Features of the formation of the Сhristian church in the early Сhristian period

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of key aspects of the formation of the Church in the period of early Christianity. The evolution of the meaning
of the word "church" from the ancient Greek understanding of it as a popular assembly to the Christian understanding as the Body of Christ is shown. It
is proved that the organizational structure of the Church was formed under the influence of historical, social, political and economic factors. It is shown
that the early Christian Church was formed in the conditions of fierce external and fierce internal disputes. Already in the period of early Christianity, the
Church made a turn from self-isolation to communication with society, and Christian ontological ideas are embodied in various spheres of life – social,
political, economic, and so on. An important role was played by the early period of the Church's formation in the anthropological aspect. Christian anthropological ideas formed new meanings of social consciousness, a new type of man, which combines the divine and earthly, eternal and perishable,
and whose spirit goes far beyond the horizons of all possible philosophical or ideological ideas. The understanding of man as the image and likeness of
God served to affirm human dignity and new moral and ethical guidelines in all spheres of his existence.