IF "MAN'S" Ignorance of natural causes created the GODS", INCREASE of his knowledge about the universe , tends to destroy them. At the very least, it causes him to revise drastically his ideas about his divinities. GOD did NOT make man, MAN MADE GOD! I can safely do away with the Bible's statement in regard to the creation of the world. Even Pope Benedict XVI has mellowed. I am listing an URL:
This article was an editorial of the New York Post, dated July 26. 07.
I would like to compare this "more intelligent society of today" with the lesser informed people of ancient times. Look at the audiences of "Religious revival meetings." Full-grown people stand in line to hear these "prophets." Listening to these "Evangelists" makes one wonder what power they possess to hypnotize these masses of people. Are these Gurus' that much smarter or is the public that much dumber? If we have that many mentally bankrupt people listening to these frauds in the 20th century, then it is understandable that in early times, people may have been even more gullible than now.
According to most scientists the universe exists for some 15 - 20 billion years.
As to the precise development of the human chain, I encourage the reader to consult more qualified literature. Some religious branches of CHRISTIANITY, would want us to believe that the earth is only 5,000 years old. They are quoting all kinds of writings which are ridiculous.
Many, highly intelligent cultures have thrived during the early times of recorded history. There are many historical facts which cannot be disputed. It is not within the scope of this writing to go into the historical past before CHRIST. I would rather like to start with the HILARIOUS "Virgin Birth of CHRIST." I personally find that unacceptable. NO REASONABLE PERSON WOULD WISH TO BELIEVE SUCH NONSENSE. There is little or nothing available that shows us with certainty where JESUS spend his years before going public with his theses. One of several assumption is, that he was groomed by the Egyptian high Priests. He was supposed to have been introduced to higher learning and the secrets of the Priests. It is therefore no wonder that most of the simple people took his performances for miracles. A well known Anglican conservative evangelical scholar says:"No ancient document in the world comes down to us with such a wealth of manuscript tradition as the gospels." I would like to disagree with that statement.
To my knowledge JESUS never wrote anything himself. Most of JESUS' sayings were written a long time after his death. During the first one hundred years nothing was written about Jesus at all. Who could vouch for the authenticity whether he said this or that, OR ANYTHING AT ALL ? One should take into consideration that the contemporary writers at the time of Jesus, hardly mention him at all. If it would not be for the crucifixion, he would have been forgotten Immediately. During the years following, the gospel and how it was supposed to be presented, was often determined by theological rather than historical consideration. Those who elect to defend traditional dogmatic views of the gospels often fail to mention facts pertinent to any examination of evidence.
The oldest, extant scrap of any gospel is a tiny fragment of the gospels of JOHN that can be dated to about 125 C.E.=Common Era.
Almost 100 years after JESUS' death. That fragment contains only a few words.The next oldest fragment is from an unnamed gospel, known as the Egerton gospel (named after the fund, used to purchase it for the British Museum). This interesting scrap contains several stories about JESUS, some of which have no parallels in other surviving gospels. It is not until we get to the end of the second Century, around 200 C.E., that we have substantial surviving manuscripts of the gospels. Only when we come to the early 4th century, we have complete copies . The gap separating JESUS from the most important COPIES of the gospels known to us is 175 years. Because all copies of the gospels were handmade prior to the invention of the printing press centuries later, no two copies are identical.
The Gospel of THOMAS, the Coptic text of which was discovered in EGYPT in 1945, is similar to Q. It, too, is a collection of sayings and parables, without narrative framework. The earliest forms of THOMAS, in the judgement of some Thomas specialists may well go back to 50 or 60 C.E., barely three decades after JESUS'S death. We have three fragments of Greek Thomas dating to about 200 C.E., the same date as the most important manuscripts of the canonical gospels. Q and THOMAS are extremely important witnesses to the history of the traditions of JESUS. They both suggest that JESUS was known initially as a teacher, a sage, a wise man, BEFORE his birth and death became part of the gospel story. Of course, once the Christian understanding of JESUS as a redeemer figure became established, the Christian community lost its interest in preserving gospels depicting Jesus primarily as a teacher. It is said that JESUS spoke only in his native tongue - Aramaic. If this is the case, the actual words of JESUS have been lost forever, since the gospels are all written in Greek. It is believed by some - but by no means all scholars - that JESUS knew Greek and that he developed his teachings in that language. Some words spoken by JESUS in Greek have been preserved in the records. Most people of intelligence would like to know who JESUS really was. Only by freeing him from the overlay of CHRISTIAN piety and rhetoric can we hope to discover the profile of that single face in a Galilean crowd.
