Christianity Bashing, Is it Really Politically Correct?

It has been assumed that Christianity is an European-White cultural based religion, and therefore it is perfectly o.k. to bash the Christian faith but is that true?

Here is a little quiz to see how much you know or think you know about Christianity

1. The Church began in what city?

a. Athens, Greece

b. Rome, Italy

c. Jerusalem, Israel later to be renamed by the Romans, Aeolia Capitoline, Palestine

2. Which of the following sets of countries have the longest history of Christianity?

a. Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Israel

b. France, the British Isles, Italy, Greece

c. Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Ireland, Iceland

d. Canada, United States, Australia

3. Where is it written where Christians are commanded to harm non-Christians?

a. John 3:16

b. Romans 1: 11

c. Non of the above

4. True or False: The reason why the Christians in Europe went to war against the Muslims in the 8th century and later in the 12th century c.e. is because the New Testament said kill the Muslims

5. Ture or False: Egypt has always had a Muslim majority

6. Where is it written where Jesus and His Apostles said, "Let's start a new religion, and let's call it Christianity?"

a. John 1: 15

b. Matthew 11:10

c. 1 Peter 3:22

d. Non of the above

7. Which statement can you read in the book of Acts

a. The disciples started calling themselves Christians in Antioch

b. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch

It is amazing what myths there are out there about what has become known as Christianity. Such as all of Europe has been Christianize for 2,000 years. That Christianity is a White-European religion , or the most ridiculous of all, that it is an American religion. Because of these myths it has been assumed by the politically correct elites that bashing or demonizing Christianity is not bad because the Christian community are of "White European Descent" and therefore are in the majority, and therefore mostly in power. But is that the absolute truth?

Here are the ansers:

1. The answer is c. The Church began in Jerusalem. When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, "Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia. Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the part of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes. Cretan and Arabs-we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God." Acts 2: 1-11

Do you notice who are gathered here? They are not Gentile pagans who later become converted. They are Jews and proselytes.. Originally the term proselyte referred to someone who abanoned their pagan faith and adopted the Jewish faith, for example, Ruth was a proselyte. They are in Jerusalem to celebrate Pentecost or as it is called in Hebrew, Shavuot, which commemorates when Moses received the 10 Commandments on Mt. Sinai. Pagans would have had no desire to come to Jerusalem for such an event.

Many ministers and people who follow along as they read these words seem to read swiftly through these words. I wonder if they are really paying attention to what they are reading because often times in their sermons about Pentecost they mention how the Gentiles, meaning pagans, embraced faith in Jesus Christ or Y'shua as He was called back then, but the Jews generally rejected Him. This is false and has created a false and tragic doctrine of the Jews are Christ Killers which began with John Chrysostom a Roman Catholic Priest in the 4th century c.e., and not by the Apostles who were all Jewish.

It should be obvious that the very first members of the early church were Jewish, and mostly Jewish. Gentile believers in Jesus during the first two centuries of the faith that would eventually be called Christianity were very rare. The questions back then was not, "Whoever heard of a Jews for Jesus?" but " Whoever heard of a Gentile for Jesus?"

You may wonder, like I use to, "How could all these people fit in the upper room of a house? They didn't. That is, it wasn't a house. We assume it was a house. Years ago my mom and I joined a tour group and went to Israel. Our tour guide informed us that in the temple complex there were these rooms that were used as living quarters for the priests and to store their utensils that they used for their priestly duties. It was in one of these rooms that these people were gathered in which the Holy Spirit came down and filled the place. Also around the temple area they have discovered hundreds of Mikfah Ots which were used for ritual cleansing of worshippers before they entered the temple. That is where they were baptized.

Since the Church began in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost or Shavuot and not in Rome, Italy or Athens, Greece it should be obvious that the Christian faith came from Biblical Judaism and not Greek or Roman philosophy.

2. The answer is A. Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Israel, and other parts of the Middle East had a Christian population long before there were any Christians in Europe. The Church in Egypt started in around 41 to 44 ce when the Apostle Mark came to Egypt. The oldest form of Biblical papyri have been discovered around the regions of upper Egypt. They are written in Coptic script and are older than even the oldest Greek copies of the Bible ordered by Constantine in 312 ce thus making the Coptic church one of the oldest.

