After Jesus was executed, his disciples went into hiding for a while for fear of also being executed. It is even documented that one of Jesus' closest disciples denied knowing Him while He was being tried, for fear of the authorities.
Then, all of a sudden, they all came out of hiding and began preaching: "Peter said to them [a huge gathering], 'Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit'." (Acts 2:38)
Moreover, the disciples seemed to have lost their fear of persecution. They boldly went on to be martyred for preaching about Jesus.
How do you think this was possible?
2006-10-13 14:07:49 · 12 answers · asked by sweet_unicorn 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
By the way, my answer is that they found their joy and courage when Jesus appeared to them well and alive, and gave them a charge to be His witnesses before ascending to Heaven.
They found that they were not 'leaderless', after all, especially when they were given the Holy Spirit to be their Guide and source of power.
2006-10-13 14:30:09 · update #1
How about you? What's your opinion?
2006-10-13 14:33:09 · update #2
The were guided by the Holy Spirit. Read the book of Acts.
2006-10-13 14:11:25 · answer #1 · answered by Bobby 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
You might want to study early Christian history a bit more. Some of your facts (such as the disciples "all of a sudden came out of hiding and began preaching") are incorrect. Some stayed in hiding for the rest of their lives.
However, you are correct about the earliest Christians being a leaderless group of illiterate folks.
Keep in mind that most everyone was illiterate at time, not just the Christians.
Also, keep in mind that, since Jesus was a Jew, the earliest Christians were also Jews. They were considered a new sect of Judaism. Eventually, they opened their doors to gentiles (aka non-Jews). Eventually, they called themselves Followers of Christ, or Christians.
Most people lived in small villages or in remote little pods of 1-4 families.
There was no television or other means of group discussion.
Science hadn't discovered the answers to much of anything at this point in time.
In the beginning, the Christian message was to love and accept all peoples unconditionally and without prejudice. There were even female leaders (some of whom Paul addresses in his letters in the New Testament). This was a very radical (and obviously wanted) change from how existing religions treated other people.
All of these reasons contributed to the rise of Christianity.
2006-10-13 21:28:04 · answer #2 · answered by bikerchickjill 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Their boldness came because of the Holy Spirit. They were not all illiterate. Peter, though a fisherman wrote two of the books of the New Testament. John wrote 5 books of the New Testament. They were all able to do this with the power and anointing of the Holy Sprit in their lives. In Act 2:1-4 we read about the transforming moment.
2006-10-13 21:15:39 · answer #3 · answered by rejoiceinthelord 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
That is not completely historically accurate. I realize the bible says that, but what happened was that those in charge discovered that this had more followers than they had, and they used this as a way to gain power back and have the people love them again. This is how the class system in the Catholic church was developed. This is why with Catholicism only fathers and sisters and such can speak to god, there is levels and each level was a different level of who was in power at the time...
it is a brief and crude description, but it is more accurate.c
2006-10-13 21:13:00 · answer #4 · answered by I *Heart* Plato 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Of course, the same could be said for any of the major religions, with the possible exception of Islam. All were small groups of leaderless believers in the beginning.
2006-10-13 21:10:51 · answer #5 · answered by C_Bar 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It was the power of the Holy Ghost, and the truth of Acts 2:38, God's only plan of salvation.
2006-10-13 21:10:29 · answer #6 · answered by Southern Apostolic 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
They got Born-Again and Filled with the Holy Spirit.
You can be Born-Again, and not Filled with the Spirit.
You are Still Going to Heaven if you haven't been filled yet. (you will get Filled with the Holy Spirit when you get to Heaven).
Being Filled with the Holy Spirit gives you what it takes to Stand up to Satan (Fear).
2006-10-13 21:11:11 · answer #7 · answered by maguyver727 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Only by God's grace, which is special help from God over and above natural ability.
It is God's way to use the weakest and most inept instruments to do the greatest works.
It says somewhere in Scripture that God uses the weak to shame the strong.
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2006-10-13 21:11:37 · answer #8 · answered by Catholic Philosopher 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
'In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. -Acts 2:17
The Holy Spirit can compel you to do great things for God if you let him!
2006-10-13 21:24:05 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
You have already stated the answer; The Holy Spirit.
"God does not call the equipped, He equips those He calls."
2006-10-13 21:09:18 · answer #10 · answered by Debra M. Wishing Peace To All 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