Who was JESUS?. Frankly, I do not know. Considering the historical facts and the many different versions of religiously dominated and contaminated doctrines, common sense would have to be the answer. He was a MAN who felt that the world could use a cleansing. (He was right on that one!)
He could have been the first known communist. He wanted to take away from the rich and give it to the poor. A very noble thing, but it didn't go over so big at that time. As a matter of fact it does not fly today either. We know, that JESUS was a JEW. He appeared to many as prophet , a teacher and a sage (man of wisdom) on approx. AD 30. He roamed the country side of Palestine. He had a small crowd of followers, who believed HIM to be the Messiah.
He was also considered by some to be the savior of ISRAEL, sent by GOD for the salvation of HIS people. The title "CHRIST" is a rendition of the Hebrew Messiah, meaning "anointed one". This believe took distinctive form when, after the execution of JESUS by the ROMANS, he reportedly and allegedly came alive to some of his followers.It is held by some Christians (even church leaders) who would make us believe that the "JEWS" killed Jesus. Absolutely not true. If the Jews would have wanted to kill Jesus Christ, they would have stoned him. Putting convicts on the cross was a ROMAN custom. The RESURRECTION of JESUS became a fundamental tenet of the religion that would soon be called CHRISTIANITY. According to CHRISTIAN believe CHRIST was GOD made man (son of GOD?) And (son of man?). Therefore identified as the second person of the TRINITY. His death is supposed to have restored the relationship between "God and humankind." UNBELIEVABLE!
Isaiah 43:11 - I, even I, am the LORD, and apart from me there is NO SAVIOR.
Some sources proclaim CHRIST never lived and was invented for convenience. I, personally do not believe that. There is sufficient
evidence of the historical existence of JESUS. Among ROMAN historians, TACITUS reports that the CHRISTIAN movement began with Jesus, who was sentenced to death by Pontius Pilate. An early reference in the Babylonian Talmud says that Jeshu ha-Nocri was a false prophet who was hanged on the eve of the Passover for sorcery and false teaching. ROMAN sources show a vague awareness that JESUS was a historical figure as well as the object of a CULT . Reliable JEWISH sources tell us that he was a JEWISH teacher who was put to death for sorcery and false prophecy.. The JEWISH evidence is especially valuable because of the hostility between JEWS and CHRISTIANS at that time. It would have been easy for the Jewish side to question the existence of Jesus, but this they never did. The Gospels according to MATTHEW, MARK, LUKE and JOHN, the first four books of the new Testament of the Bible, are the principal sources for the life of JESUS. These works are primarily testimonies to the faith of the early CHRISTIAN community. They have to be used critically as evidence for the historical JESUS. The methods include source, form and redaction criticism. Source criticism studies the literary relationships between the Gospels, and the generally accepted view is that MARK was written prior to and was used by Matthew and Luke, and that consisted mostly of sayings of Jesus. Some would add two other primary sources, the material peculiar to MATTHEW and that peculiar to LUKE. Gospel tradition apparently started originally with JESUS's baptism by JOHN the Baptist. The stories concerning the birth of Jesus were probably later additions. These stories - the annunciations to MARY and JOSEPH, their journey to Bethlehem for the ROMAN consensus, and JESUS' Birth there may be characterized conveniently as Christological midrash. The date of birth of JESUS has NEVER been established and it is highly unlikely that December was the month of his birth.
1:18 - This was how the birth of Jesus Christ took place. His Mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, but before they were married, she found out that she was going to have a baby by the "HOLY SPIRIT ?"
(19) Joseph was a man who always did what was right, but he did not want to disgrace mary publicly; so he made plans to break the engagement privately.
(20) While he was thinking about this, an ANGEL ? of the LORD appeared to him in a dream and said, " Joseph, descendent of David, do not be afraid to take Mary to be your wife. For it is by the Holy Spirit that she was conceived.
(21) She will have a son, and you will name him Jesus - because he will save
(22)Now all this happened in order to make come true what the lord had said through the prophet,
(23) A virgin will become pregnant and have a son, and he will be called "Immanuel"
(24) So when Joseph woke up, he married Mary, as the angel of the Lord had told him to.
