Development of Christianity - Essay Example

 DEVELOPMENT OF CHRISTIANITYIntroductionDiarmaid MacCulloch (2010, p. 11) who agrees to not professing Christian faith but to being a friend of Christianity has written a book titled, In Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years, the book recounts the history of Christianity by structuring the book in seven part structure that appear to follow the traditional division of the history of Christianity. MacCulloch takes into account the Jewish history from where the Christianity originates.

The first part presents the three thousand years history of the church. The second part deals with the church in Mediterranean and Europe while the third part extends to churches beyond Roman Empire and Islam in Asia. The fourth part examines vibrant churches that declined while the fifth tackles churches in Moscow. Part six explains the dismember ship of Western Christianity with the current part portraying protestant as emerging as a result of views different from Latin Christianity rather than reforming impulses.

To begin with Christianity development, MacCulloch presents Christianity development as a messy political affair shooting up through the moments of human acceptance and apprehension of God through the message of Christ Jesus. This representation occurs when writing a clear discussion on the development of Chalcedonian and Nicene in the fourth and fifth centuries resulting into Dyophysite and miaphysite camps which could give rise to any creedal Christian pause. Thus, Christianity history development presented as not having triumphalist stance.

The writer in the first part, plainly and loudly contextualizes the Christianity within Hellenistic and Jewish worlds. MacCulloch moves with the history of Christianity in connection to the Jews up to the New Testament and links the Jews to Jesus and the New Testament. The writer elevates Jesus above other Jews by asserting the uniqueness in Jesus calling God Abba (MacCulloch, 2010, p.81). Then proceeds to discuss a meeting arranged at Yavneh by a number of rabbis after the fall of Jerusalem.

The assertion by MacCulloch remains that the meeting by rabbis saw the founding of rabbinic Judaism as an event of historiographical fiction arising in the late antiquity (MacCulloch, 2010, p.107). Similarly, (Mangina, 2010, p. 22) explains Christianity and the doctrine of faith until the conclusion that the Apocalypse concerns the God of the gospel who is the Father, Son and Holy Spirit who seeks to transform life to predictable comfortable ways. In discussion the author digs deeply into the development of Christianity but fails to conclude many chapters and leaves the readers with instruction to do further research and reading.

This implies lack of full knowledge by the author. In the conclusion of Christianity development MacCulloch, in the final chapters discusses the recent pontification of John Paul and Benedict as merging evangelism in America with political power. From this discussion of the pontification of the popes, one can clearly deduce the authors view when talking about faith. Mostly when talking about faith he refers to the office of the roman inquisition, and then with the knowledge of the writers’ standpoint the reasons for calling the development of church a messy political affair and protestant upraising a rebellion from the Roman Catholic reached.

Mangina rather than MacCulloch brings out clearly the highest order of the God of the gospel. Work citedJoseph L. Mangina. (2010). Revelation: Theological Commentary On the Bible. Grand Rapids, Brazos Press.Diarmaid MacCulloch. (2010). In Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years. New York:  United States of America.