Movies		The History of Orthodox Christianity (Part 1 - The Beginnings)			Mark Merlino - Home page
The History of Orthodox Christianity - The Beginnings, produced by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, tells the story of the early Church from Christ to Constantine. In doing this, it traces Christianity from its roots in first century Roman Palestine to its eventual recognition as the official imperial religion at the end of the fourth century. A main theme of this video is explaining various ways in which Hellenic thought influenced the development of early Christianity. As well, during this era of persecutions, the video explains how early bishops succeeded the apostles as the leaders of the early Church. The defining moment in the history of early Christianity was when the Roman Emperor Constantine, known as Saint Constantine in Orthodox Christianity, ended imperial persecution of the Church. He then created a new Roman imperial capital, Constantinople, and begun the process of integrating Christianity into the life of Roman imperial leadership. This film is  good, if brief, introduction to early Christianity as seen from an Orthodox Christian perspective.