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Christianity is a monotheistic religion, encompassing many religious traditions that trace their origins to Jesus Christ. Christians accept that Jesus is the son of God, and
the Lord and sole Savior of all humanity as the Jewish Messiah. With over two billion
adherents, Christianity is the world's largest religion.
History
Christianity originated in the first century AD. According to Acts 11:19 and 11:26 in the Christian New
Testament, Jesus's followers were first called Christians by non-Christians in the city of Antioch, where they had fled and settled after early persecutions in Palestine. After Jesus' death, early Christian doctrine was taught by
Paul of Tarsus and the other apostles. The term Christian derives from Greek
Χριστός Khristós (Christ).
Relative peace and good roads throughout the Roman Empire allowed
Christianity to spread quickly over the next three centuries, but more important was the conversion of Emperor Constantine in 312. Combined with his Edict of Milan in 313, Constantine's conversion effectively made Christianity the favored religion of the Empire, and he organized
the first of several ecumenical councils for resolving
doctrinal issues. Between the first century and 1050, missionaries from
Constantinople, Ireland
(from about 450), and elsewhere evangelized Christianity throughout Europe, Asia and
Africa, translating the Bible into local languages and sometimes incorporating elements
of native culture into Christian custom (see for example Easter: Symbolism of
Easter, Halloween: Alleged
Christianizing the Celtic Samhain).
In the second millennium, Christianity spread worldwide but experienced accelerating fragmentation. The Great Schism of 1054 split the universal Church into Western and Eastern
branches: the Western branch gradually consolidated into the Catholic Church under the central authority of Rome (see
Catholicism), while the Eastern branch became known as the Orthodox Church
with the Patriarch of Constantinople as the most honored bishop among its
autocephalous churches (see Eastern Orthodoxy). In the European Reformation of
the 1520s, Protestants and numerous similar churches arose in objection
to perceived abuses of growing Papal authority and to perceived doctrinal error and novelty in Rome. This sparked a vigorous
struggle for the hearts and minds of Europeans.
Protestants arrived in North America (and later Australasia) with European settlement, but lacking any central authority in either
Rome or national governments, they worshipped in hundreds, and later thousands, of independent denominations (see
Restorationism). Christianity was taken to South America and Africa by European
colonists, especially in the 16th to 19th centuries. In the 19th and 20th centuries many Christian-dominated nations, especially
in Europe, became more secular (and most communist states were governed by avowed
atheists, though only Albania was officially atheist). Adherents to Fundamentalist Christianity, particularly in the
United States, also perceived threats from new scientific findings about
the age of the Earth and evolution of life.
For more, see:
Christianity today
As of 2004, Christianity was the world's most widely accepted religion, with 2.0
billion adherents (followed by Islam with 1.2
billion, Hinduism with 841 million, and the nonreligious with 774 million).
Christians include 84 million Anglicans, 414 million Independents (unaffiliated
with the major streams of Christianity), 31.7 million "marginals" (Jehovah Witnesses, Mormons, etc.), 216 million Orthodox, 367 million Protestants and 1.1 billion Catholics.
Christianity has many branches, including Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and the various religious denominations of Protestantism. Other forms of Christianity have arisen that claim a separate history, such as The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Although Christianity is the largest religion in the world and there are massive missionary efforts under way, as a whole it
is declining in terms of the overall population. While the population of the world grows at roughly 1.25% per year, Christianity
is growing at about 1.12% per year. By contrast, Islam is growing at 1.76% per year. Christianity in certain geographic sectors
(Africa, Asia) and certain parts of groups (evangelicals, marginals) are, however, growing rapidly. Thus the character and nature
of Christianity is changing.
Not all people identified as Christians accept all, or even most, of the theological positions that their particular church
mandates. Like the Jewish people, Christians in the West were greatly affected by The Enlightenment in the late 17th and early
18th centuries. Perhaps the most significant change for them was total or
effective separation of Church and State, thus ending the state-sponsored Christianity that existed in so many European countries. Now
one could be a free member of society and disagree with one's church on various issues, and one could even be free to leave the
church altogether. Many did leave; or accommodated to society, further developing belief systems such as Deism, Unitarianism, Universalism, Humanism, Atheism, Agnosticism.
Others created liberal wings of Protestant Christian theology. Modernism in the late 19th century encouraged
new forms of thought and expression that did not follow traditional lines.
Reaction to "The Enlightenment" and Modernism triggered the development of literally thousands of Christian Protestant
denominations, traditionalist splinter groups of the
Catholic Church that do not recognize the legitimacy of many reforms the Catholic Church has undertaken, and the growth of
hundreds of fundamentalist groups that
interpret the entire Bible in a characteristically literal fashion.
In the United States and Europe, liberalism also led to secularism. Some Christians have
long since stopped participating in traditional religious duties, attending churches only on a few particular days per year or
not at all. Many of them recall having highly religious grandparents, but grew up in homes where Christian theology was no longer
a priority. They have developed ambivalent feelings towards their religious duties. On the one hand they cling to their
traditions for identity reasons; on the other hand, the influence of the secular Western mentality, the demands of daily life,
and peer pressure tear them away from traditional Christianity. Marriage between
Christians of different denominations, or between a Christian and a non-Christian, was once taboo, but has become
commonplace.
