THINGS CHANGED WHEN CHRISTIANITY SHOWED UP 2000 YEARS AGO. (WHY YOU ARE HERE, INSTEAD OF NOT)
First, It took over the Greco-Roman world. As Christianity grew, it created a new civilization; the Western civilization became Christianized. A convergence of events helped Christianity’s astonishing growth. The Roman Empire was coming together by fusing overseas possessions into a cooperative commonwealth. The Roman religion was little more than a propaganda cult. The other available religions were other pagan cults or different beliefs available to only the upper classes. Christianity would baptize Gentiles or Jews into membership from all walks of life. The message was that of a compassionate God who has provided forgiveness of your sins. They called their story “GOOD NEWS” has just come to town. Their message was easy to understand and easy to accept. People liked what they heard. This redemptive program would begin sweeping the world. Jesus joined the movement of John the Baptist. Jesus launched His ministry in Capernaum. His message was: God’s kingdom can’t be seen, but the fact is that it is already among you. (Harvesting selected known thought reposers is the current event’s intended result).
It’s not a complete harvest because the crop got flawed, and only those who get back to where they once belonged got to go on.
Christianity started as a grassroots, word of mouth movement in Galilee and then moved to Tyre and Sidon next door Phoenicia. The Hellenistic, Greek-speaking Jews were next, followed by the Kingdom of Judea and beyond. Seven weeks after Passover, the Pentecost event occurred. Jewish pilgrims from all over the Roman world were in Jerusalem attending the festival. The Holy Ghost showed up, and the good news was off and running.
They were selling a compassionate God who had provided forgiveness of sins pathway so that you could get back to where you once belonged. They called their story “GOOD NEWS” has just come to town. People liked what they heard. Help showed up after Saul became Paul on the road to Damascus.
There were no written scriptures for a decade or so; heresies were sometimes mixed into the oral presentations. Paul started writing letters to the churches. Hence, the New Testament was born.
Christianity started as a grassroots, word-of-mouth movement in Galilee and then moved to Tyre and Sidon next door Phoenicia. The Hellenistic, Greek-speaking Jews were next, followed by the Kingdom of Judea and beyond. Seven weeks after Passover, the Pentecost event occurred. Jewish pilgrims from all over the Roman world were in Jerusalem attending the festival. The Holy Ghost showed up, and the good news was off and running.
They were selling a compassionate God who had provided forgiveness of sins pathway so that you could get back to where you once belonged. They called their story “GOOD NEWS” has just come to town. People liked what they heard. Help showed up after Saul became Paul on the road to Damascus.
There were no written scriptures for a decade or so; heresies were sometimes mixed into the oral presentations. Paul started writing letters to the churches. Hence, the New Testament was born.
Paul’s first missionary trip had mixed results. He discovered that many Jewish communities were resistant to his Jesus saves message. However, many Gentiles were receptive. Paul welcomed Gentile recruits without requiring them to adopt the 613 Jewish commandments.
On Paul’s second journey, Barnabas returned to Cyprus, and Paul returned to Asia Minor, visiting the churches that he had established and opening others. Paul then crossed the Aegean Sea to start churches in Greece. Luke joined Paul’s group; they then found churches in Philippi, Thessalonica, and Athens.
Jesus’ teachings continued to spread like wildfire throughout the area. He liked to write. He converted some Jews along the way, but his focus was to convert all gentiles. With its ten commandments, the Jewish Old Testament was still in, but the Jewish 613 commandments from the Torah and circumcision were out. Paul was off and running.
Paul started crafting a New Testament with a Good News message baked in it. Sixty-six books became the Christian bible. (Vague beginning, weird ending, with a strong statement in the middle). He started out establishing seven churches in what is Turkey today. He wrote letters (epistles) to them to help them along. Each letter became a book in the New Testament.
THE EVOLUTION OF CHRISTIANITY:
The period of early Christianity during the lifetime of the apostles is called the Apostolic Age.
During the first century AD, the apostles were established throughout the territories of the Roman Empire. Additionally, churches throughout the Middle East, Africa, and India.