> (25) But he had no sexual relations with her before she gave birth to her son. And Joseph named him Jesus.
There are two types of CHRISTIAN clergies.
Remember, JESUS CHRIST was supposed to save his own people - JEWS - , HE WAS NOT INSTRUCTED TO START A NEW RELIGION. Following his baptism by JOHN the Baptist, JESUS embarked on a ministry of possible three years duration, primarily in Galilee. The Gospels record his choosing of 12 disciples, and he preached both to them and to the population at large, often attracting great crowds. He confronted his contemporaries with the challenge of this inbreaking reign of God in his parables of the kingdom. He laid down GOD'S radical demand of obedience.
BISHOPS (Popes)
ERIK HOFFER (1902-83) said it beautifully: "To know a person's religion we need not listen to his profession of faith but must find his brand of intolerance."
ALEXANDER HERZEN (1812-70) hit the nail on the head: " All religions have based morality on obedience, that is to say, on voluntary slavery. That is why they have always been more pernicious than any political organization. For the latter makes use of violence, the former - of the corruption of the will."
GEORGE GURDJIEFF (1877-1949) said: " Religion is doing; a man does not merely think his religion or feel it, he lives" his religion as much as he is able, otherwise it is not religion but fantasy or philosophy."
SIGMUND FREUD (1856-1939) has a go at it: " Our knowledge of the historical worth of certain religious doctrines increases our respect for them , but does not invalidate our proposal that they should cease to be put forward as the reasons for the precepts of civilization. On the contrary! Those historical residues have helped us to view religious teachings, as it were, as neurotic relics, and we may now argue that the time has probably come, as it does in an analytic treatment, for replacing the effects of repression by the result of the rational operation of the intellect."
BERTRAND RUSSEL (1872-1970) very convincing epilog: " Religions, which condemn the pleasures of sense, drive men to seek the pleasures of power. Throughout history power has been the vice of the ascetic."
MURIEL SPARK (b.1918) "I WOULDN'T TAKE THE POPE TOO SERIOUSLY. He is a POLE first, a POPE second and maybe a CHRISTIAN third."
I would like to quote another: " Religion is something left over from the infancy of our intelligence, it will fade away as soon as we adopt reason and science as our guidelines." (BERTRAND RUSSELL)
Appeal to faith: (e.g., if you have no faith, you cannot learn) if the arguer relies on faith as the bases of his argument, then you can gain little from further discussion. Faith, by definition, relies on a belief that does not rest on logic or evidence. Faith depends on irrational thought and produces intransigence.Author unknown.
"The Bible tells us to be like God, and then on page after page it describes God as a mass murderer. This may be the single most important key to the political behavior of Western Civilization." - Robert Anton Wilson
My own thinking is along these lines: " The best defense against logic is IGNORANCE."
Now I would like to shift to the time after CHRIST'S death. The origin, the causes and the upheaval CHRISTIANITY in general and CATHOLICISM in particular have brought to this world. CATHOLICISM, in my humble opinion, has to be the most fraudulent, mind boggling, perverted, brain washing machine this world has ever seen. Since there were hardly any reliable records available from the time JESUS died to the end of the second century, the BISHOPS in ROME , ALEXANDRIA and CONSTANTIONOPLE produced what was missing. A little here and little there, they soon decided that JESUS was virgin born, that his mother was the mother of GOD etc. Some even suggested that his Grandmother should have been included in the conglomerate, however there were a few cool heads who thought that this was going a little too far. It did not take very long and the BISHOP of ROME took it on himself to declare himself the "representative of GOD." Soon the Popes got more and more arrogant and finally had Kings and emperors kneel in front of them. Most of the Popes in the middle Ages were of deplorable character.
