Who was the greatest Christian ever?
Just play along. If you don't like the word "greatest" then just consider theology/miracles/evangelism/leadership/power - etc. You get what I'm saying. Please don't tear this thread apart by being hyperliteral with the word "greatest." I should have put this in my opening post.
Christ was fully human and born of a father and a mother.This is obviously a highly subjective topic that could have several possible answers. However, in my view, there are really only three people who could possibly be considered the greatest Christian ever, and those three people are Peter, Paul, and John. When you look at their accomplishments and the things that are written about them they stand out far above the rest.
You could make a very strong case that either one of them was the greatest Christian ever. Of course, it depends on how you define great (as in more powerful, leadership ability, evangelism, theological ability, etc.) but, in my own opinion, if we add up everything in Scripture Paul will come out slightly ahead of Peter and John. I will tell you the reasons why I think Paul was the greatest Christian ever, but first let's take a look at their respective resumes:
Apostle Peter
When we look at Peter's resume we can see why some may consider him to be the top Christian of all time. But let's look a little further:
- leader of the original 12 apostles
- name is a foundation of the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:14)
- probably dictated the gospel of Mark
- wrote 1 + 2 Peter
- performed miracles/signs/wonders (Ac. 2:43, etc.)
- healed the lame beggar (Ac. 3)
- Ananias/Sapphira fell down dead at his feet (Ac. 5)
- his shadow could heal the sick (Ac. 5:15)
- healed the paralytic (Ac. 9:33-34)
- saw angels + they rescued him from prison (Ac. 12:7-11, Ac. 5:18-20)
- saw visions of God (Ac. 11)
- resurrected the dead (Ac. 10:37-41, Mt. 10:8)
Apostle John
Clearly John has an incredible resume. One of the major things that separates John from Peter is the fact that he was caught up into the heavens (quite an impressive achievement) while Peter was not. And finally:
- one of the original 12 apostles
- highly favored by Christ + was "the disciple whom Jesus loved"
- wrote 1+2+3 John, the gospel of John, and Revelation
- name is a foundation of the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:4)
- performed miracles/signs/wonders (Ac. 2:43, etc.)
- healed the lame beggar (Ac. 3)
- rescued from prison by an angel (Ac. 5:18-20)
- caught up into heaven to see visions (Rev. 4:1-2)
- resurrected the dead (Mt. 10:8)
Apostle Paul
So here we have Paul who, like John, was caught up into the 3rd heaven. This is obviously something that both of them have that Peter does not. However, one of the serious drawbacks with considering Paul the greatest Christian ever is the fact that he never physically followed Christ while he was on earth. That is something that both Peter and John have over Paul.
- Christ appeared to him in a vision on the road to Damascus (Ac. 9)
- did many signs/wonders/miracles (Rom. 15:19)
- struck a false prophet with blindness (Ac. 13:8-11)
- healed a lame man (Ac. 14:8-10)
- could heal diseases (Ac. 19:11-12)
- resurrected a dead person to life (Ac. 20:9-10)
- saw a vision of an angel (Ac. 27:23)
- unaffected by a poisonous snakebite (Ac. 28:3-6)
- was caught up into the 3rd heaven (2 Cor. 12)
- wrote more books of the NT (and of the Bible) than anyone else (13 in all)
- is the focus of Acts 13-28 (the majority of the book of Acts)
- may have been responsible for much of the gospel of Luke
Anyways, you could make a very strong case for either of these three being the top Christian ever, but I chose the Apostle Paul because I believe that he was the strongest overall. He was very good theologically and probably actually the best ever when it came to theology. He was just as powerful as either Peter or John as far as signs/wonders/miracles were concerned. He was probably the greatest evangelist ever and also one of the top leaders in the early church (if not the top leader). Peter was never caught up into the 3rd heaven, as both Paul and John were, which is a serious drawback. John was not quite the leader or evangelist that Paul was. So overall, my list would go as follows:
1. Paul
2. John
3. Peter
I would place John ahead of Peter since John was caught up into heaven and Peter was not. John also wrote more of the NT than Peter did. Anyways, that is my list. Feel free to rearrange it
EDITED TO ADD: First, Christ is not on the list since we are only considering candidates who are fully human and were born of both a father and mother. Second, please do not be hyperliteral with the word "greatest" and turn this into a discussion on who was the most humble of all. By "greatest" I mean the most powerful theologically, the best evangelist, the most powerful miracle-wise in the Holy Spirit, the greatest leader, etc. You could also consider it a requirement to physically follow Christ if you wished. Thanks
You can, of course, choose anyone, depending on the reasoning involved. However, there is no question about Paul being the most influential Christian of all time, and if spreading the Gospel to an unbelieving world is of top importance, Paul has no equal.
I have thought about this and I believe it is the Blessed Virgin Mary
I would say Paul
Are you Catholic? I would understand why Catholics would think this.
Only if one is a futurist, and takes Revelation literallyOh, something else I thought of - this thread obviously applies only to the past. The two witnesses would certainly have a claim to be considered the greatest Christian(s) of all time, I would think.
Anglo-Catholic, Anglican.
Ah, I am one that actually believes John was not writing to 21st century Christians and beyond but to 1st Century ChristiansCorrect. I am one that does
The greatest Christian ever is whoever was the most humble. But with that kind of humility we'll never know about them, and thus we will never know the answer.
Act 4:10
Be it known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that in the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, Whom ye did crucify, Whom God did raise out of the dead, in Him hath this one stood by before you whole.
12 And there is not salvation in any other.
For there is no other Name under the heaven that hath been given among men, in which it behoveth us to be saved.'
"there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).
Christ wasn't a ChristianWho was the greatest Christian ever?
Our Lord and Savior, Jesus the "Christ"...
Kindgdom Bible Studies Savior of The World Part 3
On this earth there are more than four and a half billion people! The most populous lands are China, India, and other parts of Asia, and in spite of missionaries from the West, actually more than half of all people on the earth have never so much as heard the ONLY NAME BY WHICH MEN MAY BE SAVED - the name of JESUS CHRIST! For your Bible says.......
This means that billions of people here on this earth have lived, and died, without having known anything about God's provision of salvation - without saving knowledge - neither having heard the only name by which men may be saved! Now think what that means.
If all unsaved are eternally lost, then more than HALF the people who have ever lived on this earth have been consigned to eternal hell without ever having been given so much as a chance to escape it!...........
"Fire" -- I am the god of hellfire! (1968) by Arthur Brown ~ new video - YouTube
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Of the Billions of Christians that have existed over the past two thousand years why does anyone believe they can possibly know the answer to this? Or even that giving an answer is possible? How do you measure such a thing?
The greatest Christian ever is whoever was the most humble. But with that kind of humility we'll never know about them, and thus we will never know the answer.
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