When we talk about Jesus, the second word that comes to mind is Christianity. These two go parallel to each other. There are many documentaries on this topic about who Jesus was, how his teachings were molded into the shape of religion and rose to power and spread throughout the world. The documentaries on Jesus and the rise of Christianity are delightful to watch and give a good show. Still, there are many other social and political reasons for its increase apart from religious purposes. Here we will try to understand better the whole scenario as the events from history will unravel before our eyes.
Birth of Jesus
Only two of four gospels in the Bible give us a vague idea, or you can say the image of how Jesus was born. The story of Luke is based on the appearance of an angel Gabriel in front of Marry. Marry, and her husband traveled to Bethlehem because of a census, and a few shepherds visited them. It presents us the scenes where Marry is singing praises to the Magnificent, her visit to her cousin Elizabeth, Marry reflecting and pondering over all the events happening, lots of angels visiting her, and the famous inn with no room.
Matthew’s gospel also pictures a pretty similar story about how Marry conceived but from a different angle and perspective. In this gospel, the angel appears in Joseph’s dream and tells him that his fiancée Marry is pregnant with a child, but he still has to marry her as it is what God has planned for them.
Matthew’s gospel has magi the wise men bringing royal and noble gifts to Jesus. The exact number of those wise men is not mentioned anywhere in the gospel so that they could be two or 20; no one knows. Mainly three are mentioned in Christianity, but that is due to the tradition of three as three gifts are mentioned as gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
History tells us that about 2000 years ago, in the far province of the middle east, a man emerged from dessert with a message that later changed the notion of worlds events readily and came to define the lives of billions of people around the globe. Gospels tell us that Jesus was born in the first decade B.C. in the region of Judea to a couple named Joseph and Marry. According to Christians believes God himself immaculately conceived her.
Life of Jesus
In his youth, Jesus was trained as a carpenter and builder, but he took to preaching by the age of thirty. He said that forgiveness of past sins is the key to righteousness. However, the Jewish leaders and rulers declared Jesus an agitator who was pushing people away from their religion, and people were going astray. For these accusations, they had him arrested and crucified. Jesus was nailed to a wooden cross and was left to die.
Did Jesus Die?
The story does not end in crucifying Jesus. It is strongly believed that he was resurrected by his father, the God as told by gospels. Muslims also believe that as he was the messenger of God, he was resurrected alive by God.
Christianity as Religion
Jesus has built the foundations of the Christian faith, but a Greek-speaking Jew named Paul the Apostle combined those teachings and made them into a religion. According to Paul, God revealed Jesus Christ to him in a vision. Paul then converted to Christianity and made it his life’s mission to see the Christ teachings as an institution by establishing trenches across the Roman Empire. Paul traveled throughout the Roman Empire preaching and spreading Christianity in the whole of Rome.
Christianity as Official Religion of Rome
In the beginning, only a few people converted to Christianity from Jewish. The Jews had little to no tolerance for Christians. So the newly converted Christians were threatened, and some were also killed. Many Christians were left with no choice but to seek shelter in faraway caves to save themselves and their religion.
During 305-476 A.D., the Roman Empire was divided into four capitals with four co-rulers. Later because of some disputes over territory, a war was witnessed. Constantine emerged victorious among four co-rulers. He gave freedom to Christians for their religion, so they no longer needed to hide and worship in those dark caves. He took the Cross from Jerusalem to Constantinople, making it the capital of Christianity later. Theodosius the Great made Christianity the official religion of Rome.
Spreading Of Christianity
For the next two millennia, Christianity would go through an unprecedented journey. Scriptures, mainly the four gospels, were gathered and translated to form Christianity’s sacred text known as Bible. The gospels were spread through the merchandising route throughout the Roman Empire, along with trading. Middle and upper-class ladies also have a considerable contribution in propagating and nurturing the faith in this regard. The Christian faith would branch into many denominations followed and practiced by people in all seven continents.
Political Regarding Power Transfer
In Jewish, the preachers held the most power because of the faith people put into them. They were growing more and more powerful to such an extent that they could choose and appoint whoever they wanted as a puppet emperor. So when the emperor himself made Christianity the official religion, he gained the trust of his people and thus the gained power by protecting them.
While religious practices, rituals, and traditions have changed according to its followers’ spiritual needs and desires, a man from Judea’s simple message of peace and forgiveness is just as powerful now as it was 2000 years ago.