jesus question

[Randel]

If only about 20 or so people believed in jesus in his time and at the time of his death, how did he spread to become the second biggest religion in the world? :eh:

Also do you know judas roughly translates out to Jewish?

Hmmm

[ojeen1981]

Chrisitanty is the biggest faith in the world. *

your question can be attributed to many different things, but at the dawn of Chrisitanty, their was the hard work of the first marytrs that we read about in acts and romans, and also the first church theologians like st. Igniatus and so on. *the hard and faith work of such men enabled christianty to spread. *I also attribute it to the similiarties of the culture at the time.

also the Assyrians who were well known travelers through out the middle east, all the way to China in fact, (Tasho the Assyrian is a good example). *

Paul is also another big factor becuase he wanted to spread the word of God to the gentiles...


later on in the history of the church, we can attribute the spread of christianty to the converersion of Emperor Constante..who backed by St. Augsutine's strong theology, was able to convert many of the masses.

than later on during western imperalism, they also spread christianty though means that i would say are not Biblical. *But many countries u see today are Christianty becuase they are the product of Western Imperalism. *

thats a very primitive historical outlook on yor question, if u want more details, u can pm...

[Samuel]

There are over 1 billion muslims. *If you're suggesting that sheer numbers dictate authenticity, then either religion can be used against the other as a counterexample to your argument.

[Shlama_98]

Not that it matters who's first or second, but Christianity is the largest religion today, tomorow? who knows.

[Teffo]

a few years ago islam was on the rise...amazingly...christianity is back on the rise...

[UmiSayz]

a few years ago islam was on the rise...amazingly...christianity is back on the rise...


Thats not true. Islam is the fastest growing religion in America. Especially with native americans and hispanics. :alright:

[Teffo]

a lot of ppl are converting to christianity...i was reading up on this just a few weeks ago...and a lot of muslims are converting to christianity...

i dont want to argue with you but thats what i read...

[UmiSayz]

a lot of ppl are converting to christianity...i was reading up on this just a few weeks ago...and a lot of muslims are converting to christianity...

i dont want to argue with you but thats what i read...


Im not goin to argue ;)

[Samuel]

Not that it matters who's first or second, but Christianity is the largest religion today, tomorow? who knows.


Not that it matters, but more lives have been lost in the name of the Christian God than any other. *

But then again... Using this sort of statistic can often be useful in manipulation. *For instance, a cigarette campaign might boast that 40 million smokers can't be wrong for choosing their lifestyle.

[Shlama_98]

Not that it matters who's first or second, but Christianity is the largest religion today, tomorow? who knows. *
*
*
Not that it matters, but more lives have been lost in the name of the Christian God than any other. * *
*
But then again... Using this sort of statistic can often be useful in manipulation. *For instance, a cigarette campaign might boast that 40 million smokers can't be wrong for choosing their lifestyle. *
*
Human lives have been lost by a Christian sect, not the Christian God, in the name of the Christian God? sure, but the Christian God is not the one to blame. *
*
As far as I'm concerned Christianity past through its dark ages and now it lives in a modern era, the religion might disagree with other sources here and there but so what? the way I see it is a Jehovah Witness knocking on my door and bugging me is a lot better then terrorist bombings, don't you think?

[John_5_24]

Samd,
I love this argument about how many lives have been lost in the name of a God. *Whether it be Christians, Muslims or Jews, it often suprises me that people don't consider how many lives have been saved in the name of a God as well through charity and the like.

Just a thought.

[ojeen1981]

everyone went off the question that randel was asking.

[KoolEug1981]

last time I checked Christianity had the largest following. *It spread quickly because of missonaries like Paul, Thomas, and Tatian the Assyrian, who were zealous enough to realize that this religion is worth preaching. *There are other factors that contributed the rise of Christinaity, some include martrydom, but I don't have the energy to explain these things in detail. *PM if u have questions

[John_5_24]

If only about 20 or so people believed in jesus in his time and at the time of his death, how did he spread to become the second biggest religion in the world? :eh:



Randel, you can read for yourself about this. *The first couple chapters of the Book of Acts shows exponential growth of the Church after the resurrection. *Additionally, if you read the Epistles of Paul, you can see how the church grew, by the Grace of God through Paul's ministry and the ministry of the other Apostles. *

If you want to talk numbers today, I don't believe that many of the people who call themselves Christians have a clue as to who Jesus really is, or what he really did. *Do they have True faith? *Are they really Christians? *I'll leave that to God to judge, but I certainly have my own opinion.

