Were the disciples of Jesus Christians or Muslims?
The original 12 disciples were all Jewish and followed the Jewish religion of their time. Following Jesus’ death, they expanded their teachings to include a message to the Gentiles that welcoming them in as followers of Christ without requiring them to follow the rituals, feast and sacrifices of the Jewish faith. It was these Gentiles who would first be called “Christians”. In the Bible, every time the word appears it carries somewhat negative or mocking tone. It appears it was originally a derogation term that the Gentiles eventually turned around into an accepted title. The Islamic religion was founded by Mohammad in the 600s AD, roughly 500 years after the last of Jesus’ disciples had died. So it would be difficult for them to have been “Muslim”. I do understand that the Muslim religion evolved from the Christian faith, much the same way that the Christian faith evolved from the Jewish faith. Each is an off-shot or break away from the earlier religion. But to claim that the early Ch
