Questions tagged [christianity]

the religion based on the person and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, or its beliefs and practices.

Use this tag for notable claims in which Christian practice, belief, or affiliation is a major factor. This includes:

  • Claims involving the beliefs or practices of specific Christian groups (e.g. "Does the Church of X really hold to Teaching Y?") that can be verified through consulting official statements, interviewing church officials, or attending services.
  • Claims involving whether notable Christian leaders did or did not make certain notable statements.
  • Claims involving historically verifiable parts of Christian history, such as the existence of certain religious figures or leaders (e.g. whether there is historical evidence for the existence of St. Patrick).

Do not use this tag for inquiries into the truth or falsity of Christian belief (such as the divinity of Jesus, the Immaculate Conception of Mary, the exact mechanics of a future Rapture, etc.), as religious belief is, by definition, not falsifiable.

47 questions
18
votes
1 answer

Were Christians ever publicly executed for their faith in Ancient Rome?

It’s commonly known that early Christians were prosecuted for centuries in the Roman empire, up to execution via damnatio ad bestias, meaning they were made to fight lions and other beasts in deadly competitions. However, there’s an article on the…
Konrad Rudolph
  • 12,427
  • 3
  • 56
  • 84
16
votes
1 answer

Did a Cypriot bishop claim that homosexuality is caused when parents have anal sex?

The August 1, 2019 issue of MetroWeekly ("Washington D.C.'s Best LGBTQ Magazine for 25 Years"), on page 46, provides a "LastWord" quotation section that includes the following: "Gays are created due [to] the anal sex of a straight couple and only…
Robert Columbia
  • 3,396
  • 3
  • 20
  • 43
15
votes
0 answers

Do Mormon teens practice "soaking" and "jump humping"?

According to this popular post on /r/facepalm, and again here Some Mormon teens have convinced themselves that putting a penis in a vagina and then not moving is not sex. That's called soaking. Jump humping is when you get someone to jump on the…
Evan Carroll
  • 28,401
  • 42
  • 129
  • 239
14
votes
1 answer

Do US Military personnel have to observe Ramadan while Gideon volunteers are banned from bases?

The website The Gateway Pundit claims "Military Bans Bibles But Forces Soldiers to Adhere to Ramadan Rules" : The US Air Force kicked Christian Gideon’s volunteers off base in March. The Bibles were too offensive and violated the separation of…
user20862
13
votes
1 answer

Did St. Patrick rid Ireland of druids and other pagans?

I've read that the common story about St. Patrick ridding Ireland of "snakes" is actually a reference to ridding Ireland of druids and other pagans. Some sources say that he accomplished this through his preaching of Christian principles, but other…
11
votes
0 answers

Is the Greek Orthodox church worth 700 billion Euros?

This Wikipedia list puts the Greek Orthodox church's net worth at 700B Euros in 2011 (about 974B USD), above any branch of the Catholic church or other religion. Its source is France 24, but I am not sure whether the 700B estimate is trustworthy.…
Caleb Stanford
  • 210
  • 3
  • 7
11
votes
1 answer

Did Christians seek out martyrdom during the Roman empire?

In the National Geographic series "Jesus: Rise To Power", it seemed as if some Christians actively sought out martyrdom. One anecdote it mentioned, featuring Arrius Antoninus, is also mentioned in Wikipedia: Some early Christians sought out and…
Andrew Grimm
  • 38,859
  • 36
  • 141
  • 342
10
votes
2 answers

Have one million Christians been persecuted to death or exile in Iraq by jihadis?

On the Breitbart News Network is the claim In a region where Christians predate Muslims by centuries, over one million Christians have been killed or have had to flee because of jihadi persecution, while America is basically standing by and…
user20862
9
votes
2 answers

Were evangelicals rallied around abortion in 1978, as a substitute for segregation?

The June 20, 2019 edition of NPR’s “Throughline” podcast “examines how the issue of abortion became a defining political issue for evangelicals.” In it, the hosts talk about evangelicals initially ignoring, or even welcoming, Roe v. Wade, noting…
KRyan
  • 1,530
  • 2
  • 12
  • 20
9
votes
2 answers

Is global persecution of Christians at historic peak?

From this article in the "Catholic News Agency": Anti-Christian persecution is “worse than at any time in history” How much are Christians really persecuted today, and is it really worse today than at any other time in history?
gberger
  • 201
  • 1
  • 4
9
votes
1 answer

Are any fragments of the True Cross authentic?

Many churches around the world claim to hold pieces of the True Cross, the cross upon which Jesus was actually crucified. However, I doubt that any of their claims are valid. Two thousand years is a long time, and I doubt that the Romans (or anyone…
Bigbio2002
  • 863
  • 7
  • 15
8
votes
1 answer

Are Luther and Calvin responsible for executing more humans than the Catholic Inquisition?

Here is a quote from one Russian Orthodox priest: "The number of witches burned by Luther is way greater then the number of those burnt by any (Catholic) Inquisition within one hundred years. The number of sectarians killed by John Calvin - he was…
brilliant
  • 183
  • 3
8
votes
2 answers

Did a Chinese ethics textbook say Jesus stoned a woman to death?

I was reading this Reddit thread where the comments were casting doubt on whether this picture from this tweet was legitimate: This image says: From an account of John 8:3-11 in a law-and-ethics textbook published by the Chinese Communist Party.…
mic
  • 1,681
  • 2
  • 12
  • 11
7
votes
1 answer

Did the medieval church ban geography as an offence against the Bible?

According to the columnist Simon Jenkins (Our fixation with maths doesn't add up): When the medieval church banned geography as an offence against the Bible, what had been the queen of the sciences never recovered. I find the statement very…
7
votes
3 answers

Did the Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus, wear a hijab?

This claim (apparently) appeared on billboards in February 2018 on Interstate 55 and the Tri-State Tollway outside Chicago: (Which, yes, does not literally and explicity make the claim "the Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus, wore a hijab" but it has…
Roger
  • 3,031
  • 13
  • 28