What Started the World's Largest Religion
Christianity is the world's largest religion. What started Christianity? How did Christianity begin and how did it get to where it is today?
What started Christianity? When was the beginning of Christianity? How did the world's largest religion get started? This article explores these questions.
What is Christianity?
Christianity is the largest faith group in the world today, if you count Catholics, Protestants, Eastern Orthodox, evangelicals, Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, and all denominations remotely connected with Christianity. Yet these groups don't always agree. In fact, some of them strongly disagree with each other -- begging the question: What is Christianity?
The word "Christianity" of course derives from the word "Christ," which literally means “Anointed One.” Christians universally believe that the A.D. 1st century figure named Jesus of Nazareth was (and, in fact, is) the “Anointed One.” The central point of Christianity is that Jesus of Nazareth is “the Christ.”
When Did Christianity Begin?
Historically speaking, Christianity is a first century spin-off of monotheistic Judaism. The label “Christian” comes from the book of Acts. According to the author of Acts (believed to be Luke), the name was attributed to the “disciples” of this new faith first in Antioch sometime in the middle of the first century.
Many of Christianity's critics, however, contend that Christianity borrowed its beliefs from pagan religions. According to the website Pagan Origins of the Christ Myth (POCM), Mediterranean cultures in the ancient world "shared standard ideas about Gods and their powers and place in the universe [and] Christianity simply adopted those ideas and applied them to Jesus."
In order to evaluate this claim, one must determine those historical figures most responsible for introducing Christianity to the world. If Christianity is merely an off-shoot of paganism, then the founders of Christianity had to be knowingly complicit in this conspiracy. So, when did Christianity begin?
There is little dispute about the era in which Christianity became a religious movement. The documentary basis for Christianity is a set of books known as the New Testament. These 27 books were written by early Christians in the first century. (A very small minority of scholars place a couple of the books in the early second century). What's more, there are references to this new movement in the writings of non-Christian historians. These references also place Christianity's origins in the first century -- specifically toward the middle of that century.
It can therefore be safely concluded that Christianity began in the first century A.D
Who Started Christianity?
The most important figure in the birth of Christianity would, of course, be the one for whom the movement is named. That person would be Jesus of Nazareth. The Jewish historian Josephus makes two references to Jesus – at least one of which is accepted as genuine and authentic. There are also references to Jesus in the writings of second century Greek satirist Lucian and Syrian philosopher Mara Bar-Serapion.
Taking these accounts along with the New Testament and the evident "creedal statements" found within the New Testament provides a reliable core of evidence for the life of Jesus. This core evidence shows a first-century teacher who proclaimed the "kingdom of God," referred to himself as the "Son of Man," amassed a large following, and was crucified by Pontius Pilate.
Following his death, many of Jesus' followers claimed that he rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. The most influential of these followers were Peter, a disciple who accompanied Jesus during his active ministry, and Paul, who authored over half the New Testament.
The Verdict on Christianity's Origins
What about those alleged pagan roots? If Christianity borrowed from paganism, those making the claim have only the apparent similarities to which they can point. There is no documentary evidence that Jesus, Paul, Peter, James, or any of the founders of Christianity deliberately co-opted pagan mythology to construct a new religious faith.
Edwin Yamauchi, a student of 22 languages and a professor of Mediterranean studies, explains that "by the mid-twentieth century, scholars had established that the sources used [for the ancient pagan religions] were far from satisfactory and the parallels [with Christianity] were much too superficial." Consequently, says Yamauchi, it's been "pretty much of a closed issue in the scholarly community."
The beginning of Christianity centers not on pagan myth, but rather on one person. His name is Jesus.
Christianity is the world's largest religion. What started Christianity? How did Christianity begin and how did it get to where it is today?
What started Christianity? When was the beginning of Christianity? How did the world's largest religion get started? This article explores these questions.
Christianity is the largest faith group in the world today, if you count Catholics, Protestants, Eastern Orthodox, evangelicals, Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, and all denominations remotely connected with Christianity. Yet these groups don't always agree. In fact, some of them strongly disagree with each other -- begging the question: What is Christianity?
The word "Christianity" of course derives from the word "Christ," which literally means “Anointed One.” Christians universally believe that the A.D. 1st century figure named Jesus of Nazareth was (and, in fact, is) the “Anointed One.” The central point of Christianity is that Jesus of Nazareth is “the Christ.”
When Did Christianity Begin?
Historically speaking, Christianity is a first century spin-off of monotheistic Judaism. The label “Christian” comes from the book of Acts. According to the author of Acts (believed to be Luke), the name was attributed to the “disciples” of this new faith first in Antioch sometime in the middle of the first century.
Many of Christianity's critics, however, contend that Christianity borrowed its beliefs from pagan religions. According to the website Pagan Origins of the Christ Myth (POCM), Mediterranean cultures in the ancient world "shared standard ideas about Gods and their powers and place in the universe [and] Christianity simply adopted those ideas and applied them to Jesus."
In order to evaluate this claim, one must determine those historical figures most responsible for introducing Christianity to the world. If Christianity is merely an off-shoot of paganism, then the founders of Christianity had to be knowingly complicit in this conspiracy. So, when did Christianity begin?
There is little dispute about the era in which Christianity became a religious movement. The documentary basis for Christianity is a set of books known as the New Testament. These 27 books were written by early Christians in the first century. (A very small minority of scholars place a couple of the books in the early second century). What's more, there are references to this new movement in the writings of non-Christian historians. These references also place Christianity's origins in the first century -- specifically toward the middle of that century.
It can therefore be safely concluded that Christianity began in the first century A.D
Who Started Christianity?
The most important figure in the birth of Christianity would, of course, be the one for whom the movement is named. That person would be Jesus of Nazareth. The Jewish historian Josephus makes two references to Jesus – at least one of which is accepted as genuine and authentic. There are also references to Jesus in the writings of second century Greek satirist Lucian and Syrian philosopher Mara Bar-Serapion.
Taking these accounts along with the New Testament and the evident "creedal statements" found within the New Testament provides a reliable core of evidence for the life of Jesus. This core evidence shows a first-century teacher who proclaimed the "kingdom of God," referred to himself as the "Son of Man," amassed a large following, and was crucified by Pontius Pilate.
Following his death, many of Jesus' followers claimed that he rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. The most influential of these followers were Peter, a disciple who accompanied Jesus during his active ministry, and Paul, who authored over half the New Testament.
The Verdict on Christianity's Origins
What about those alleged pagan roots? If Christianity borrowed from paganism, those making the claim have only the apparent similarities to which they can point. There is no documentary evidence that Jesus, Paul, Peter, James, or any of the founders of Christianity deliberately co-opted pagan mythology to construct a new religious faith.
Edwin Yamauchi, a student of 22 languages and a professor of Mediterranean studies, explains that "by the mid-twentieth century, scholars had established that the sources used [for the ancient pagan religions] were far from satisfactory and the parallels [with Christianity] were much too superficial." Consequently, says Yamauchi, it's been "pretty much of a closed issue in the scholarly community."
The beginning of Christianity centers not on pagan myth, but rather on one person. His name is Jesus.
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