Although Christianity, at the time of Jesus, only accounted for a small minority of the population in that Jesus only had a few hundred followers, it has since grown to incorporate a literal majority of the modern world’s religious individuals. During the time of Jesus, Jesus’ teachings grew from traditional Jewish beliefs, yet Jesus’ interpretation and presentation of God’s law and led the followers of Jesus to be of a particular social and economic majority. Only a small fraction of this majority in actuality associated with Jesus’ teachings, but the teachings themselves were oriented towards impoverished and poorly educated citizens; one of the most probable causes for the Temple’s dissent of Jesus and his beliefs was that Jesus was unifying a group of people who were dissatisfied with the treatment they were receiving from the leaders, who withheld that lower people were not able to mix with the upper classes. Thus, in a manner of speaking, early Christianity was not only a religion for the oppressed majority, but also a potential threat to the minority, the elite Jewish leaders.
Modern Christianity, as the religion with the largest followers, grew from early Christianity because of the work of Paul. Historically, Paul’s contribution to the growth of Christianity determined the faction between Judaism and the Church as Paul distinguished the two sects as different religions. The reaction to this was the defining moment in making Christianity the largest religion and the religion for the majority of the population, changing the identity of Christianity from the religion of the opposed to a religion of a much more stable people.
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2 comments:
I'm still not really sure what you're saying in the first paragraph. I think the use of 'majority' might be what's throwing me off. I think I looked at the idea of 'majority' in the question in terms of society, and I feel like you're looking at it more at a standpoint of population. That difference is probably what made your response kind of confusing to me.
But I do I like that you talk about the growth of Christianity from a belief of an insecure, repressed minority to a much larger population.
I agree with a few of your points. I liked the way you pointed out how and why Christianity morphed from this small religion that was a bit isolated into a religion that is often seen as the most common in the world today.
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