Christian Religion
A Christian Religion is an Abrahamic religion composed of Christians who believe in the teachings and life of Jesus Christ as recorded in The New Testament.
- AKA: Christianity.
- Context:
- It can (typically) be categorized into several Christian Denominations, such as Catholicism, Protestantism, Orthodox Christianity, and others, each with its own doctrines, practices, and traditions.
- It can (often) emphasize the importance of a moral life and the love of God and neighbor, guided by the teachings of Jesus and the scriptures.
- It can based on the belief in one God and follows the teachings of Jesus Christ, who is considered the Son of God and the savior of humanity.
- It can includes the practice of sacraments such as Baptism and the Eucharist, which are seen as means of grace.
- It can have a rich tradition of liturgy, theology, and Christian arts influenced by over two millennia of history.
- It can play a significant role in the history and culture of Western civilization and has spread worldwide, influencing a variety of cultures and societies.
- ...
- Example(s):
- Catholicism, known for its hierarchical structure led by the Pope and its sacramental system.
- Protestantism, which emerged from the Reformation and is characterized by a diversity of denominations such as Lutheran, Anglican, Methodist, and Baptist.
- Orthodox Christianity, which includes the Eastern Orthodox Church, known for its liturgical tradition and theological teachings derived from the early Church Fathers.
- Oriental Orthodoxy, distinct from Eastern Orthodoxy, with ancient roots and traditions in countries like Armenia, Ethiopia, and Egypt.
- Marcionism, an early Christian sect that was eventually deemed heretical for its views on the Old Testament and the nature of Christ.
- ...
- Counter-Example(s):
- Judaism, which shares the same Abrahamic roots but does not recognize Jesus as the Messiah or divine.
- Islam, another Abrahamic faith that considers Jesus a prophet but not the Son of God, and follows the teachings of Muhammad.
- Buddhism, a non-Abrahamic, dharmic religion that does not involve worship of the Judeo-Christian God or follow the teachings of Jesus.
- …
- Example(s):
- Counter-Example(s):
- See: Universal Religion, Christian Bible, God in Christianity.
References
2023
- (Wikipedia, 2023) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity Retrieved:2023-1-17.
- Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global population.[1] [2] Its adherents, known as Christians, are estimated to make up a majority of the population in 157 countries and territories,[3] and believe that Jesus is the Son of God, whose coming as the messiah was prophesied in the Hebrew Bible (called the Old Testament in Christianity) and chronicled in the New Testament.
Christianity began as a Second Temple Judaic sect in the 1st century Hellenistic Judaism in the Roman province of Judea. Jesus' apostles and their followers spread around the Levant, Europe, Anatolia, Mesopotamia, the South Caucasus, Ancient Carthage, Egypt, and Ethiopia, despite significant initial persecution. It soon attracted gentile God-fearers, which led to a departure from Jewish customs, and, after the Fall of Jerusalem, AD 70 which ended the Temple-based Judaism, Christianity slowly separated from Judaism. Christianity remains culturally diverse in its Western and Eastern branches, as well as in its doctrines concerning justification and the nature of salvation, ecclesiology, ordination, and Christology. The creeds of various Christian denominations generally hold in common Jesus as the Son of God—the Logos incarnated—who ministered, suffered, and died on a cross, but rose from the dead for the salvation of mankind; and referred to as the gospel, meaning the "good news". Describing Jesus' life and teachings are the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, with the Old Testament as the gospel's respected background.
Emperor Constantine the Great decriminalized Christianity in the Roman Empire by the Edict of Milan (313), later convening the Council of Nicaea (325) where Early Christianity was consolidated into what would become the State church of the Roman Empire (380). The early history of Christianity's united church before major schisms is sometimes referred to as the “Great Church” (though divergent sects existed at the same time, including Gnostics, Marcionites, and Jewish Christians). The Church of the East split after the Council of Ephesus (431) and Oriental Orthodoxy split after the Council of Chalcedon (451) over differences in Christology, while the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church separated in the East–West Schism (1054), especially over the authority of the bishop of Rome. Protestantism split in numerous denominations from the Catholic Church in the Reformation era (16th century) over theological and ecclesiological disputes, most predominantly on the issue of justification and the primacy of the bishop of Rome. Christianity played a prominent role in the development of Western civilization, particularly in Europe from late antiquity and the Middle Ages. [4] [5] [6] [7] Following the Age of Discovery (15th–17th century), Christianity was spread into the Americas, Oceania, sub-Saharan Africa, and the rest of the world via missionary work and European colonialism especially during the period of new imperialism.[8] [9] [10]
The four largest branches of Christianity are the Catholic Church (1.3 billion), Protestantism (800 million),the Eastern Orthodox Church (220 million), and the Oriental Orthodox churches (60 million), [11] though thousands of smaller church communities exist despite efforts toward unity (ecumenism).[12] Despite a decline in adherence in the West, Christianity remains the dominant religion in the region, with about 70% of that population identifying as Christian.[13] Christianity is growing in Africa and Asia, the world's most populous continents.[13] Christians remain greatly persecuted in many regions of the world, particularly in the Middle East, North Africa, East Asia, and South Asia.[14] [15]
- Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global population.[1] [2] Its adherents, known as Christians, are estimated to make up a majority of the population in 157 countries and territories,[3] and believe that Jesus is the Son of God, whose coming as the messiah was prophesied in the Hebrew Bible (called the Old Testament in Christianity) and chronicled in the New Testament.
