Was it really the Disciples who spread Christianity?

[solarwave]

Hey,

So yeah, my question is: Was it really the original Disciples of Jesus who spread Christianity? Did some/all then go on to die for this belief? How do we know this?

I ask this because I wonder if it is possible if Christianity could have been started by people who had never known Jesus and so making the New Testament mostly made up.

Solarwave

 

[Chesterton]

If Christianity was started by people who didn't know Christ, it begs the question why those people would have started preaching Christ.

 

[solarwave]

Because they had heard of and liked Jesus' teachings invented that He rose from the dead to help the teachings spread?

 

[salida]

Historical evidence and facts are not invented.

This is how we know this:

Visit: www.TheBibleProofBook.com, (you will need acrobat reader for this), read The Evidence That Demands A Verdict by Josh McDowell (its overwhelming circumstantial evidence of bible) and Examine the Evidence by Muncaster a former athiest/The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel a former athiest. Christiananswers.net, www.equip.org (articles), http://www.gotquestions.org/

Internal Evidence (prophesies confirmed within bible)
Life of Christ
The Tribe of Judah, Gen 49:10 - Luke 3:23-28
(Genesis was written 4004 BC to 1689 BC)
(Lukes time period 60-70 AD)
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Royal Line of David, Jer 23:5 - Matt 1:1
(Jeremiah 760 to 698 BC)/(Matthew 60 - 70 AD)
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Born of a Virgin, Isaiah 7:14 - Matt 1:18-23
(Isaiah 760 to 698 BC)/(Matthew 60 - 70 AD)
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Rise of Empires
In the book of Daniel, Chapter 2 - four kingdoms are described in the interpretation of a dream of
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon: Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greek - Daniel 8:21, 10:20/and the fourth
great kingdom to follow- part iron and clay-which is the Roman Empire. During this empire Christ came and his church was established.
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Historical Accuracy
The bible is loaded with historical statements concerning events hundreds of years ago and has not
been proven incorrect in any.
(Bible compared to other ancient documents):
New Testament starts - at 25 years between original and first surviving copies
Homer - starts at 500 years
Demosthenes - at 1400 years
Plato - at 1200 years
Caesar - at 1000 years
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Number of Manuscript Copies-New Testament - 5,686/Homer - 643/Demosthenes - 200/
Plato - 7/Caesar -10
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Consistency/Written by God
Written by at least 40 men over a period of time exceeding 1400 years and has no internal inconsistencies.
It claims to be spoken by God, 2 Timothy 3:16-17. No other religious book makes such claim.
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External Evidences (prophesies outside bible)
These cities were prophesied to be destroyed and never built again.
Nineveh - Nahum 1:10, 3:7,15, Zephaniah 2:13-14
Babylon - Isaiah 13:1-22
Tyre - Ezekiel 26:1-28
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Bible before Science- He hangs the earth on nothing-Job 26:7/Earth is a sphere-Isaiah 40:22
Air has weight-Job 28:25/Gravity-Job 26:7, Job 38:31-33/Winds blow in cyclones, Eccl 1:6
(Job was written at least 1000 years ago; some scholars think 3000 years ago)
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Documents that Prove Bible is True
Gilgamesh Epic, The Sumerian King List, Mari Tablets, Babylonian Chronicles
Archeological Finds
Excavations of Ur, Location of Zoar, Ziggurats and the foundation of Tower of Babel

 

[Supreme]

The disciples very much went around spreading Christianity. Thomas evem went as far as India! Even people who are not considered disciples spread Christianity- for example, James the Just founded the church in Jerusalem.

 

[solarwave]

I accept that there is good evidence for the Resurrection. Thats the reason why I ask this because if there is good reason to think the disciples were the ones who spread Christianity and it wasn't made up by some random who heard about Jesus who had died, then Christianity is true.

 

[Willtor]

It's widely attested by the early Christian community that most of the apostles were martyred. The Gospel of John indicates as much regarding Peter.

I think one of the strongest points to my mind that the apostles were immediate witnesses of the resurrected Christ is the consequence of a twist in perspective regarding the Resurrection. Note: they didn't say he was raised like Lazarus was raised. They said he was resurrected. That's very different. And it's also a strange and unintuitive thing to say, considering he was the only one. It's a change in philosophy and it seems to have confused them, too. The gospel accounts are full of references to the Old Testament for the purpose of painting Jesus as the Messiah, but as soon as you get to the death and resurrection, they stop.

 

[ebia]

Because they had heard of and liked Jesus' teachings invented that He rose from the dead to help the teachings spread?

If you thought Fred was a great teacher who people should listen to would you try to persuade people to take him seriously by saying he rose from the dead? It was an even more outlandish and implausible idea in that world than it is in ours.

 

[OldWiseGuy]

Hey,

So yeah, my question is: Was it really the original Disciples of Jesus who spread Christianity? Did some/all then go on to die for this belief? How do we know this?

I ask this because I wonder if it is possible if Christianity could have been started by people who had never known Jesus and so making the New Testament mostly made up.

Solarwave

The disciples reached few people before they died, so they were not responsible for the 'spread' of Christianity. They, with the help of the Holy Spirit did plant the seeds, which grew greatly, aided by some unlikely allies, after their deaths.

 

[bling]

There is never going to be "scientific" proof that Jesus was the christ and rose from the dead, since we need to take somethings on faith to help us be humble. The fact everything seems to start so quickly from Jerusalem where all this is suppost to have happen does support the idea it could not have been made up with witnesses right there.