So it was an early job creation scheme then ?

@Moravian No, you know all these guys had jobs and left them to see what the heck this guy Jesus was talking about. They were so impressed they put themsleves in danger to tell other pepople about this gospel they had learned.

@Moravian No, this mad religion was scary to preach and people gave up their jobs and sometimes their lives to do it. You're right- they were sure the world was about to end. I think we need to understand their sincerity and their courage.

@brentan I suppose they were brave to go against the acceppted beliefs of the time. A bit like atheists in theocracies like Pakistan and Saudi Arabia today, but the commonly held belief that the Christians were persecuted in Roman times for worshiping their god is not true. It was because they refused to worship the Roman gods of the day as well which was mandatory.
Of course once Christianity was the accepted religion they got their own back big time.

@Moravian Isn't that the truth! They never bothered with those verses 'Do not return evil for evil' and 'do not try to get even'.

Ain't that cute?

Poor Satan...