The Origins of Christianity an Inroduction
Why would the ideas of a peasant carpenter, a Jewish reformer from Galilee echo so strongly with the yearnings of the Greco-Roman world, eventually creating a new civilization - a Western civilization - who's "good news" sparked a movement that would grow to include over two billion followers in the process?
Christianity developed from a small community of Galilean fisherman to an organization that conquered the Roman Empire and eventually the rest of the world, how did this happen?
Fisherman of Galilee
A compassionate God raced through the Roman Kingdom, building a foundation nearly everywhere it converged, amalgamating with indigenous cultures
The Colosseum in Rome
From ancient Rome to the present day, ways to approach the progression of Christianity are many.
Follow the established chronicle of Christianity throughout its disintegrated history, up through the growth of countless denominations today. Christian values continue to be applicable today and what is the reason that has made them so appealing through two epochs?
Of all the people around the world, these same Christian values are still relevant to 70.6% of Americans alone.
The answer may lie in the deep-rooted footprint that Christianity has left in the human requirement. Throughout the great upheavals of the past 2000 years, the Christian faith has always been a foundation of civilization and has served as an ethical direction, even though its teachings were often deserted in custom.
Medieval Historic Music
It inspired the great cathedrals of Europe and splendid works of art and music. Christianity was the cornerstone of the development of ethics, laws, libraries, schools, universities, and hospitals with which Europe has slowly arisen from its Dark Ages.
Medieval Gothic Cathedral in Milan
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Modern research has shown that the magnitude of growth of Christianity was to a certain extent due to an extraordinary rare integration of events.
- One was the birth of the Roman Empire, which merged the different overseas dominion of the Roman Republic into a united political and economic commonwealth.
- Another fact was the ruling of King Herod, who ruled mercilessly for 33 years, which destroyed the community of lower Galilee.
- A third event was the deterioration of Rome's state religion into little more than a propaganda cult, this caused a deep longing for a new religion, a genuine spirituality, throughout the Greco-Roman world.
This hunger took them to various Asian religions, not only pagan cults, such as Isis and Serapis but also to monotheistic traditions, like Zoroastrianism and the Mithraic Mysteries, in the period before and after the birth of Christ. Only a certain demographic, group or class was authorized to join. Most of those religions insisted on some form of exclusivity
A Message to the world
When Paul, whose original name was Saul, saw the resurrected Jesus Christ on the Damascus road, Saul converted to Christianity. Paul never met Jesus during his brief years of ministry. He was perhaps Christianity's most important early converter and the first major missionary to preach the Christian gospel to non-Jewish people. Paul himself was a Jew and was well-known for persecuting Christians.
Without the significant role played by Paul of Tarsus, following his remarkable conversion, the Greco-Roman world, and by extension, ourselves - may never have heard about Jesus of Nazareth. It was Paul, on God's command, who went on a mission to Asia Minor, the gateway to the greater Roman Empire, to baptize souls, regardless whether they were Jewish or Gentile.
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Very wonderful to see your post frieda, we have so much to be thankful for.
Yes, we have a lot to be thankful for.