Cypress (10-22-2020)
I believe that St. Luke, the Greek, had a hand in that. According to history he actually met with Mary, Mother of Jesus, and others of his retinue. Plus he wrote his gospel(s) in Greek, so they were picked up and spread by more learned people than the peasants both Roman and other.
"Conservatism is the blind and fear-filled worship of dead radicals." -- Mark Twain
Cypress (10-22-2020)
Paul/Saul's "On the road to Damascus" is a very good example of Christianity as a revealed religion.
St. Paul wrote (spoke?) about it extensively, and it literally changed his life -that one revelation.
I think that could be safely called a historical event -evidence that God did directly intercede
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conver...ay_to_Damascus
The conversion of Paul from persecutor to apostle is a well-known biblical story. According to the New Testament, Saul of Tarsus was a zealous Pharisee, who intensely persecuted the followers of Jesus, even participating in the stoning of Stephen. He was on his way from Jerusalem to Damascus to arrest the Christians of the city.
As he went he drew near Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?" He said, “Who are You, Lord?” The Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.”[10]
Oh if I can't slap your face ..
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fellatio
Fella tio fall assy
Cancel 2020.2 (10-22-2020)
And the TROLLS march on.........
Cancel 2020.2 (10-22-2020)
Including our little Ralphie, RIGHT HERE. Troll extraordinaire. NOT that there's anything WRONG with that. I'm a SUPER TROLL, myself, and PROUD of that. There's a certain skill involved in trolling successfully. I'm successful most of the time, sometimes not. C'est la vie.
"There is no question former President Trump bears moral responsibility. His supporters stormed the Capitol because of the unhinged falsehoods he shouted into the world’s largest megaphone," McConnell wrote. "His behavior during and after the chaos was also unconscionable, from attacking Vice President Mike Pence during the riot to praising the criminals after it ended."
Actually it would have been spread the same way Paul spread it, by converted Pharisees traveling from synagogue to synagogue and preaching to the congregations and crowds. Jesus had been preaching for three years before going to Jerusalem, and most likely his followers had already been spreading his speeches, or sermons and word of his healings or whatever you want to call them. He was not a 'poor obscure peasant', but from a family descended from the line of David, and while a 'carpenter', Joseph was not a poor one, but held a franchise to supply wood to the Temple, which would have been a lucrative business indeed given the priests made a lot of money sacrificing animals for the streams of pilgrims and selling the cooked meat. All those letters came from established congregations, over significant distances around the Empire, not just a couple of people here and there. Paul wasn't the only Pharisee to convert; both Mathew and John were probably Pharisees as well, or taught by them, given their extensive knowledge of the Torah, as was Jesus's obvious scholarship. Luke was a gentile, but he was a follower and student of Paul, who was also likely a student of Gameliel the Elder, and Jesus's comments on the Torah indicate he might have been a student of Hillel's school.
Christianity was already huge by the time of Constantine; it had been through recent severe persecutions by the other Consuls of the Tetrarchy and severe one under the previous Emperor as well; commentators remarked on how crippled up many of the attendees at Nicea were, having been tortured and abused, saying it looked more like a convention of beggars than theologians and Bishops. The reason Constantine was impressed by them was precisely because their social programs for their churches and congregations were so successful compared to the pagans' corrupted scams and the Imperial bureaucrats' woefully inadequate efforts, and he put them in charge; not a big mystery at all. Constantine changed nothing, and 'rewrote' nothing, and neither did the Council attendees; that's because the orthodoxy was dominant from the beginning, and most of the oral witnessing already established before the fall of the Temple in 70 A.D., and well known for some 300 years already. If they had changed it all up they would have been laughed out of their own houses for being stupid.
It survived because it was so obviously humanitarian and universal a social paradigm it stood head and shoulders above the state religions and bloody atavistic pagan rubbish its popularity could withstand even the extreme persecutions the Roman govt. could impose on it, and also the same in the Persian regions and in the Celtic regions of Europe. In the 'context of history' it was pretty successful, and a far better alternative than the other options, and the same goes for most of 'The Other Options' today as well.
"There is no question former President Trump bears moral responsibility. His supporters stormed the Capitol because of the unhinged falsehoods he shouted into the world’s largest megaphone," McConnell wrote. "His behavior during and after the chaos was also unconscionable, from attacking Vice President Mike Pence during the riot to praising the criminals after it ended."
"The atmosphere is among the factors that determines the Earth's atmosphere." --ZenMode
"Donald has failed in almost every endeavor he has attempted. " --floridafan
"Abortion is not a moral issue. " --BidenPresident
"Propaganda can also be factual." --Flash
"Even after being vaccinated, you shed virus particles." --Jerome
"no slavery is forcing another into labor" -archives
"Evs are much safer from fires" -- Nordberg
"Abortion has killed no one." -- LurchAddams
Bookmarks