Jesus would likely have made it through his 30s, just for starters.
Part of the rub of Christianity as a philosophy and a historical movement is how it did seem to be this call to comradery and coexistence and egalitarianism. But it ran into a competing, corrupting philosophy of tribalism and xenophobia and authoritarian hate. And what was a philosophy of the downtrodden became a political tool of the aristocracy. The idealistic hope for a better future for the most committed became a blinding false prophecy of paradise for the most slavishly loyal.
You should be able to apply the tenants of charity, grace, and pluralism to produce a community of genuinely good people. But good people aren’t enthusiastic about smashing open their neighbors’ skulls and stealing their stuff. So it just wasn’t a growth movement like the evangelical settler colonialism that the faith became.
If Christianity stopped people from being awful, history would look really different
Jesus would likely have made it through his 30s, just for starters.
Part of the rub of Christianity as a philosophy and a historical movement is how it did seem to be this call to comradery and coexistence and egalitarianism. But it ran into a competing, corrupting philosophy of tribalism and xenophobia and authoritarian hate. And what was a philosophy of the downtrodden became a political tool of the aristocracy. The idealistic hope for a better future for the most committed became a blinding false prophecy of paradise for the most slavishly loyal.
You should be able to apply the tenants of charity, grace, and pluralism to produce a community of genuinely good people. But good people aren’t enthusiastic about smashing open their neighbors’ skulls and stealing their stuff. So it just wasn’t a growth movement like the evangelical settler colonialism that the faith became.