Phat writes:
I suppose you would argue that Christianity was spread by people such as Constantine and Robertson and Swaggart.
I would point that the evidence shows that Christianity was spread by Constantine and people like the Henrys and Edwards but that Robertson and Swaggart were just Snake Oil Salesmen spouting their spiel to the country rubes and supported by their employee who suddenly throws away his crutches after just one swallow from the bottle.
Phat writes:
We really dont know if Constantine was an instrument of GOD or not....but we *know* that Pat Robertson was used more by the worldly spirit of greed and power than he was used by the Holy Spirit.
Too funny. It is irrelevant who or even what an "instrument of God" might be but what we can do is actually look at the evidence.
Constantine made Christianity the State Religion and so people became Christians.
Henry made Protestantism the State Religion and so people became Protestants.
Emperor Charles and Francis I made Roman Catholicism the State religion and so the people of France and of the Holy Roman Empire became Catholics.
In all cases though if you were a Jew you faced the choice of adopting the State Religion of Pogrom.
Edward VI published the Book of Common Prayer and so all English adopted the BCP.
James I and VI produced the "Authorized King James Version of the Bible and so people adopted the King James Version of the Bible.
In each such case (and there are many such cases) the overriding belief being adopted is that "If I don't go along and adopt the State's position I will lose out in the here and now".
Phat writes:
As for Christianity, we have discussed what it is, what it should be, the source of it, and the content thereof. I believe as Gamaliel said in Acts--if the motive is of Divine Origin, nothing will ever stop it but it is of human origin, it will fail of its own accord.
More word salad. If something succeeds then say Goddidit but if it fails say Goddidnotdoit.
But the evidence shows what I outline above. The idea of allowing anyone free choice of religion is simply a very modern aberration. Ones beliefs and religion throughout history have been determined by the State.