===== Points of Divergence : Christianity ===== Christianity is an Abrahamic faith related to [[jews and judaism|Judaism]] and [[Islam]]. Founded as an offshoot of Judaism by the followers of Jesus Christ, Christianity was given a firmer organizational structure during late Roman times. Christianity spread from its earliest days mainly via missionary activity (though more heavy-handed pro-Christian rulers did advance/enforce it through conquest as well). Today, it is the world's most followed religion, and has had a huge influence on western civilization overall. As such, the fact that PODs relating to it are popular, should come as no surprise. This page lists links to discussions about various potential points of divergence in the religion's history - some more plausible, some more far-fetched, but all of them interesting options for alternate developments of Christianity and its interaction with other religions and predominantly non-Christian OTL cultures. ---- ==== PODs about Jesus ==== * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=87071|No Jesus]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=265184|WI Herod's men had caught the baby Jesus...]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=75645|Jesus not crucified discussion (1)]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=65920|Jesus not crucified discussion (2)]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=370217|Jesus not crucified discussion (3)]]** * **[[http://digi20.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb00048272_00001.html|Jesus pardoned by Pilate]]** (German) * Know of any PODs or POD discussions ? Feel free to add them. ---- ==== Pre-Nicene PODs ==== * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=49758|No Christianity (1)]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=370646|No Christianity (2)]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=65303|No St. Paul]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=65679|Christianity stays within Judaism]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=65679|WI the Apostolic Synod of 49 AD chose a different path ?]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=256310|No Ireneaus of Lyon]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=145703|Early Christianity without state persecution]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=93959|The concept of the Trinity is not adopted]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=253513|Christianity bans pork]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=25918|Different Biblical canons]]** * **[[http://alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=271883|A Bible limited to the Gospels]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=290043|Challenge: Christianity's main symbol is not the cross]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=3096|Christianity is not made the official Roman religion]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=367576|Religious developments in the Roman Empire without Christianity ?]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=361900|Challenge: Integrate Jesus into Roman Paganism]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=375228|Plausibility check: Christian exodus from the Roman Empire]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=370219|Development of Europe without Christianity as public religion ?]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=77978|Plausibility check: Foods banned in Christian-based civilisations]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=263329|Plausibility check: Emperor Constantine unites the empire under Mithraism ?]]** * Know of any PODs or POD discussions ? Feel free to add them. ---- ==== From the Council of Nicaea to the Reformation ==== * **[[http://alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=95928|WI Julian the Apostate survived (1)]]** * **[[http://alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=64489|WI Julian the Apostate survived (2)]]** * **[[http://alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=176772|WI Julian the Apostate survived (3)]]** * **[[http://alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=211980|WI Julian the Apostate survived (4)]]** * **[[http://alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=233013|WI Julian the Apostate survived (5)]]** * **[[http://alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=262872|WI Julian the Apostate survived (6)]]** * **[[http://alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=277371|WI Julian the Apostate survived (7)]]** * **[[http://alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=177942|WI Julian the Apostate becomes a devout Christian]]** * **[[http://alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=265235|Plausibility check: Roman paganism survives and thrives, the empire doesn't adopt Christianity]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=22428|Challenge: Coptic Church considered one of the major branches of Christianity]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=9754|WI Egypt stayed a majority Coptic Christian country ?]]** * **[[the vatican|Vatican (The Holy See) PODs]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=249476|Challenge: Popes as battlefield commanders]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=151363|Challenge: No Irish conversion to Christianity]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=138513|Challenge: Survival of the Celtic Church]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=92935|Celtic Church dominant in England]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=239194|Different developments of Celtic churches on the British Isles]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=58442|Muhammad is a Christian]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=38348|Could Christianity have flourished without Islam ?]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=152883|Challenge: A central Asian Christian empire (in the vein of the mythical Empire of Prester John)]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=262865|How to destroy the Papacy in the 11th Century ?]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=310844|Challenge: No Orthodox Christianity]]** * **[[pods:the crusades|The Crusades PODs]]** * **[[http://alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=125502|WI the unique Conclave of 1417 became the norm of Papal elections ?]]