The Puzzle of Christianity. Peter Vardy

teacher and a great Jewish rabbi, then Christianity is false. If He was an extraordinary prophet – one of a long list of prophets – then Christianity is false. Christians affirm that Jesus is the Christ, the chosen one of God, God’s Word, God incarnate come to redeem the world by His sacrifice. If this is true, then the resurrection is not improbable at all.

      Before Jesus ascended to God the Father, He promised His disciples that He would not leave them alone and comfortless but would send the Holy Spirit or Paraclete (Counsellor) to them. Christians are firm in their belief that God is one, yet God is three persons in one. Thus the three persons of the Trinity are God the Father, God the Son (Jesus) and God the Holy Spirit. Since the Three are nevertheless One, when Christians talk of the Holy Spirit being with them, this is equivalent to saying God or Jesus is with them. After Jesus ascended, the disciples were praying together when a tremendous wind tore through the house and a tongue of fire rested on the head of each of the disciples. They were then able to speak in many different languages and they could be understood by people who had come to Jerusalem from many different nations. This event is celebrated in the third most important of the Christian festivals, which is called Pentecost. This occurs fifty days after Easter day (the day when the resurrection of Jesus is celebrated). An important part of the worldwide Christian community today are the Pentecostal churches, which proclaim the coming of God’s Spirit and, in particular, the Spirit of prophecy given to various church leaders (see here).

      Christianity spread initially among Jews and it must be remembered that there were Jewish communities and often synagogues in all the major centres of the ancient world. However, after Christianity was opened to non-Jews (see here) there was explosive growth among people of all races. Often the early Christians were women or slaves who responded to Jesus’ central message of God’s love and forgiveness.

      Initially the Christian message was spread by word of mouth and small groups of believers started to meet in each other’s houses. However, there was little in the way of central organisation and each community was autonomous. The New Testament was not in existence at this stage and verbal reports of Jesus’ message, death and resurrection were all that was available. It was inevitable that diversity of beliefs and practices should emerge.

      No other single character was more influential in the early years of Christianity than St Paul. He was originally a devout Jew and, before his conversion, was a bitter opponent of Christianity who was authorised by the Jewish leaders to use all means to stamp out what was seen as a new and heretical sect. After his conversion, he became fearless in preaching. Although he had not known Jesus personally, he considered that he was an apostle just as much as the apostles commissioned by Jesus during His life, as he felt that he had had a personal commission from Jesus. Most of Paul’s preaching was to non-Jews and when the leaders of the Christian community in Jerusalem heard of this, they opposed what he was doing. The issue was one that was bound to arise; Jesus was a Jew, all his initial followers were Jews, and so now the question was whether all Christians had to be subject to the Jewish law (including strict dietary laws as well as the circumcision of males). The apostles in Jerusalem, under Peter, initially felt that this was necessary but Paul did not. When, therefore, the Jerusalem leaders challenged Paul about this, he travelled to Jerusalem to resolve the issue. We have a record of the meeting in the Acts of the Apostles (15:1–