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Founder: Jesus Christ, and the Apostles
The prophet of Christianity is Jesus Christ. According to gospels in the Bible, Jesus
was raised in the Jewish faith. He was born in the city of Bethlehem, in region of Judea, which is
now a part of modern-day Israel. He was the son of Joseph and Mary from Nazareth, the city in
northern Israel today. It was said that his parents were descendants from the Jewish King David
the Great. Joseph was a carpenter, married to the Virgin Mary who conceived her son, Jesus,
through ‘the grace of the Holy Spirit.’ At that time, Caesar Augustus had issued a decree that a
census would be taken of the entire Roman empire. Thus, Joseph and Mary had to return to their
hometown of Bethlehem to be counted. On the way, it happened that there were no available
places to stay so they had to rest in the stable of an inn. This is where Jesus Christ was born.
His birth date is still a controversial debate. Since 440 AD, it was celebrated that
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Jesus Christ was born on the 25 of December. The gospels say that he was living in Nazareth
during his childhood. At the age of 12, he journeyed to Jerusalem to attend the Festival of the
2 Passover. There, he went to listen to the Jewish religious scholars at the temple, questioning
and debating with them, and impressing them with his oratory skill. These were all precursers
of the prophecies in the Old Testament Bible of the coming of the Messiah. His parents were
unaware he was in the temple, and it took three days before his parents could find him. The gospels
give few details of his life between the ages of 12-30 years old. We learn only that he lived a
simple life as a carpenter in the hometown of his mother, where they had moved after the death
of his father. The gospel mentions that he went to the River Jordan to be baptized by John the
Baptist, who had announced to the Israelis that there soon would be a savior coming to cleanse
them from sin and this would be the Messiah as mentioned in the Old Testament. Everyone
should be prepared to receive him. After being baptized, at the age of 30, he began his mission
of “spreading the Word” which was to redeem humans from their sins. He went alone to a place
where he meditated and fasted for a period of 40 days without rest. He was challenged by many
evil spirits who tried to distract him from his mission, but his strong will prevailed and the evil
spirits were banished. Afterwards, Jesus Christ began preaching to people in many places. Among
them, were the 12 disciples, who were Jesus’s closest followers. They were ordinary people,
1 Jesus in crucifixion in the Saint
Michael’s Songyae Church, Yasothorn mostly fishermen, who renounced their previous life in order to follow Jesus. They were: Peter
Province (Simon Peter), Andrew Jacob, James (the son of Zebedee), John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas,
2 Pope Francis, the 266 Pope He was Matthew, Jacob (son of Alphaeus), Judas (Lebbaeus, Thaddaeus), Simon the Zealot, Judas Iscariot
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designated on March 13 , 2013 (the betrayal of Jesus). These 12 disciples were called the Apostles.
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