From A Storehouse of Knowledge

Christianity is the religion of all who follow Jesus Christ, the only begotten son of God, and believe that He is such. Christianity can be traced all the way back to the Apostolic Age when the Apostles were still alive, through the Early Church, to today.

Contents 1 Definition 2 History 3 Relationship to other religions 4 Branches 5 Distinctives 5.1 Theology 5.2 Humanity and nature 5.3 Morality 5.4 Charity 6 How Christianity has benefited society 6.1 Civilisation 6.2 Human rights 6.3 Science 6.4 Helping others 7 References

Definition

While anyone who accepts and lives by Christ's teachings can be considered a follower of Christ and thus a "Christian", belief in the divinity of Christ and Trinity, as well as in the blood atonement of Christ, are considered by many Christians to be a test of orthodoxy. Thus, many Christians reject that groups such as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) (which does not accept the traditional Trinity) or Jehovah's Witnesses (whose view of Christ is closely related to Arianism) can be truly called Christian.

Orestes Brownson, a socialist Unitarian who converted to Catholicism later in life, stated in 1848 that the Protestant sects of that time had no common basis, or belief on which they could all agree:

“	When some few years since your delegates met in a world's convention at London, to devise and effect a Protestant alliance for the overthrow of Catholicity, they found that there were no common doctrines on which they could all agree, not even the immortality of the soul, and were obliged to separate without drawing up a common confession.	”
—Letter to Protestants[1]

History

Christianity can be considered to have been born on Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descended on the upper room where the disciples were gathered and transformed them into Apostles. At first, most of the converts were Jews. Following the example of Christ, the followers of the Way worshiped in the Temple and in synagogues and observed all the precepts of the Mosaic Law. But Christ's commandment was to teach the gospel to all nations. Slowly at first, but gathering in speed, particularly with the evangelical work of Paul, converts were made of gentiles outside of Israel.

The disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. ^[2] But the Judaizers held that no one could be saved unless he also became a Jew first. Their views were strongly opposed by Paul, and the controversy led to the first Christian council in Jerusalem, ^[3] which came down largely in favor of Paul's position, with only a few food prohibitions to maintain peace within the Church.

The issue became moot in AD 70 when Titus, the son of the Emperor Vespasian, put down a Jewish revolt by destroying the Temple, sacking Jerusalem, and dispersing the Jews. Only Paul's network of gentile churches remained intact, and Christianity took on a chiefly gentile flavor permanently.

The Roman Empire soon began to persecute Christians because they refused to accept the Roman gods and the divinity of the Roman Emperor. The first great persecution occurred after the Great Fire of Rome in AD 64 when the Emperor Nero scapegoated Christians as the people responsible for the fire and had many of them executed. ^[4]

When all of the original Apostles were martyred or died, the leadership of the Church fell to the leaders of each individual Church, who were called bishops. The largest and most prosperous church was in Rome, and the presence of both Peter and Paul in Rome in the 60s, together with the demise of the Jerusalem church, led to a tradition of looking to Rome for guidance on Church matters similar to the circumcision controversy. Eventually the bishop of Rome, later called the Pope, asserted authority over each individual bishop and Christianity was united into the Universal (Catholic) Church, which remained undivided for a millennium.

The Emperor Domitian began a new persecution of Christians in the late 1st century AD but after his murder, most of his orders were rescinded. A decade afterwards, Emperor Trajan started another persecution and this was continued by many of his successors during the 2nd and 3rd centuries. The final persecution was begun by Diocletian, mostly persuaded to this by his eventual successor Galerius and was continued in the East by Maximin Daia until his death. The persecutions finally ended in AD 313, when Emperor Constantine the Great published the Edict of Milan. Constantine believed that God had helped him defeat his opponent Maxentius in the Battle of the Milvian Bridge and during his reign he made several laws favoring the Christian Church and improving its position, though he only converted to Christianity on his deathbed. ^[5]

Constantine's successors mostly followed him in in supporting the Christian Church except for his nephew Julian the Apostate who unsuccesfully attempted to restore paganism during his brief reign. In the late 4th century, Emperor Theodosius the Great made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire. During this time Christianity had spread to other parts of the world as well and became the official religion of Armenia in 301 and of Ethiopia in 370. With the prohibition of pagan worship within the empire, the numbers of the pagans began to diminish and the pagan religions inside the empire mostly disappeared during the 5th and 6th centuries. ^[6]

Following the fall of the Western Empire in 476, Western Europe came to be dominated by Germanic invaders who formed independent kingdoms in the former provinces of the Roman Empire. While many of the Germanic tribes were Christian, many of those were followers of Arianism, threatening the power of the Catholic Church in the West. The situation changed in the early 6th century when Clovis, king of the Franks, who had conquered most of Gaul, converted to Catholicism. Later in the 6th century, the Eastern Roman Empire conquered Italy from the Ostrogoths and Northern Africa from the Vandals. After this Arianism was largely confined to the Visigothic Kingdom in Spain until the Visigothic King Reccared converted to Catholicism in 587, ending the remaining power of Arianism in the West. During the early 7th century, the Anglo-Saxon tribes who had conquered most of Southern Britain during the 5th and 6th centuries, were converted to Christianity.