[CHALDEANELVIS]

Heres an interesting fact. Christians have murdered less than 3 million in the name of God since the dawn of Christianity. WW2 claims tens of millions of people in a span of just a few years or so. And how about Hitlers regime? millions died as well. Christ never taught to murder in His name, so it doesn't make a difference how many lives Christianity claims. But the amazing thing is just how low the number is. If Samd wants to bring this up, then we can ask how many lives Muslim suicidal bombers have claimed? And where the thought of suicide in the name of Allah leads to Heaven came from.

[proudchaldean]

where'd u get that 3 million number from????

[CHALDEANELVIS]

I have it on a debate with a Christian and a very well known and respected philosophy major. Nobody will refute it. The numbers are accurate. Just like the Christian Walter Martin said in the debate, "fine, we can even round it to 4 million if you'd like" meaning, it doesn't even matter, the number is so small it won't even make a difference. I can review the debate again and cite the information. Just keep in mind that no philosopher, atheist, or whatever will reject it because it's very accurate documented proof. Even the guy opposing Christianity didn't deny it because Walter got the records from his own university! Ironic how God works, isn't it? *;)

[proudchaldean]

^^sounds pretty INACCURATE to be honest^^

[KoolEug1981]

I would say that # is higher. *The Western European Christians who settled in the "New World" were largerly *responsible for decimating the native populations. *And the Spanish during the Reconquiesta expulled and massacred a lot of Jews and Muslims. *Not to mention the latin crusades, the abigesian crusades, the debilitating wars of religion that plagued europe for 300 yrs, spanish conquest of the "new world"....................i can keep going. *so, to sum up what I was trying to say, the number has to be way higher than 3 million

[Anonymous]

Sometimes people ought to take the difference between the nationalists and the religious, for example, IRA and Ulster, it all started with the Brits murdering Catholics on Bloody Sunday, occupation and so forth but the IRA dont target Protestants, they target England because their home is being occupied, we have 5 million Catholics in England, they dont give a damm unless their land is being taken.

[Senalko]

If only about 20 or so people believed in jesus in his time and at the time of his death, how did he spread to become the second biggest religion in the world? :eh:

Also do you know judas roughly translates out to Jewish?

Hmmm


Randel, just before Jesus's Death, he had thousands of followers all across Isreal, but for every thousand supporters he had, there was 10, 000 who opposed him and wanted him killed..

Jesus's death was the end of his mission....his diciples were too weak, too scared to say or do anything... for years they stayed in hiding places, and many of them took off to far away places fearing the same Fate as Jesus....

What really started Christianty is One Vital thing....Jesus's promise to Send in the holy Spirit to change the hearts and minds of his followers and to start preaching his teachings to others....

The early apostols worked very hard, many were given special Powers from GOD to perform miracles themseleves such as healing the sick, and Toungue speaking.....

they say that Paul was the real founder of christianty, But through out my readings of History books, suprisngely, it was actually James, the brother of Jesus who was the biggest infleunce on people, and had the most Power to spread the Faith...

Many of jesus's first eye-witnesses were excuted for their work, But GOD allowed them to give their powers to others so that others can continue the work......Once the Gospels were all Written, GOD put an end to his special powers and declared that No one else shall inherit them, he Saw the final Miracle as complete in the Gospels, and from there, the Church in Rome and the orthodox churches Agreed to accept the bible as the True words of GOD......

YOU might argue and say that today, christianty is the biggest religion in the world, but one Fact i was able to establish is, The bigger chrisitanty Grew, the Further people went away from the Truth and the real christianty...

People inside churches started introducing Traditions and over time, it replaced God's intended way for us to worship him.....