At the time when AUGUSTUS (63 B.C.- 14 A.D.) was made Emperor of the ROMAN Empire, the world as it was known then, suffered greatly under the yoke of his dictatorship. Money hungry and violent administrators of the Emperor traveled through the occupied lands and took away from the Peasants the little bit they saved from their local oppressors. Men, women and children were at the mercy of these administrators (local and federal). People were feeling hopeless, their condition never did improve. So, it was logically that they hoped for some kind of relieve. As it is always the case, nations which are under the hard rules of an oppressive ruler find some way to create hope. The Gods which were created in the past no longer had any power.It was therefore the hope of the working people for a Messiah. This hope was even more alive with the Jewish population. The JEWS hated the ROMAN Yoke more than anything else. They had a glorious history and now had to bow to the power of the occupation forces. It is understandable that under these circumstances, the poets and thinkers were writing and preaching about the coming Messiah. It was prophesied that the descendants of
David would produce a Messiah. The masses were waiting increasingly impatient for this occurrence. Then came JESUS - he taught there is only one GOD, he is a GOD of love, (look into the Bible and find out what kind of a loving GOD he was talking about) a loving father of all people. Kings and peasants are equal in the eyes of GOD. He told the world's hungry people, that their profit was not on this Earth, but according to heir behavior, they would be blessed in Heaven. Those of the lowest ranks, those who suffered the most, would be the first ones to get their reward in Heaven. That's what the masses wanted to hear, they were already hopeless and had nothing to loose to follow this Messiah. He told them that they should be happy to endure the greatest hard ships and should look toward to dying with happiness. I DO NOT THINK THAT TOO MANY PEOPLE WOULD TAKE THAT SERIOUSLY TODAY ?
Since JESUS , his parents, sisters and brothers were known to the local people, he had to produce something extraordinary. After all he was ONLY the son of a poor carpenter. All prophets since MOSES had featured miracles, so he had to do the same thing, if he wanted to have any credibility. All along, while he concentrated on the misery of the poor, the elite did keep a watchful eye on him. The ruling class knew what to think of his magic, they knew better then to believe this IMPOSTER . He therefore could not count on the help of the rulers and the affluent, so he had to invent all kinds of trickery to gain the common people's attention.
I have to smile every time when I think of the circus like performances of some of these holy people on a certain 24 hour TV show 'world wide!!.' Some of the male preachers are running up and down the podium, screaming their heart out and gesturing like monkeys.You should not miss this comedy show, women with a $ 500.00 hairdoo, guys with $ 1,000 plus suits. I have watched several of these fanatics running back and forward with a hankerchief in one hand, the bible in the other, sweating like pigs and screaming like maniacs. All in the name of JESUS!!.
JESUS had no choice, but to completely concentrate on the lower social class, people of lesser intelligence, who would have put their hope on a straw. JESUS knew that he could not do it by himself. He needed body guards and salesmen who would help him pass on the good word(s). In order to be successful in getting his message across without having any opposition, he selected 12 young, uneducated men, who were fascinated with him. After all he lived a clean life, taught to love another and radiated trust. He soon had these 12 puppets running in circles. His teachings to these twelve people were very simple - nothing complicated - he therefore never bothered to write anything down. He must have learned a lot from Buddha who lived about 600 years before him. His teachings were formed a lot like BUDDHISM. As one can see even today, BUDDHISTS have their rosary, relics and monasteries.
There was a big difference between BUDDHA and JESUS. BUDDHA was the son of Kings, JESUS the son of a craftsman. BUDDHA was not required to perform miracles as his clean, decent life style by itself was enough to convert people to his teachings. JESUS, on the other hand, came from the bottom of Society and in order to make himself noted had to perform magical tricks. These twelve men, who surrounded him, were very impressed with the wonders of this "Messiah." In order to fortify his teachings, he decided that he must die for his convictions. He did not consider that in a hurry, but took considerable time for this earth shaking decision. He was never the less scared of the outcome. Did he not say : "Father, if you will, so take this goblet from me, not my, but your will shall be done." He did not have to wait very long and he was called on the carpet to explain his position. Was he the son of GOD or was he not ?. Well the rest is history. The ROMANS nailed him on the cross. To the well to do JEWS of that time, and specially to the ROMANS, he was a trouble maker. And would you believe it, he was forgotten very soon. He was only in the memory of the immediate circle of friends or hangers-on. One of the contemporary writers of that time - Philo - never once wrote about him.
