Why Do Leading Agnostic Writers Claim Jesus Transformed History?

One of history’s greatest mysteries…

How is it that a first-Century cult birthed in the of the Roman Empire, whose leader was rejected (rejected in yellow) by his own people and crucified, was able to survive and thrive in the face of violent, organized state-funded resistance?

How did it come about that a Nazarene sect would eventually be embraced by the very empire that for 300 (300 in yellow) years sought to extinguish it?

Karen Armstrong, author of Fields of Blood answers it this way...
“Against all odds,(all odds in yellow) by the third century, Christianity (Christianity in yellow) had become a force to be reckoned with. We still do not really understand how this came about.” - Karen Armstrong - Field or Blood.

How did a religion whose first believers were twenty or so illiterate day laborers in a remote part of the Roman Empire become the dominant (dominant in yellow) religion in the West, converting some 30 million people in just 4 centuries? - Bart D Ehrman

No one really denies it happened, because here we are in the 21st Century, but the question is… how did it happen? Was it because of what we call the Bible? Nope, the Bible didn’t show up in any form until around the 5th Century. So what was it… It was 100% due to one person and one event!

Jesus & The Resurrection

The only way we can figure out how what we call Christianity was able to survive and thrive against all odds is to actually pay attention to and take seriously the empirical evidence of the eyewitness testimony of the men and women who were there for these events and eventually documented them for the entire world.

Until Jesus’ teachings, the status quo for generations had been only the strong survive and thrive. Domination over the weak was the way success, respect, and leadership were gained at all levels of society. Throw out the sick, throw out the weak, kill the babies, take what you can, from whoever you can. And if anyone complains, crucify them, send them away to die, or tell everyone they are the way they are as punishment from the gods.

“He answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,” and “your neighbor as yourself.” Luke‬ ‭10:27‬ ‭CSB‬‬

But it gets even more bazaar and against all common sense… He told his followers… forgive and love your enemies!

“But I say to you who listen: Love your enemies, do what is good to those who hate you,”
‭‭Luke‬ ‭6:27‬ ‭CSB‬‬

Jesus through this inside down teaching laid the groundwork for our modern-day assumptions of equality, dignity, freedom, safety… He didn’t see women, children, or races, any different from one another… they were all equal in his sight!

Jesus made it clear, that there are just three simple actions we need to do… and these actions all start from within aka The Kingdom on Earth!

Love God
Love your neighbor
Love yourself

Christianity not only took over an empire, it radically altered the lives of those living in it. It was a revolution that affected government practices, legislation, art, literature, music, philosophy, and on an even more fundamental level the very understanding billions of people had about what it means to be human… Bart D Ehrman - Triumph of Christianity.

…However, one evaluates the merits of the case… no one can deny it was the most monumental cultural transformation (cultural transformation in yellow) our world has ever seen. Bart D Ehrman - Triumph of Christianity.

Bart Ehrman wrote in his book… “Christianity is the world's most monumental transformation. There was a time when what is happening in Ukraine was just the day in the life of the world!”

Yet… it wasn’t Jesus” radical teaching that kept the movement alive. There is just one event that STOPPED the movement from being crushed between the Temple and the Empire…

The Resurrection!

Stop arguing over the Bible and start defending your faith!

“For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,”
1 Corinthians‬ ‭15:3-4‬ ‭CSB‬‬

“and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve. Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers and sisters at one time; most of them are still alive, but some have fallen asleep.”
‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭15:5-6‬ ‭CSB‬‬

“Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one born at the wrong time, he also appeared to me.” 1 Corinthians‬ ‭15:7-8‬ ‭CSB‬‬

If you're interested in a starting point, I would strongly suggest “Unshakable Foundations by Norman Geisler. Case For Christ by Lee Strobel, or David Limbaugh’s Books Jesus on Trial or The True Jesus. For those in high school or college, I would suggest Surviving Religion 101 by Michael J. Kruger.
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