In regard to Islam, it is the fastest growing religion in Ameirca and Asia, but it is also the most Dangrous amonst the young Americans, and if something serious was not done to put those people in line, We are heading into a Disaster....

what i am refering to is the Recent teachings of many extremists or conservatives in America that Jihad is a mandtory Step in every Muslem's life, and unless it is performed, a Muslem is considered untrue and fake...

the problem lies with the Assumption that Islam is already under attack from America and the west, thus young American muslems are Growing up preparing themsleeves for suicide missions and voilent actions because their Act of Jihad is already justified by America's Aggression in the world.....

the concept of Jihad needs to be re-addressed amonst muslems and quickly or else We could be heading into a disasterous Future :(

[proudchaldean]

we should all move to Australia to escape the approaching Muslim armies

[Senalko]

we should all move to Australia to escape the approaching Muslim armies

You wont be escaping from them, you will in Fact be walking right into one of the most Extrmist islamic groups u will ever see on earth..... Sadly, we have them here in Australia....

all born and bred in Australia but are brainwashed into the new Wave of Extreme teachings based solely on Violence, jihad and Blowing themseleves up....

Just recently, the Australian Version of FBI, uncovered a big Plot to carry out suicide attacks by these people.....So to think that we are safe from them is far from the truth :(

Dont also forget, we have Indonesia next door... a Country of Fanatical Islam....

[rudy]

Randall your question can be answered by reading the book of Acts in the New Testament. BY also doing some research on the History of Christianity ( http://www.gotquestions.org/who-is-Jesus.html ). But I think everyone has missed a big point. The numbers don’t matter!! The majority of people out there who label themselves “Christian” are the furthest thing form true Christianity. I’m not pointing my finger at any group or denomination. But sadly to say it is true. How many “Christian” out there turn the other check? How many “Christian’s” out there worship the one true God? How many “Christian’s” out there are willing to give up their comfortable lifestyle (which is usually full of filth and that which is sin in God’s eyes) in order to do what is right? How many “Christian’s” out there even know what the word “Christian means? How many “Christian’s” out there believe the Bible is the inspired, inerrant Word of God? How many “Christian’s” out there know why our Lord Jesus Christ was born of a virgin lived a sinless life was killed and rose again on the third day? I can go on and on but I’ll stop here. Just because you are born into a “Christian” family does not make you a Christian! I’m sorry to lay this out so bluntly but this is the truth according to the Holy Bible. Before anyone here tries to get all the dirt and or info about other religions start with what most of you guys on this web site proclaim yourselves to be!!!! Take care and God bless.

[Anonymous]

Randall your question can be answered by reading the book of Acts in the New Testament. BY also doing some research on the History of Christianity ( http://www.gotquestions.org/who-is-Jesus.html ). But I think everyone has missed a big point. The numbers don’t matter!! The majority of people out there who label themselves “Christian” are the furthest thing form true Christianity. I’m not pointing my finger at any group or denomination. But sadly to say it is true. How many “Christian” out there turn the other check? How many “Christian’s” out there worship the one true God? How many “Christian’s” out there are willing to give up their comfortable lifestyle (which is usually full of filth and that which is sin in God’s eyes) in order to do what is right? How many “Christian’s” out there even know what the word “Christian means? How many “Christian’s” out there believe the Bible is the inspired, inerrant Word of God? How many “Christian’s” out there know why our Lord Jesus Christ was born of a virgin lived a sinless life was killed and rose again on the third day? I can go on and on but I’ll stop here. Just because you are born into a “Christian” family does not make you a Christian! I’m sorry to lay this out so bluntly but this is the truth according to the Holy Bible. Before anyone here tries to get all the dirt and or info about other religions start with what most of you guys on this web site proclaim yourselves to be!!!! Take care and God bless.

I do.

[Emma_Girl]

I have another question.

If Jesus was a Jew, then how did he speak Aramaic (Chaldean)? Wouldn't he have spoken Hebrew?

[Anonymous]

Hebrew and Syriac both come from the Aramaic language, early Aramaic script was replaced by Hebrew square script. Hebrew was the everyday language used but it was replaced by Aramaic although Hebrew was still around in those days and obviously present today.

[Shlama_98]

Hebrew and Syriac both come from the Aramaic language, early Aramaic script was replaced by Hebrew square script. Hebrew was the everyday language used but it was replaced by Aramaic although Hebrew was still around in those days and obviously present today.

Are you talking about script or language? because if you're talking about language then Hebrew does not come from Aramaic, Syriac however does, as for the scripts both of them are Aramaic scripts (Which originally comes from the Phoenician alphabets), the Hebrew letters were actually created by the Assyrians when they used Aramaic as language, even the Jews today call their Hebrew letters "Ketav Ashuri" which means "Assyrian text".

