The Purpose of this Blog (Part Two)

My belief is that Christians should certainly study the early history of their faith. The information is easily available, so why wouldn't we want to learn more about it? 

When Christians make claims about the history of our faith that stand in contrast to what happened historically, it makes us look bad. As followers of Christianity, we should know more about our faith than anyone! 

It is my belief that history matters and we should look into our history to find out what happened in the past. Though some do not care how historical figures from the past are depicted, I personally believe men and women deserve to be remembered for who they truly were while they were alive. 

Secondly, if we do not understand history, this false information can have bad consequences for the future.

Take my earlier example of Mary Magdalene. She was not a prostitute, as many of my fellow Christians still believe, but was instead a devout follower of Jesus. Why should a woman who so dearly loved Jesus deserve to be thought of in a way that is not historically accurate? 

This portrayal of Mary undoubtedly hurt Christian women, as a figure who could otherwise be thought of as a role model and biblical hero was portrayed in a more negative light. To be sure, many of those who make the claim Mary was a prostitute do acknowledge that through Jesus' forgiveness, she became a good woman and devoted follower. 

However, this portrayal of Mary could surely come across as sexist.

Additionally, we have to remember the major consequences of some other misunderstandings by past Christians. 

The Bible does tell us that Jesus was betrayed by one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was Jewish. The high priest who wanted Jesus executed, Joseph Caiaphas, was also a Jewish man. Additionally, Jews in the crowd in front of Roman prefect, Pontius Pilate loudly proclaimed they wanted Jesus crucified.

While I do not at all doubt these men wanted Jesus dead, the stories have historically led some Christians to become furious at Jews. In today's world, Christians are often very supportive of Jews and Israel, but this was not the case throughout many parts of world history . 

Some early Christians despised Jews in part because the actions of these Jewish men lead to the brutal crucifixion of their beloved messiah. To be sure, plenty of Christians had no problems with Jews.

However, these stories have been used historically by both Christians and non-Christians as justification for Antisemitism. Though many of the Nazis despised Christianity and the religious leaders in the Church, some of them nevertheless used stories such as these to stir up hatred toward the Jewish people. This political approach was utilized to help convince German Christians that Jews had always been bad people.

It should also be noted that not only was Jesus himself a Jewish man, but all of his disciples were as well. Most of his other followers prior to his deaht also appeared to be Jews. Knowing this will help Christians to realize that while some Jews were responsible for the death of Jesus, others were his biggest supporters. There is no reason to hold anger toward Jews as a group.

Additionally, while Judas and Caiaphas' actions led Jesus to Pilate, the Roman prefect himself was the one who ultimately sentenced Jesus to death. Even today, some Christians defend Pilate and say he did not have a choice in the matter.

The problem is that even if Pilate personally believed Jesus did not deserve to be crucified, he ultimately DID sentence Jesus to death on the cross. Had Pilate simply wanted to punish Jesus and stop Him from creating a major disturbance at Passover, he could have thrown Jesus in jail for a while instead. 

Pilate had many soldiers at his disposal, so if angry Jews protested the decision to simply imprison Jesus, Pilate could have used them to silence the dissenters. The writings of Jewish historian Flavius Josephus and others have shown that Pilate was often a cruel man who had crucified many people during his time in power.

So, even though some Jewish men were eager to have Jesus executed, Pilate ultimately made the final decision to kill Jesus in the most inhumane fashion known to man. He could have stopped it, but handed Jesus over to die on the cross.

Had Christians realized this and held Pilate equally or more responsible than the other men, less people would have grown angry with Jews, since Pilate was not a Jew. This is a major example of how history can affect our future.