muhammad was the first convert to the faith called islam.
muhammad was the first convert to the faith called islam.
who was the first convert to the faith called islam?
muhammad
lydia is a biblical given name: lydia of thyatira, businesswoman in the city of thyatira and deaconess in the new testament's "acts of the apostles". she was the apostle paul's first convert in philippi and thus the first convert to christianity in europe. lydia hosted paul and silas after their release from prison. it is possible that lydia was the host for a house church during that time. according to coleman baker, "lydia is described as a “worshiper of god” (probably synonymous with “god-fearer,” used elsewhere in acts) “from the city of thyatira” (located in western asia minor) and “a dealer in purple cloth” (a luxury item in the ancient mediterranean). she and her household are soon baptized and offer hospitality to the traveling preachers. lydia’s house becomes the site for the church in philippi, with her as its host and perhaps leader... according to the book of acts, paul and his associates founded the church in phillipi when lydia and her household were baptized. one might conjecture that several of the women from the “place of prayer” were among those who joined with lydia in this new movement."
lydia (name)
the only substantial non-christian population is of the bahá'í faith. the bahá'í faith in kiribati begins after 1916 with a mention by `abdu'l-bahá, then head of the religion, that bahá'ís should take the religion to the gilbert islands which form part of modern kiribati. the first bahá'ís pioneered to the island of abaiang(aka charlotte island, of the gilbert islands), on 4 march 1954. they encountered serious opposition from some catholics on the islands and were eventually deported and the first convert banished to his home island. however, in one year there was a community of more than 200 bahá'ís and a bahá'í local spiritual assembly. three years later the island where the first convert was sent to was found to now have 10 bahá'ís. by 1963 there were 14 assemblies. as the ellice islands gained independence as tuvalu and the gilbert islands and others formed kiribati, the communities of bahá'ís also reformed into separate institutions of national spiritual assemblies in 1981. the bahá'ís had established a number schools by 1963 and there are still such today – indeed the ootan marawa bahá'í vocational institute being the only teacher training institution for pre-school teachers in kiribati. the census figures are consistently between 2 and 3% for the bahá'ís while the bahá'ís claim numbers above 17%. all together the bahá'ís now claim more than 10,000 local people have joined the religion over the last 50 years and there are 38 local spiritual assemblies.
bahá'í faith in oceania