During the end of the first century, JOSEPHUS (37 - 100?) was a JEWISH General and Historian, he mentioned Jesus' name only casual. JOSEPHUS was a historian who wrote about all existing religions at that time. CHRISTIANITY was not mentioned at all .Therefore, at that time, very few people were affected with the perverted future CHRISTIAN Religion. Only centuries later was Jesus appointed as the originator of the CHRISTIAN religion. Considering the discrepancy between the high intelligence of JESUS and the doubtful level of knowledge of the Prophet's helpers, it is no wonder that not one of these harmonized with each other. The writings of MATTHEW are supposed to be the oldest, but even he wrote nothing until 14 years after CHRIST died. One has to understand that the twelve people did not have the vocabulary of the master. What they wrote down was most likely far from what he said. I doubt very much that most of what they wrote down he ever said at all. It was the considerable discrepancy of their writings which later on lead to the most fantastic illusions. The ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH bases it's doctrine mostly on two items:
His God like being
His miracles
I would suggest that he is not anymore or any less the son of God than any human being on earth, present, past or future. I also would like to point out that his miracles were nothing but fata morgana. I am convinced that the apostles were telling the truth about his so called miracles. They were simple, uneducated people who could easily be mislead. They were under JESUS' spell and could not see the forest for all the trees. Take the masters of Illusion of today, they perform unbelievable magic , keeping the public spellbound. Just imagine, at that time, what a man of high education could do. His magic was most likely learned with the high priests, who after all, depended on the uneducated to make themselves look good. JESUS did spend many years in training with the High priests. Nothing is known about his time in seclusion.
When one questions CHRISTIANS in regard to the "wonders" JESUS was supposed to have performed, one always has to expect a certain amount of nastiness. Since there is no scientific , historical proof of these "premier performances" of JESUS, it is hard to explain, even for the most hardened CHRISTIAN. The next thing these people will tell you "YOU MUST HAVE FAITH." Faith in what? Am I supposed to believe in fairy tails ? Like I pointed out earlier, JESUS spend many years in training with the Egyptian High Priests. It is well known that these priests were far ahead of their contemporaries in the sciences which they kept secret and hidden from the general public. Because of the secrecy in keeping their knowledge from the rest, they had a tremendous power over the common people. They knew very well that their advanced knowledge of the sciences gave them the power to influence the masses as to what they should believe. Their believe in the GODS was different then what they allowed the public to believe. They were not in the least interested to educate the common people. The less they knew, the better they could be manipulated for all kinds of purpose. The high priests of EGYPT at that time were famous for their knowledge of necromancy. People would try to explain anything they had no explanation for with the "EGYPTIAN necromancy". If ROMAN writers of that time suggest that JESUS must have been in the hands of these High priests, it is believable. It is not a proof but there is no other explanation for the absence of any record of his life prior to his preaching. Also it would stand to reason that JESUS could not have accumulated his knowledge and wisdom in the neighborhood where he was born. He certainly could not have learned all the tricks of the trade in Nazareth, where his family lived.
The so called "wonders" which JESUS performed are suspiciously of the kind MOSES created. The similarity of these "wonders" are outstanding. MOSES also received his education from the High priests. Very few of the JEWISH population at that time were privileged to get inducted into the sciences. This privilege was always reserved for those who showed promises to have a future as prophets. As time went by, these prophets were getting more and more rebellious against the authorities. The kings of the JEWS got more tyrannical and persecuted the prophets. These rulers did not only get rid of these prophets, but also destroyed the schools of the prophets. The secret sciences came into decay and the continuation of higher learning came to a halt. The priest "HILKIA" under the ruler King JOSIAS, found only one copy of the writings of MOSES. This item was found in a temple by coincidence.
These writings were partly the circumstances of civil unrest. Everyone knows about the tyrannical behavior of King HERODIUS, the butchering of many of the newborn babies etc. Because of the threat of these upcoming killings of newborn babies, the parents of JESUS went to EGYPT. It is said that JOSEPH stayed in EGYPT for about two years until King HERODIUS died. It is alleged that JESUS, at the age of 12 years, met priests in a temple. He perplexed these priests with his bright intellect.This incident may have been the cause for his selection of higher education. It may also have been to his advantage that influential people remembered his miraculous escape from the clutches of the baby murderers. Anyway, he could have been picked by the priests to be educated further by the high priests of the land.
Coming back again to the wonders which have been performed by MOSES, JESUS and others, it is pointless to pursue this matter any further. The ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH and other "wonder believers" will overcome any argument by maintaining that JESUS was the son of GOD. Since GOD is almighty, nothing is impossible. Lets explore this divinity. Long before JESUS started his teaching and preaching, it was quite normal for the GODS of the GREEKS to mingle with the population. The son of a GOD was not an unusual situation. Powerful Kings and heros were looked upon as GODS. It was MOSES who convinced his followers that God could not be seen as he had his seat in the heavens. So, when JESUS performed his miracles, he was easily recognized as a son of GOD. JESUS called himself "son of GOD", however he also considered all other people "children of GOD". At first his followers considered him a "human being."