[Shlama_98]

I have another question.

If Jesus was a Jew, then how did he speak Aramaic (Chaldean)? Wouldn't he have spoken Hebrew?

Jesus spoke Aramaic because the Jews of that era spoke Aramaic instead of Hebrew, where did they get Aramaic from? when they were taken to Babylon they learned it there because that was the language spoken there, so when they came back from Babylon they were speaking Aramaic instead of Hebrew, not to mention the heavy Aramean influence in the region they lived in anyways.

At that time they also believed that Hebrew was a holy language and therefore should not be used unless they're praying, so they used Aramaic instead, in fact this carried on ever since and it still exists among Ultra Orthodox Jews, that's why you see a lot of Jewish languages that have elements from Hebrew but it's not Hebrew, Yiddish is one example, it's a language that's mixed with Hebrew and Old German, the Jews in Europe used it as their daily language and Hebrew as their prayer language, Ladino is another one which is Hebrew mixed with Spanish spoken by Jews of Spain and so on.

Jews started speaking Hebrew as a daily language when they got Israel in 1948, that's when Hebrew came back to life as a full language, obviously modern Hebrew but it's still Hebrew.

[Teffo]

babylonian captivity...is what you're referring to...right shlama?

[Armenian]

Jesus spoke Aramaic because the Jews of that era spoke Aramaic instead of Hebrew, where did they get Aramaic from? when they were taken to Babylon they learned it there because that was the language spoken there, so when they came back from Babylon they were speaking Aramaic instead of Hebrew, not to mention the heavy Aramean influence in the region they lived in anyways.

At that time they also believed that Hebrew was a holy language and therefore should not be used unless they're praying, so they used Aramaic instead, in fact this carried on ever since and it still exists among Ultra Orthodox Jews, that's why you see a lot of Jewish languages that have elements from Hebrew but it's not Hebrew, Yiddish is one example, it's a language that's mixed with Hebrew and Old German, the Jews in Europe used it as their daily language and Hebrew as their prayer language, Ladino is another one which is Hebrew mixed with Spanish spoken by Jews of Spain and so on.

Actually Hebrew language as well as Arabic came from Aramaic. Aramaic was around before Hebrew was. Some Modern Jews reffer to Aramaic as "Proto-Hebrew".

[Shlama_98]

Actually Hebrew language as well as Arabic came from Aramaic. Aramaic was around before Hebrew was. Some Modern Jews reffer to Aramaic as "Proto-Hebrew".

The fact is Arabic, Hebrew, and Aramaic are all related since they belong to the Semitic family which is a branch from the Afro-Asianic family, but if we look at Hebrew it does't come from Aramaic, it comes from Proto-Canaanite, a few languages come from the Canaanite branch actually, Aramaic on the other hand has its own branch.

So in reality the old Bible figures spoke a Canaanite language, but Aramaic was also spoken because there was a lot of Arameans in the region, in other words both languages have influenced each other.

Arabic is another one, it does't come from Aramaic but was influenced by Aramaic later when the Arabs came out of Arabia and settled in Mesopotamia and the Levant.

babylonian captivity...is what you're referring to...right shlama?

Yes Teffo, that's the one :)

[Armenian]

Arabic is another one, it does't come from Aramaic but was influenced by Aramaic later when the Arabs came out of Arabia and settled in Mesopotamia and the Levant

I think it would be better described as saying "modern" Hebrew and Arabic are based on Aramaic. Arabic also shares many spanish and latin words. My Mexican friends couldn't belive when I taught them some Arabic words "Bussa" ect...

[Shlama_98]

I think it would be better described as saying "modern" Hebrew and Arabic are based on Aramaic. Arabic also shares many spanish and latin words. My Mexican friends couldn't belive when I taught them some Arabic words "Bussa" ect...

Ohh yea for sure, see it depends what Arabic we're talking about, if it's the standard classical Arabic then it's not from Aramaic but is common since both are from the same family.

Modern Arabic has a lot of influences, not just Aramaic, it really depends what country we're talking about, in Iraq for example their dialect has a lot of Persian/Kurdish/Turkish as well as Aramaic of course, other areas like Syria and Lebanon there's a heavier Aramaic influence, and so on.