Two thousand years ago, Christians emerged in the Roman empire and it is spread and flourished, and found its sense of identity within the Roman world. In the era of Christianity, peoples who believed and converted to Christianity were baptized and were properly instructed in the belief and practices of Christianity. As a result, today, approximately, a third of the world's population are Christians.

Christians had its origin, foretold by Christ Jesus, 'builds on' by the surviving apostles, disciples, followers and believers of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus came up and spoke to them. He said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations; baptise them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all the commands I gave you. And know that I am with you always; yes, to the end of time. - Matt. 28:18-20 -

When Pentecost day came round, they had all met in one room, when suddenly they heard what sounded like a powerful wind from heaven, the noise of which filled the entire house in which they were sitting; and something appeared to them that seemed like tongues of fire; these separated and came to rest on the head of each of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and............

Brothers, no one can deny that the patriarch David himself is dead and buried: his tomb is still with us. But since he was a prophet, and knew that God had sworn him an oath to make one of his descendants succeed him on the throne, what he foresaw and spoke about was the resurrection of the Christ: he is the one who was not abandoned to Hades, and whose body did not experience corruption. God raised this man Jesus to life, and all of us are witnesses to that. Now raised to the heights by God 's right hand, he has received from the Father the Holy Spirit, who was promised, and what you see and hear is the outpouring of that Spirit. For David himself never went up to heaven; and yet these words are his:

The Lord said to my Lord:
Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies
a footstool for you.

'For this reason the whole House of Israel can be certain that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ.' Hearing this, they were cut to their heart and said to Peter and the apostles, 'What must we do, brothers?' 'You must repent' Peter answered 'and everyone of you must be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise that was made is for you and your children, and all those who are far away, for all those whom the Lord our God will call to himself.' He spoke to them for a long time using many arguments, and he urged them, 'Save yourselves from this perverse generation.' They were convinced by his arguments, and they accepted what he said and were baptised. That very day about three thousand were added to their number.

These remained faithful to the teaching of the apostles, and to the brotherhood, to the breaking of bread and to the prayers.

The many miracles and signs worked through the apostles made a deep impression on everyone. The faithful all lived together and owned everything in common; they sold their goods and possessions and shared out the proceeds among themselves according to what each one needed.

They went as a body to the Temple everyday but met in their houses for the breaking of bread; they shared their food gladly and generously; they praised God and were looked up to by everyone. Day by day the Lord added to their community those destined to be saved. - Acts 2:1-47 -

The early Christians had their problems too. Very likely the Christian problem started when those in power and authorities were jealous and envious about them. The Christians were ridicule, insulted, scorn, and despised at their doctrines, especially the doctrine of Jesus Christ resurrection from the rich, educated classes and philosophers.

Platonist mocked this doctrine as a foolish misunderstanding of their own belief in the immortality of the soul. To them, Christianity was a 'barbarian philosophy' and it is for the fool and weak minded. A Platonic philosopher named Celsus wrote a sustained attack on Christianity called 'The true doctrine' in which he also tried to discredit the figure of Christ Jesus himself. Scornful though Celsus's attacks were.

But during A.D. 150-215, Christianity become more intellectually respected because of Justin Martyr and Clement of Alexandria, they were writing increasingly sophisticated defenses of their beliefs. Justin Martyr explained and argued that the authorities cannot ridiculed and condemned people simply because they are Christian, but instead, if they really committed any crimes or atrocities.

Next, came a Latin writer, Tertullian, who came from Carthage in the North Africa. He was a lawyer before his conversion to Christianity, it is because of his expert in interpreting of the official policy. If Christian really committed crimes or atrocities, he asked, why did the authorities adopt the 'do not ask ' 'do not tell' policy?

And in the third century, Origen was the most distinguished person because he was invited to meet the mother of the emperor and discuss, and shares Christianity with her. Origen was a raised Christian, highly educated and he dominated the Church and the intellectual world of his day. Finally, he was tortured and released to die in obscurity. Also, tortured were prominent Church leaders; in the hope of forcing them to renounced their faith in Christ, and the authorities deliberately tried to avoid murdering or killing them, recognizing that martyrs only encouraged the growth of Christianity. But, the persecutions failed. They had even proved counter productive.

Those who died were named and celebrated as 'Martyr' - a word meaning "witnesses" to the faith. These martyrs played an extremely important role in the spread of Christianity as Tertullian explicitly quotes: 'The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.'

Apostle Stephen is 'the first Christian martyr' he was stoned to death. - Acts chapter 6 & 7 -

Continue to love each other like brothers, and remember always to welcome strangers, for by doing this, some people have entertained angels without knowing it. Keep in mind those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them; and those who are being badly treated, since you too are in the one body. Marriage is to be honoured by all, and marriages are to be kept undefiled, because fornicators and adulterers will come under God's judgment. Put greed out of your lives and be content with whatever you have; God himself has said: I will not fail you or desert you, and so we can say with confidence: With the Lord to help me, I fear nothing: what can man do to me?

Remember your leaders, who preached the word of God to you, and as you reflect on the outcome of their lives, imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same today as he was yesterday and as he will be for ever. Do not let yourselves be led astray by all sorts of strange doctrines: it is better to rely on grace for inner strength than on dietary laws which have done no good to those who kept them. - Heb. 13:1-9 -

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Sunday, May 24, 2009

I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -