History of the Group: Forms and Denominations of Christianity - Essay Example

? Catholicism: A History of the Faith and Results of Observational Field Study Due History of the Group All forms and denominations of Christianity find its roots in Judaism. When Jesus became a strong and influential spiritual leader that many Jews were uncertain if Jesus was the promised Messiah, however, others were beginning to believe that he was, in fact, that Messiah. For a great deal of time early Christians were basically a hybrid of the old and new faiths. They believed in Jesus and baptism while still following Jewish prayers, maintaining a kosher lifestyle, and attending Synagogue. For some time it would be fair to call them Jewish-Christians. After the death of Jesus the Christian belief became an independent faith, but a faith persistently persecuted by the Romans. The disciples of Jesus and their descendants would spread the word the gospels and the path to salvation through Jesus (Fairchild 1). It would not be until after the Romans abandoned their pantheon of Gods and adopted Christianity as their official religion that such persecution would stop. This is how the Roman Catholic Church was born (Bellitto 1-2). Its power spread throughout the lands and Rome conquered under the name of Jesus forcing many to convert under duress. It became and remains one of the most commonly practiced religions in the world. With the onset of the Scientific Revolution the belief in faith showed a bit of decline as the influence of science, logic, and rationale was embraced. However, that did not diminish the Church for long. Even today the number of people who admit that they are Catholic is higher than ever in certain states around the country. However, the number of people actually attending Church services has greatly diminished. There is a demographic change being seen in the faith, as well. Catholic congregations tend to be elderly women, middle class Caucasian families with small children, and Hispanic or Latino families. The number of young females of all age categories has heavily diminished, primarily because of the highly patriarchal interpretations of spiritual passages, there vocal position on the issue of birth control, and there diminishment of women’s rights have turned many young females from Catholicism as a religious option. However, despite these changing demographics and shifting Church presence experts remain confident that Catholicism will remain a top faith well into the future (Briggs 1). Again, as previously mentioned, experts on the subject of theology are confident that Catholicism will continue to have strong membership into the near future (Briggs 1).However, there are other opinions that reference the fact that with the changing, globalization of the world it is imperative that all institutions, including Catholicism, will need to reform, reinvent, or innovate their perspectives to meet the changing times. If not, it is likely, that the distance between the logical, technological thinkers and those that practice religion will widen. In the next 5 years or the next decade it is likely that they will maintain their popularity, however in 25 years the world will have changed and if Catholicism, along with other faiths, are not willing to adapt to those changes it is possible that their number of believers will plummet. Teachings of the Group In the most basic explanation Catholics believe that there is One Almighty God, who created all the universe and the world we live upon and then created man in his image in a the Garden of Eden. He sent his son to be born of perpetual virgin, Mary, and then grow to become the leader who would lead them to salvation for their immortal souls. They believe that Jesus Christ is the means to salvation of the soul; which is extremely important to Catholics. If one is too heavy with sin they will spend eternity in Hell, while those who are free of sin and lead a “good life” will be allowed to enter the gates of Heaven. They believe that the Bible expresses truths that are not open for debate. They belief in a number of Saints, those whose actions of the Church is worthy of Church canonizing. They show their appreciation of these Saints through idolatry and statues of likenesses. Lastly, and what is very representative of the Catholic belief system, is the pure faith in the infallibility of the Pope in Rome. Roman Catholics must defer to the Vatican as the center of their faith (Fairchild 3).They, also, believe that the power of the Church lies in the hierarchy of the Church. However, from a non-believers perspective, one might question the fact that the reference to a hierarchy in heaven and on Earth, the idea of a ”Kingdom of God,” and the nature of that power did not exist biblically until after King James of England had the Bible rewritten to maintain and reinforce his position and power. Of course, the most obvious and relevant of all the sacred writings is, the Bible. The words of the Bible, particularly, the New Testament, which focuses on the life of Jesus Christ plays a huge role in the Catholic Church. Therefore, the Gospels are of significant importance. Of course the interpretation of the, sometimes rather ambiguous or archaic language used, could be different for different readers. However, in Catholicism the only interpretation that matters is the one provided by the Church (Fairchild).One must have faith that the Church’s interpretation is accurate and true without questioning too much any inconsistencies they may or may not detect. Catholicism is definitely a dogmatic faith. There are a great many moral, ethical, and religious requirements of individuals that are part of the church. It is very pervasive in that it speaks to every aspect of a person’s life. The means there is a spiritual template by which a person can live a good, Catholic life. Free thinking and spiritual investigation does not really appear to be a part of Catholicism. There are many rules as what people should not do, along with prescriptions as to what they should do. In many ways, from an outside perspective, Catholicism is essentially less concerned with the life that people are presently leading and more about what will become of them after they leave this life (Fairchild 3).The emphasis on salvation after death forces believers to live every step in their life on proverbial “egg shells” in order to protect their soul later. This all is intrinsically dogmatic. The majority of Catholic services appear to be dedicated to salvation, the accepting of Christ, and avoiding the temptation of sin so that when they leave this life they will be welcomed into the Kingdom of Heaven. I attended a traditional Catholic mass, at Saint Matthews, which is traditionally performed by a Priest before his congregation. The point of the service that was most interesting and is most uniquely representative of the Catholic Church is the performance of the Rite of Communion. The purpose of the Communion is to represent the taking of the body and blood of Christ as part of you. Those who wish to receive communion from the church must be Catholic and are advised to fast, at least, an hour before they participate. The ritual is organized as followed. Catholics believe in the 7 Sacraments; Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Communion, Confession, Marriage, Holy Orders, and the Anointing of the Sick. The first three Baptism, Confirmation, and Communion are called the “Sacraments of Initiation,” which are foundational to leading a Catholic life. The Communion is a ceremony where the believer is offered wafers and, sometimes, wine, as representation of taking in the body and blood of Christ. The Church requires all Catholics to participate in Communion yearly, on Easter, but encourages Church members to take Communion often, if not every day. In order to receive Communion the recipient must be “free of all known sins.” If they know they carry sin then they must first participate in Confession; this involves entering into anonymous boxes and confessing what we know our current sins to be. We are then forgiven and must participate a certain amount of prayer in order to be absolved of that sin (Richert 1). Witnessing the process it is noticeably formalized tradition. The line of people forms each approaching and kneeling and receiving a wafer or cracker from the Priest who places it on their tongues. Catholics believe that there is a way that human beings should live in order to attain salvation, but, also, to live a good life; a Catholic life. Although there are a number of different perspectives to discuss most experts focus on the most foundational principles to living a good life (Kennedy). 1. The entire of society must be based on the premise that God’s love is merciful. This instills that as God loves all mercifully so to should human beings love each other. 2. Man was created in the image of God and is therefore innately good, because nothing made of God or like Good could ever be bad or evil. 3. There is a need to create a society based on the doing of the common good for the society as a whole. Again Catholics view humanity as innately “good.” The idea behind the philosophy being that since man was created in the image of God then he cannot be “bad.” However, because of the introduction of sin human beings were essentially tainted. This sin occurred when Adam and Eve disobeyed God and were forced to leave the paradise of Eden. Original sin is a state of being it is not an act that one can commit. They, also, believe that all human beings have an innate understanding of right and wrong, which Catholics call “Natural Law.” It does answer to traditions or social norms but comes, basically, programmed into the soul. However, there is no such thing as a perfect society; humanity is perpetually a “work in progress” (Stewart 3). Suffering and the reality of evil are, both, relevant, and interconnected concept within Catholicism. Humanity was created to live with God; however, their disobedience caused death and suffering to befall the human species. Human beings are then, essentially, responsible for most of their own suffering. God, also, plays a role in suffering. God may use suffering as a tool to guide someone to salvation. In other words, sometimes the occurrences of tragedy, loss, and sorrow can transform nonbelievers. Suffering can be a means to bring people to the heart of God. Evil is a bit different. Catholics believe that there are two forms of evil, physical evil and moral evil. Physical evil is represented by the lack of perfection that it is impossible for any human being to attain at this time. Moral evil involves the imperfection of the human will. The Devil is perceived as the Father of Lies. He encourages people to act in evil ways, however it is the people who listen to his lies and delusions will act out in evil ways (Stewart 2) . Practice of the Group Saint Matthews, where I attended a service, was about three quarters full and people arrived at different times. As each person entered many stopped to perform the self anointing with holy water and a quick crossing of the chest to represent the father, the son, and the Holy Spirit. There was a lot of “shushing” of disinterested children forced to attend the service and remain quiet all at the same time. The Priest the presided over the congregation spoke both English and Latin throughout his sermon. He read from the Bible, portions of the Gospels, which was the most recognizable. Again, the ritual of Communion, as discussed previously, was the most interesting and ritualistic expression of what is uniquely Catholic (Stewart 1-2). There is, unfortunately, little need for intellect in the practice of this religion. This is not meant to sound unkind or judgmental, but it is all the same true. The Church dictates what you will believe and if you do not believe that or you question it then you cannot be Catholic. The Church instills the need for avoidance of sin, the need for salvation, and guides their emotions to act morally, mostly out of fear of what God will do to them now or in the afterlife if they do not. This does not leave much room for intellectual influence. However, the