John 3:16 – Be thankful, grateful, patient, charitable, kind, and smile, as it is infectious. God Bless America; protect our president and Military!
I believe that at times it does, and we are given a choice in life to take this path or choose between right and wrong, good and evil. I have always believed that there’s a struggle and forces at play beyond our knowledge. The Bible, though written over a millennium by different authors, has a rhythm that resonates with a life of its own, validating it from the Old to the New Testament and from generation to generation.
But we have a choice to believe or not and to accept the forces at play in which we are all in movement towards or away from in our own personal belief or lack thereof. The greatest scientific minds to date pretty much all agree in a higher authorit beyond our knowledge in creation and the harmony of everything in the universe.
People will choose to believe what they want to believe, even in light of evidence throughout world history, and much of it lies behind every conflict since Cain and Abel.
Some Biblical Christian Persecution History – This might not go over well with folks, but the Hebrews in the land of Canaan/Israel began with Abraham around 1800 to 1500 BCE. This doesn’t count the 450 years they were exiled as slaves in Egypt. The divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah started around 1000 BCE.
64 CE: Emperor Nero’s systematic Roman state persecution of Christians lasted about 250 years. He wanted to redesign Rome and had it burned, blaming the Christians.
250-251 CE: Emperor Decius orders the first empire-wide persecution, forcing citizens to prove loyalty to Roman gods.
303-311 CE: The Diocletianic Persecution (The Great Persecution) begins under Emperor Diocletian; it is the last and harshest wave of systematic violence against Christians.
How It Ended: 311 CE: Emperor Galerius issues an edict of tolerance, stopping the heavy violence in the East.
313 CE: Emperors Constantine and Licinius sign the, ‘Edict of Milan”, officially ending state-sponsored Roman persecution and returning confiscated property to Christians. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Islamic Faith – The Prophet Muhammad was born in Mecca in 570 CE.
**No major prophet before or after Jesus claimed to be the Son of the Devine Father or predicted their own physical rise from the dead.**
** Muhammed at age 40: Regularly retreated to Mount Hira to meditate in solitude, deeply troubled by the social injustices, greed, and moral decline he witnessed in Meccan society. It is said that during one of these meditations, the Angel Gabriel (Jibreel) appeared to Muhammad. It is said that Gabriel commanded him to recite the first verses of what would become the Qur’an, establishing Muhammad’s role as the final prophet of God (Allah)
At the time, Arabia was dominated by polytheistic tribal religions. Muhammad’s message introduced a strict, uncompromising call to monotheism, uniting people across deeply tribal lines.
The Hijra: Meccan merchants heavily persecuted early Muslims because the new monotheistic message threatened their profitable idol-based trade economy. The backlash led to the Hijra, a migration to the city of Medina. In Medina, the local tribes welcomed Muhammad, allowing Islam to transition from a small, persecuted religious movement into a fully organized spiritual and political community.
**Muhammed passed away from an illness in Medina in the year 632 CE.** He nor any mainstream theological sources claim he rose from the dead or left an empty tomb. He was buried in the house of his wife Aisha, which is now located inside the Green Dome at the Prophet’s Mosque, Saudi Arabia. His tomb remains there to this day.
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