PJM:
[…]
Without the Resurrection, “we would still be in a world of mystery and probably in a world of repressive empires,” Rodney Stark, a social sciences professor at Baylor University and author of many books including The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success, told PJ Media in an interview.
“Remember, at the dawn of history, people didn’t live in really tiny countries — they lived under huge, huge empires, nasty ones,” the professor added. He argued that Christianity historically has been the driving force behind limited government, science, capitalism, the abolition of slavery, medicine, organized charities, and more — and that Christianity would have been impossible without the belief in the Resurrection.
“Without the Resurrection, you don’t have Christianity, and without Christianity, you don’t have any of this,” Stark declared.
Indeed, the New Testament says as much. In I Corinthians 15:17, Paul wrote, “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.” The gospels all agree on one count — that Jesus’s disciples scattered, and Peter rejected him, around Jesus’ crucifixion. That manner of death, besides being the most painful, was also the most disgraceful, and it stands to reason that Christianity would have died were it not for belief in the Resurrection.
But how exactly did Christianity change the world? Stark considered many aspects of Western civilization, and traced their roots back to a Christian inspiration. read more
….“we would still be in a world of mystery and probably in a world of repressive empires,”…..
Wait! What?
During his lifetime, very few hebrews spoke Greek, His name in Aramaic and Hebrew was Yeshua, the name means salvation, Greek was a difficult language for Hebrews to learn. The first century historian Josephus, spoke Aramaic, Hebrew, and Latin, He tried to learn Greek for 30 years, bur did not feel comfortable to speak Greek in public.
It is amazing to me that a tiny crew of followers, under an oppressive Roman rule that threatened to murder every one of them, managed to survive and to thrive, to the point that Christianity has driven most of civilization’s development since His time. I do not think that it could have happened without the hand of God, and the Holy Spirit, guiding it. I think similarly that our nation was formed with guidance from above.
Human nature is capricious and given to constant change. The fact that you can walk into an 800 year old church on the other side of the world and hear the same message as the church down the road means something very profound.
I simply don’t know.
It’s an enigma to me. But I see things and unexplainable, inexplicable is perhaps more accurate, happenings that lead me to believe in a divine hand is at work.
@LCD: And God has protected us as a result. But as we have drifted away from Him, we are losing that protection.
…I like this scene from “Risen” because it both describes a (small part of) what our Lord went through for US, and ALSO explains WHY his resurrection is a game-changer…
https://youtu.be/HoSMMH3hQcQ
…it’s a good movie that deals with the Roman hunt for Christ AFTER the Crucifixion. If you’re shut in anyway, give it a watch…
Happy Easter,
SNS
@ Extirpates
Have you ever STUDIED Hebrew or Greek? I have, and Greek was easier by FAR…
Amen!