““What Christians see, or claim to see, in Genesis 1-3 changed as the church itself changed from a dissident Jewish sect to a popular movement persecuted by the Roman government, and changed further as this movement increasingly gained members throughout Roman society, until finally even the Roman emperor himself converted to the new faith and Christianity became the official religion of the Roman empire.””
![“The whole of the Sermon [Matt 5-7] is framed within Jesus's announcement that what his fellow Jews had longed for over many generations was now at last coming to pass - but that new kingdom didn't look like they had thought it would. Indeed, in some ways it went in exactly the other direction. No…” quote by N.T. Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/2e3/n-t-wright-1173_creator-god_the-whole-of-the-sermon-matt-5-7-is-fram_511367.jpg)
![“Even Tacitus admitted that “whatever their origin, [the Jews’] observances are sanctioned by their antiquity,”64 and the Romans respected tradition. Christians, however, had no such excuse.” quote by Elaine Pagels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/865/elaine-pagels-8423_judaism_even-tacitus-admitted-that-whatever-thei_61864.jpg)
![“Augustine reflects that “what made me a slave to it was the habit [consuetudo] of satisfying an insatiable lust.”31” quote by Elaine Pagels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/c77/elaine-pagels-8423_habits_augustine-reflects-that-what-made-me-a-s_240814.jpg)
