WORLDS RELIGIONS

Christianity: The world's largest religion
Quotations:

1. "Christianity started out in Palestine as a fellowship; it moved to Greece and became a philosophy; it moved to Italy and became an institution; it moved to Europe and became a culture; it came to America and became an enterprise." Sam Pascoe
2. "Preach the Gospel at all times, and when necessary, use words." -- Francis of Assisi.
3. "And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." Paul, Ephesians 3:16-19 (NIV)

The main founders of the "Jesusmovement" -- primitive Christianity

Origins:

Yeshua of Nazareth, Paul of Tarsus, and James the Just were the central figures in the early years of the "Jesus Movement." This was before the followers of Jesus were called Christians. They still considered themselves to be Jews, and often referred to themselves as followers of "The Way."

• Yeshua of Nazareth, is commonly referred to as Jesus Christ. "Jesus" is the Greek form of his actual name "Yeshua." "Christ" is Greek for "Messiah" or the "anointed one." Thus, Jesus Christ is not Yeshua's actual name; it is a combination of a translation of his first name and a statement of his role.
• Yeshua was born sometime in the fall, probably between 7 and 4 BCE. Modern-day Christians are divided about the location of his birth. Contenders are Bethlehem in Judea, Bethlehem in the Galilee, and Nazareth in the Galilee.
• Most Christians believe that he was born of a virgin. Little is known about his childhood or his early adult life. As he approached the age of 30, he joined an apocalyptic group obsessed with what they believed was the imminent end of the world. The group was headed by John the Baptist. After John's execution, Yeshua struck out on his own. He assembled about a half dozen very close followers -- about half men and half women -- along with over 60 less prominent students. According to the synoptic Gospels (Mark, Matthew, and Luke) his ministry was in the Galilee and lasted a year. According to the Gospel of John, it lasted three or four years in Judea.
• Yeshua was an Orthodox Jew, and a follower of Hillel the Elder -- the founder of the more liberal of the two schools of Jewish philosophy that were active at the time.
• After having committed aggravated assault in the Jerusalem temple close to the time of Passover, he was arrested by the Roman Army, tried, and sentenced to death as an insurrectionist. He was executed in Jerusalem by the Roman occupying authorities, perhaps on a Friday in the spring of the year 30 CE (possibly 0030-APR-7). Christians do not observe the precise anniversary of his death, Instead, they observe Easter each year, sometime between March 22 and April 25th, depending on the nominal date of the Spring Equinox, and the phases of the moon.
• The Bible records that he was bodily resurrected about a day and a half after his death, probably sometime during Saturday or very early Sunday morning. The Bible describes his ascension into the clouds towards Heaven either one day after his resurrection or some 40 days later (biblical references differ). At the time, Jews believed in a three layer universe with Heaven located above a dome -- called the firmament -- that was suspended over a flat Earth. They believed that Hades was located below the Earth. So to get to Heaven, Yeshua would have had to ascend vertically through the air.
• During their ministries, both Yeshua and Paul taught that the end of the world was in their immediate future. It didn't happen, but many Christians ever since have been convinced that the end will come sometime in their lifetime.

Current status of Christianity

Christianity is the largest religion in the world, with over 2 billion members. It is significantly larger than the second largest religion: Islam, which has about 1.2 billion members. About one third of the world's population currently identifies themselves as Christian.

Christianity is the largest religion in the U.S. and Canada, with profoundly deep influences on American and Canadian culture and politics. In particular, conservative Christians provide the main opposition to freer abortion access; equal rights for gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transsexuals, including the right for same-sex couples to marry; comprehensive sex education in public schools, etc.

Worldwide, Christianity is now widely fragmented into tens of thousands of faith groups, large and small. About 50% of persons who identify themselves as Christians are Roman Catholics.