they started writing down what jesus had said and done, and now christianity would take a new direction, a religion based on the word of the written gospels, a religion that would guide them far into an uncertain future. but just who wrote the gospels? and are they, indeed, the last word on jesus? so, this board gives me rates for progressive direct and other car insurance companies? yes. but you re progressive, and they re them. yes. but they re here. yes. are you.? there? yes. no. are you them? i m me. but those rates are for. them. so them are here. yes! you want to run through it again? no, i m good. you got it? yes. rates for us and them now that s progressive. call or click today.
skins and set wild dogs upon them in a public setting. and so this is the first persecution of christians by is a roman emperor. the reason christians were persecuted early on was not because it was illegal to be a christian. they were persecuted because they were known to be troublemakers. among nero s victims were the two most important leaders of the early christian church. peter had been living and preaching in rome. paul had been living under house arrest. now they were both condemned to death for their faith. peter is not a citizen of the roman empire, and so he is able to be crucified. then he s crucified upside down because he did not feel that he was worthy to die in the same manner that jesus did. paul, who spread christianity throughout the empire, was beheaded.
and christianity offering something that appeared to be utterly and beautifully coherent. about everything, from the smallest detail of your daily live and community around you through to eternity. this is very compelling. some would say it was ultimately power politics, both divine and earthly, with an emperor recognizing the power of the people and their faith. it seems to me that what really made the difference in turning what was the whole greco-roman world into christian was essentially the roman government decision. that is to say, christianity was spreading, and it was getting bigger and bigger. but without that decision on constantine s part, what we know of as christianity as a world religion, probably wouldn t have taken place. in the end the story must always return to the beginning, to a single man from the galilee.
sisterly fight for a definition of judaism. and yes, they did not like what other jews were saying, but they were also themselves jews. scholars say that the final split came early in the 2nd century, when the jews of israel launched another rebellion against roman rule, led by their messiah, simon bar kokhba. the jews rebellion thought that bar kokhba was their messiah, which meant that they had already rejected the christian notion of messiah. the bar kokhba rebellion ended with the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of jews, including their messiah. but christianity soon had a new fight, and the enemy came from within. as christianity s 2nd century began, its leaders now battled heretics, monks and mystics who wrote their own jesus stories.
the reply came, i am jesus, whom you are persecuting. and when he finds out that jesus is truly alive, it means that the other things that jesus followers say about him must also be considered as true. jesus is the messiah. saul of tarsus who never met jesus in the flesh, never traveled or supped with him and who wanted to kill his followers, becomes the greatest defender of the jesus faith, known to the world by the greek version of his name, paul. some people have called paul the second founder of christianity, because christianity is more than following the teachings of jesus. christianity is not just the religion that jesus had, it s the religion about jesus. it s the religion founded on jesus death and resurrection.