Why Christianity became popular | Yuval Noah Harari and Lex Fridman

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GUEST BIO:
Yuval Noah Harari is a historian, philosopher, and author of Sapiens, Homo Deus, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, and Unstoppable Us.

PODCAST INFO:

SOCIAL:

[LexClips]

Guest bio: Yuval Noah Harari is a historian, philosopher, and author of Sapiens, Homo Deus, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, and Unstoppable Us.

[normansommer]

From a sales point of view, the promise of a everlasting life, combined with the ability to have all your sins forgiven is the best offer in any religion.

[hadara]

"Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful."
~Lucius Anneaus Seneca

[robertmitchell]

The reason Christianity became so successful and that Christian nations became so successful is simply because of forgiveness.

A Christian monarch, when they gained power through some conflict, had the option of forgiving their enemies without appearing weak. Because of this, they could end the intergenerational vendettas that we can see playing out to this day, in religions that do not have forgiveness as a fundamental tenet.

In fact, magnanimity displayed through forgiveness was seen as an act of courage and confidence. Which of course it is.

This option of ending vendettas meant that Christian societies could opt out of spending energy on vendettas. Not an option in certain other religions. Played out over the course of centuries, this capacity to forgive led to a huge difference economically, socially, and culturally.

This wasn't just limited to sovereigns of course. This existed, and still exists, throughout society where the victor in a social conflict had the option of forgiving their defeated competitior. This allows tit for tat conflicts to be reset and often for the vanquished to then ally themselves with the victors leading to collaboration rather than confrontation. And all without shame because the act of forgiveness was an 'imperative' for the victor and had no reflection on the weakness or strength of the defeated party.

Unfortunately, because history along with many other of the humanities has been captured by the deterministic and mechanistic narrative that Harari has embraced then these so called intellectuals totally fail to understand the most abiding benefit of Christianity.

Subsequently, his confusion is manifest.

[jorglueke]

It included women and empathy for believers and the poor. It appealed to the mass of people instead of the elite so it gained traction from the bottom up, through the army, until it vecame the best option for the Emperor to maintain control.

[peterRobinson]

Why did Christianity become the most successful religion in the World?
Harrari: we can't explain it...
Christian: because its real and we have experienced the touch of the holy spirit on our souls.

[Herodotus]

Dr. Bart Ehrman has a good explanation for its success: those other sects didn't demand exclusivity. If one started worshiping Dionysus, they didn't have to give up the worship of Apollonius; the following of different cults and gurus didn't take anything away from the other cults and gurus, but the worship of Jesus required the giving up of other gods. Give that enough generations, and the Christian cult grew while diminishing all the other cults. Without a similar competitor, Christianity was virtually guaranteed to eventually replace them al.

[onezerooneo]

It became popular because it appealed to the lower classes who are the majority. Before that all the stories were of Demi-god heroes doing miraculous things. People only had access to the oracles if they brought them expensive goods. The story of Jesus is the story of a regular joe (Carpenter, poor) doing miraculous things- this appealed to all the regular joes.

[PaulBCohen]

Faith isn’t given to the wise, but God has chosen the foolish things to confound man’s wisdom and self sufficiency.

[Family_]

Worshipping for forgiveness is alot easier then taking accountability. This is why Christianity, Islam and Judaism is huge.

[aga]

Christianity is complex & philosophically rich. It has been ridiculed and infantized in today's culture like many profound subjects, including philosophy, theology etc. I always say to people who criticize or reject Christianity: have you really got to know it, in depth, before rejecting it?C.S.Lewis for a start. Dostoyewsky reffered to Christianity a lot in his novels. That's why they are so deep, psychologically and spiritually.

[sethpajak]

It's not a religion or a story, it's a brand. It's a brand that says you can go to heaven for free, if you do as your told. The icons are simply focal points for the brand. Used to manipulate the followers by the leadership. To me, that's all there is to it.

[Tybourne]

Just imagine, Tolkien once quietly told his friend C.S. Lewis the incredible tale of Christianity—a narrative akin to any other, yet with a single, awe-inspiring twist. It's not just a story, it's a remarkable truth. Think about it- Jesus's triumphant resurrection, a storyline that both encompasses and soars beyond the ancient myths of Osiris and Baldur. He defied death itself, and that's what makes this story truly remarkable- to inform your life or inspire your death. It was the witness of martyrs that converted the Roman empire.

[MrKingleonitus]

Christianity did something back then that was rare. It’s a religion that acknowledges that we suck. That we are all sinners and that we fundamentally suck. And then, instead of striving towards perfection, it allows you to acknowledge that you suck and still be forgiven. I don’t think he’s acknowledging how powerful that is.

[vanessa.jasmine]

I’m Catholic and I agree it’s the best “story”. Christianity is unique in that it claims God became human, and entered the world as a vulnerable infant. Think about it, the behind every grain of sand, every star in the universe, every quark, etc. humbled himself to become one of us. The shortest sentence in the Bible is “Jesus wept”. God knows first hand the grief of losing a loved one to death, and in turn “Christ is risen from the dead,
by death trampling death, and to those in the tombs granting life!” That’s a great story!

Mohammed never claimed to be God, The Buddha never claimed to be God, the reason Jews don’t believe Jesus is the messiah is because no human can claim to be God.

There is an innate humility to Christianity that has been lost since it has become the religion with most adherents, and especially in the US. It’s hard to be a humble Christian when you are a citizen in the most powerful nation in the world.

[KWMPmulder]

I believe it's the best story. This is my best summary.
It's the worst possible fate for the least deserving, he bears that burden, and all the worlds maleveolence voluntarily in life and in death for the love/ goodwill of all humanity. He does this most of all for those that are considered "least of these." A person must speak the truth, love their neighbor, and submit to die if they are to be reborn. This is a blueprint to "resurect the dead" and "redeam the world." I think it's is the most relatably redemptive and resurective story we've managed to come up with.

[yatanko]

100/100 would be the correct ratio. Yuval's failure to see revolutionary ideas in Christianity stuns me every time I hear him. He is a prime example of how intellect doesn't necessarily result in correct conclusions when crossbred with pride.

[calebrusselkennedy]

If you're a Christian, you believe the driving force was Jesus' promise of eternal life in the Kingdom of heaven, followed by his resurrection from the dead which testified to his promise, after resurrecting 40 days spent going back over his teachings with his friends, and then literally ascending into the sky promising he's going to return again. Quite an impetus for his friends spreading the message.

[dirkcampbell]

Fridman: vague and unfocused. Harari: analytical and incisive.

[WisdomWeaverBitcoinBruv]

"Because Jesus was ripped AF, so the gym bros loved him, and he brought us chocolate Easter eggs and got us Sundays off. Krishna, on the other hand, gave us what? Blue balls and Tambourines." WOW! I did not expect this level of honesty.