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25. The Successful Paul Of Tarsus
Most of the people who lived near Jerusalem1 were Jewish. The Romans were pagans2 , but they allowed the Jews to practice their faith and did not force them to worship Roman gods. About A. D. 30, a holy man named Jesus began to attract a following in the Roman province of Judea. Judea is part of the modern nation of Israel. His followers came to believe that Jesus was the son of the God of the Jews and that he performed miracles3 . The followers of Jesus angered Roman authorities because they refused to follow either Jewish or Roman laws. The authorities arrested and crucified4 Jesus. Three days after his execution, Jesus followers said they saw him rise from the dead.
The followers of Jesus called him Christ5. Christ is a Greek word that means“ chosen one”, because they believed he was chosen by God to be his messenger. In time the followers of Jesus became known as Christians. The Christians taught that people’s sins would be forgiven if they became Christian. This message was not successful with many Jews, but many pagans responded to the idea of Christian salvation.
Many fervent believers carried the message of Jesus throughout the Roman Empire6 . One of the most successful was a Greek-speaking Jew named Paul of Tarsus, known to Christians as Saint Paul. As a young man, he helped to persecute Christians, but one day he had a vision in which he believed Jesus spoke to him from heaven. Paul spent the rest of his life thinking and writing about Christianity and winning new converts to the faith. Through the persistence of Paul and other Christian missionaries, small Christian communities developed throughout the Roman Empire.
The first Christians believed that Jesus would quickly return to earth, so there was no need to create any written records of his life . After about thirty years, Christians began to see a need to write down an account of the life and wisdom of Jesus. About fifty years after Jesus died, Christians combined the stories of the life and wisdom of Jesus into four books known as Gospels. Gospel means“ good news”. The holy book of Christianity is known as the Bible and has two parts. The Old Testament consists of the sacred writings of the Jewish people and was written long before the time of Jesus. The New Testament of the Bible includes the Gospels, along with letters written by Paul and other Christian writers. The Bible has been translated into more than 1, 000 languages and has been read by more people than any other book.
閱讀自測
Ⅰ. Fill in each blank:
1. The Romans were pagans, but they allowed the Jews to_________ ( 實踐) their faith and did not force them to _________( 信仰) Roman gods.
2. His followers came to believe that Jesus was the son of the God of the Jews and that he performed _________( 奇跡) .
3. The Christians taught that people’s sins would be_________ ( 寬恕) if they became Christian.
4. About fifty years after Jesus died , Christians _________( 組成) the stories of the life and wisdom of Jesus into four books known as _________( 福音) , which means “good news”.
5. The holy book of Christianity is known as the _________( 圣經) and has two parts: the Old Testament and the New Testament.
Ⅱ. Questions :
What is the holy book of Christianity and how many parts does it have ? What are they about?
