Jesus: The Most Powerful Name in the World
By Justin Ferriman
It really is astounding how popular and powerful the name
"Jesus" is on our entire planet. His name alone has caused
people to give their lives, take lives, forgive the
unforgivable, despise a people (i.e. Jews), vote in politicians,
harbor friendships with strangers, save self-destructive lives,
create self-destructive lives, the donation of countless monies,
vast humanitarian efforts, and so much more.
What is even more spectacular is that Jesus' name spread
(although sometimes by very un-Christian methods such as force)
during a world before all the technological advances that we
have today. Arguably, there is no name that has more power,
influence, and emotion attached to it than that of Jesus.
If one looks back on the ancient civilizations and their once
prominent religions with an endless number of deities and
spiritual figures, it is fascinating how they have all since
disappeared. Sure, we learn about them in history classes, but
the very fact that they are taught in school (in history)
demonstrates that it is not deemed a recognizable religion.
These religions were prevalent during a time when a whole slew
of spiritual practice to a great number of gods was occurring -
the chances of one religion surviving thousands of years into
the future were slim to none.
So here we are today, and alleged 2000 years since Jesus and his
name lives on (as predicted by the Gospels, especially
Luke-Acts). Believers and non-believers are in the same boat in
that they are subject to Jesus' influence on this globe. Almost
the entire population of the planet knows of the name Jesus.
He is a prominent figure not just in Christianity, but also
Islam. That makes approximately 3.4 billion people familiar with
His name (roughly 54% of the earth's population), and those are
just religious practitioners. We cannot forget the 1.1 billion
professed atheists/agnostics/secular humanists etc. that don't
believe in Jesus' divinity, but are nonetheless familiar with
His name and the amount of power it carries.
No other name has transcended time to the extent that Jesus'
has. No other name has had an impact on more lives in the
history of humanity than Jesus'. I would argue that no other
name will have more powerful popularity than Jesus'. Being that
it is indisputable that His name is a global utterance, don't
you think it to be important to research what He had to say?
Justin Ferriman (www.JustinFerriman.com) is a soon to be
published author in non-fiction Christianity.
He is currently attending graduate school in business, but
actively writes about politics and religion on his blog
http://www.politics-religion.com
