Jesus dreamt of a paradise where charity would triumph over injustice, greed and lust for power. He has put the Good Samaritan as an example. After his death, some 70 disciples stuck to his dream. They attracted attention even outside Palestine. According to the Greek historian Plutarchus, Christians in the Roman Empire were soon known for their concern for one another and for the poor. This charitable attitude was apparently unique and essential.  But those early Christians went through a difficult time.

Within 40 years of Jesus' death, James, the leader of the first community, was murdered. The place in the temple where the community usually met was destroyed along with all of Jerusalem. Peter and Paul were sentenced to death and put to death. Nero had everyone killed who refused to worship him as a god. Philosophy teachers had already come up with an alternative to this idolatry. It was a mixture consisting of thoughts of Stoics, of Neoplatonism, of Jewish tradition and of the Hellenistic cult. Christians embraced these thoughts as a contemporary alternative view of God and religion. These ideas did not seem inconsistent with the lifestyle of the Good Samaritan. But, as was common among cults at the time, high priests and priests were granted exclusive supernatural powers. This fairy-tale equipment became the basis for specific church rules. From the third century, the authority of bishops was enshrined in an unshakeable tradition and in absolute monarchies. Since then, bishops were authorised to approve any act favourable to the church on behalf of God.  Emperor Constantine seized his opportunity. Bishops enabled him, as a kind of missionary, to subjugate peoples and win them to the Church. Later, this justified crusades, the Inquisition and action against indigenous tribes in America Canada. Even now we see how, until recently, bishops could cover up child abuse by priests with impunity....