Quote:
Originally Posted by zeek
Christianity was invented because the Apocalypse did not come quickly as predicted.
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This is the main contention of this thread. I agree that Christianity was invented, but not because the Apocalypse did not come as quickly as "predicted". There is no doubt that many expected the Lord to bring in the Kingdom at his first coming, we are told this in the NT, so it is no surprise if they expected it to come with the early church. But the interpretation that Jesus predicted that in Matt 10:23 is just not supportable.
Instead I would say that Jesus prophesied that Christianity would be invented when He warned of "many false Christ's" and "many false prophets". All believers are "anointed" which is the meaning of Christ. It is common in Christianity to refer to "the anointed man of God" referring to some Christian leader. I do not understand why people assume a false Christ or false prophet has to be a mass murderer like Charles Manson, or a cult leader like David Koresh, of a suicidal maniac like Jim Jones. The NT never gives this as a prerequisite. We hear repeatedly of Christians "returning to the pure word of God" -- that implies they were led astray by something other than the fellowship of the Apostles, i.e. a false prophet or false Christ.
So I would change the first post to:
"Jesus prophesied that Christianity would be invented in Matt 24, referring to these Christian leaders as 'false prophets' and 'false prophets' and saying that they would lead many astray."