See the place where they laid him. The oldest surviving fragment of John is dated to A. The oldest surviving complete copy of the New Testament dates to A. Other ancient books typically have much longer gaps between composition and our earliest copies.
Almost all can be explained by some type of unintentional scribal mistake, such as poor eyesight. Very few variants are contested among scholars, and few or none of the contested variants carry any theological significance. Modern biblical translations reflect this scholarly consensus where the variants exist, while the disputed variants are typically noted as such in the translations.
Blood and water came out, consistent with the spear rupturing the pericardial sac that surrounds the heart. Edwards et al. The disciples were unlikely to be lying about seeing the risen Jesus The apostles had little incentive to lie Why do people consciously lie? Recanting may have saved his life. An apostle who saw that other apostles were being killed because of their faith would have been strongly tempted to leave the Christian community None of the apostles recanted their story But could there be no record of recantation because there was a cover-up by the church?
Probably not. But at the time, the testimony of a woman was not admissible in Jewish courts. But I do know that as a historian that they must have seen something. This is inconsistent with the hallucination hypothesis. The Bible often describes encounters with God as occurring through visions.
But at least in the first four bullet points above, the Bible is emphatic that they were not merely visions. They touched Jesus, he ate their food, he fed them.
He became an immediate convert. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. The Reformation — instigated by a number of events, most notably Martin Luther's 95 Theses — emphasized a personal faith.
This movement was in reaction to the fact that interpretations of the Bible, grace spontaneously given love and mercy from God , the absolution of sins and entry into heaven were all mediated through priests in Catholicism. Luther and his followers claimed that the Bible, not a church hierarchy, was the ultimate authority over all people, including priests and the pope, and that several ecclesiastical practices, such as granting indulgences paying the church money to be absolved of sins , were corrupt.
Initially, there were just a few major Protestant groups, but ultimately, the Reformation ushered in more Christian offshoots.
By the 17th century, the contemporary word "denomination" began to be used to describe religious offshoots, Michelle Sanchez, an associate professor of theology at Harvard Divinity School, told Live Science via email.
Protestants had used scripture to critique the Roman Catholic Church, claiming that any believer could read scripture and have a personal relationship with God. But then, "the obvious problem emerged: Whose interpretation of scripture was the right one? As believers debated the scriptures and sacraments, churches formed and split based on myriad biblical interpretations, ways of worship and organizational structures.
From these debates, denominations such as the Presbyterians, Mennonites, Baptists and Quakers, among others, took root. He also famously wanted a divorce that the church refused to grant. Although schisms may be seen as divisive or even lead to violent conflicts between rival denominations, these splits do have an upside. For instance, after the Reformation challenged papal authority, townspeople could begin to question religious authorities about corrupt or questionable practices.
By the end of the 4th century, it was the official religion of Rome, numbering 30 million followers—or half the Empire. Christians today might claim that their faith triumphed over the other Roman religions because it was and is true, right and good. That may be so. But one still needs to consider the historical contingencies that led to the Christian conquest, and in particular the brilliant strategy the Christian evangelistic campaign used in winning converts.
These are five aspects of that strategy:. Painted by Fra Angelico Strangely enough, Christianity did not succeed in taking over the ancient world simply by addressing deeply sensed needs of its target audience, the pagan adherents of traditional polytheistic religions. On the contrary, it actually created a need that almost no one knew they had.
These gods—whether the state gods of Rome, the local municipal gods, the family gods, the gods of forests, mountains, streams and meadows—were active in the world, involved with humans on every level. They ensured that crops would grow and livestock would reproduce; they brought rain and protected against storms; they warded off disease and restored the sick to health; they maintained social stability; and provided military victories for the troops.
The gods would do such things in exchange for proper worship, which at all times and everywhere involved saying the right prayers and performing the appropriate sacrifices. If the gods were not worshiped in these ways—if they were ignored—they could bring disastrous retribution: drought, epidemic, economic collapse, military defeat and so on.
But the key point is that the gods were principally active—for good or ill—in the present life, to worshippers in the here and now. Almost no one in the Roman world practiced religion in order to escape eternal punishment or receive an eternal reward—that is, until the Christians came along. Unlike pagans, Christians claimed there was only one God and that he should be worshiped not by sacrifice but by proper belief.
And, most significant of all, rewards and punishments would be dispensed not only in this life, but in the life to come: either eternal bliss in heaven or everlasting torment in the fires of hell. Religion had never promoted such an idea before. Christians created a need for salvation that no one knew they had. They then argued that they alone could meet the need. And they succeeded massively. Jesus cures a sick man who is unable to reach the pool at Bethesda, which contains healing waters.
Everyone in the ancient world knew that divinity was all about power. Humans cannot control whether it rains or an epidemic destroys the community or a natural disasters hits; but the gods can. They can provide for humans what mere mortals cannot do for themselves. This stood at the root of all ancient religion.
And it became the chief selling point of the Christian message. Christians declared that their God was more powerful than any other god—in fact, more powerful than all the supposed other gods combined.
God alone was God, and he alone could provide what people need. The power struggle between the Christian and pagan gods is on full display in a wide range of ancient texts. At one point in the narrative, John visits the city of Ephesus and its renowned temple to the goddess Athena.
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