- ↑ "World's largest religion by population is still Christianity". Pew Research Center. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
- ↑ Jan Pelikan, Jaroslav (13 August 2022). "Christianity". Encyclopædia Britannica. It has become the largest of the world's religions and, geographically, the most widely diffused of all faiths.
- ↑ Analysis (19 December 2011). "Global religious landscape: Christians" (PDF). Pewforum.org. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 March 2018. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
- ↑ Religions in Global Society. p. 146, Peter Beyer, 2006
- ↑ Cambridge University Historical Series, An Essay on Western Civilization in Its Economic Aspects, p. 40: Hebraism, like Hellenism, has been an all-important factor in the development of Western Civilization; Judaism, as the precursor of Christianity, has indirectly had had much to do with shaping the ideals and morality of western nations since the christian era.
- ↑ Caltron J.H Hayas, Christianity and Western Civilization (1953), Stanford University Press, p. 2: "That certain distinctive features of our Western civilization—the civilization of western Europe and of America—have been shaped chiefly by Judaeo – Graeco – Christianity, Catholic and Protestant."
- ↑ Fred Reinhard Dallmayr, Dialogue Among Civilizations: Some Exemplary Voices (2004), p. 22: Western civilization is also sometimes described as "Christian" or "Judaeo- Christian" civilization.
- ↑ Muslim-Christian Relations. Amsterdam University Press. 2006. ISBN 978-90-5356-938-2. Retrieved 18 October 2007. The enthusiasm for evangelization among the Christians was also accompanied by the awareness that the most immediate problem to solve was how to serve the huge number of new converts. Simatupang said, if the number of the Christians were double or triple, then the number of the ministers should also be doubled or tripled and the role of the laity should be maximized and Christian service to society through schools, universities, hospitals and orphanages, should be increased. In addition, for him the Christian mission should be involved in the struggle for justice amid the process of modernization.
- ↑ Kammer, Fred (1 May 2004). Doing Faith Justice. Paulist Press. p. 77. ISBN 978-0-8091-4227-9. Retrieved 18 October 2007. Theologians, bishops, and preachers urged the Christian community to be as compassionate as their God was, reiterating that creation was for all of humanity. They also accepted and developed the identification of Christ with the poor and the requisite Christian duty to the poor. Religious congregations and individual charismatic leaders promoted the development of a number of helping institutions-hospitals, hospices for pilgrims, orphanages, shelters for unwed mothers-that laid the foundation for the modern "large network of hospitals, orphanages and schools, to serve the poor and society at large."
- ↑ Christian Church Women: Shapers of a Movement. Chalice Press. March 1994. ISBN 978-0-8272-0463-8. Retrieved 18 October 2007. In the central provinces of India they established schools, orphanages, hospitals, and churches, and spread the gospel message in zenanas.
- ↑ "Christian Traditions". Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project. 19 December 2011. About half of all Christians worldwide are Catholic (50%), while more than a third are Protestant (37%). Orthodox communions comprise 12% of the world's Christians.
- ↑ Peter, Laurence (17 October 2018). "Orthodox Church split: Five reasons why it matters". BBC. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 "Global Christianity – A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World's Christian Population" (PDF). Pew Research Center. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 August 2019.
- ↑ "Christian persecution 'at near genocide levels'". BBC News. 3 May 2019. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
- ↑ Wintour, Patrick. "Persecution of Christians coming close to genocide' in Middle East – report". The Guardian. 2 May 2019. Retrieved 7 October 2019.