** * **[[http://alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=213715|WI: Hussites triumphant]]** * **[[http://alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=88552|WI: Ottomans decide that the Greek Patriarchate stays abolished]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=123045|Plausibility check: Different relations between Catholicism and Judaism]]** * Know of any PODs or POD discussions ? Feel free to add them. ---- ==== Reformation PODs ==== * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=277535|WI: No Protestant Reformation In Europe]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=27291|WI Catholic church reforms and the Reformation is avoided]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=70452|No Reformation]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=257531|Challenge: Protestant Reformation More-Or-Less Shatters Catholicism]]** * **[[http://alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=196557|Pope Martin Luther]]** * **[[http://alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=170897|St. Martin Luther]]** * **[[http://alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=188575|Luther assassinated after 95 Theses]]** * **[[http://alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=150304|Luther reforms the Roman Church (1)]]** * **[[http://alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=225914|Luther reforms the Roman Church (2)]]** * **[[http://alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=111856|Martin Luther burned for heresy (1)]]** * **[[http://alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=224324|Martin Luther burned for heresy (2)]]** * **[[http://alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=113378|Henry VIII converts to Lutheranism]]** * **[[http://alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=190074|Lutheran England]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=270864|WI: Pope Reginald Pole]]** * **[[http://alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=130550|Protestant influence on Orthodoxy]]** * Know of any PODs or POD discussions ? Feel free to add them. * //**[[timelines:A Dropped Pen]]**// - A TL using a simple POD where Luther stays a monk and the world sees a different reformation movement. ---- ==== Post-Reformation PODs ==== * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/ahc-modern-unified-orthodox-balkan-nation-byzantine-revival.393019/|Challenge: Modern Unified Orthodox Balkan Nation ("Byzantine" revival)]]** * **[[https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/mormonism-without-death-of-joseph-smith.335351/|Mormonism without the premature death of Joseph Smith]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=182139|WI: An Australian analogue of OTL Mormonism ?]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=247562|Challenge: A Christian "Al-Qaeda"]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=258814|Communism with Christianity ?]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=235804|Challenge: Orthodox-phobia instead of Islamophobia]]** * **[[the vatican|Vatican (The Holy See) PODs]]** * **[[https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/wi-first-vatican-council-continues.367441/|WI First Vatican Council continues]]** * **[[https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/first-vatican-council-leads-to-germanic-church.171439/|WI: First Vatican Council leads to a separate Germanic Church]]** * Know of any PODs or POD discussions ? Feel free to add them. ---- ==== OTL predominantly non-Christian countries and nations becoming mostly Christian ==== * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=253892|A Christian Morocco since the early centuries of Christianity]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/christian-asia-pagan-europe.204899/|Christian Asia, pagan Europe ?]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=272975|WI: Persia becomes Christian before Rome]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=7738|WI a Christian saint converted Persia prior to the Arab conquests?]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=140836|Challenge: Christian Anatolia ?]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=180315|A Christian Mongol Empire]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/what-if-golden-horde-succesively-becomes-a-christian-orthodox-empire.262679/|What if the Golden Horde succesively becomes a Christian Orthodox empire ?]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=56923|Discussion about Japan being converted to Catholicism]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=1320|More discussion on a potentially Christianised Japan]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=257394|WI Tokugawa Ieyasu converted to Christanity ?]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=65562|Challenge: A predominantly Christian Arab state]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=293809|Iranian Empire converts to Christianity instead of Rome ?]]** * **[[https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/wi-christian-brunei.194694/|WI: Christian Brunei]]** * Know of any PODs or POD discussions ? Feel free to add them. ---- ==== Countries with a different predominant strand or church of Christianity in ATLs ==== * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=291100|Challenge: Latin Patriarch of Moscow]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=182251|Challenge: A Catholic White Russia ?]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=197746|Plausibility check: Fully Catholic Eastern Europe ?]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=260079|Challenge: Predominantly Orthodox Christian Magyars and Poles]]** * **[[https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/wi-magyars-convert-to-orthodoxy.437795/|WI: Magyars convert to Orthodoxy]]** * **[[https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/wi-orthodox-hungary.442327/|WI: Orthodox Hungary]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/ah-challenge-orthodox-christian-sweden.147824/|Challenge: Orthodox Christian Sweden (with a POD after 999 AD)]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=310703|Orthodox Lithuania]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=267408|Challenge: Orthodox conversion east of Rus]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=266690|Challenge: Lutheran Austrian Habsburgs]]** * **[[https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/catholic-brandenburg.445681/|Catholic Brandenburg]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=201783|How do we get Poland to convert to Protestantism ?]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/wi-protestant-russia.202178/|Protestant Russia]]** * Know of any PODs or POD discussions ? Feel free to add them. ---- ==== Various PODs ==== * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=291846|Creationism WI: Adam and Eve don't eat the apple but some, not all, of their kids do]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=54019|Largest possible monastic state ?]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/more-peaceful-co-existence-of-abrahamic-religions-in-iberia.153732/|More peaceful co-existence of Abrahamic religions in Iberia]]** * **[[https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/west-remains-theocratic-other-culture-s-leading-charge-for-humanism.372275/|Plausibility check: West remains more theocratically inclined, other culture(s) leading charge for humanism as a philosophy ?]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=265215|Christmas PODs]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=135345|Challenge: Patron Saint of Democracy]]** * **[[https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/ahc-alternate-saints.416378/|AHC: Alternate Saints]]** * **[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=343325|World Religions without Islam]]** * Know of any PODs or POD discussions ? Feel free to add them. ---- ==== See Also ==== **[[Islam|Points of Divergence concerning Islam]]** **[[jews and judaism|Points of Divergence concerning Judaism and Jews]]** **[[buddhism|Points of Divergence concerning Buddhism]]** **[[hinduism|Points of Divergence concerning Hinduism]]** **[[Various other religions|Points of Divergence concerning various other religions]]** **[[indigenous religions|Points of Divergence concerning indigenous religions]]** ---- ==== Navigation ==== **[[pods:religions|Religious PODs Main Directory]]** **[[pods:pods|Points of Divergence Main Directory]]**