Just thought I'd share an article on the net I'm finding rather interesting. They are presenting the history of Christianity in a chronological way that makes everything a lot easier for me to picture and understand.
Maybe it's me, but the Society's publications never laid things out clearly for me. Always seemed like a conglomeration of haphazard stats/facts carefully picked and chosen to support their message.
At any rate, take a look-see.
http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_chov.htm
What I particulary found interesting was this:
- Jewish Christian movement: Jesus disciples appear to have regrouped later in Jerusalem under the leadership of James, one of Jesus' brothers. The group viewed themselves as a reform movement within Judaism; they viewed Jesus as a prophet and rabbi, but not as a deity. They organized a synagogue, worshiped and brought animals for ritual sacrifice at the Jerusalem Temple. They observed the Jewish holy days, practiced circumcision of their male children, followed Kosher dietary laws, and practiced the teachings of Jesus as they interpreted them to be. They are frequently referred to today as the Jewish Christians. 2 (These should not be confused with followers of modern-day Messianic Judaism who generally follow an Evangelical Christian theology and who are sometimes also called Jewish Christians.) Many were killed, enslaved, or scattered during the Roman attack on Jerusalem in 70 CE.
- Pauline Christianity: Saul, a Jew from Tarsus, originally prosecuted the Jewish Christians on behalf of the priests at the Jerusalem Temple . He experienced a powerful religious conversion, after which, he departed for places unknown for three years. He later became the single most active Christian missionary, from about 36 CE until his execution by the Romans in the mid-60's. He created a new Christian movement, containing elements from many forms of Paganism: Greek, Roman, Persian, Egyptian, Mesopotamian, etc. He included the concept of Jesus as "The Word", as a god-man -- the savior of humanity, the product of a virgin birth who was executed, resurrected and ascended into heaven. There are dozens of points of similarity between the life of Jesus and that of Krishna, the god-man and second member of the Hindu trinity. Paul abandoned most of the Laws of Moses and rejected many of the Jewish behavioral rules that Jesus and his disciples had followed during his ministry. Paul taught that God had unilaterally abrogated his covenants with the Jews and transferred them to the Pauline Christian groups.
Paul went on a series of missionary journeys around the eastern Mediterranean and attracted many Gentiles (non-Jews) to his movement. He was assisted by many co-workers, both male and female. Paul organized churches in many of the areas' urban centers, in competition with Greek Paganism, Mithraism, Mystery Religions, Judaism, competing Christian movements, and other religions. His Epistles record how he and his movement were in continual theological conflict with the Jewish Christian movement centered in Jerusalem, and with Gnostic Christians. Paul ran afoul of the Roman Empire, was arrested, and was transported to Rome where he was held under house arrest. He was executed there about 65 CE. Paul's churches survived his death and flourished. Some of his letters to various of his church groups were later accepted into the canon of the Christian Scriptures (New Testament).
Christian groups typically met in the homes of individual believers, much like home churches do today. Leaders were both men and women. There was no central authority, no standard style of organization at the local level, no dedicated church buildings or cathedrals. The Greek words episkopos (bishop, overseer), presbuteros (elder, presbyter) and poimen (pastor, shepherd) were originally synonymous terms which referred to the leader of a group of believers. 3 - Gnostic Christianity:
Gnosticism is a philosophical and religious movement with roots in pre-Christian times. Gnostics combined elements taken from Asian, Babylonian, Egyptian, Greek and Syrian pagan religions, from astrology, and from Judaism and Christianity. "Among Gnostic Christians there were communities under the name of John and Thomas and many other lesser and later disciples." 6 They claimed to have secret knowledge about God, humanity, and the rest of the universe of which the general population was unaware. They were/are noted for their:
Novel interpretations of the Bible, the world and the rest of the universe. Belief that the Jehovah of the Hebrew Scripture (Old Testament) was a defective, inferior Creator-God, also known as the Demiurge. He was viewed as fundamentally evil, jealous, rigid, lacking in compassion and prone to committing genocide. Tolerance of different religious beliefs within and outside of Gnosticism. Lack of discrimination against women.
Some Gnostics formed separate congregations. Others joined existing Pauline Christian groups. Still others were solitary practitioners.
In addition to the above three main groups, there were many smaller religious communities, which have been referred to as Matthean Christianity, Johannine Christianity, etc. "Among Jews especially in the East there were Christian communities and literature under the name of Peter and James that stood in opposition to Paul and John." 6 Together produced over 80 gospels and hundreds of Epistles (letters). "Many of these other Gospels outside the New Testament had very different views of Jesus, produced in communities that held widely different understandings of Jesus." 7
The Gnostic viewpoint of Jehovah is quite....interesting. I've seen several threads since I've been watching this board that commented on some of the atrocities that support this belief. I just find it so interesting how different types of Christianity evolved so soon after Jesus walked the earth. It seems to me that those that were with him and supported him should NOT have gone their seperate ways speaking different or even contradictory "truths."
Also, the links under point 2 referring to the comparison of Jesus to other man-God's of mythology is interesting. Not quite sure what to think of that one....
These are the types of articles I NEVER got exposure to as a Witness. Or maybe I just missed it. At any rate, I'm enjoying the freedom of being able to read and gather numerous sources of material and drawing my own conclusions from it, based on what I really feel to be true, and not what someone else is telling is correct.
cheers,
jay