How Christianity split into its own religion

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Two factors led to the split and independence of Christianity as a separate religion. 1. The growing umber of Gentile converts to Chrisitanity eventually eclipsed the original Jewish roots. Even though Jesus and the 12 were practicing Jews when he first called them to follow him, the travels of St. Paul and the other disciples into non-Jewish areas proved to be a strong catalyst. More and more Greek and Roman cultural influences were adapted into Christianity, and fewer and fewer Jewish customs endured. By the end of the first century, the majority of Christians were no longer Jewish converts. 2. The destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in A.D. 70 was a huge influence. Six years earlier, Nero blamed the Christians for the burning of Rome, using them as the scapegoat. Now Jewish zealots, inspired and instigated by some of the radical Pharisees, pursued the removal of the Gentile Romans and attempted to launch a war against the Roman empire. In response, the Romans burned the ancient and historical Temple, scared to ever Jew and Christian under the orders of General Vespasian. It was his son, Titus, who wanted to teach the Jewish revolutionaries a lesson and punish them for defying his father. He had the temple burned to the ground, and 97,000 survivors were sold into slavery. This dark day in Jewish history resulted in the final and formal expulsion of the Christians from Judaism. No longer a fringe element or an equal co-partner, Christianity was now a distinct and separate religion. But Christians weren't liked in Rome or Jerusalem. The Romans considered worshiping an executed criminal (Jesus) dangerous to the political stability of the empire. And the Jews claimed that worshiping Jesus as the Son of God was blasphemy and heresy. It shook the foundations of their Hebrew faith and belief in one God. So both sides had a grudge against the new religion, and both pagan Rome and Hebrew Jerusalem alike persecuted the Christians. During the Diaspora, the Jews were expelled from Palestine. During the Babylonian exile, two-thirds of all Jews were forced to leave their land to prevent them from becoming a political and military rival, especially Greek speaking Jews known as Hellenistic Jews. Saul, who later became Paul after his conversion, was a Hellenistic Jew and later became one of the greatest missionaries of the Gospel of Christ and the Christian religion. Some Christians were Gentile, and some were Jewish. This resulted in some problems at first, especially with dietary laws and circumcision. Most of the original Christians were first Jews who faithfully observed the Law of Moses. Their men were circumcised, and they ate only kosher food. But when pagan Greeks and Romans began accepting that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, the question arose whether they should follow the path of the apostles, who were first Jews before becoming Christians. Some said, "Yes", and others said, "No." Jesus left no explicit instructions on this issue, so this stuff was ironed out at the first general council of the Church, the Council of Jerusalem. The council decided that Jewish regulations were no longer applicable. It was no longer mandatory for Christian converts to first embrace Judaism. After the decision was made that those who were never Jewish didn't need to embrace Judaism or the Law of Moses before embracing Christianity, the ties with the old religion of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were finally severed. From that time on, the Christian faith was no longer tied to Judaism. After the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple along with the missionary expeditions of St. Peter and St. Paul to Rome, the Church moved from Jerusalem to the Eternal City, the permanent center of the Church.