the Christian faith had come to Egypt, Persia, and perhaps to the southern regions of India

About 200-Church leaders began to select the most authoritative Christian writings, which later made up the books of the New Testament, included in the Bible. This work continued until 382. the Christian creed was adopted at the COUNCIL of NICAEA in 325, but as the influence of the Church expanded, disagreements regarding doctrine and organizational issues intensified.

Beginning with cultural and linguistic differences, the confrontation between the Eastern Church (centered in Constantinople) and the Western Roman Church gradually acquired a dogmatic character and led in 1054 to the split of the Christian Church. After the capture of Constantinople by the crusaders in 1204, the division of the churches was finally established.

The political, social, and scientific revolutions of the nineteenth century brought new challenges to the Christian creed and weakened the ties between Church and state. The achievements of scientific thought were a challenge to biblical beliefs, especially the creation story, which Charles DARWIN’s theory of evolution had cast doubt on. Nevertheless, it was a time of active missionary activity, especially on the part of the Protestant churches. It was stimulated by the emerging social consciousness. The Christian faith was often an important factor in the organization of many social movements: for the abolition of slavery, for the adoption of legislation to protect workers, for the introduction of education and social security.

In the twentieth century, in most countries, the Church was almost completely separated from the state, and in some it was forcibly banned. In Western Europe, the number of believers is steadily declining, while in many developing countries, on the contrary, it continues to grow. Recognition of the need for unity of the Church found expression in the creation of the world Council of churches (1948).The spread of Christianity in Russia

The spread of Christianity in Russia began around the 8th century, when the first communities were founded in the Slavic territories. They were claimed by Western preachers, and the influence of the latter was small. Convert Russ truly first time decided to pagan Prince Vladimir, who sought reliable ideological staple for disunited tribes, native paganism which did not satisfy his needs.

However, it is possible that he himself sincerely converted to the new faith. But there were no missionaries. He had to besiege Constantinople and ask for the hand of a Greek Princess to be christened. Only after that, preachers were sent to Russian cities, who baptized the population, built churches and translated books. For some time after that, there was pagan resistance, revolts of the Magi, and so on. But after a couple of hundred years, Christianity, the territory of the spread of which has already covered the whole of Russia, won, and pagan traditions have sunk into oblivion.