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  3. Christianity did not take the world by storm. It began as an offshoot of Judaism with a small group of believers in ancient Pale

Christianity did not take the world by storm. It began as an offshoot of Judaism with a small group of believers in ancient Pale

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问题    Christianity did not take the world by storm. It began as an offshoot of Judaism with a small group of believers in ancient Palestine, where Jesus Christ lived.
   In 63 BC Palestine fell into the hands of the Romans. From 40 to 4 BC Palestine was ruled by the Roman puppet king Herod, a half-Jew and tyrant. The Jews living there no longer enjoyed prosperous independence as their ancestors had during the reigns of David and Solomon. Many longed for the Messiah, the expected leader sent by God to rescue the Jews from their enemies. One ancient Jewish prophet had foretold the coming of a descendant of the royal house of David who would restore the former glories of the Jews and another prophet had said that the Messiah would come from Bethlehem, which happened to be the birthplace of Jesus, so the Jews believed Jesus to be the divine Messiah.
   There is little material about the life of Jesus in non-Christian writings of the ancient world. What we know about him comes almost entirely from the writings of his followers, especially the first three of the four Gospels in the New Testament. The early Church considered these four gospels to be the four best books of the many written about Jesus. They give a vivid picture of his birth and his wandering ministry. With a few chosen followers, Jesus spent his last three years preaching a new religion and working miracles — healing the sick, raising the dead and stilling winds. His two principal commandments were to love God and to love your neighbor as yourself. His teachings and miracles attracted great crowds of people who flock to see and hear him.
   Betrayed by Judas Iscariot, one of his twelve disciples, Jesus was arrested in Jerusalem and crucified on Good Friday, but was said to have risen from the dead three days later. Before he died, Jesus entrusted his followers the mission to carry the good news (The kingdom of heaven is near!) to the ends of the world. This task was at first largely carried out by his disciples, notably by St. Peter and St. John.
   At first Christianity centered around Jerusalem and the religion was considered to be exclusively Jewish. For many years the followers of Jesus confined their preaching to Jews. The founding of Christianity as a separate religion was largely the result of the missionary activities of Paul.
   Though Paul had not been a companion of Jesus, he was said to have seen Jesus after his resurrection, and was widely recognized as an apostle. As he knew Greek, Paul was able to preach the message of Christ to the Greek-speaking people. More than anyone else, he saw Christianity not merely as a Hebrew sect but as a religion open to all believers. He inspired people with his own missionary zeal and passionate eloquence, traveled far and wide through the cities of Asia Minor and Greece, and even to Rome, leaving behind his a line of devoted communities. Certain letters he wrote in Greek were circulating widely and were read with eagerness. They were full of interest because these letters discussed practical day-to-day problems as they arose. Mission churches were founded in many towns and great numbers of people embraced the new faith. It particularly had a large following among the poor and the slaves. By the end of the first century AD, the Church was firmly established.
   The next stage in the history of Christianity is from 100 down to the year 313. It was a period of further expansion of Christianity. In the second century it was rapidly outstripping the other religions of the Roman Empire. Around 200 a Christian writer wrote that in his day there were Christians in almost every town.
In which century was Christianity rapidly surpassing the other religions of the Roman Empire?
选项 A、The 1st century AD
B、The 2nd century Ad
C、The 3rd century AD
D、The 4th century AD．
答案B
解析
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