Do You Beleive? haha no really?

I could also be wrong about this, but to my knowledge there isn't any say, book/religion that is as comprehensive as our Bible

Yes, you are wrong.
When you go to college, I'd recommend a comparative religions course. There are many religions as equally developed as your own, and many with their own comprehensive source text.

jack000lad said:
ok so we all go to heaven then? its just that those who never beleived wont "shine" so much and as a result be miserable and "embarassed" in the light of the lord? ok? but see how come thats in the same bible that you both read yet you both have such a different view of the after life?To begin with, it's not the Bible that makes the difference, but the Church, since the Church has a precedes the Scripture (God, what am I trying to say to a Lutheran and to someone who's attending a non-denominational church - it's a suicide! xD :P).
And, for what it's worth, we're not reading the same Bible, although I don't think that it's the Deuterocanonical books that make the difference.

: P Don't worry about it, its a common mistake (for some reason??)

How come christianity has become the, mm say the most well known in history?

First of all, you haven't really thought about the question you are asking. WHO'S history? Western (Europe + American) history, yes. African history, maybe. Indian history? Not really. Japanese history? Barely. How well known and important Christianity is differs depending on the location and which version of history you are talking about. I assume you believe that "Western" history is the standard by which the rest are measured, and I agree with that de facto as I am an American and "Western" history is what I learned, and so it is what I compare all others with. However, if you want to discuss "history" as an overarching concept, you cannot ignore other regions' histories. A similar ignorant question might be posed by the Chinese: "How come Confucianism has become the most well known in history?" Or by a Greek in the age of Alexander the Great: "How come the Greek pantheon has become the most well known in history?"

After you think about your place in relation to others, think about the historical situations that caused Christianity to become widespread. Here's a hint: it has nothing to do with the truth of the religion and everything to do with the situations around it.

First, the situation in which it arose as a popular religion was incidentally an age of relative unity; the Roman Empire. Whether or not the politicians actually were converts, it was a great political move to declare the relatively new religion a national one, as it prevented uprisings, and provided those in power new, stronger tools with which to unify their people and conquer new territories. Some of the key concepts of Christianity make it a great mobilizer of armies, such as the promise of heaven after death. Additionally, when the people believe that the king/emperor/general/pope/bishop/etc is appointed by God as a stand-in for Jesus, it creates a strong unifying force; much stronger than a polytheist system where the deities themselves bicker and fight and there is no single focal point. Also, there is a strong dichotomy of good vs. evil, which the polytheist systems lacked and help polarize a population. It is much easier to fight an enemy when he is "evil" or "in league with Satan". Again, it is very important to note that these factors are social, not truth based. Islam has used monotheism in the same way.

In addition to its great military and social power, it has a draw for common people, where the humble and poor are venerated. This means that while the rulers utilize the unifying elements to centralize power, the common people stay hooked with the promise of reward. They are given the hope that all their toils and pain will be rewarded in the next life. Buddhism also has this draw, converting people from Hinduism and its strict caste system.

These factors, plus the militant nature of the leaders at the time, lay the foundation for Christianity to spread across Europe. A few bloody centuries later, Europe was Christianized under a largely "convert or die" strategy. While it is true that many people converted willingly, those who didn't weren't exactly given a choice. In terms of European history, the subsequent centuries were bitter and hard as the Dark Ages set in. Literacy levels plummeted, and there was literally nothing LEFT in terms of scholarship but the few monks who could read and copy the Bible. In the years following, a great number of books were destroyed, purging Europe of hundreds of years of history and leaving almost nothing BUT Christiandom. (Fortunately copies of these works were saved in the Muslim world and recirculated later)

After Europe recovered from the Dark Ages, it took an interest in colonization. This means that the Christian tradition went with them, in the form of both practices, military, and missionaries. Between 1500-1950 Europe (and the US) dominated the globe, as did their culture.


So in short, the reason Christianity is one of the most well known / important religions is because:
1) It is socially useful
2) It helps mobilize armies
3) Christianized Europe was the first region to get serious about colonization.
4) Christianized Europe was successful in world domination.


NOTE: None of this has to do with the truth or falsity of the religion.

Jack is what? sorry i'm lost? haha for once that wasn't my bad spelling!!!

okay Grey Fox my bad, you are reading a different bible, so where did you're Bible come from and what is the difference between yours and say a King James or whatever the Catholic one is?

and to Tee Hee, i agree with Anath, to look at History from a single (in our case Western) point of view is something we all do but to appreciate true history one has to look at what some people will call both sides of the story. (thats why i like Laurance Rees books on WW2, they are based on historical fact but also on hundereds of interviews he had with people who lived, fought and struggled at the time)

So yes from our point of view Christianity is perhaps the largest religion in society. but you go to China, where Christianity has only been "allowed" relatively recently, and there are very few who follow it, it would not be considered a main stream religion even i would guess?

I often find i completly under estimate the sheer size of the world, the massive numbers of people in it, i often find zooming in and out of google maps helps haha

anywho this is what i'm kind of getting at with Christianity and Catholocism in particular as it started and spread in such contriversial and power motivated ways that both Catholocism and any other spin off denomination of Christianity that came after it are far to distorted by these facts to allow us to follow them with all our hearts and souls without serious consideration as to wether or not they should be practiced with a pinch of salt

time to be welcomed into it, we can all be so secluded by society that the real experiances in life can be lost to common beleif and misconception

It wasn't written by one person.
And your argument perfectly justifies the truth of all the things happening in A Song of Ice and Fire.

I'm off to dragon farming.


PS: No one had ever thought of gods before the bible, so yeah, who could make that up?

No, christian-vdbee made a very good point here, I'm sure he has more answers to life than the average person.

If the Bible was written out of the fantasy of those scribes, it's simply impossible that now everthing that was written starts adding up so nicely and make sense like it does, as harmonious as it is. God himself must have been the director of this work all the way from the beginning till the end!

i do believe in the whole bible as truth even genesis. i believe that all the Bible still stands today. i think of the Bible as an instruction book and God as the instructor.i think everything in it should be taken as a fact and we as Christians should do what it says with out doubt. we should trust God to not just make a book of basic morals but of actual leadership and guidance so we can look to it when we need it. the bible is a book of instructions, council,the best stories,and leadership. the Bible is not a book of cobblers. i believe not one thing in it is pointless.

With so much of the bible being taken by faith and having no living witness to the events that are recorded in it, how are we sure that the learned are always right? and the foolish always wrong? maybe there's more. maybe the bible is a very stripped down version of what really happened? no one can be 100% sure that there understanding of the bible is true. every christians opinion is important and should be considered when people attempt to figure out what the bible means.there is no way we will be able to figure anything out if everyone isn't allowed a say. some of the assumed worst theories have been proven true. people thought the earth was flat, is it? they were proven wrong. so the only way we can be 100% sure of at least 75% of the bible is to ask God. all we as people can do is theorize. however not all of these people are christians some of them profess to be but are not. these people can be wrong and are the ones who give christianity a bad name, but they don't change God who will not be changed by and can not be changed ever. He is the same was the same and always will be the same. whether people theorize correctly or not. if these foolish people get people to thinking they have done a service to the body of Christ.

i was trying to make a piont

"Do You Beleive?"

nope. but I don't think that counts as "quality"... just like I think that boasting about your believes sucks.

but what really pisses me off is the fact that, in my "neighborhood", "going public" about not believing is a form of social suicide... you're instantly labeled as "weird" at best, but also "untrustworthy", "undesirable", "evil", "satanist" n' stuff like that...

I mean, how ignorant can one get?!