I wrote this in response to the many ridiculous notions that Christianity is just as much to blame for atrocities or that in some way a lot like islam. When I hear people compare Christianity to islam or lump it in with so many other religions, it truly makes it difficult for an educated Christ follower to not blast back with a somewhat colorful rhetoric. But decorum and the Christian way must prevail. Let’s answer that though. Let’s look at and explain why Christianity is the most powerful impact to ever hit this planet thus far. It all started when Christ died and his followers became embolden and strong with his message. So strong and encouraged, these followers/disciples were willing to be beaten, jailed, ridiculed, accused and even murdered for the teachings of Christ. This is not some novel, or some fictional story! This is the truth of what went down. So strong was the message itself that it spread throughout the current Roman Empire and the Asian countries to the coast lines. And most of this was by word of mouth and epistles! Some of it done under persecutions! There was even a guardian spirit that went along with the message to protect the message. Many letters were written, pulled together and assembled to keep the outside influences from causing distortion or corruption to this amazing being’s teachings, experiences, historical prophecies and statements. By the time the writings or accounts of the New Testament was compiled, say about one hundred years after Christ, while Greek was still current speech, the Roman Empire was so dominant that the common people were talking Latin almost as much as Greek, and gradually, because political power was behind it, the Latin and the Greek, became virtually the speech of the common people. So vast and inspiring these teachings became on the masses, the mighty Roman Empire itself couldn’t help be affected by the spirit of the cross. It’s very thought, caused a split in the Empire. Constantine, after winning a battle thought to be attributed to his vision or thought to the cross on his warriors shields, became heavily influenced and his philosophy toward Christians changed. Yes, beliefs Affect Politics.! He then, through politics and religion, moved the seat of his rule to Byzantine. This entrenched the eastern side of the Empire vs. the western part. Christians and Christ’s teachings for the first time since the death of the savior, is now legal to communicate and grow in this part of the world. Long detailed story short, In this ebb and flow of politics, religion, paganism, Christianity councils began to form and debate many topics of who to follow, how to follow and evidences to hold as standards. Councils began, at first with real and integral intentions of answering the many questions that came from the masses and many areas of the uneducated population. Later these councils would see an advantage for influence. It was during these times that in western part of the Roman Empire that Catholicism began to emerge. Paganism shows to be one of the biggest influences of the west to influence and set the order of priest hood and a loose church hierarchy. Also it was the western sway that made for a more ecumenical approach to doctrine while the eastern half kept to a more orthodox grip to original teachings of Jesus. In these changing times a man, Jerome, who was an Illyrian Latin Christian “priest”, confessor, theologian and historian, who also became a Doctor of the Church and was the son of Eusebius, is best known for his translation of the Bible into Latin. Jerome around 360 a.d. began by revising the earlier Latin translations, but ended by going back of all translations to the original Greek, and back of the Septuagint to the original Hebrew wherever he could do so. Fourteen years he labored, settling himself in Bethlehem, in Palestine, to do his work the better. Barely four hundred years (404 A.D.) after the birth of Christ his Latin version appeared. It met a storm of protest for its effort to go back of the Septuagint, so dominant had the translation become. Jerome fought for it, and his version won the day, and became the authoritative Latin translation of the Bible. This Latin Vulgate along with a now written Greek Septuagint became the main trunk line of all literature concerning the bible till the end of the 15th century. In the early 1300’s a man, Wycliffe, had gave thought to rifts of faith and was impressed with the gap that was growing between the church and the people, and felt that a wider and fuller knowledge of the Bible would be helpful for the closing of the chasm. Now it should be noted that at the growth of Europe and empire controls along with the constant strife and wars from tyrannical minds, the general masses and populations were being heavily controlled through the strong arm of the now established Catholic Church with the backing of politicians and laws enforced with both reason and political gains. The masses were now, for the most part, illiterate. Many didn’t even own a bible let alone know how to read. The church and state would often use each other to berate and force control upon the populations. Persecutions from the church were now a constant and it seemed that GOD was a cruel and unforgiving GOD to those whom didn’t know him except through the iterations and interpretations of a priest or local monastery. This carried on into the period commonly called the dark ages. Now moving to the late 15th Century the time was ripe to produce a bible that would settle in the minds of nations along with an inspiring uprising of literacy. When James I. came to the throne of England he found the Established Church in a sadly divided state. There were Conformists, who were satisfied with things as then found, and were willing to conform to existing usages; and there were Puritans, who longed for a better state of things, and were determined to have it. These parties appealed to the king, and the Puritans had great hopes that he would favor their side. In October, 1603, James therefore called a conference, to meet in Hampton Court Palace, in the coming January. Though history reports this Conference a failure, it began the movement for the version of the English Bible, now so widely accepted as the KJV. This notion from the King and conformist was in a general response to the Geneva bible that had been written in a different language than the Latin Vulgate. The king declared this version as an apostate document. It maybe he did this because the “conformists” of that time rejected anything new and truly had a hate for English version of the Geneva bible. So to please both the puritans and conformists he gave the direction to produce a European version and also declare the Geneva as a rejection. Thus began the transformation of the European population. Notably at this time around 1450 Johannes Gutenberg press was invented and working. What timing. In less than about 160 years from this a new era would begin and literature will become more abundant through ability to duplicate in large volumes. Once King James put forth his decree to create a version for the kingdom