They were followers of Jesus, by whatever word you want to call it.

@@melodiefleming9148 Maybe, but they were not Christians! I am no longer sure Jesus was a personal name of someone rather than a title used by the most respected of the Karaites. The most important pieces of evidence for this are in the Book of Acts. There is evidence outside the Bible that the Stephen martyred in Acts is the author of the book of James. When the Jews come from Jerusalem in 25:19 they accuse Paul of having murdered Jesus, not James or Stephen, and Paul claims he is still alive. If you let it, this fact explains everything about Paul's "ministry" if you can call it that, and the NT. Luke is sent to bring in Paul and on the way collects the letters Paul writes to house churches he starts when he brings Gentiles out of the Synagogues. Paul is a Pharisee and does not want Gentiles converting to Judaism any more than modern Rabbis want Gentile converting to Judaism. He is also a murderer who first says he was only holding the coats of others, then the Romans did it, and finally, even if I did kill Jesus he is still alive so it does not matter. No dead person no murder! The Gospel of Luke began with just John the Baptizer and the Miracle worker Jesus. Paul blended it and the original Gospels of Matthew and Mark that included only the Karaite teachings of Yeshua to create all three of the Synoptic Gospels we have, although a later reactor comes alone after the destruction of the Temple adding the prophecy of the destruction of the Temple and the Jesus that raises people from the dead, casts out demons, and controls nature. Yeshua was a Karaite who taught all the descendants of Israel how to find the scribal errors in the Torah by use of the prophets alone. God has used Paul and John to bring the entire Tenakh to all the lost sheep, not just the Jews. Shalom.

@@tombutler7296 Where is the evidence you refer to?

@@HearGodsWord In the NT. Shalom

@@tombutler7296 no, the N.T. doesn't say Stephen wrote James. You claimed that there's evidence outside of the Bible and gave none.

Jesu fulfilled the law though and just trying to keep laws never saved anyone. That's legalism.

@@HearGodsWord WOW, you have never read the only scriptures Yeshua had? The only way anyone has ever been let into God's house is by knowing and following God's house rules. It is so narcissistic to think that God will let you into His home when you believe He sent His one and only son to die so you could go on sinning. Christians follow the teaching of a Pharisee named Saul while pretending their Jesus is God. If Jesus is God incarnate, why did he need to send Saul a few years later to change or elaborate on anything he said. If God came here in the flesh He would have left no doubt in anyone's mind about what they were supposed to do! The Torah (God's house rules) has always been written upon the hearts of each and every person. We are born sinless and only learn to sin because we are taught to by our parents, priests, and other teachers. God gave us the Torah thru Moshe so that we might have a second witness but both Jeremiah and Yeshua tell us that copy has been corrupted so God sent the Prophets. The Torah upon your heart as well as the written Torah tells you that in the absence of physical evidence the truth may be determined thru corroborated eyewitness testimony, but not thru rumors or people who are pretending to be other people. Saul tells you he is not an eyewitness to anything about the real Jesus movement. Same with Luke, but Luke is a witness to Saul's anti-Jesus movement. It is easy to demonstrate that both the author's named John did not know the living Yeshua as well, so they are not eyewitnesses to the movement. God gave you the free will to believe whatever terrible things you want about Him. He does not allow into His home those that refuse to follow His house rules! Shalom