Shotgun 1
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maadmax 0
Specify what you mean by predominant. It was certainly not practiced by the majority. It went thru periods of being tolerate and persecuted, and the persecutions were not over by 312. Even as late as 400, the Empire was made up of some pretty significant chunks of assimilated barbarian hordes, with most of them still pagan. Also, Hellenistic beliefs were still far from being Christianized/eradicated. Not to mention the Jewish communities, which were tolerated even more so and earlier than the Christians.
Not only that, but to group them together at that early date is even a bit of a misnomer. The various forms of Christianity were not just splintered, they actually persecuted each other at times. It is only via disintegration of the Roman Empire and the vacumm created that Catholicism became such a powerful force in the shaping of modern Europe. Had the Empire focused more on the northern hordes instead of fixating on the Persians and lands beyond the eastern Mediteranean Basin, the power of the Church would never have acheived the dominance it did.
I don't think that Christianity could be called anything like a predominant faith until much closer to the middle of the 1st millenium.
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Nice history lesson. I was referring to the conversion of Constantine, the Roman Emperor ( 306-337CE), in 312 and his subsequent declaration of Christianity as the official faith of the Roman Empire.
Not only that, but to group them together at that early date is even a bit of a misnomer. The various forms of Christianity were not just splintered, they actually persecuted each other at times. It is only via disintegration of the Roman Empire and the vacumm created that Catholicism became such a powerful force in the shaping of modern Europe. Had the Empire focused more on the northern hordes instead of fixating on the Persians and lands beyond the eastern Mediteranean Basin, the power of the Church would never have acheived the dominance it did.
I don't think that Christianity could be called anything like a predominant faith until much closer to the middle of the 1st millenium.
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Nice history lesson. I was referring to the conversion of Constantine, the Roman Emperor ( 306-337CE), in 312 and his subsequent declaration of Christianity as the official faith of the Roman Empire.
ExAFO 0
"stibbaR" is "Rabbits" spelled backwards.
Illinois needs a CCW Law. NOW.
maadmax 0
--If that is the measure, sex, alcohol, and skydiving should also be considered religions.
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Correct again. But we all know how the devotees of those religions turn out, except maybe skydiving.
kallend 1,623
Quote
--If that is the measure, sex, alcohol, and skydiving should also be considered religions.
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Correct again. But we all know how the devotees of those religions turn out, except maybe skydiving.
So how does that support your claim, then?
...
The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.
The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.
beowulf 1
QuoteBut we all know how the devotees of those religions turn out, except maybe skydiving.
What do you mean by that? I am sure there are many Muslims who are very happy and fullfilled by their beliefs.
QuoteThe evidence for me is the power behind the words in the Bible changed my life. But this is not science.....
"Time" by Pink Floyd on Dark Side of the Moon changed my life....PRAISE BE TO THE FLOYD!!! HAALLLEEE--FUCKIN--LOOOYA!
To know requires proof
To believe requires evidence
To have faith requires neither.
If you stick with that, we'll never be confused again
To believe requires evidence
To have faith requires neither.
If you stick with that, we'll never be confused again
DannHuff 0
QuoteQuoteQuote
Have you read the Koran? The Vedas and Upanishads? The Guru Granth Sahib? The Sutras? The Avesta?
I'll answer that when you have answered my question son whether you have read the gospels in any depth?
No I haven't, and I probably won't ever bother.
However unless you can say that you have read and studied the texts of every religion in the world then you cannot say that you have 'investigated the evidence' any more than I have, and your argument becomes a hollow hypocritical shell.
So, have you?
Thanks for the reply. As for me, the answer remains the same. I have satisfied in my own mind and heart where the truth is. Along the journey I have looked at other faiths but clearly not every faith under the sun. But you get to a point where you are faced with a decision. Christ said "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." So at this point one needs to make a choice as in effect the statement excludes other religions as the way to God.
On a broader note and for those interested, I came across an interesting radio interview of a woman's discovery of faith which touches on some of the elements discussed in these threads. It was aired on public radio last Sunday. It is available as a podcast which runs for around 16 minutes in windows media format.
Podcast
nerdgirl 0
QuoteOn a broader note and for those interested, I came across an interesting radio interview of a woman's discovery of faith which touches on some of the elements discussed in these threads.
Listened to Rebecca Manley’s Pippert’s podcast interview. She’s fairly mainstream Evangelical Christian practicing the tenets of her religion (as you are)
Relative to the thread, you might find interesting … or exasperating
Beyond the Atheism-Religion Divide from American Public Media’s Speaking of Faith program, which usually plays on NPR. “In 1965, young Harvard professor [of Divinity School] Harvey Cox became the best-selling voice of secularism in America with his book The Secular City. He sees the old thinking in the "new atheism" of figures like Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens. Cox says that either/or debates between religion and atheism obscure the truly interesting interplay between faith and other forms of knowledge that is unfolding today.” Looking through the lens of another of the major religious traditions, The Heart’s Reason: Hinduism and Science explores the interplay, differences, and lack of exclusivity between truly cutting edge theoretical physics and faith, i.e., as Prof Davies has argued w/r/t his Christian-influenced Deist perspective (although not in his NY Times Op-Ed). “Theoretical physicist and Hindu scholar V.V. Raman [Emeritus Prof of Physics from Rochester Institute of Technology] has been described as ‘a transcultural voyager — who finds meaning in life as he courses from physics to philosophy, from music to metaphysics, from Bhagavad Gita to Gregorian chants.’ We explore the enriching interplay between Hindu spirituality and the insights of physics in his life and thought.”
VR/Marg
Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters.
Tibetan Buddhist saying
I think the word you mean is "truthiness."
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