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>>Well the fact that Christianity didn't start till after Christ's death and it was Jesus telling the story gave me a clue ...
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>People who liver prior to Christ we told to believe in the promise of Christ someday coming. If they trusted in and believed in that future event, then they too are in Heaven. I guess it's debatable whether or not we can call them "Christians."

Get out of it! They were told to expect "The Messiah", who would deliver them from the Romans and all that, a different kettle of fish. As I recall, it was mostly the Jews' dissatisfaction with how Jesus turned out that RESULTED in christianity rather than just a continuance of a new stage of Judaism.