BC/AD vs BCE/CE

[Dr Strangelove]

I didn't say that Christianity prevented all wars, but it gave the Europeans something in common to share between wars. Also it could be argued that Hitler was no Christian.
Without Christianity, Woodrow Wilson, flawed as he may have been, would not have proposed the League movement, and without the League there would be no United Nations today. Without the UN the world would be much more violent, or perhaps even enveloped in as permanent radioactive cloud.
The other possibility is that without Christianity there would have been no renaissance of Europe, no industrial revolution and no modern world. Europe might be Roman, Turkish, or Arabic.

[Dr Strangelove]

Obviously someone has hacked Dr. Strangelove's account.

What was it one of your church's historical leaders said about understanding and ruling the world?

[Proteus_MST]

I didn't say that Christianity prevented all wars, but it gave the Europeans something in common to share between wars. Also it could be argued that Hitler was no Christian.
Without Christianity, Woodrow Wilson, flawed as he may have been, would not have proposed the League movement, and without the League there would be no United Nations today. Without the UN the world would be much more violent, or perhaps even enveloped in as permanent radioactive cloud.
The other possibility is that without Christianity there would have been no renaissance of Europe, no industrial revolution and no modern world. Europe might be Roman, Turkish, or Arabic.

Without Christianity there would, very probably, also neveer had been an Islam and probably much less unity between the arab states.
This, on the other hand, might have lead to Rome or the Byzantine empire surviving longer (maybe it would now be the worlds greatest superpower, maybe it would rule over all of europe [although, also the Byzantine empire would be different, not believing in orthodox christianity but rather the roman/greek pantheon]).

The whole world without christianity would definitely look vastly different from our own. I wouldn´t be able to tell if it would be better, or worse, however, as the absence of Christianity and Islam would might also have lead to lo9ts of positive developments.
Who knows ... without Christianity and Islam maybe Buddhism would be world religion now ... and the world a much more peaceful place

[dannubis]

Or we would be traveling between the stars...

[Jon Miller]

lol

JM

[Dr Strangelove]

Without Christianity there would, very probably, also neveer had been an Islam and probably much less unity between the arab states.
This, on the other hand, might have lead to Rome or the Byzantine empire surviving longer (maybe it would now be the worlds greatest superpower, maybe it would rule over all of europe [although, also the Byzantine empire would be different, not believing in orthodox christianity but rather the roman/greek pantheon]).

The whole world without christianity would definitely look vastly different from our own. I wouldn´t be able to tell if it would be better, or worse, however, as the absence of Christianity and Islam would might also have lead to lo9ts of positive developments.
Who knows ... without Christianity and Islam maybe Buddhism would be world religion now ... and the world a much more peaceful place

Muslims didn't destroy the Western Roman empire, the Germans and the Huns did. One could ask though whether the ascendancy of Christianity in the empire softened it and made it vulnerable. That's hard to judge. At the same time the empire had been prone to fracturing ever since the end of Augustus Caesar's lineage. The empire's finances had been on the verge of collapsing since the 3rd century, and the army was simply too thinly spread.
Byzantium very likely would have survived longer, and possibly would have regained portions of the old empire. Persia too would have survived as a Zorastrian state. Undoubtedly there would have been further conflicts between Persia and Byzantium, and it's doubtful that the Arabic tribes would hav left much of a mark on history.

I doubt that Buddhism would ever have spread to Europe. By the time of the renaissance era Buddhism had been nearly extinguished in India. The Chinese made one voyage of exploration westward, determined that there was nothing of interest and then withdrew forever into their homeland.
OTOH the Mongols would have likely still conquered much of the world. Perhaps Persia or Byzantium would have successfully resisted, or perhaps not. Given the nature of Mongol culture their empire was destined to fracture within a generation. In our history the Mongols of the east adopted Buddhism and the Mongols of the west ( The Khanate of the Golden Horde ) adopted Islam. Without the presence of Christianity or Islam perhaps they would have carried Buddhism into Europe, or perhaps the western hordes would have adopted Zoraster, Dazbog or Mithra as their god.

OTOH, who's to say that Mohammed might still have had his divine visions even without the influence of Christianity? Perhaps in time Islam would have spread over Europe.

[Ben Kenobi]

What was it one of your church's historical leaders said about understanding and ruling the world?

Don't get me wrong Doc - I had to look up the username to be sure it was really you. That isn't a complaint, btw.

[Dr Strangelove]

Don't get me wrong Doc - I had to look up the username to be sure it was really you. That isn't a complaint, btw.

Meh, you just don't understand me.

[molly bloom]

I'm always amused when people studiously avoid answering questions. It speaks much louder than anything I could ever say.

I'm always amused when you significantly fail to address the main point of the question being addressed to you and start diverging into irrelevant asides and tangents. Of course that means you unwittingly provide me with a great deal of amusement.

[Ben Kenobi]

I'm always amused when you significantly fail to address the main point of the question being addressed to you and start diverging into irrelevant asides and tangents. Of course that means you unwittingly provide me with a great deal of amusement.

I love it how people dismiss questions that they don't like as 'irrelevent'. That's some top quality debate skills, Molly.

[Robert]

D. The Origin of Santa Claus
f. In 1809, the novelist Washington Irving (most famous his The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle) wrote a satire of Dutch culture entitled Knickerbocker History. The satire refers several times to the white bearded, flying-horse riding Saint Nicholas using his Dutch name, Santa Claus.

i. In 1931, the Coca Cola Corporation contracted the Swedish commercial artist Haddon Sundblom to create a coke-drinking Santa. Sundblom modeled his Santa on his friend Lou Prentice, chosen for his cheerful, chubby face. The corporation insisted that Santa’s fur-trimmed suit be bright, Coca Cola red. And Santa was born – a blend of Christian crusader, pagan god, and commercial idol.

The dutch name of Saint Nicholas is not Santa Claus but "Sinterklaas" or "Sinter Klaas" which merged into "Santa Claus" when dutch immigrants moved to the states. "Sinterklaas" of course came from "Saint Nicholaas" which is just "Sint Nicolaas" in dutch.

And this dutch bearded guy was already dressed in red long before Coca Cola moved in. Coca Cola making Santa Claus 'red' is an already many time debunked fairy tale. Look at all the old 'Sinterklaas' images.

[Zevico]

Bc/ce is simply a way of introducing a new religion to replace an old one by some academics who probably think they believe in nothing at all. BC/AD is the historically accurate usage.

Did something especislly common happen on 1 CE? Of course not.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Well, 1 CE was likely a fairly common year .

Most historians and scholars peg Jesus's birth to more like 4 BC (due to the when the reign of Herod the Great ended).

[molly bloom]

I love it how people dismiss questions that they don't like as 'irrelevent'. That's some top quality debate skills, Molly.

What's 'relevant' to you and what's relevant to the topic in question are frequently separated by a great gaping gulf.

[Dr Strangelove]

Bc/ce is simply a way of introducing a new religion to replace an old one by some academics who probably think they believe in nothing at all. BC/AD is the historically accurate usage.

Did something especislly common happen on 1 CE? Of course not.

The change from BC/AC to BCE/CE represents a shift from a system that is completely centered on the Christian church to one that acknowledges the unifying role of the Christian church in the subsequent history of the western world.