Their initial instructions were to heal the sick and to drive out demons.
Later, they were commissioned to preach the gospel to all nations, both Jew and Gentile.
The original material on Paul can be found in the Book of Acts and the Pauline epistles.
Paul went on three great mission campaigns. (see the maps below).
The household of God was built on apostles and prophets, with Jesus being the cornerstone.
Paul accomplished the conversion of the Gentile world.
Simon, Andrew, James, and John were recruited by Jesus shortly after Jesus returned from being tempted by the devil.
Peter (Simon) and Andrew had been disciples of John the Baptist.
Jesus also recruited the two brothers
James and John. Both were fishermen.
He then added Matthew, Mark, and Judas, son of James.
Followed by Bartholomew, Thomas, and Judas Iscariot. (who became a traitor.)
Matthias replaced Judas Iscariot.
Matthias was chosen, by rolling the dice, between the ascension of Christ and Pentecost.
Christ commissioned Paul ( a Jew named Saul of Tarsus) on the road to Damascus. He was called by the resurrected Jesus, who converted Saul on the spot.
Along with his mentor Barnabas and his doctor Luke, Paul set out to convert the Gentiles, along with any Jews.
Christian tradition, handed down, states that all by John were martyred.
However, the early church believed that only Paul, Peter, and James were the only martyred ones.
In 64 AD, a great fire devastated Rome. Many Romans thought that Nero had set the fire. Nero blamed Rome’s Christian communities. He proceeded to arrest and execute many of the Christians.
The seventy disciples in Eastern Christian traditions were the early emissaries of Jesus. They were mentioned in Luke.
THE SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY BY 1050 AD:
2000 YEARS LATER: SOME OF THE ORIGINAL COUNTRIES HAVE CONVERTED TO ISLAM OR JUST SLIPPED AWAY.
ISLAM STARTED 600 YEARS AFTER CHRISTIANITY:
A prophetic movement is “called and sent by Christ to have the spiritual authority, character, gifts, and abilities to successfully reach and establish people in Kingdom truth and order, especially through founding and overseeing local churches.”
While a disciple is a student who learns from a teacher, an apostle is sent to deliver those teachings to others. “Apostle” means messenger, he who is sent. An apostle is sent to provide or spread those teachings to others. … We can say that all apostles were disciples, but all disciples are not apostles.
TRAVELS OF PAUL AND THE APOSTLES.
The canonized books of the New Testament are 27 books written by 14 or 15 authors. All were written between 40 AD to 100 AD. All books were written in Greek. Jews living in Palestine spoke Aramaic. There are four groupings of books in the New Testament: The four Gospels, Acts, 21 Epistles, and Revelations. 25 to 35 other books were not canonized. The Gospel of John is different; the other three are synoptic. The four Gospels are the GOOD NEWS saga. The Gospels are passionate (to suffer) narratives with a point of view (good news). The Good News is the message of Jesus, the Christ or Messiah — God’s ruler promised by the Scriptures — specifically, the coming Kingdom of God, his death on the cross and resurrection to restore people’s relationship with God, the descent of the Holy Spirit on believers as the helper.
All four gospels were written in the third person. The authors of the gospels were highly educated, Greek-speaking Christians of a later generation. (This would exclude the apostles, who were peasants from Galilee who spoke Aramaic and couldn’t read or write). The Gospels were written from oral traditions. All of the miracles are in the gospel of John. The other three do not contain miracles. Study each of the gospels on their own. They are different accounts of Jesus, with different perspectives.
Good News missionaries converted a family or two, then that family converted others, decade after decade. The good news message sold well, with a word of the mouth marketing plan.
Repent, and belief were the requirements. The Word was God. I am that I am.
Pauline epistles: Most scholars agree that Paul wrote seven of the Pauline epistles, but four of the epistles in Paul’s name are pseudepigraphy (Ephesians, First Timothy, Second Timothy, and Titus) and that two other epistles are of questionable authorship (Second Thessalonians and Colossians).