Christianity came to Ethiopia from an eunuch who was a consort (governmental official) of the Queen of Sheba, another name for Ethiopia. He was a convert of Judaism. The Apostle Philip shared how Jesus fulfilled the words of the Prophet Isaih, and the Ethiopian eunuch was baptized in the Faith of Jesus Christ and spread the Gospel to Ethiopia. In Ethiopia there are ancient churches and monasteries that were 300 to 500 years old beore Christianity took a foothold in Europe!

According to the works of scholars and Eastern Christian writings, Christianity was introduced to India by the Apostle Thomas when he visited the Muziros in Kerala in 52 ce where the Gospel was spread among the Kerala's Jewish settlements. Please note there was no such thing as a white Anglo-Saxon Christian!

Israel, of course, is the Cradle of Christianity. Jesus and the 12 Apostles were Jews. It was in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost in around 33 ce (give or take a year or two) that the Church was born. It should be obvious that Christianity is NOT a white European philosophy or invention!!

The Europeans during the early years of Christianity had not heard of Jesus Christ. They were worshipping various gods and spirits, and practicing human sacrifices. To say that Christianity is the "White Man's" religion is silly!!

3. The answer is c. non of the above. Jesus taught his followers to love their enemies. The Sermon on the Mount found in the 5th Chapter of Matthew are just one of several passages in the Christian New Testament where love for one's enemies or persecutors and not hatred and violence are preached. Persecution by Christians are the exception to the rule because they did not follow the teachings of Christ. Through out history and even today in some parts of the world it is the Christians who are being persecuted, not the ones doing the persecuting. Jesus and the Apostles never taught hatred for those outside of the faith. Many people take certain passage out of context or put words that were not there originally to make it appear that the Bible advocates bigotry. We will examine this issue more clearly in another blog.

4. The answer is False. The Crusades were a response to Islamic aggression. Two centuries before the first "Christian" crusade Muslim armies conquered various ethnic groups throughout the Middle East, and Central Asia that were Christian, Jewish or some other faith other than Muslim, and forced them to convert to Islam by the edge of the sword, or be forced to flee, like with most of the Coptic Chritians, or be killed or submit to paying "protection" money to appease their Muslim masters. What some Crusaders did in the name of Christ were horrendous but you can't say that this was due to what they read in the Gospels because: 1. The Bible, let a lone the New Testament had not been translated in the languages of the everyday Europeans, 2. Most of the Crusaders could not even read or write their own names let alone the Bible so how could they have read any words that would have encouraged hatred and violence? 3. And most importantly Jesus and His Apostles taught love in forgiveness. Unlike the nominal (in name only) Christians of the Crusaders, when the early Christinas faced persecution they forgave their persecutors and attempted to witness to them so that they may be saved. They did not try to wipe them out.

5. The answer is false. Egypt was a Christian nation centuries before Islam ever set foot on Egyptian soil. See the answer to question 2 for more details.

6. The answer is D, non of the above. There is no passage in any of the four Gospels or the Letters to the Early Church, where Jesus Christ or any of his Apostles said, "Let's start a new religion and let's call it Christianity." In fact, for example, the Apostle Paul taught that the Gentile believer's were once a far off and had been grafted into the faith of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob by the atonement of Jesus Christ.

"Therefore remember that you once Gentiles in the flesh-who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands-that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ." words of the Apostle Paul found in Ephesians 2:11-13

7. The answer is B. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. Acts 11:26b. Please notice it said they were called NOT they called themselves. The name Christian was given to the Jews who believed that Y'shua or Jesus was the Messiah by the Romans in order to distinquish them from the rest of the Jewish population. It was meant as a derogatory term. About a couple of centuries later the believers in Jesus Christ adopted the term and started calling themselves Christians just like the ancestors of the Jews adopted the name Jews for themselves which was once a derogatory term given by King Nebuchanessor of Babylon for the inhabitants of Judah, also called Judea. Jew originally meant of Judea.