Religion and Ethics: Christianity - Essay Example

The Gospel tells about Jesus’s life and passes on the lessons and teachings within Christianity. There are a great deal of many other writers in the Gospel except principle four, one of them being Paul. Paul did not directly observe Jesus in life, having only met him a few other times through the Apostles before becoming one of them himself. Because he was not a direct follower of Jesus, many of his writings conflict with that of Jesus. Because Paul did not know a majority about the life and events that occurred during Jesus’s life, there are major events that are history-changing that are not mentioned in his Gospel, giving the reader a different feel than the other ones. Because Paul learned from others, his Gospel story is different.

            Christianity is unified, yet fragmented. There are many different branches of Christianity. Although they are similar, they are still a little different from each other, which makes them different at the fundamental level. The Great Schism happened early in the spread of Christianity. It was a fundamental split between what was Western Europe and what were the remnants of the Byzantine Empire. The West supported the rule of the Pope for Roman Catholicism from Rome, whereas the Byzantine Empire supported Eastern Orthodoxy. These stemmed from discrepancies on topics such as Original Sin, the concept of the soul, the teachings of Jesus, etc. As a result, there were two main streams of Christianity, but this would soon continue to fragment into the many branches of Christianity that we have today.

            Back in the traditional eras of Roman Catholicism, the Church was in essence an international political body that had power, which extended across the border and cultural domains. Everyone was subjected to the will of God through the Pope and the Vatican. In some cases, the church was accused of the sale of indulgences, or rather people were “buying their way into heaven”. In addition, the church suppressed all knowledge, both scientific and literate. This was another way in which the church was able to maintain control and authority over most of the general population. Protestant reformers, such as Martin Luther, disagreed with how the Roman Catholic Church was heading and decided to lead a branch of Christianity, which would not be corrupt like its sister branch.

            There are still many different ways in which Christianity is practiced today. One of which is the Eucharist. Some branches of Christianity believe that the Eucharist in the church is only meant to be symbolic, whereas Roman Catholicism believes that it is truly the body and blood of Christ that is transformed by the Holy Spirit to recreate the last supper. Another difference is the belief in purgatory, a place that is in between heaven and hell.  In Roman Catholicism, it is a place of cleansing, in which prayers given by the loved ones who still live can help guide a person to heaven that was first sent to purgatory. Lastly, the forgiveness of sin is also a point of argument. In Catholicism, the ritual of confessing one’s sins can only be done with an ordained minister, whereas other branches believe that a person can do it inherently on their own.

            Christianity is still one of the main dominant religions in the world today. There has been conflicting and discussion among the differences in the branches, which sometimes causes problems. However, many people identify themselves as Christians, rather than by their specific denomination of Christianity. The one unified factor, which will never change, is the unified belief in one God.