how did christianity go fro the religion of the oppressed to that of wealth and power?

Question

I mean if you've actually read the old testament, you'd find it bizare.

Answer 1

Well, first of all, Christianity is NOT a religion. Christianity is the belief that Jesus died for our sins and that the Bible is the Word of God.

Religions are man made, i.e. Catholic, Methodist, Lutheran, etc... and man is very greedy.

Can you imagine how much the poor in the world can be helped and famine could be ended if the Vatican sold some of the gold in there? Or if they started to spread some of their money around?

Christianity is still for the poor and oppressed and the sinners. You don't need to belong to a church to enjoy the presence of God, but it is good to find a good non-denominational, bible believing church to join and get fed the word of God from a minister or a pastor who believes in the bible as the word of God and actually consults with God before coming up with a mesage for the church body.

Answer 2

Through both Constantine and the Ecumenical Councils of Church.

Dr. Adel Elsaei writes:

The first Ecumenical Council took place in Nicaea. Constantine sought to exploit the rapidly expanding religion, with its great potential, to strengthen the Roman Empire. Constantine was persuaded that the disunity of the church was destabilizing the empire. In 324 he felt sure that soon he would go to the Holy Land to see the sacred sites, and to be baptized in Jordan. But his plan was abruptly aborted. He found the Greek churches in Egypt, Palestine, Syria and Asia Minor boiling with controversy about the nature of Jesus. The intense theological emotion started in Alexandria by the charismatic presbyter Arius, who had a soft and impressive voice. He issued a challenge to his bishop Alexander, that the latter found impossible to ignore and even more difficult to argue: how could Jesus have been God of the same substance like God the father? Arius argued that it was blasphemous to think that Jesus was divine by nature. Jesus had specifically said that the father was greater than he. Alexander and his assistant Athanasius immediately realized the theological problem.

When Constantine selected and brought together 318 bishops for the Council, it was a military and political decision. He needed the support of the new religion in his battles. He claimed that he saw a vision of the Cross in the middle of the sun, his god before converting to Christianity in his last day. Even the bishops had no illusion about that, for not only did the Emperor preside over the Council, he also proclaimed that his will was a divine law. The senior pastors accepted him as a "Universal Bishop" even though he was not baptized, and they let him take part in votes on church doctrine. Constantine was completely ignorant of Jesus’ teachings. He was a follower of the solar monotheism of Mithras (the ancient Iranian god of light), who was portrayed on coins as the "invincible sun". When Constantine gave his name to the old Greek commercial city of Byzantium and made Constantinople in 330, five years after the Council, the capital of the Roman Empire, he had a mighty column erected for the ceremonial opening with the Emperor and the "invincible sun god" on the top of it.

God knows best.

Peace and Love.

Answer 3

In short: persuasion and coercion.

People are easy to convince of the strangest, strangest things. For example, were you a Christian man of the cloth way back when most people died before 50 (and died horribly, too), it wouldn't be hard to convince people that by worshipping YOUR God, they could go to a place when they die that is everlasting happiness and wonder. Just one catch: you gotta give them your money and land when you die. God smiles on that, you know.

Repeat a few hundred thousand times, and voila... you've got yourself one rich and powerful church. Once you've got the power and the money, it's easy to quit trying to convert people by persuasion and just tell them that they can either a) worship your God, or b) be tortured to death for being a heretic. That's a pretty easy choice, really.

When dealing with "unfalsifiable" information like the existenced of a supernatural God, nothing should be considered "bizarre." Just par for the course.

*xors

Answer 4

Emperor Constantine.

Answer 5

It's been that way from the beginning, especially when Emperor Constantine made it the official religion of the Roman Empire, though he himself wasn't a Christian until he lay dying.

Answer 6

Nations rise and fall and rise again. Life has a cycle. For Christians it is directly related to listening to God or doing their own thing. That's why some are blessed and some are pitiful.

Answer 7

brainwashing and killing people. Pretty much once Constantine became christian and took over eastern rome (later known as byzantium) they gained some power.

Answer 8

authors change and so does their stance on what happened, for example no it was god who punished them for their sins and killed entire armys, but then its god was merciful for what he did and spared lives.

Answer 9

Turns out brainwashing is one of their skills. ;D

Answer 10

They discovered that their prophets were profitable.