Quote:
Originally Posted by Toy Soldier
The fact that it was hijacked to that end rather than created for that reason isn't really all that important, though... not to an "unbeliever", anyway. The reason it took hold so quickly, and so massively (there was mention of "2 billion Christians" before - an exaggerated figure of course but still, illustrative) is because it was used by Empires (Roman, British, Spanish). Often through threat of violence. Whether you see that as a corruption of an original religious Truth, or simply as a convenient tool used to control primitive minds, is largely irrelevant. The motivations of those spreading the faith en masse was what it was and to deny that is to twist the facts.
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Christianity is the world's biggest religion, with about 2.1 billion followers worldwide. It is based on the teachings of Jesus Christ who lived in the Holy Land 2,000 years ago."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/
Just one link... there's plenty of other reliable sites giving the same number if you don't trust the BBC.