Christianity is about to have a resurgence

[Doc]

https://biblemesh.com/blog/the-compassi ... hristians/

The Compassion of Early Christians
The last few years have seen a fair share of books arguing that religion is the cause behind all that is wrong with the world. Although the Christian Church has undoubtedly had its hand in a number of morally dubious activities over the years, a more historical perspective suggests that this is only one side of the story.

Famine and war had recently afflicted the city of Caesarea, so when the plague hit in the early fourth-century, the populace was already weakened and unable to withstand this additional blow. The populace began fleeing the city, one of the larger ones of the Roman Empire, for safety in the countryside. However, in the midst of the fleeing inhabitants, at least one group was staying behind, the Christians. As bishop of the city and a historian of the early church, Eusebius, recorded in “The Church History” that during the plague,

All day long some of them [the Christians] tended to the dying and to their burial, countless numbers with no one to care for them. Others gathered together from all parts of the city a multitude of those withered from famine and distributed bread to them all.

Eusebius goes on to state that because of their compassion in the midst of the plague, the Christians’ “deeds were on everyone’s lips, and they glorified the God of the Christians. Such actions convinced them that they alone were pious and truly reverent to God.” A few decades after Eusebius, the last pagan emperor, Julian the Apostate, recognized that the Christian practice of compassion was one cause behind the transformation of the faith from a small movement on the edge of the empire, to cultural ascendancy. Writing to a pagan priest he said:

“when it came about that the poor were neglected and overlooked by the [pagan] priests, then I think the impious Galilaeans [i.e., Christians] observed this fact and devoted themselves to philanthropy.” *

“[They] support not only their poor, but ours as well, all men see that our people lack aid from us.”

In fact, Julian proposed that pagan priests imitate the Christians’ charity in order to bring about a revival of paganism in the empire.

Julian’s program failed because, among other reasons, the polytheism of ancient Rome was unable to sustain the kind of self-sacrificial love and compassion that Eusebius observed in Caesarea. Cynics might dismiss Eusebius’ account as mere propaganda, since he had an obvious bias as the Christian bishop of the city. However, such dismissal is not as easy with the witness of Julian, for, although he was raised in a Christian setting and thus knew the Christian faith well, he was passionate about his pagan beliefs and sought to undermine the Christian Church. Therefore, he certainly had no reason to present the actions of the Christians in a favorable light.

More at the link..

[Miss_Faucie_Fishtits]

[Nonc Hilaire]

Christianity is usually presented as a biography, and that leads to a lot of superstition. Way too many apparently illogical assumptions required that way.

It’s better to start at Pentecost and walk the cat backwards.

[noddy]

The thoughtful, lower in judgement side of christianity was always the most attractive, the problem being its politically unworkable and leads to protestentism, or even worse, deism... couple of generations of those types and you end up with agnostics like me, raised with a dubious attachment to the religiousy bits of our cultral background - as my parents put it "the whats can be important, the whys, not so much".

not that the new atheists are any better - you either believe in their triggers points or you are a heathen outsider, its a human thing, not a failing of christianity per se.

still, as of last census in my cuntry , its a hard argument to make that religion is getting bigger

Religious affiliation in Australia, 1971-2021.jpeg (122.9 KiB) Viewed 3667 times

[Heracleum Persicum]

still, as of last census in my cuntry ,

Noddy , I read your post and see your "English Writings" ..

Just a curiosity, is your English "Australian English", or maybe some Australian regional dialect, Perth ?

It is interesting language

The most funny English is Chinglish.. there so many "crazy funny" posting in Chinglish

There many English adapted in ex English colonial space, some funny and nice
.