emotions that were shared were not unremarkable. I witnessed people who silently prayed to themselves through the whole service, others cried, while others became very excited and vocal when they exclaimed, “Amen.” With that exception the whole structure of the Catholic service is extremely formal and bit intimidating. In Catholicism the focus seems to be exclusively on the verbal aspects of the service. Catholics take the words in the Bible very seriously and often quite literally. This is because the center of attention and focus is the Priest who is conducting the prayers. His words, the words of Bible, and the words of God are paramount. As discussed earlier, the focus and power of Catholicism relies on the institution to interpret all religious works and comply with all Church doctrines; ideally with pure faith and few questions. As a lay person one might feel very out-of-place visiting a Catholic church, the traditions and overtly harsh message that you are a sinner no matter what you do and that avoiding sin is the only means to avoid an eternity in hell could be a bit overwhelming. Community The group attending the service that I visited was a rather racially diverse group. I saw peoples of all different ethnicities, however, the majority at this location appeared to be primarily Caucasian and Latin/Hispanic. One of the largest groups appeared to be elderly woman more so than elderly men. There seemed to be a very small number of young men or young women, between the range of 17 and 25, present at this service. The only elder teens were those that appeared to be there against their wills with their families. However, all of these statistics seem to fit with much of the current research explaining that the modern youths, even those who openly call themselves Catholic, are less likely to be heavily involved in Church activities as people have in the past. Also, there is remarkable drop in the support of the Catholic Church by young woman. The Catholics Church constant intervention in social issues concerning women’s rights, birth control ,and abortion has made it not progressive enough to be their religious choice in the modern age. Catholicism is tremendously patriarchal in nature and is not a strong supporter of women role models (Briggs 1). The Catholic Church builds some of the most beautiful Cathedrals all throughout history. However, not every Catholic Church is a cathedral, some are a built more humble; at least externally. However, the interior of a Catholic Church can be rather intimidating. There are sculptures, frescos, and idols representing saints, the Virgin Mary, and of course, an artists representation of the crucified Jesus. There is a feeling that you are being watched, these eyes looking down on you, and it could be perceived as rather judgmental. During my research I came to the understanding that Catholics believed in following the tenants of the 10 Commandments, which forbade worshipping graven images or idols of any kind. Yet, the Catholic Church fills there walls with idols and imagery of many historical Catholic figures. This may sound unkind but there is falseness to the people, or rather a fakeness. Listening in on their conversations I heard more gossip about other church members that I care to; these people are very judgmental of one another. This stands completely antithetical to the very teachings of kindness, service to others, and judgments are for God alone; all of which are part of the teachings in Catholicism. Personal Analysis Although the Church was lovely and the service was interesting to view, I have to say that I was mostly saddened by the experience. I saw people who are living and dying by the idea that there every action and movement is being watch, recorded , and when possible used against you either in this life or after it. For true believers the idea that if they commit sins they may go to hell. There is also so much hypocrisy existing within their faith. As mentioned, the hypocrisy involved in their worship of graven images and idols. There are other hypocrisies. For example, Catholics must always atone themselves of sin, through a process called Confession. This involves a Priest to anonymously listen to the confession of a sinner and prescribe for them how they can atone and be forgiven. The problem is that any sin, even murder, rape, and child molestation can be confessed anonymously and be atoned for with a certain number of prayers and “hail Mary’s.” This is very disturbing because of the legal protections around religious confessions allows the perpetrator to go without facing legal justice. How can confession alone absolve anyone of such heinous crimes? Overall, despite the number of people who claim to be Catholic, in the future, as stated, the Church will still exist, its membership may increase, but the church pews themselves will get emptier and emptier. Much like the rest of the world if archaic religions intend to survive into the future of this technological world then they must be willing to reevaluate, reform and innovate all of their approached and doctrines if they hope to survive. This is true for Catholicism, and likely many other faiths in the world right now. Work Cited Briggs, David. "Counting U.S. Catholics: Signs of Growth and Decline on the Road to 100 Million." Huffington Post [online] 27 12 2012, 1. Web. 27 Nov. 2013. . Bellitto, Christopher . "Roman Catholicism." Patheos Library. Patheos Library, n.d. Web. 27 Nov 2013. . Fairchild, Mary. "Roman Catholic Church History." Religion and Spirituality: Christianity. About, n.d. Web. 27 Nov 2013. . Fairchild, Mary. "Roman Catholic Church Beliefs and Practices." Religion and Spirituality: Christianity. About, n.d. Web. 27 Nov 2013. . Kennedy, Robert G.. "The Basic Ideas of the Catholic Social Tradition." Christian Culture. Ignatius Press, n.d. Web. 27 Nov 2013. . Richert, Scott P.. "The Sacrament of Holy Communion." Religion And Spirituality: Catholicism. About, n.d. Web. 27 Nov 2013. . Stewart, Cynthia. "Suffering and the Problem of Evil." Patheos Library. Patheos Library, n.d. Web. 27 Nov 2013. . Read More