I think anyone actually interested in this topic should watch:

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/guide/netw/200804/programs/LE0615H029D7042008T213500.htm

It's on Monday night 7th April.

Especially you, Gibo.

One needs to be careful not confuse the Jesus Mission with Christianity:

The former goes back two generations before Jesus' birth [7 BCE] to when the direct descendents of the House of David [Heli, Joseph and later Jesus] were given permission to offer a low order of Judaism less strict order of rabbinical rites to the Gentiles. However, this mission was at the decretion on the Herodian dynasty, who were Roman puppets.

The biggerer picture, which included, only in small part Jesus' mission, was to ensure the Jews of the Diaspora did not lapse. Jesus would have had contemporary teachers, perhaps, with a deferent slant on the signance of the Law of Moses [i.e., Pharisees].

The latter involved the Hellenisation of Jesus' folk lore, and the founations of Christianity at Councils of Nicaea (325), Constantinople (391) and Kent.

At the Council of Constantinople, the Nicaean decision on the deity of Jesus was confirmed and Arianism was formally declared a heresy. The Holy Spirit was the third Person of the Trinity. Nonetheless, even as late as the Council of Ephasus [431] the nature of the divity/non-divinity was hotly debated.

Jesus' mission does not seem to have been militant. The zealots were the militant Jewish sect. Jesus appears to have tried to establish a moderate form extended Judiasm, which would include Gentiles, as lower ranked members, whereas the zealots sought a sort of Jewish Pontifus Maximus: Something Jesus appears to have seen an over-reach. Yet is Jewish Kingdom of Heaven was for him achievable.

The atrocities of the Christians often involved the control of political power and ethic cleansing [to clear debt] from Constantine to Hitler and beyond. That is not claim your average church goer is some brand of monster; only misinformed as to the History of The Christian Churches.

Cheers,

O.