77 From the book: HISTORY OF THE GREATEST LIES 22 The new religion, later called Christianity, did not immediately capture the minds and hearts of its followers. The adherents of the new religion were persecuted, desecrated, and executed. The God of the new religion himself was crucified on the cross. The disciples of Christ (the apostles) announced that the teacher was resurrected and appeared to them, presenting the wounds from the crucifixion. The resurrection of the teacher proved beyond all doubt that he was the Son of God. After the teacher was ascended to heaven, the faithful apostles went to spread his teaching among other nations. They suffered the same fate as the teacher, with the exception of John and Judas Iscariot, who, as we know, hanged himself. Jesus Christ was born into a Jewish family. His mother, the Virgin Mary, became pregnant from an immaculate conception and gave birth to a boy, whom his father, Joseph the carpenter, recognized as his son. The birth of a child was accompanied not only by various miracles but also endangered by the then reigning Herod the Great. The family had to flee to Egypt to save the child from death. The childhood, adolescence, and youth of Jesus are practically unknown, in addition, he grew up in Galilee, where he received a traditional Jewish education. Evangelists say that he lived with his parents in the city of Nazareth. He appeared to the people at the age of 30. According to Jewish rules, this age allows you to become a teacher and preacher. Christ's sermons are well known and there is no point in repeating them here. He called himself the son of God, for whom the Temple of Jerusalem was home. His sermons gathered many people. His 12 faithful disciples accompanied Christ on all his travels around the country. Judea was ruled by the descendants of Herod the Great. Judea was shaken by religious unrest. Various sects inflamed minds and caused excitement. Preachers of various persuasions wandered around the country, telling about the coming of the Messiah, for which one needs to prepare morally and observing an ascetic lifestyle. The Zealot Party called for civil liberty and the overthrow of the Roman yoke. The Jews were waiting for the forerunner of the Messiah, the prophet who would cleanse the people from sinful deeds and thoughts. The Jewish people believed that every Jew, by his birthright, would enter the Kingdom of the Messiah. The teaching of Christ differed from the traditional Talmudic teaching and caused disagreement and irritation. In Nazareth, the city in which Christ grew up, its inhabitants wanted to throw him off a cliff (a traditional form of execution) for preaching different from those adopted at that time. The famous phrase of Christ: "The prophet is not in his own country." John, preaching on the Jordan River, demanded a correction from the people, symbolizing this with a new rite, baptism in the waters of the Jordan. Christ was baptized, calling John the forerunner.