of Europe and surrounding nations he gave a 15 point set of rules in which to translate and write the bible in. A good example of this is rules 4 and 15 that covered words with multiple meanings. The rules sated when any word hath diverse significations, that to be kept which has been most commonly used by the most eminent fathers, being agreeable to the propriety of the place and the analogies of faith. A good example of this was the words grave, shoal, and hades. To substitute for these three words, when not sure which one they used the current slang that survived centuries of usage, they wrote the word “Hell”. This is why the word hell is not found in the Greek, Hebrew nor Arabic language. It is merely slang for hades, grave, or shoal. Forty-Seven men in six companies and 3 cities (Oxford, Cambridge, Westminster) were used and thereby meeting places to preside over this massive project. By the way these companies were also overlooked by Hebrew Professors from Universities. Much happened in this time but for a short version to tell, by 1611 the first Copy of the Old testament came out and a year later the New testament came out in their new translations with thousands of new copies. Remember that by the time this new set of KJV copies hit the streets there was already a Geneva bible version out that the current culture had a grip on and didn’t let go of it easily. Once the Europeans began to get hold of the bible and generations were raised on the word, prayers began to thrust up to heaven and they became enlightened, emboldened, and discovered and longed for the notion of freedom. During the 14th through the 16th centuries European nations along with France, Portugal, Scandinavian areas were exploring and trying to set up colonies all over the world especially this new found place known as the Americas. Now openings and opportunities began to rise and open themselves as an escape from tyranny, heavy taxation and persecutions. In the 16th century it is reported that at least 240,000 Europeans entered American ports from the west coast to the east. A vast majority of them were puritans from the original line of puritans in the time of King James, bringing their bibles and beliefs. Their faith in help them cut, carve, fight their way into strange new wildernesses while bearing and raising their children along the way. All this time living as free people under the GOD of their faith known as the GOD Jacob, the king of Israel and all mankind called the savior Jesus Christ as was written in the most precious of their possessions, the bible . As the population increased dramatically and the market demand for all the riches available in this new found wilderness, many countries and kings wanted it all. But the biggest threat to this new found freedom came from one known as King George of England. Our constitutional forefathers were strict adherent followers of Christ and they got their faith and philosophical direction from scriptures. Because of the tyranny that seemed to follow them most of this puritans became entrenched in their belief and Doctrine that all men are created equal and that only GOD has right to rule. That man should only govern by precepts that come from the Faith of the bible and as history shows they came to the only solution they saw was a collective consensus that a republic needs to be fashioned. A fight ensued and a resistance began with the fear of GOD on their minds and souls and to face the fear of tyrants and armies. This resistance did not win without great cost but, it did win with great rewards that would prove beneficial to the entire world to come. This set of documents known as the Declaration of Independence, and the subsequent U.S. Constitution, signed by all believers and followers in Christ and the bible, would begin a new marketplace and freedom inspiring invention, economy, industry, military might, and luxuries that most of the world could only try to copy. Not one single signer of these documents was a Non-believer in Jesus the Christ, Not One! This is what truly drove western civilization into the new world of innovation and powerful economics. Out of the minds of men and women who saw Christianity as the staple and driving force of family and law came new states. These states were born out of a new chance of freedom while acknowledging the Father of freedom and every single state became its own set of documents with preambles that make compass to GOD the almighty to guide the hearts of those whom would live and strive under this new set of rules of freedom and liberty. Fifty great and mighty states were born to bring on the most powerful nation to ever live thus far on this planet. Christianity did this! It was the spirit that drove men like George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Hancock, Patrick Henry, theologians like Wycliffe, Tyndale, and even those whom were someone agnostic such as King James to name very few. It gave time to the Gentiles to populate and become so vast in numbers throughout generations across the world that probably no man could count. Through this liberty and freedom it was realized that slavery of ANYKIND is an abomination to GOD and soul. These are the teachings of Christianity! Not buddahism, not Confucius, not islam, nor ANY other religion can claim what the Faith of Christ can claim! So prominent was the Christian Faith among the early Government that the first Print from Congress was the Bible. It was declared by George Washington to not lose our moral compass and the only insurance would be to follow GOD through Christ. John Adams wrote “ The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity. I will avow that I then believed, and now believe, that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God”. Samuel Adams speaks of freedom only coming by One Way.! He wrote” I conceive we cannot better express ourselves than by humbly supplicating the Supreme Ruler of the world . . . that the confusions that are and have been among the nations may be overruled by the promoting and speedily bringing in the holy and happy period when the kingdoms of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ may be everywhere established, and the people willingly bow to the scepter of Him who is the Prince of Peace”. People I don’t know how to express the force and the Power of Christ and its blessing when Followed taught to our children and his father feared. It was Christianity that started and ran nearly ALL charitable organizations. 95% of Charities are Christian based and ran. It was Christianity that made this nation the most Charitable Nation on this earth. So large are the charities that all other countries combined can’t equal America. So When I hear people lump Christianity and islam together I immediately recognize someone who is proud to be ignorant and a blasphemer. Once we let Government take out the teachings of this bible we began our extreme downfall and I don’t see us getting it back without divine and I mean superior divine intervention.
Posted on: Sat, 24 Jan 2015 13:43:00 +0000
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