Warning
 

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The spread of Christianity

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There's a kill.

Re: The spread of Christianity
 

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Please cite your references to this historical claim -- that 11 of 12 people were killed for their faith in this fellow named "Jesus".

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The Bible only records the deaths of two apostles, James and Judas. The deaths of the others is recorded in the early writings of church historians. To be fair, some details about these deaths is still unknown because it was initially passed down by tradition.

As for the historical writings, Eusebius wrote his history of the early church in 325 A.D. Another church historian, Schumacher also researched the deaths of the apostles.

The apostles deaths are as follows:

Matthew: killed by sword in Ethiopa

Mark: dragged by horses in Egypt

Luke: hanged in Greece

John: boiled in hot water in Rome. He survived. Later went on to write the book of Revelation and died of old age.

Peter: crucified upside down on an X shaped cross.

James the Just: thrown 100 feet down from the southeast pinnacle of the temple. He survived and was then beaten to death.

Bartholomew: death by whip in Armenia

Andrew: crucified on X shaped cross in Greece

James the Greater: beheaded in Jerusalem

Thomas: stabbed with a spear in India

Jude (brother of Jesus): killed by arrows

Matthias: stoned and then beheaded

Barnabas: stoned at Salonica

Re: The spread of Christianity
 

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Nevertheless, it is interesting that Jesus surfaces among many religions.

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Islam & Christianity -- both which share similar roots. Any others?

Re: The spread of Christianity
 

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Please cite your references to this historical claim -- that 11 of 12 people were killed for their faith in this fellow named "Jesus".

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The Bible only records the deaths of two apostles, James and Judas. The deaths of the others is recorded in the early writings of church historians.

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So, the Bible, and some writings by Christians a few centuries after the events. Surely an Apologist could see that these sources are not significant to persuade a non-believer that the OP's claim is even historically accurate, much less that it gives credence to the divinity of Jesus. People die for false beliefs all the time.

Re: The spread of Christianity
 

I would also like to remind the OP that even the historical accuracy of "Jesus" is suspect:

http://www.truthbeknown.com/origins.htm
http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_jcno.htm

Re: The spread of Christianity
 

Doesn't Judaism accept Jesus' teachings, if not that he is the son of God?

The main point is that this one man who might have just as easily been dismissed as a crackpot given some of his outlandish claims, was somehow able to garner tremendous support and a following which continues 2000 years later. That's pretty impressive if you ask me.

I can think of no other person who was as successful at advancing a cause/religion. You might say Einstein and Newton's teachings will be remembered and talked about 2000 years from now, but they were science based. I think Jesus is much more impressive. To the point where if I ever were to develop a belief in a loving God, it would have to start with Jesus.

Re: The spread of Christianity
 

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I would also like to remind the OP that even the historical accuracy of "Jesus" is suspect:

http://www.truthbeknown.com/origins.htm
http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_jcno.htm

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Most (I could almost say all) historians disagree with the viewpoints to which you linked. There are so many non-Biblical, non-Christian references to Jesus in historical writings that His existence isn't really an issue.

Here is a link to a few of those references.

EDIT: Also, one of your links refers to Jesus as a copycat of earlier myths. This page contains detailed discussions of why that view is incorrect.

Re: The spread of Christianity
 

Islam is essentially on par. If they had succeeded in conquering Europe and then also settled the Americas, the Americas would be primarily Muslim instead of Christian.

History's funny that way.

Re: The spread of Christianity
 

What I want to know, is does Islam recognize Jesus' teachings? Does it recognize any of his miracles? If so, I think that's significant.

Re: The spread of Christianity
 

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The main point is that this one man who might have just as easily been dismissed as a crackpot given some of his outlandish claims, was somehow able to garner tremendous support and a following which continues 2000 years later. That's pretty impressive if you ask me.

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You do realize that there are thousands of religions, most of which pre-date Christianity, right?

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I can think of no other person who was as successful at advancing a cause/religion.

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Confuscious, Buddha, Mohammed... But, if you just go by the numbers, Jesus wins. But, Mohammed is on a come-back. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

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I think Jesus is much more impressive. To the point where if I ever were to develop a belief in a loving God, it would have to start with Jesus.

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Allah gives you virgins, though!