Amazingly informative facts about Christianity …
1. Voodoo is a mixture of Christianity and Haitian beliefs. In 1860, the Vatican recognized voodoo as a form of Catholicism.
2. There are Christians in Africa too. Of course, they believe that Jesus was a black man. The ancient Romans apparently agreed with them. Ancient Roman mosaic on the right:
3. Christianity reached China around the 7th century. The Chinese quickly remade Jesus for themselves:
4. Santa Claus patronizes Christmas and prostitutes, and St. Isidore of Seville patronizes the Internet.
5. In 301, the Armenian king Tiridates III declared Christianity the state religion. Armenia became the first state to adopt Christianity.
Promotional video:
6. The Pope preferred to move on a special stretcher Sedia gestatoria, just like some African leader. But in the twentieth century they, partially or completely - it all depends on the personal preferences of the current pontiff - were replaced by a car. 1930s, Pope Pius XI and his Mercedes:
7. Metropolitan of Kiev and All Russia John III (late 11th century) was a eunuch.
8. If you suddenly decide to confess, do not use the phrase "group sex" in church. That's right - a complete sin.
9. Before accepting Christianity, Saint Vladimir the Baptist actively implanted Baltic paganism in Russia, had a harem and publicly raped his brother's bride (then, however, having killed her parents, he married her).
10. The Vatican not only did not persecute the Bible of the devil, but in every possible way encouraged its study.
11. One day a woman, Pope John, became Pope. Nobody, however, knew about her secret - it was revealed when she gave birth right during some service. The modern Vatican believes that the story of the woman on the throne of St. Peter is just a fiction, but we know how it really was!
Pope John as a Babylonian harlot:
12. Following this incident, it is believed that the gender of each candidate for the throne was checked using a special chair. Manually.
13. Some popes eventually became anti-popes. Over time - because during their lifetime no one dared to call them that. If after the death of the Pope there were enough people who believed that the pope had taken the throne illegally, the pope was called antipope.
14. If there were no disagreements, the issue of canonization of the deceased was considered at a special court, which was necessarily attended by a prosecutor - the devil's advocate.
15. In Russia in the 18th century, a sect of white doves operated under the leadership of the fugitive serf Kondraty Selivanov. The sectarians saved the soul by castration.
16. The image of God the Father was forbidden by the Great Moscow Cathedral back in the 17th century on the grounds that God was "in no one form when in the flesh." Nevertheless, there are a lot of "forbidden" icons and frescoes in Orthodox churches.
17. Even worse is the widespread icon-painting subject "Fatherland". On such icons, god is depicted simultaneously in three forms. The Church believes that in this way the category of time is applied to him, which is unacceptable.
18. Sly iconographers, who for some reason really want to paint God, claim that in the image of an old man they depict not Hosts, but Moses.
19-20. Most Ethiopians are Orthodox, and because of a mistake in the translation of the Bible, Moses was often depicted as horned. In fact, his forehead should be overshadowed by rays.
21. Saint Christopher, even before becoming a saint, was so handsome that the harassment of the weaker sex prevented him from concentrating on thinking about lofty matters, and he asked God to do something about it.
God, always distinguished by a great sense of humor, sent down to the poor man a dog's head (according to some sources - a horse's head).
At the beginning of the 18th century, the synod forbade the depiction of Saint Christopher with a dog's head with the wording "abhorrent to nature and truth. The corresponding icons were recorded, and, nevertheless, several "authentic" images have survived to this day.
22. St. John of Damascus wrote all sorts of accusatory articles in the newspapers. At first they hinted to him that it was better not to do this, the hints were followed by threats, and when the threats did not help, they cut off his right hand so that there was nothing to write with.
Then John asked the Mother of God for intercession and healing. The Mother of God heeded his prayers: when the next morning he woke up, his hand was in place, like new. This is how the iconographic plot "Three-handed" arose, here it is (on the left):
23. Another three-armed saint - Kazimir (above, on the right), the patron saint of Lithuania: he has two hands. When a Vilnius artist was finishing his work on the image of St. Casimir, it seemed to him that the right hand looked somewhat unnatural in the portrait. Then he painted over it and painted over a new one.
But the old hand came through the layer of paint and, being painted over again, came through again. The icon painter considered this incident a sign from above and left everything as it is. There is no official interpretation of why the saint wanted to be three-armed on the icon.
24. Jesus had 12 disciples, but the apostles (disciples of Christ and disciples of his disciples) are much more: about seventy. Meet, here they are all:
The twelve closest disciples of Christ are called apostles from twelve, and all together - apostles from seventy.
25. Apostle Matthias is the thirteenth in a row. He replaced Judas, who had committed suicide.
26. One of the most influential apostles, an ardent persecutor of Christians and a zealous Pharisee, Paul, was not a direct disciple of Jesus and became an apostle after the death of the Teacher.
27. The Apostle Andrew, who passed with a sermon from Kiev to Novgorod (at the time of his walking, of course, these cities did not exist yet), was crucified on an oblique cross. St. Andrew's Cross is depicted on the flags of four states (Alabama, Florida, Hawaii, Mississippi), on the flag of the Confederate States of America, Great Britain, Jamaica and many others.
28. The Apostle Peter - the first Pope of Rome, was crucified on an inverted cross of his own free will, since he considered himself unworthy to accept death just like his teacher.
29. The tomb of Jesus is in India.
30. Based on the Gospel of Mark, some Pentecostals hold prayers during which they torture poisonous snakes with their bare hands in every possible way. It is believed that the snake will not offend the righteous.
These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new languages; they will take snakes; and if they drink anything deadly, it will not hurt them. (Mark 16: 16-17)
31. Other Protestants also read the Gospel of Mark, but in this passage they were more interested not in snakes, but in new languages, so they bring themselves to ecstasy during common prayers and try to speak in unknown dialects.
32. Pope Innocent III created the Holy Inquisition in the XIII century not to fight all sorts of Jordans Bruno and Galileans, but to destroy the Cathars; to put an end to the Albigensians, who managed to combine faith in Christ with faith in the reincarnation of souls, he equipped a crusade.
33. Photo fact: a fragment of the fresco "Leo Tolstoy Burns in Hell".
Hmm, 33 is a good number. On it, perhaps, and finish.