Founder: Muhammad. Born in Mecca in 570 AD. Founded: Approximately 610 AD. Founding Occasion: Muhammad claimed to receive revelations from the angel Gabriel.
Founder: Jesus (also known as Jesus Christ). Born approximately 7 AD in Bethlehem, Judea. Founded: While it could be said that Christianity had no beginning, the Christian church as we know it began in the 1st century AD.
Some people believe that the Bible doesn't just contain God's message to mankind, they also believe that it contains hidden messages for us to ferret out. One method of ferreting is known as ELS, or Equidistant Letter Sequencing.
There are a lot of common misconceptions about Christianity, and probably the most common is that Christianity is about being good. Of course, the "commonness" of an idea has nothing to do with its accuracy. Christianity isn't about being good. Not even close.
Theologically, Christian Science is a cult of Christianity. Also known as The First Church of Christ, Scientist, it shares common ground with Gnosticism. Founder: Mary Baker Eddy (Mary Ann Morse Baker).
The Old Testament speaks of slavery often, and lays out rules on how slaves were to be treated. This has caused some to become confused...but a basic understanding of the context for ancient near-eastern slavery shows that the Old Testament does not condone slavery. Let's look at some common assumptions:
Anonymous GodWords Reader asked: "I was told that the name of Jesus is special, and saying His name in a prayer means it will be answered. Is that true?"
Jesus had one earthly parent and one heavenly parent...and let's not forget to include Joseph, too. Jesus' lineage is listed in Matthew 1 and Luke 3 ...but a careful reading of these two passages raises a few questions.
Some facts about Jared: Son of Mahalalel, Father of Enoch. Technically an ancestor of Jesus Christ [Luke 3:23-38]...
Husband of Ruth. Some facts about Boaz: Boaz means "fleetness" or "alacrity." Mentioned in Ruth, 1 Kings, and 1 & 2 Chronicles...
Luke [Luke 1:3] and Acts [Acts 1:1] were both written to a man named Theophilus. It was a common name among both Romans and Jews at that time, so there's little we can know about him for certain.
According to the Bible, Huldah was a prophetess. We know more about her husband than we do about her but, though she appears in only nine verses, it's clear that she was considered a very important person.
