the story about the infinite numbers of xians thrown in the beasts seems to me an exaggerated one. A convinient one and an excellent opportunity for the new religion to create its one early heroes and marters in order to increase the zeal of the other naive or romantic beleivers. And while the xians were thrown to lions in the same occasions with any other law breaker of the roman state and the story is exaggerated, the thousands of the non beleivers put to death in europe and america by the catholics isnt any exaggerated at alldean wrote:
The Christians who were thrown to the lions may not have agreed with you.
That debate about the early christianity is an unclear one and moreover the religious people make it even more difficult by sticking to a couple of naive writings and doctrines which contain philosophic and theological concepts which vary from poor to mediocre in the best case.
It is said that Nero himself wasnt in Rome at the time of the fire. Also the whole story of Nero is a dirty one with Seneca, his mother, his wife plotting against him etc
Nero was tolerant towards religious affairs and liberal in politics and had introduced many progressive legislative work. The "xians" on the other hand were never tolerant in religious issues, were sticking to stupid doctrines instead of being progressive and probable they regarded Neros progressive vision as a direct threat to their own agenta and conspiracies. Thinking that 500 years ago from present day they were still burning the "faithless" alive, it doesnt surprise me if they indeed were responsible for the fire in Rome in order to create chaos and make the poor poorer and as a result more easy to seek salvation in the new "promising" religion and the wishful heavens and the supposingly kingdoms of jesus. I m convinced that those guys would do anything in order to spread the true faith and their god himself had urged them to do so
Regarding Alex and christianity there isnt any direct relationship. That religion was a heresy of judaism and was bornt in the east where people were used to worship their kings like gods before Alex showed up.
The connection could be a different one. Alex campaign resulted a kind of ancient "globalisation" which made it more easy for the xianity to spread...but again that would have happened without him ever campaigning to the east with the rise of Rome....the roman empire was the politcal globalisation in east and west (Alexanders was obviously only in the east) and xianity was the religious globalisation....thats all maybe Alex had the dream before the rise of Rome to unite the known world under one rule
I d say that maybe the "carpenter" borrowed a bit of Alexanders vanity and presented himself as son of God but again I doubt about a lot in that figure...well yes I m an atheist, isnt it quite obvious
pardon me if any beleiver didnt like what he read but if church was honest enough it would stop mentioning the xians eaten by the lions and started to apologise for those put to death by the church itself
--about the Greeks being intolerant in religious issues maybe lets think it over...the one case with the effort to convert the temple of jhwh to a temple of zeus doesnt make the rule, does it?
..i d say that prechristian religions seemed to be way more tolerant than christianity as far as the treatment of different religions is concerned and islam (and judaism btw)...actually not only they were tolerant enough but it seemed people regarded some gods of other ethnicities as "versions" of their own gods so there werent many reasons for hatred
well ok the persians ruined a couple of egyptian temples and the persian some greek ones and the greeks some persian but the wars were not fought in the name of religion or to convert the enemy and spread the "true and good religion of ours" here and there
maybe I m judging xianity too harsh but one thing I cant stand is hypocricy and there plenty of it in religions (in general)