Bibles and Acceptance

I'm sitting here avoiding homework, and I'm supposed to be reading a piece titled "Rome and the Emergence of Christianity," Excerpts from Richard Tarnas: The Passion of the Western Mind. The author wrote about the beginnings of Christianity, and how "the earliest extant Christian documents are the letters of Paul, who never met Jesus." It follows that the teachings of Jesus were written down as an oral tradition, much as the teachings of Socrates. My question, then, is how precisely does one man teach something so powerful that entire nations abide by his words? The Socratic method is emphasized in all levels of education, although he supposedly never wrote a word down himself. His students took it upon themselves to record his teachings so that they might be spread to other people. The same apparently happened with Jesus' teachings. Why is it so easy for a culture, such as America, to become so fascinated by something? In this day and age, even something as important as a war fades from the people's minds. I remember watching a movie when I was younger about the first black president to enter the White House. It was such a big deal, and everyone was of the general opinion that that would never happen. When it finally did, it was old news after barely a week had passed. America is comprised of several generations of ADD, to the point where society as a whole seems to lose interest in a matter of days. How is it that Christianity still survives? What is so powerful about the history of something so culutrally significant? Certainly the number of religious devoties has fallen off in the US, but in general, people still go to church every Sunday. I like to joke that the Bible is the most widely read work of fiction ever published. Some people may not appreciate that, but how long can you ask a group to wait for the Second Coming? There is always the promise of tomorrow, but I prefer to live for today. If one voice can become engrained in an entire culture, just think of what an organized group can accomplish with the right methods.