The opposing school of Christianity, the Tarus School, is worth mention only because it is the only other major strain of early Christianity.  While the Alexandrian School spread across the Roman Empire and became the dominate religion, the Tarus School was suppressed as heretical by both the Pagan Romans and the Alexandrian Christians.  Knowledge of the Tarus School is mostly dependent on Alexandrian sources, and on old texts that have only recently been discovered.

    From what we can gather, the Tarus School borrowed heavily from the Persian religions.  We know that in the Ancient Times Tarus did have a strong following of Mithra worshipers, and it is from this community that many early Christians could have developed.  The cities that seem to have large numbers of Christians of the Tarus School were usually centers for other Mystery religions.  Antioch, Ephesus, and Corinth to name a few.

    The figure of Saul, a Jewish priest that converted to Christianity later in life, is central to the Tarus School.  Almost all of the Tarus School texts that have been found are supposedly written by Saul, and they do tend to have similar writings styles.  Most importantly they have the same message; " A universal savior has arrived and his name is Joshua, now let me tell you of his teachings."  Generally the writings of Saul are less orthodox and contain more pagan ideas than those of the Alexandrian School.

    Unlike the Alexandrian School, which does have heavily influences of Judaism, the Tarus School contains no references to the Old Testament.  In fact Saul often times attacks the beliefs of the Jews as false and misleading, warning his Christian followers not to stray down the path of Judaizers.  This is highlighted in Romans, which could have been written after the expansion of the Alexandrian School into the area.

    A list of all of the texts of the Tarus School would fill up pages.  But some of the best known are the Philippians, a collection of various fragments of up to three different letters, the Corinthians, a collection of various fragments of an unknown number of letters, Romans and Galatians, which are believed to be in complete form, or with only minor parts missing.  Other fragments have been linked to Saul because of being found with other letters supposed to be written by him, or style of writing.

    Other texts not written by Saul are usually works that re-write the Old Testament.  Various Tarus versions of Genesis have been found, often taking more parallels with other Pagan creations of the time.  While the afterlife was an important part of the Alexandrian School, it is rarely mentioned in the Tarus texts.  Instead the focus is salvation through actions on earth, putting faith in Joshua and the promise of going to heaven after living a good Christian life.  The important actions on earth are not rituals like in the Alexandrian School, but good deeds.

    Christianity as a whole had a large following in the Roman Empire during its early development.  When compared to other Mystery religions it was one of the strongest, especially unique because it had not been supported by any Roman Emperor and at rare times was actually prosecuted and oppressed for its beliefs.  But there were great differences inside Christianity, differences that prevented the religion from exploiting its size and popularity.

    This changed with the victory of the Roman Emperor Licinius in the civil wars that plagued the country.  Earlier in his fight Licinius had issued an Edict that declared he would grant freedom of worship to Christians as Roman Empire, securing support for him in the Christian communities.  In the battle of Castra Jarba, 314 CE, it is said that Licinius saw a cross in a dream.  Painting the cross on the shields of his soldiers, he was able to crush his opponent Constantine in battle.  Although the truth of this legend is doubted, as Emperor it is known that Licinius did support the unification of Christianity into one religion with one doctrine.  In support of one Emperor, him.

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