>This is, however, put forth as a story. A history. In most ways OT is no more aggressive than a book detailing any serious amount of history containing a war.

>This is, however, put forth as a story. A history. In most ways OT is no more aggressive than a book detailing any serious amount of history containing a war. It is cruel, sure, but no more than other books from that long ago or even more recent (Cicero, for instance, contains quite a few gruesome passages). A history in which a divine being, ostensibly the only divine being, and the most powerful, knowing, and moral being in existence is a primary character. One who calls for wars and even participates in them. And who doesn't indicate if this state of war will ever end, or whether one is to behave differently if it does. >I guess what I'm saying is that in the OT's case, especially when viewed through the interpretation the NT provides, requires quite a bit of roundabout reasoning to get it to say to make war. I think the opposite is true. It takes minimal effort to find God commanding the Israelites to engage their enemies. As to Islam's violent tenets and history, I don't deny its existence, but the only historical documents we have about Judaism's early days suggest that it, too, was the same at the outset. Also, as I argue below, Christianity has its share of skeletons in its closet. >Christianity spread because it convinced the population to convert and help eachother. For the poor to work together to make life better and provide a large-scale improvement of the life of the poor in the Roman Empire. This is a hypothesis that explains its survival during the first two centuries of its existence - one among several that is suggested by historians. It's hardly the only answer, though, and a survey of later Roman and all of Byzantine history indicates strongly that there are myriad political reasons for Christianity's subsequent survival. One consequence of the Christianization of the Empire and the various post-Roman kingdoms is forced conversion, particularly of Jews (who also experienced plenty of systemic discrimination, violence, and social stigmatization). All of this with plenty of ecclesiastic support. >You might want to look up once, for instance, exactly why Nero was fiddling when Rome burnt. I suppose any reason could be posited, since this didn't happen.