Christianity

(Revision as of 09:50, 25 Sep 2004)

Christianity Religion founded by Jewish mystic and rabbi Yeheshua ben Yosef Netzariot, Jesus of Nazareth, also known as the Christos, the "Annointed One</i> approx. 30 e.v. and propagated throughout the Roman Empire by his disciples in the following century, especially by Saul of Tarsus (St. Paul). It is currently one of the world's largest religions and also one of the most internally divided.

Historical Christianity

Christianity originated in the first century AD. According to Acts 11:19 and 11:26 in the Christian New Testament, Jesus’ followers were first called Christians by non-Christians in the city of Antioch, where they had fled and settled after early persecutions in Judea. After Jesus' death, early Christian doctrine was taught by Paul (Saul)of Tarsus and the other apostles.

Jesus Christ claimed to be the long awaited Jewish Messiah, but was rejected as an apostate by the Jewish authorities. He was condemned of blasphemy and executed by the Romans for being a rebel leader around 30 AD.

Jesus' apostles were the main witnesses of his life and teaching. After his execution, his apostles and other followers claimed that Jesus rose from the dead, and set out to preach the new message. The original apostles are believed to have written some of the New Testament's Gospels and Epistles.

Original Teachings of Jesus of Nazareth

Jesus taught a doctrine of love, tolerance, and forgiveness. The essence of his doctrine is contained in the "Beatitudes" of the "Sermon on the Mount," a lesson taught in the hillsides of Judea. (Matthew 5:1 - 7:29):

3

          Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of
          heaven.
   4
          Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
   5
          Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
   6
          Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after
          righteousness: for they shall be filled.
   7
          Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
   8
          Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
   9
          Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the
          children of God.
   10
          Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake:
          for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
   11
          Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you,
          and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my
          sake.

History of Christianity

The Early Church

Christianity spread rapidly over the first three centuries AD aided by the relative internal peace and good roads of the Roman Empire:

• via Egypt into North Africa, Sudan and Ethiopia
• via Mesopotamia to Persia, Inner Asia and India
• via Greece and Rome to Europe

During this period of first organization the church had to deal mainly with occasional, but sometimes severe persecutions. The life of the martyr, who would rather die than renounce his faith, became the highest virtue. The canonical books of the New Testament were agreed, early translations appeared, and a church hierarchy emerged: the Bishops of Alexandria, Antioch and Rome assumed the title Patriarch.

The Roman Emperor Constantine Constantine I was converted in 312 and with his Edict of Milan (313) he made Christianity the favored religion of the Empire. Similar events took place in neighbouring Georgia and Armenia. But in Persia, which was at constant war with Rome, the Christians struggled under the oppresive Sassanids, which tried to revive the Zoroastrian religion.

In the Persian empire, at the synod of Seleucia in 410 the bishop of Seleucia was pronounced Catholic and replaced the Patriarch of Antioch as the highest authority of the Assyrian Church of the East. Soon after, during the Nestorian Schism, this church broke all ties with the west. It would be the dominant church of Asia for more than a millennium, with bishopries as far away as India, Java and China.

Fragmentation among Christians

The Great Schism of 1054 split the Church into Western and Eastern branches: the Western branch gradually consolidated into the Roman Catholic Church under the central authority of Rome, while the Eastern branch became known as the Orthodox Church with the Patriarch of Constantinople as the most honored bishop among its autocephalous churches.

In the European Reformation of the 1500s, Protestants and numerous similar churches arose in objection to perceived abuses of growing Papal authority and to perceived doctrinal error and novelty in Rome. Led by Martin Luther, a German monk, the Reformation ultimately raised five key questions in the Reformation controversy are summed up in five famous 'solas': Sola Scriptura (Scripture alone - does the church's authority derive solely from correctly intrepreting the Scriptures, or does it have a separate authority?), Sola Fide (Faith alone - is a man saved through faith in Christ alone, or do the Church, good works and the sacraments contribute?), Sola Gratia (Grace alone - is a man's salvation purely and exclusively due to God's unmerited grace, or do individual works make a contribution?), Solus Christus (Christ alone - is Jesus Christ the only mediator between man and God, or does the Church and its priests play a part?) and Soli Deo Gloria (To the glory of God alone - does 100% of the glory for man's salvation belong to God, or are the Church and its priests eligible for a part?).

The Reformation sparked a vigorous struggle for the hearts and minds of Europeans. Disputes between Catholics and Protestants sparked bloody persecution and were caught up in various wars, both civil and foreign, whose repercussions still plague the world.

Current Christian Doctrine

Christianity is seen as the fulfilment and successor of Judasim and carried forward much of the doctrine and many of the practices from the Hebrew faith, including monotheism, the belief in a Messiah (or Christ from the Greek Χριστός Christós, which means "anointed one"), certain forms of worship (such as prayer, and reading from religious texts), a priesthood (although most Protestants assert the Universal Priesthood of All Believers), and the idea that worship on Earth is modelled on worship in Heaven.

The central belief of Christianity is that by faith in the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, individuals are saved from death - both spiritual and physical - by redemption from their sins (i.e. faults, misdeeds, disobedience, rebellion against God). Through God's grace, by faith, repentance, and obedience, men and women are reconciled to God through forgiveness and by sanctification or theosis to return to their place with God in Heaven.

Crucial beliefs in Christian teaching are Jesus' incarnation, atonement, crucifixion, death and resurrection to redeem humankind from sin and death; the belief that the New Testament is a part of the Bible; and supersessionism. Supersessionism is the belief that the Jews' chosenness found its ultimate fulfillment through the message of Jesus: Jews who remain non-Christian are no longer considered to be chosen, since they reject Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God, even so this position has been softened by some churches where Jews are recognized to have a special status due to their covenant with God and this continues to be an area of on-going dispute.

The emphasis on God giving his son, or the Son (who is God) coming down to earth for the sake of humanity, is an essential difference between Christianity and most other religions, where the emphasis is instead placed solely on humans working for salvation.

Sources

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity Wikipedia, Christianity. Much of this article is lifted whole cloth from this web site.
• The New Testament. Multiple authors, many uncertain. King James version.