About Jesus and Christianity(Questions)

Question

Hi,
Could somebody please tell me when the christianity started into existence.
Is it exist before Jesus was born.
if yes,
Who were they(chirstians) use to pray before Jesus Chirst.
Where do they use to do prayer.

Kaleb · Accepted Answer

Did Christianity exist before Jesus was born? Sort of. Before then there was Judaism. Christianity is a continuation of Judaism--like building a bigger house that can hold everyone instead of only the Jews.

I noticed your post about the origin of religions, and so I would also point out that Judaism and Christianity are a very different kind of thing from religions like Hinduism or the old panthistic religions of Europe. Judaism and Christianity are strictly based on documented historical events. Without the history, they have no meaning or existence.

Judaism and the branch of Christianity called Protestantism also reject mysticism. That is why we forbid praying to statues--a statue cannot be a *** in any mystical sense, nor can it be a truthful representation of something unseen.

>Who were they(chirstians) use to pray before Jesus Chirst.

The *** of Christianity is not subject to time. Therefore, prayer is possible at any time in history regardless of the timing of ***'s activities.

>Where do they use to do prayer.

*** is also not subject to space. Therefore, prayer is possible in any location.

Inglish · Answer

Thank you very much kaleb,
That was very useful info in breif. By the way which relegion you belongs to.

->a statue cannot be a *** in any mystical sense, nor can it be a truthful representation of something unseen.
If so, why some religions like christians, hidus, buddists etc., have statues in theire temples and churches.

Kaleb · Answer

>By the way which relegion you belongs to.

I am a Christian. I am part of a Protestant group called Southern Baptist. (We call such groups "denominations.")

>->a statue cannot be a *** in any mystical sense, nor can it be a truthful representation of something unseen.

>If so, why some religions like christians, hidus, buddists etc., have statues in theire temples and churches.

In the Protestant branch of Christianity, statues are strictly decorative--they serve no ceremonial purpose.

The Catholic branch of Christianity does not reject mysticism, and so Catholics permit the ceremonial use of statues provided the statue represents an actual human person. Not being a Catholic myself, I'm not sure of the exact rules or practices.

Revisiting these words:

>some religions like christians, hidus, buddists etc.

I want to reemphasize the fact that a distinction must be made between Judaism and Christianity on the one hand and Hinduism and Buddhism on the other. The underlying philosophy is vastly different, and trying to understand Christianity in terms of Hinduism is likely to leave you confused.

Christianity is very dependent on aristotelian logic. Christianity and Hinduism contain differing propositions that cannot both be true; therefore, Christians are very adamant in our insistence that you can't put Christianity and Hinduism in the same box. Understanding this strict adherence to the laws of non-contradiction and the excluded middle is an important step in understanding Christianity.

Inglish · Answer

Thank you kaleb,

Guest · Answer

Hello. I had a few questions. What is the technical term for Christianity accpeted by most people. I realize their are differences between different organizations, but does the basic term mean "a follower of christ"? Also how do catholic and protestant teachings technically define christ. How did this term come to be associated with Yeshua's name. Thanks for any feedback.

David · Answer

Christians are followers of the teachings of Jesus Christ. His connection with Yahweh is the belief of Christians that he is part of the Triune ***. In other words Divine. B.C. means before Christ. A. D. means Anni Domini. The years following the birth of Christ. Even though Jesus was born 4 years before according to biblical scholars.

Petr A · Answer

I don't agree that before Christianity there was Judaism. We must divide modern and ancient Judaism. Talmud was written after the Birth of Christ.
Christians believe that *** is Trinity. Son of *** is "begotten of the Father before all ages; Light from Light, True *** from True ***, begotten, not made, of One Essence with the Father, through Whom all things were made".

Forbes · Answer

We must divide ancient and modern Christianity.

There are the teachings of the man called Jesus who, on the balance of probabilities, was a rabbi who opposed Roman rule on the basis that it was against Jewish law. A hint of his opposition may be found in "Render unto Caesar..." The episode in the temple where Jesus drives out the moneylenders sounds like a toning town of an incident of civil unrest. The fact that on Palm Sunday Jesus rode into Jerusalem in triumph does not sit well with the fact that he apparently had to be indentified by Judas in the Garden of Gethsemane. It is almost as if two different people were being described, the latter perhaps the leader of a seditious (to the Romans) sect. I think we may legitimately ask why St Peter was armed in the Garden of Gethsemane - what was a fisherman doing with a sword? Why were James and John nicknamed "Sons of Thunder"?

We then have the teachings of Jesus, or perhaps more than one popular rabbi, as recorded in the Gospels. Personally I think the teachings are to be found in the parables, which were a popular way for religious teachers to get their message across. Of course we cannot be sure exactly what Jesus said as nothing was written down while he was alive. Parables are of course easy to remember - I think I can remember all those I was taught as a child. As for the "facts" in the Gospels it is entirely conceivable, and I believe the case, that later believers made the facts fit the prophecies in the Old Testament because they sincerely believed that Jesus did indeed fulfill the prophecies. Nevertheless, as I suggest above, some actual events found there way into the Gospels.

The real founder of Christianity was St Paul. Thomas Jefferson went so far as to say "Paul was the first corrupter of the teachings of Jesus". There is a dispute recorded in the Acts of the Apostles essentially about whether the message of Jesus was for the Jews or for all men. St Paul and those who followed him went on to spread Christianity, or at least their version of it. The others, the true followers of Jesus, died out. Christianity is founded on a mistake. Jesus did not intend to found a religion, just reform one. It is possible that Jesus was an Essene.

St Paul introduced Hellenistic philosophy into Christianity. Very early on elements of eastern mystery religions were grafted on. The final strand of what is today mainstream Christianity was added when the Church acquired temporal power and Roman law was incorporated into canon law.

The Christian religion today is not something the man Jesus would recognise.

Anonymous · Answer

ForbesSt Paul introduced Hellenistic philosophy into Christianity. Very early on elements of eastern mystery religions were grafted on. The final strand of what is today mainstream Christianity was added when the Church acquired temporal power and Roman law was incorporated into canon law.

The Christian religion today is not something the man Jesus would recognise.

There is much truth in what you have said, but wouldn't it be more accurate to refer to the church you mention, as the Roman Catholic Church, thereby distinguishing it as being quite a different beast to the Christians who oppose the 'grafting on' of eastern mystery religions?

Forbes · Answer

Whilst it may be true that some of the rituals of the Catholic church and other Christian denominations may be traced back to the mystery religions, their influence also extends into fundamental doctrines such as: death and resurrection of a ***; salvation through a saviour to ensure a blissful after life, baptism and the eucharist. Now I readily concede that just because the mystery religions have similar tenets to Christianity does not mean that Christianity took the rituals and doctrines over and the knowledge of most mystery religions is in any event a bit sketchy. There is also the danger that mystery religions may be described in Christian terms. Nevertheless, the similarities are striking and cannot readily be dismissed by thinking Christians.

The essential point I wish to make is that Christianity has evolved over the centuries.

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