Relationship to other religions

Christianity is a monotheistic religion, meaning that it recognises one God.

It is the natural continuation of Judaism, which expected a coming Messiah. Jesus Christ (Christ means Messiah) is that messiah. The God that Christianity recognises is the same God that Judaism recognises, and the same God that the patriarchs back to Adam recognised. So in this sense, Christianity can be traced back to creation.

Branches

The largest branch of Christianity is the Roman Catholic Church, which, through apostolic succession, traces itself back to the Apostolic Age. In 1054, there occurred a schism between the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church. During the Protestant Reformation of the 16th and 17th centuries, Lutheranism, Calvinism, and Presbyterianism were founded, while Anglicanism was established in the related English Reformation. Later, Anabaptists and Methodists were founded. The main branches of Christianity are:

• Roman Catholicism

• Eastern Orthodoxy

• Oriental Orthodoxy

• Anglicanism

• Protestantism, including:

• Lutheranism
• Presbyterianism
• Methodism
• Anabaptists
• Baptists
• Evangelicalism

Distinctives

The beliefs of Christians are, ultimately, founded on the teaching contained in the Bible. Although it's often possible to cite individual verses to exemplify particular doctrines, most doctrines are based on a combination of biblical teaching from different parts of the Bible.

Theology

Virtually all Christian churches accept the Bible as the infallible word of God, the divinity of Christ, and Trinity. The latter two are expressed in the Nicene Creed, which most Christians subscribe to. Many Christians would consider the divinity of Christ to be the defining characteristic of Christianity.

The major theological disagreements occur between Catholicism and Protestantism. Catholicism believes that the Eucharist is literally the Body of Christ, and accepts seven, instead of two, Sacraments. Catholicism also teaches salvation/justification by faith and works, while Protestantism teaches "Sola Fide" or faith alone. Catholics believe that divine revelation is found both in Scripture and Tradition (the unwritten revelation protected and interpreted by the Church) while Protestants believe the Bible is the only authority for revelation. Catholics believe in a visible, institutional Church, while Protestants usually see the Church as invisible only, transcending denominational lines. Catholics accept the Pope as a central authority on doctrine, whereas Protestants do not have such uniform beliefs; as such, not all individual Protestants' beliefs are as described in this paragraph.

Humanity and nature

Christians see humans as being uniquely made in the "image of God",^[7] and being given authority by God to rule over His creation.^[8] Therefore, unlike eastern religions and atheism, humans are not seen as being part of or a product of nature, but distinct from it. It was partly this view of nature and man's relationship to it that resulted in the development of modern science.

The Bible teaches us that we are stewards of God's creation^[9], which means that we are meant to look after it. However, it is provided for our use^[10], and we are not meant to be mere caretakers of creation, but to benefit from it.^[11]

Even though creation belongs to God, the Bible endorses the concept of private property, not least in its laws against theft.^[12]

Morality

As we are all part of God's creation, He owns us, and we are expected to act according to His good standards. (Not that He forces us to; He has given us Free Will which allows us to choose whether we will or not.) Many of God's standards are taught explicitly in the Bible, especially in the Ten Commandments, in Jesus' sermons recorded in the Gospels, and in letters from Paul and other apostles.

Unlike some other worldviews which see ethics as subjective, as incapable of being objectively true or false, but merely expressions of personal preference or cultural prejudice, Christianity believes in the existence of objective moral standards, based in God's nature as perfectly good, and God's commandments, as expressed both in God's revelation in the Bible, and also written into the human heart in the form of conscience.

Jesus summarised Christian morality as being based on two principles (Matthew 22:34-40):

• Loving God with all one's heart
• Loving one's neighbour as one's self

Related to the second principle is the Golden Rule - Do unto others as you would have them do unto you (Matthew 7:12)

Christian morality views human life as following a divine plan (especially in areas such human sexuality), and that deviation from God's plan is wrong.

Charity

Christians are expected to help look after other people, and this is borne out in the many charities started by Christians, as well as social changes instigated by Christians, from small things such as separate prisons for female prisoners to the abolition of slavery.

This charity was a hallmark of Christianity from the very early days of the church.