Liberal Christianity grew rapidly during the early 20th century in
Europe and North America, by the 1960s gaining the leadership of many of the larger US
and Canadian denominations. However, this trend has reversed. At the turn of the 21st century, though secular society tends to prefer to consider the more accommodating liberals as the
representatives and spokesmen of Christianity, the "mainline" liberal churches are shrinking. This is partly due to loss of
evangelistic zeal, partly due to drift of their membership to conservative denominations, and partly due to the failure of one
generation to pass on Christianity to the next. Among the larger Protestant denominations in the USA, only the conservative
Southern Baptist is growing. Evangelical
para-church organizations have grown rapidly in the last half of the 20th century. The liberal Christian Century magazine has shrunk, while being replaced by its challenger, the rapidly growing
evangelical Christianity Today.
The Enlightenment had much less impact on the Eastern Churches of Eastern and Oriental Orthodoxy. Having to face a much more
hostile secular society, especially during the rise of Communism, the church
clung to ancient beliefs, even as its membership eroded.
Today in Eastern Europe and Russia, a renewing trend is taking place. After decades of Communism and atheism, there is widespread interest in Christianity, as well as religion in general. Many Orthodox churches and
monasteries are being rebuilt and restored, filled beyond capacity; Protestants of many denominations are pouring in to
evangelize and plant churches; and the Catholic church is revealing once secret dioceses and undertaking other steps to support
Catholic churches more openly.
In South America and Africa,
Evangelical and Pentecostal Christianity form rapidly growing movements that are increasingly sending missionaries to Europe and North America. This is also true of Asia
where many of the underground house churches intend to send hundreds of thousands of missionaries out over the next decade.
As Modernism developed into Consumerism during the second half of the
20th century the Megachurch phenomenon developed – catering for skeptical non-Christians by providing "seeker sensitive"
presentations of Christian belief. The Alpha Course can be viewed as an
example one such presentation of Christianity.
Since the development of Postmodernism with its rejection of
universally accepted belief structures in favour of more personalised and experiential truth, organized Christianity has found
itself increasingly incompatible with peoples' desire to express faith and spirituality in a way that is authentic to them. What
has thus far been known as the Emerging Church is a by-product of
this trend, as many people who broadly accept Christianity seek to practice that faith while avoiding established Church
institutions.
A large and growing movement within the Christian church, especially in the West and most visible in the United States, is the
evangelical movement. Most mainstream protestant denominations have a significantly active evangelical minority, and, in some cases, a dominant majority (see Confessing Movement). Evangelicals are "trans-denominational" and are more willing to have formal
and informal relationships with evangelicals from outside their denomination than to have the same sort of relationship with
non-evangelicals within their denomination.
Some evangelicals have been schismatic within various church organisations, leaving
to form their own denominations. More often they are forced out. It was only by dint of sheer determination that John Wesley,
founder of Methodism was able to remain an Anglican priest against intense opposition. His followers separated in America, and in
England after his death. Evangelicals claim that their beliefs are no less than true Christianity itself and that those within
the church who differ from them may not be true believers. This attitude has led to much disunity amongst churches, especially
those with a large modernist influence. Evangelicals cannot be easily categorised, but almost all will believe in the necessity
of a personal conversion and acceptance of Jesus as saviour and Lord, the eventual literal return of Christ, a more conservative
understanding of the Bible and a belief in the miraculous. There are many different types of Evangelicals including Dispensationists, Reformed Christians, Pentecostals, Charismatics and Fundamentalists.
For more, see:
Doctrine
Christians adopted many ideas and practices from Judaism, including monotheism, the belief in a messiah (or
Christ, which means "anointed one"), certain forms of worship (such as prayer, and
reading from religious texts), a priesthood, 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). By faith, repentance, and obedience men and women are reconciled to God through
sanctification or theosis
and returned 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 new 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.
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 other religions, where the emphasis is instead placed solely on humans working for salvation.
The most uniform and broadly accepted tradition of doctrine, with the longest continuous representation, repeatedly reaffirmed
by official Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant definitions (although not without dissent, as noted below) asserts that specific
beliefs are essential to Christianity, including but not limited to:
- God is a Trinity, a single eternal being existing in three persons: Father, Son
(Divine Logos), and Holy Spirit.
- Jesus is both fully God and fully human, two "natures" in one person.
- Mary, the mother of Jesus, bore in her womb
and gave birth to the Son of God (who is, Himself, likewise God), who although eternally existent was formed in her womb by the
Spirit of God. From her humanity he received in his person a human intellect and will, and all else that a child would naturally
receive from its mother.
- Jesus is the Messiah hoped for by the Jews, the heir to the throne of David. He reigns at the right hand of The Father with
all authority and power. He is the hope of all mankind, their advocate and judge.
Until he returns at the end of the age, the Church has the authority and obligation to preach the Gospel and to gather new disciples.
