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 recognize Christian Scripture through biblical canon that includes the Old Testament and the New Testament.
- It can typically affirm Trinitarian Doctrine that views God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in one divine essence.
- It can typically emphasize Salvation Doctrine through Jesus Christ's death and resurrection.
- It can typically practice Christian Sacraments such as christian baptism and christian communion as spiritual grace channels.
- It can typically structure itself into Christian Denominations with distinct theological traditions and ecclesiastical governance.
- ...
- It can often maintain Christian Worship through prayer practices, liturgical traditions, and communal gatherings.
- It can often develop Christian Theology through biblical interpretation, systematic theology, and doctrinal development.
- It can often promote Christian Ethics based on biblical teachings, theological principles, and moral traditions.
- It can often engage in Christian Mission through evangelistic efforts, humanitarian work, and social justice.
- ...
- It can range from being a Traditional Christian Religion to being a Progressive Christian Religion, depending on its christian theological orientation.
- It can range from being a Liturgical Christian Religion to being a Non-Liturgical Christian Religion, depending on its christian worship style.
- It can range from being a Hierarchical Christian Religion to being a Congregational Christian Religion, depending on its christian authority structure.
- It can range from being a Conservative Christian Religion to being a Liberal Christian Religion, depending on its christian scriptural interpretation.
- ...
- It can influence Cultural Development through christian art, christian literature, and christian philosophy.
- It can establish Educational Institutions for biblical study, theological training, and general education.
- It can engage in Interfaith Dialogue with non-christian religions through theological exchange and cooperative initiatives.
- ...
- Examples:
- Christian Denominations, such as:
- Western Christian Denominations, such as:
- Roman Catholic Church, maintaining papal authority and catholic tradition.
- Protestant Denominations, such as:
- Lutheran Denominations, emphasizing justification by faith and scripture alone.
- Reformed Denominations, focusing on divine sovereignty and covenant theology.
- Anglican Denominations, balancing catholic tradition with protestant reform.
- Baptist Denominations, practicing believer's baptism and congregational governance.
- Methodist Denominations, promoting christian holiness and social gospel.
- Pentecostal Denominations, emphasizing spirit baptism and charismatic gifts.
- Eastern Christian Denominations, such as:
- Eastern Orthodox Churches, maintaining eastern traditions and episcopal hierarchy.
- Oriental Orthodox Churches, holding distinct christological views and ancient practices.
- Eastern Catholic Churches, combining eastern rituals with roman catholic allegiance.
- Independent Christian Denominations, such as:
- Restorationist Churches, seeking to restore primitive christianity.
- Non-Denominational Churches, rejecting traditional denomination structures.
- Western Christian Denominations, such as:
- Christian Historical Periods, such as:
- Early Christianity (1st-4th centuries), characterized by apostolic teaching and persecution survival.
- Imperial Christianity (4th-5th centuries), establishing christian orthodoxy through ecumenical councils.
- Medieval Christianity (6th-15th centuries), developing monastic traditions and scholastic theology.
- Reformation Christianity (16th-17th centuries), challenging catholic authority through protestant movements.
- Modern Christianity (18th-20th centuries), responding to enlightenment challenges and scientific discovery.
- Contemporary Christianity (21st century), addressing postmodern thought and global plurality.
- Christian Geographic Expressions, such as:
- Western Christianity, shaped by european culture and colonial expansion.
- Global South Christianity, experiencing rapid growth and indigenous expression.
- Middle Eastern Christianity, maintaining ancient traditions despite minority status.
- African Christianity, integrating christian beliefs with african cultural context.
- Asian Christianity, navigating minority religion status and contextual theology.
- ...
- Christian Denominations, such as:
- Counter-Examples:
- Judaism, which shares hebrew scripture but does not recognize Jesus Christ as the messiah or divine being.
- Islam, which considers Jesus Christ a prophet but not the son of God, and follows the Quran and teachings of Muhammad.
- Baháʼí Faith, which views Jesus Christ as one of many divine manifestations but not the exclusive path to salvation.
- Unitarian Universalism, which may include jesus teachings but rejects trinitarian doctrine and exclusive salvation claims.
- New Religious Movements with christian influences but significant theological deviations from christian orthodoxy.
- See: Abrahamic Religion, Christian Theology, Jesus Christ, Christian Bible, Church History, Christian Denomination, Christian Liturgy, Christian Soteriology, Christian Ethics, Christian Mission, Christian Ecumenism, Christology.
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.