Recognizing/believing that Jesus Christ is ONE with G-d & the Holy Spirit is the most basic fundamental of being a "Christian," since Christianity is founded on the belief that Christ is the manifestation (embodiment) of G-d in the flesh. Thus, Christ declaring "before Abraham was, I AM"...
The bodies returned to dust, but the soul is not of dust - and our G-d is the G-d of the living, not of the dead, so the souls (at least certainly those of the righteous) are alive.
Orthodox (coptic, etc.) tradition holds that Christ "was crucified, buried and arose from the dead on the 3rd...
Your Question: "If the wrathful, jealous, and genocidal Old Testament God existed do you really think he would allow religions that worship idols and other gods to exist, let alone flourish for thousands of years? I think there would be far fewer religions and many more followers of...