Changes

|Christianity

|Christianity

|2.1 billion

|2.1 billion

|growing fastest in African, Asia; losing in Europe

|growing fastest in Africa, Asia; losing in Europe

|-

|-

|Islam

|Islam

The dating of our calendar from Christ's birth was victimized by a monk's error in the sixth century A.D., when the Roman monk Dionysis the Little changed the calendar to recognize the birth of Christ.  He calculated that Jesus was born the year that King Herod died, and modern historians agree.  However, the monk thought that Herod died 753 years after the founding of Rome, instead of the correct 749 years after the founding of Rome.  (King Herod is the ruler who ordered all babies in Bethlehem younger than 2 to be killed in his unsuccessful attempt to murder Jesus, whose family fled to Egypt to escape this.)  Thus the monk estimated that Jesus was born four years later than He probably was.  What was intended to be A.D. 1 was actually 4 B.C.  Note that there is no year "0", as the concept of "0" was unknown to the Greeks and not even discovered until the seventh century by mathematicians in India.  The year that followed 1 B.C. is A.D. 1.

The dating of our calendar from Christ's birth was victimized by a monk's error in the sixth century A.D., when the Roman monk Dionysis the Little changed the calendar to recognize the birth of Christ.  He calculated that Jesus was born the year that King Herod died, and modern historians agree.  However, the monk thought that Herod died 753 years after the founding of Rome, instead of the correct 749 years after the founding of Rome.  (King Herod is the ruler who ordered all babies in Bethlehem younger than 2 to be killed in his unsuccessful attempt to murder Jesus, whose family fled to Egypt to escape this.)  Thus the monk estimated that Jesus was born four years later than He probably was.  What was intended to be A.D. 1 was actually 4 B.C.  Note that there is no year "0", as the concept of "0" was unknown to the Greeks and not even discovered until the seventh century by mathematicians in India.  The year that followed 1 B.C. is A.D. 1.

The teachings of Jesus are well-known to all of us, and were recorded in the Gospels (Greek for “good news”) by two of His apostles (Matthew and John) and two disciples (Mark and Luke). The oldest versions of the Gospels are in Greek, the common lingua franca (common or commercial language among diverse peoples) of the Roman Orient.  No original Gospels have been found in Aramaic; the only discovered Aramaic Gospels are translations from Greek versions.  The general consensus is that the Gospel according to Matthew was written particularly for Jews; the Gospel according to Mark was written particularly for Romans; the Gospel according to Luke was written particularly for Greeks; and the Gospel according to John was written for everyone.  Matthew and John were part of Jesus's original Apostles, and Mark is thought to have been a scribe for the Apostle Peter.  Jesus had emphasized that scribes were part of those He sent forth to proselytize the world.  "I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes ....”<ref>Matt 23:34 (NAS).</ref>

The teachings of Jesus are well-known to all of us, and were recorded in the Gospels (Greek for “good news”) by two of His apostles (Matthew and John) and two disciples (Mark and Luke). The oldest versions of the Gospels are in Greek, the common lingua franca (common or commercial language among diverse peoples) of the Roman Orient.  No original Gospels have been found in Aramaic; the only discovered Aramaic Gospels are translations from Greek versions.  The general consensus is that the Gospel according to Matthew was written particularly for Jews; the Gospel according to Mark was written particularly for Romans; the Gospel according to Luke was written particularly for Greeks; and the Gospel according to John was written for everyone.  Matthew and John were part of Jesus's original Apostles, and Mark is thought to have been a scribe for the Apostle Peter.  Jesus had emphasized that scribes were part of those He sent forth to proselytize the world.  "I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes ...."<ref>Matt 23:34 (NAS).</ref>

Luke was a Greek physician (see Col 4:14) who accompanied Paul and also wrote the Acts of the Apostles describing the arrival of the Holy Spirit.  Unlike the firsthand Gospels of Matthew and John, the Gospel of Luke records eyewitness accounts of others, much as a doctor asks a patient for his medical history and then writes it down in the medical file.  Due to Luke's professional nature, his Gospel is very comprehensive about Jesus's life and resurrection, and it also conveys the great sense of joy that Jesus's family, friends and followers felt.  In the Battle of the Bulge in World War II (the surprise Nazi counterattack in Dec. 1944), which was one of the worst military defeats in American history, a minister's son who had memorized Luke’s description of the Nativity recited it for his fellow soldiers on Christmas Eve while together in the trenches.  Many of them died soon afterward in battle.

Luke was a Greek physician (see Col 4:14) who accompanied Paul and also wrote the Acts of the Apostles describing the arrival of the Holy Spirit.  Unlike the firsthand Gospels of Matthew and John, the Gospel of Luke records eyewitness accounts of others, much as a doctor asks a patient for his medical history and then writes it down in the medical file.  Due to Luke's professional nature, his Gospel is very comprehensive about Jesus's life and resurrection, and it also conveys the great sense of joy that Jesus's family, friends and followers felt.  In the Battle of the Bulge in World War II (the surprise Nazi counterattack in Dec. 1944), which was one of the worst military defeats in American history, a minister's son who had memorized Luke’s description of the Nativity recited it for his fellow soldiers on Christmas Eve while together in the trenches.  Many of them died soon afterward in battle.