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Its about under what socio-political circumstances this religion became wide spread: the new testiment, that in some sense founded christianity breaking away from judaism (old testiment), was written in greek and spread through the Roman empire. The Roman Empire left its mark on the newly formed religion in the way its "religious practises" were formulated, essentialy shapping the early churches.
Of course after the schism you had the Orthodox in the east started to differentiate from the West etc
So indeed the Roman empire is to christianity what the early arab caliphates were to islam.
I recommend this book on the topic https://www.amazon.com/Triumph-Christianity-Forbidden-Religion-Swept/dp/1501136704
Yeah of course they did but once again you're saying Roman empire=a United Roman religion. There really was no Roman religion, only hundreds of cultural traditions. In my opinion you're making yourself look illiterate. My opinion on the matter was formed by this book.
https://www.amazon.com/Triumph-Christianity-Forbidden-Religion-Swept/dp/1501136704
Ambiguity is a subjective claim, so your second conclusion would be that it appears ambiguous. Also, I don't think that the texts and early history of Christianity supports your conclusion that it 'demands money and/or power like several other religions'—it appears that main motivator for early conversions was, first, that the end was near (in 'your' lifetime), and later that Christian miracles appeared more powerful than competing Pagan ones (as Ehrman argues in The Triumph of Christianity). I don't think that money and power are good descriptions for the motivation of early Christians, such as the authors of the canonical Gospels and undisputed Epistles of Paul
It was actually a church history book, so it wasn't super in depth. Church History in Plain Language by Bruce Shelley
I see :/ The Bible you sent is good yes if you are using the Greek translation! But since you’ve said that the letters are small and that your English is better than Greek maybe go with NKJV Bible
Im not from an English speaking country but I know that this version is used in many churches and this version is also in the Orthodox Study Bible.
These are your options, if you want to wait for the Orthodox Study Bible in the meantime you can read the Bible online.
If not, choose the one you send if you want to read in Greek because there are great reviews and if you want to read in English buy the NKJV!
God bless you brother.
Bart Ehrman is really good. I have a bunch of his stuff on Audible as well...here is a good one by him: https://www.amazon.ca/Triumph-Christianity-Forbidden-Religion-Swept/dp/1501136704
Ehrman's "Misquoting Jesus" made him famous...it covers the issues surrounding scribes and how the New Testament was formed.
This documentary is pretty good for coverage of this period too: https://youtu.be/UulusbcS8V0
The OP may have been interested in a recent published work by Bart Ehrman. Namely, The Triumph of Christianity: How a Forbidden Religion Swept the World. I cross-posted this a couple of days ago to a newly-formed sub /r/AskBibleScholars.
I, also, sent a PM to the OP concerning this inquiry.
It's still a protestant book, but I found "Church History in Plain Language" by Bruce Shelley to be good. Easy to read, quite comprehensive. That was the first book I read on my journey to becoming Catholic, and it introduced me to the names of the Church Fathers and the evolution of Christianity.
It covers 33AD to 1985 AD.
Literally just a few days ago Bart Ehrman released his new book 'The Triumph of Christianity: How a Forbidden Religion Swept the World'.
There are two different books that share a chapter title that speaks to this issue. Both are books I'd happily recommend, even if they have somewhat divergent emphases. The chapters are called 'Edifice Complex' and can be found in Rick Warren's seminal Purpose Driven Church and the second is Pagan Christianity although the latter seems to have changed the title of Chapter 2 to 'The Church Building'.
Saint Benedict in Nova Scotia. Current pastor is the author of Divine Renovation (Fantastic book on orienting a parish toward evangelization). Mass streamed 9am Sunday and archived.
http://www.amazon.com/Who-Stole-My-Church-Century/dp/0785230491 This helps me somewhat. I grew up in a Mennonite church, and I was always listening to new Christian music like DCTalk, Carman, MWS, etc. So, I think hymns are still relevant, but it comes down to "Am I willing to worship God through this older/newer music?" My pastor likes to say something like it's not how hard the journey is that matters, but what it is going to take to stop you. I can't remember what he exactly said, but something like that. I like old hymns done in their original key, or if they are given a drum beat. Or if they change the key, that's cool. I don't like it when they speed them up considerably. Then they sound like some cheap hick bluegrass (nothing against bluegrass) ameture festival on PBS gone wrong.
The younger folks (I'm 31, so I fit in both) could learn a lot from the hymns, like why they were written. Fanny Crosby was blind her whole life, yet she wrote some of the best hymns I know. If done by the right people, this could close the age gap between worshipers more.
On the other hand, newer music represents the new generation of Christians. A chance to lead, to praise God in a new way, or to bring revival and repentance to the church. Guys like Keith Green, who would impact generations of Christians long after he died, would bring revival by writing new songs, or putting music to "The Sheep and the Goats". I could go on, but I need to shut up.
The two that come to mind are Rick Warren's classic The Purpose Driven Church (although I recommend Purpose Driven Life more often, 'Church' came first and is a classic) and How to Read the Bible Book by Book which I haven't re-read cover to cover, but I sure double back to it often as a resource. Odd how both of my books are associated with other, far more famous books. I also like How to Read the Bible for All It's Worth a lot, but I've never needed to return to it.
I found <em>Sticky Church</em> to be really helpful when we were getting started.
My pleasure! The book the article is based on is equally incredible. It's been my go-to book recommendation for the past few months.
I love that he provides historical backing to present our modern reform as a continuity rather than a departure.