An Old Testament example of this teaching is to be found in the Levitical law where farmers are told to not gather every last bit of their crops, but to leave some around the edges for people who had no income of their own to come and collect.^[13]

Another example is the Levitical law to "love your neighbour as yourself",^[14] which Jesus pointed out with His well-known parable of the Good Samaritan means to help anybody you come across who needs help.^[15]

Paul, writing to the church in Rome, encouraged the church members to do what is right even where their enemies were concerned.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. ... For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is ... contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; ... if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. ... Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.^[16]

This was also borne out in action: the early church had a program of providing support for widows (a group of people who generally had nobody to support them) such that a committee of seven persons was appointed to administer it.^[17] It didn't stop there. Ever since, Christianity has been at the forefront of helping those who need help, and, unlike the pagans, not limiting such help to their own.^[18][19][20] This included the creation of hospitals.^[21]

How Christianity has benefited society

Civilisation

Christianity formed the basis of Western civilization^[22] by civilizing the Germanic tribes that succeeded the Roman Empire as the dominant political powers in most of Western Europe. Christianity imposed a Truce of God and introduced just war theory. The Church also prohibited trial by ordeal and battle, stimulating the development of European legal systems.

Later, the Protestant Reformation's emphasis on lay reading of the Bible would help stimulate widespread literacy. And mission work has introduced literacy to people groups where there was previously no written language. Elements of Protestant thinking also led to the development of modern democracy.

Whilst the Catholic Church was responsible for much of the early reforms, the Protestant Reformation led to individual Christians and small groups of Christians instigating reforms and programs outside any Church hierarchy. The Times correspondent Matthew Parris wrote:

Christianity, post-Reformation and post-Luther, with its teaching of a direct, personal, two-way link between the individual and God, unmediated by the collective, and unsubordinate to any other human being, smashes straight through the philosphical/spiritual framework I've just described. It offers something to hold on to to those anxious to cast off a crushing tribal groupthink. That is why and how it liberates.

Christianity has provided a basis for standing against despots. When Theodosius slaughtered people in Thessonalica in 390 A.D., Ambrose, Bishop of Milan refused to allow the Roman emperor into his church until he had repented and had agreed to legal reforms. His reasoning was that God had made both the emperor and the people who Theodosius had slaughtered, and nobody, not even a ruler, was above God's standards.

Hitler wanted to destroy Christianity, as he recognised that it was the biggest threat he faced.^[23] This was because "the Nazis regarded the churches as the strongest and toughest reservoirs of ideological opposition to the principles they believed in."^[24] Indeed, Pope Pius XII is credited with saving at least 700,000 Jews from the Nazis.^[25]

Former atheist Peter Hitchens wrote:

The Christian religion has become the principle obstacle to the desire of earthly utopians for absolute power.^[26]

Human rights

Christianity was instrumental in the abolition of the slave trade. Certain Christians were also important in the U.S. civil rights movement.

Science

During the Middle Ages, monasteries undertook the preservation and dissemination of knowledge from Greece, Ancient Rome and the Arab world. The Church also provided, both through monasteries and newly established universities, the only education that was generally available in Western Europe at the time.

The church and Christianity were also instrumental in the introduction of modern science, particularly in providing the worldview that enabled it, and in other ways such as by allowing the cathedrals to be used as observatories.^[27][28]

Stephen Snobelen, Assistant Professor of History of Science and Technology, University of King’s College, Halifax, Canada, wrote:

Here is a final paradox. Recent work on early modern science has demonstrated a direct (and positive) relationship between the resurgence of the Hebraic, literal exegesis of the Bible in the Protestant Reformation, and the rise of the empirical method in modern science. I’m not referring to wooden literalism, but the sophisticated literal-historical hermeneutics that Martin Luther and others (including Newton) championed. It was, in part, when this method was transferred to science, when students of nature moved on from studying nature as symbols, allegories and metaphors to observing nature directly in an inductive and empirical way, that modern science was born. In this, Newton also played a pivotal role. As strange as it may sound, science will forever be in the debt of millenarians and biblical literalists.^[29]

Helping others

Christianity has, from the beginning, been charitable. The Christians of the first century were concerned with looking after the widows and others in need. Many charities, such as the Red Cross and World Vision were started by Christians and because of Christian principles. And studies today show that Christians give more to charity than is given by non-religious people.

Christianity's contribution to civilisation has been acknowledged by non-believers. Roy Hattersley, who wrote a biography of William and Catherine Booth, the founders of the Salvation Army, said:

I’m an atheist. But I can only look with amazement at the devotion of the Salvation Army workers. I’ve been out with them on the streets and the way they work amongst the people, the most deprived and disadvantaged and sometimes pretty repugnant characters. But they look after them as best they can. I don’t believe they would do that were it not for the religious impulse. I often say I never hear of atheist organizations taking food to the poor. You don’t hear of ‘Atheist Aid’ rather like Christian aid, and, I think, despite my inability to believe myself, I’m deeply impressed by what belief does for people like the Salvation Army.^[30]

Matthew Parris:

Now a confirmed atheist, I've become convinced of the enormous contribution that Christian evangelism makes in Africa: sharply distinct from the work of secular NGOs, government projects and international aid efforts. These alone will not do. Education and training alone will not do. In Africa Christianity changes people's hearts. It brings a spiritual transformation. The rebirth is real. The change is good.^[31]

References