- Jesus was innocent of any sin. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus, believers are forgiven of sins and reconciled to
God. Believers are baptized into the resurrection and new life (or death in some groups) of Christ. Through faith, they live by
the promise of resurrection from death to everlasting life through Christ. The Holy Spirit is sent to them by Christ, to bring
hope and lead mankind into true knowledge of God and His purposes, and help them grow in holiness.
- Jesus will return personally, and bodily, to receive the faithful to himself, so they will live forever in the intimate
presence of God.
- Western Christians believe that the Bible is the word of God. Many Eastern Christians balk at this
terminology as too close to the title Word of God, an epithet for Jesus Christ. Nevertheless they do not question the authority of the Bible as such.
However, some Christians disagree to varying degrees about how accurate the Bible is and how it should be interpreted.
Christianity is considered by mainstream Christians to be the continuation or fulfilment of the Jewish faith. However, many Christian organizations throughout history have had varying ideas about the basic
tenets of the Christian faith, from ancient sects such as Arians and Gnostics, to modern groups such as Jehovah's Witnesses (who have a different theological understanding of Jesus, God and the Bible),
The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who believe that in 1829 God restored the apostolic priesthood to their leader Joseph Smith, Jr., making possible continuing revelation (including
additional teachings and scripture), and the Unification
Church. While various groups may differ in their approach to the specifics of Christ's role, ministry, and nature (some
calling him a god or Gods, and others calling him a man), Christ is generally assumed to have cosmic importance. Some of these
groups number themselves among the Christian churches, or believe themselves to be the only true Christian church. Furthermore,
present-day liberal Protestant Christians do not define Christianity as necessarily
including belief in the deity of Jesus, the virgin birth, the Trinity, miracles, the resurrection, the
ascension of Christ, or the personality or deity of the Holy Spirit. Liberals
may or may not recommend belief in such things, but differentiate themselves from conservative Christians by defining as included
within genuine Christianity anyone who explains their views or teachings principally by appeal to Jesus. It is common for those
who hold the more traditional tenets of faith described in the paragraph above to assert that some or all of these groups are not
part of Christianity.
Christian heresies
The following is a list of beliefs within Christianity that have been called heresies.
Adoptionism -- Albigensians -- Apollinarism -- Arianism -- Cathars -- Docetism -- Donatism -- Lollardy -- Mandaeans -- Manicheanism -- Monarchianism -- Montanism -- Nestorianism --
Patripassianism -- Pelagianism -- Priscillianism -- Psilanthropism -- Sabellianism -- Unitarianism -- Universalism
In Classical times, Gnosticism exchanged ideas and symbolism with Christianity.
Some modern self-proclaimed Christian movements hold beliefs that more closely resemble these ancient heresies.
Christianity's relationship with other faiths
For more information on the relationship between Christianity and other world religions over the years, see the Wikipedia
article on Christianity and
World Religions.
Christianity and Judaism
See:
Since the Holocaust, there has been much to note in the way of reconciliation
between some Christians groups and the Jewish people; the article on Christian-Jewish reconciliation studies this issue.
Messianic Judaism refers to a group of evangelical Christian religious movements, self-identified as Jewish, who believe that Jesus is the Messiah. Contrary to Judaism, they are trinitarians,
professing that Jesus is God, incarnate. Even though many Messianic Jews are ethnically Jewish, they are not considered part of
the Jewish community by mainstream Jewish groups. They are not to be confused with the many Christian believers of Jewish ethnic
background who are members not of these religious movements, but rather of regular Christian churches.
Christianity and persecution
Christians have been both the victims and the perpetrators of persecution (see Persecution of Christians).
In spite of the widely held belief that such violence is antithetical to Christ's teachings, Christian adherents have at times
persecuted, tortured and killed others for refusing to believe in their type of Christianity. Protestants, Catholics and other Christians have persecuted
each other in the name of Jesus. In the second half of the 20th century Roman Catholics and Protestants have been killing each other in Northern Ireland. An example was Father Lawrence Jenco, whose health was nearly broken by almost two years held as a hostage in Lebanon. When asked about his feelings toward his Hezbollah captors, he replied that he had to forgive them. Modern Christianity appears, for the most part, to
have adopted a position of freedom or tolerance rather than persecution. Observers often interpret events to fit their opinions.
When a military from Christian countries invaded Iraq early in the 21st
century and killed thousands of people, some observers considered it was a Christian coalition deliberately attacking a
country because it was Islamic, while others considered it was a coalition of free countries deliberately trying to bring freedom
to Iraqis and an end to terrorism in Iraq, with religion having nothing to do with it. Moriori 03:45, Jun 17, 2004 (UTC) (forgot)
Christian churches worldwide
For a list of the various kinds of culturally different Christian churches around the world today see the List of Christian denominations. For
information about the various "super-bodies" of churches which many individual congregations or in some cases bishoprics of these
churches associate under see full communion.
See also
Alternative Views
The Ebionites originated as an ancient sect of Talmidi Jews (Followers of the Way) who held Jesus of Nazareth to have been a fully human Jewish
prophet. They rejected notions of his divinity, the virgin birth, and opposed the teachings of Paul of Tarsus.
External Links
- Christian Teen Forum
- A Place For Teens to discuss Christianity, ask questions,
and share the Bible.
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