One must have sympathy for the "human" JESUS who had to suffer a terrible death. When he accepts the fact that he is going to die , he pronounced " My GOD, My GOD why have you forsaken me ?" Who would dispute that he was in great physical and mental pain. He realized that his sacrifice did not accomplish what he previously envisioned. The Church does not fail in fueling our condolences for the sufferings of JESUS by portraying him as a human being. To the cleric JESUS is one moment human being and in the next he is "son of GOD." To these frauds this hocus-pocus is quite appropriate.
The comforting teachings of JESUS spread like a wildfire. The apostles and the students of theirs projected the teachings of JESUS CHRIST into foreign lands. The messengers of the "Gospel" spread the good news as far as physical possible.The count of believers grew bigger day by day, specially among the poorer population. About 70 years after JESUS' birth Jerusalem was destroyed by the ROMAN Emperor "TITUS" . This lead to the re-location of many JEWISH people as well as the so called CHRISTIANS. It has to be remembered that at that time the CHRISTIAN religion was considered a
Many soldiers in the ROMAN army had converted to CHRISTIANITY and spread the teachings of CHRIST to many foreign lands. During the life time of the apostles and shortly afterwards, the CHRISTIANS conducted themselves credible toward the teachings of their master. But soon the enthusiasm of the new religion changed into excitation nothing short of a state of mental derangement. Everyone wanted to outdo the next one in their devotion to their new found religion. There were as many different interpretations of the gospel of JESUS as there were people. Where JESUS taught "moderation" it was taken as "doing away" with any earthly pleasures. The wrong idea was favored, "happiness was not worthy of a CHRISTIAN." It was believed, to be deprived from enjoyment, would open the gates to heaven so much easier. Many started to arbitrary punish their bodies. The lowest and roughest CHRISTIAN considered the intelligent and virtuous "None believer" for a creature of depravity.
It came more and more to the point where CHRISTIANS would refuse to congregate with the so called "Pagans". This soon spread to colossal frictions between the early CHRISTIANS and the Pagans. CHRISTIANS equated any festivities and fun activities to crime. Normal people became soon moody, gloomy fools. The speed of which this new religion spread, the unfriendly and strange behavior toward the JEWISH and Pagan Priests , did arouse the attention of the government. The Government of that time did the only wise thing they could do, by ignoring the religious behavior of its citizens. If the CHRISTIANS would have minded their own business and would not have challenged the Government, they would have had nothing to worry about. However, they, in their religious fanaticism rebelled against the authorities. They refused to pay taxes and did not obey the laws. It was common practice for the CHRISTIANS to refuse their duty to their homeland, refused to serve in the army and openly defied the Emperor. It did not take very long before the CHRISTIAN religion was declared subversive and the Government clammed down on these overzealous religious fools. The result was exactly the opposite of what the government of that time expected. The CHRISTIANS encouraged reprisals and a great number of them , totally out of their mind, voluntarily offered their lives for the most terrible punishments. Their arrogance grew steadily to the point where they challenged the authorities openly to commit the greatest cruelties toward them. The greater the suffering, the better. They were in direct competition with "JESUS' Passion".Dying was considered a wonderful cause for the privilege to go to heaven. This situation grew more tense as time went on. Some of the CHRISTIANS competed with each other for an even more cruel death. The most perverse torments and torture was just good enough for gaining fame with the community and friends. Martyrdom was the highest reward a CHRISTIAN could hope for. The part of the CHRISTIANS who did not think this to be a good thing fought hopelessly to reverse this fanaticism.
The rest of the population, not being sucked into such a nutty religion, could not help but being impressed with the unwavering courage of these Christians. It so impressed a great mass of people, that they too, joined this Religion. The number of the CHRISTIANS increased daily. It did not take too long before this newly found religion penetrated the highest circles of the Roman upper class. Emperor KONSTANTIN (324-337) made the CHRISTIAN Religion the religion of the State. This was a political decision as it was foreseeable that otherwise a revolution would have happened. The Christians at the time of the Apostles did not try to separate from the Jews. They considered themselves the true ISRAELIS. Hostilities on both sides forced the CHRISTIANS to form their own communities. The constitution of the earliest CHRISTIAN Community was such that all Members called themselves Brothers. No one had the precedence over anyone else. Their duties and rights were equal from one to another.
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