Evidence for God from Science

How did Christianity rise so fast and quickly to become the #1 religion in Rome? The answer is Jesus. If Jesus was a fictional character, Christianity would have simply died out right away. Why would anyone at that time old enough to know that if Jesus didn't exist decide be persecuted for their beliefs? Why would a civilization who's forte was overindulgence suddenly find Christianity appealing? Christianity stood for everything Rome wasn't. It rose quickly and fast. Again it makes you wonder a rag like religion at the time had such a huge influence.

No reasonable person doesn't think Jesus was a real person. The question is what what Jesus was (a great and incredibly influential man or God?).

Also, the answer to your question "why did it rise so fast and last" has a number of factors. You could ask the same thing about Judaism (which, for the record, is much older than Christianity) and Islam as well. Many Far-East religious views have lasted 3 or 4 thousand years as well. In the meantime, numerous smaller religions and cults have risen fast and died out quickly. Circumstances dictate everything.

Swimmy wrote:How did Christianity rise so fast and quickly to become the #1 religion in Rome? The answer is Jesus. If Jesus was a fictional character, Christianity would have simply died out right away. Why would anyone at that time old enough to know that if Jesus didn't exist decide be persecuted for their beliefs? Why would a civilization who's forte was overindulgence suddenly find Christianity appealing? Christianity stood for everything Rome wasn't. It rose quickly and fast. Again it makes you wonder a rag like religion at the time had such a huge influence.

I think there's some disagreement, if the "Christianity" that was part of the state of the Roman Empire, was even true, biblical Christianity. Imo, any "religion" endorsed by a state, isn't the same "religion" that's in scripture.

You could ask the same thing about Judaism (which, for the record, is much older than Christianity)

Judaism was the precursor to Christianity so it would stand to reason that it would have exploded as well and that reason is because it is truth.
Islam has not had the same impact the way Christianity has in a sense that Christianity would not be a religion you would choose if you wanted to be selfish or controlling.

Dan

What's more amazing is that Christianity started in the very place that Jesus was crucified and that is Jerusalem. If Jesus didn't do everything that the new testament said he did christianity would never start there, and if he hadn't really resurrected all the pharasees had to do is roll out Jesus's body and that would have been the end of Christianity.

Gary Habermas took a survey of over 2000 new testament scholars (atheist and theist scholars) and asked them whether they believed the empty tomb was a historic fact, and an amazing 75% of them agreed that the empty tomb is a historic fact. Once you have established this the only logical explanation is the resurrection.

The disciples did not have the power, military training, or the money to bribe the roman guards to let them steal Jesus's body, plus they weren't expecting a physical resurrection but a spiritual one. How were they transformed from wimps who denies Jesus to tigers that went to their death for their belief in the resurrection.

RickD wrote:

Swimmy wrote:How did Christianity rise so fast and quickly to become the #1 religion in Rome? The answer is Jesus. If Jesus was a fictional character, Christianity would have simply died out right away. Why would anyone at that time old enough to know that if Jesus didn't exist decide be persecuted for their beliefs? Why would a civilization who's forte was overindulgence suddenly find Christianity appealing? Christianity stood for everything Rome wasn't. It rose quickly and fast. Again it makes you wonder a rag like religion at the time had such a huge influence.

I think there's some disagreement, if the "Christianity" that was part of the state of the Roman Empire, was even true, biblical Christianity. Imo, any "religion" endorsed by a state, isn't the same "religion" that's in scripture.

The problem with that statement is that it actually goes against what the eay church fathers said and believed and one if the earliest church fathers was ignatious of Antioch and his description if the the early church of Christ is unmistakable . I suggest you get acquainted with him as he was a student of the apostle John

History tells us about the rise of Islam. Slaughter, violence and terror.

Christianity rose under the persecution of those conditions. Islam used those evils to spread an ideology. Why would you seperate Judiasm?

Ivellious wrote:No reasonable person doesn't think Jesus was a real person. The question is what what Jesus was (a great and incredibly influential man or God?).

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Whats your conclusion from having investigated the objective unbiased historical evidence ? Was he just a nice moral teacher who strolled the beaches of Galilee spreading good will, or, was he who he claimed to be : The very Creator of the Universe who is clothed in flesh ? Was he a Liar , Fraud, and Deluded...or.....was he authentic in every way ?

Ivellious wrote:No reasonable person doesn't think Jesus was a real person. The question is what what Jesus was (a great and incredibly influential man or God?).

At first I was going to say "Well, my friend doesn't believe Jesus was a Man or God." Then I saw the word "reasonable"