Greater New York Conference Youth Department - Jesus: Unique in His Influence

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Jesus: Unique in His Influence

Moral Influence: His life and teachings remain unsurpassed in their ability to guide cultures, tribes, and peoples out of moral confusion.

Artistic Influence: He has inspired more of the world�s great art and music than any other person. Some of the greatest oratorios, classical hymns, and contemporary songs of praise sang all over the world, have been written about Him or to Him. Jesus is the object of more books, music, and literature than any other individual in history. The Library of Congress, the most complete repository of books in the world, catalogs more works about Jesus than any other person.

Humanitarian Influence: More hospitals, orphanages, rest homes, and rescue missions have been dedicated to Him than to all other religious leaders combined. More humanitarian efforts have been founded, financed, and perpetuated by His followers than all others.

Inspirational Influence: In the last two thousand years, no other individual has prompted greater commitment among His followers. Though He never raised an army, during His three and a half years of ministry, His followers have scattered to the uttermost parts of the earth to carry His message; not for money, lands, or earthly reward, but out of pure devotion to Him.

Scholastic Influence: He never founded a college, but His teachings and followers have contributed to more literacy and educational institutions of all levels, from kindergarten to graduate school, than all others combined. Prior to the time of Martin Luther in Germany and John Calvin in France and Switzerland, only the rich or royalty or the geniuses of the world were considered fit for education. But these reformers saw education as the means of teaching the Bible to whole generations who, for the first time, could read the Scriptures in their mother tongues. This quest for educating children in the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries laid the foundation for the explosive growth of the Industrial Revolution in the nineteenth century. By contrast the secular cultures of the world have done little to bring literacy to the thousands of tribes and indigenous people who once lacked a written language. Yet the followers of Jesus have translated the Bible into countless tongues and have taught millions to read, just because of dedication to Jesus Christ. In the United States alone 128 colleges were established in the first 100 years of the nation�s history. Harvard, Princeton, and Yale, among others, were created to prepare ministries, missionaries, and Christian leaders.

Influence on Women: No one has done so much to raise the status of womanhood and motherhood as Jesus. Though He came into the world in a time when women were considered only step above animals, traded for cattle and few enjoyed personal rights before the law or the marriage altar, wherever the message of Jesus has permeated, women have been ennobled and respected as humans beings made in the image of God. The followers of Christ led the women�s suffrage movement throughout Europe, England, and America.