Christianity Monotheistic Faith - Coursework Example

Running Head: Christianity Christianity Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Name Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Course Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Lecture Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 20th February, 2013. Introduction Christianity is a Monotheistic faith based on the teachings of Jesus Christ. The Christian holy text is the bible which consists of two sections; the Old and the New Testament. The Old Testament consists of Jewish teachings on how a man should relate with God. On the other hand the New Testament is concerned with the life and doctrines of Jesus and his disciples. Christianity is the most popular religious order in the world going by the number of followers. According to McGrath (2006), 33 per cent of the World population follows the Christian faith and the numbers keep growing. Christian doctrines shape the lives of millions of people across the world and in most countries they provide standards of morality. Discussion Unlike most other religions, the Christian faith was started by the disciples of Jesus after his death through crucifixion. Arguably, the greatest contributors to the development of the Christian faith are the twelve disciples of Jesus Christ. The twelve disciples had moved with Jesus throughout his ministry in Israel and he had taught them how to worship and revere God. According to McGrath (2006), the New Testament book of Acts the first Christian congregation was the church of Jerusalem which had 120 followers. Initially, the Christian faith was just a sect under the Jewish faith but due to ideological differences the two parted ways. The period when the disciples of Jesus Christ were alive is referred to as the apostolic age. When they started spreading Christianity the disciples first preached to Jews but found it hard to convert them to Christianity as Judaism was deeply rooted in the Jewish culture. Secondly, Jesus had commanded the disciples to preach the gospel to all nations in the world. The acceptance of non-Jewish people (referred to as Gentiles by the Jews) into the Christian faith was one of the earliest ideological departure from Judaism (Burton, 1993). This factor alongside differences in doctrines led to the expulsion of Christians from Jewish Synagogues. From the foundation in Jerusalem the disciples and other followers spread the Christian faith across the Roman Empire (Lindberg, 2006). During the apostolic period Christians were strict followers of religious doctrines which were drawn from both the old and the new testaments. These doctrines included the Mosaic Ten Commandments which set the ethical and religious principles Christians follow in their daily life (Burton, 1993). The early Christians also confessed and often recited various creed with the most significant being the apostle’s Creed. Creeds remain an important part of today’s Christian church and the Apostle’s creed has been retained and is recited by Christian the world over as a statement of faith. The Apostle’s Creed sets out the main principles of the Christian faith (McGrath, 2006): The belief that there is God who is the Father of Jesus Christ and a Holy Spirit; the three make up the Holy Trinity in Christianity. The belief that Jesus died on the Cross, went to hell and was resurrected after three days, and later ascended into heaven. The belief that the Church and the communion of saints are holy. The belief that Jesus Christ will come back to Judge and save the faithful Early followers of the Christian faith had a hard time preaching and converting people into the new faith. The people and the roman authorities violently resisted the spread of the faith and Christians were persecuted and killed for their beliefs. However Christians drew strength from this persecution and one of the Apostles, Paul was a roman crusader against Christianity. Paul contributed to the spread of Christianity by writing doctrines to guide the newly converted believers, even today the writings of Paul are used in Christian’s teachings. Paul also travelled widely across the Roman Empire to preach the gospel and recruit new converts into the faith. From the 64 to the 4th Century Christians were persecuted on a large scale in the Roman Empire but in the fourth century Christianity was adopted as the State religion of the Roman Empire leading to the formation of the Roman Catholic Church (Burton, 1993). During this period every Christian belonged to the Roman Catholic Church, the only denomination of the Christianity. In the middle ages the Catholic Church became an increasingly important political player after the decline of the Roman Catholic Church. In the 15th century, the Catholic Church was faced by dissident among followers due to the sale of papal indulgencies and diverging interpretations of doctrines. The dissidents split into several Christian denominations referred to as the protestant movement. Protestants churches were against the domination of the Pope over the Roman Catholic Church and the way the church conducted it worship and teachings. The Church of England now the Anglican Church was among the forerunners in the protestant movement when it split from the Roman Catholic Church in 1534. Starting from 1492, Europeans discovered new Lands in the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania were they migrated to and spread their religion there (Lindberg, 2006). It is important to note that most of the population in the West before the 20th Century were devoted Christians but this changed after the age of enlightenment. Political ideology was among the greatest challenges to Christianity with nations like the United States founded in the United States came up with the Doctrine of separating the State from Religion. Marxism, Socialism and liberalism were particularly hostile to Christianity (Lindberg, 2006). Currently, the Christian church has split to thousands of denominations with many divergent beliefs. The Roman Catholic Church and mainstream protestant churches still hold the majority of Christian believers but other denominations also have a substantial number of followers. Christian denomination can be divided into the Catholicism, Protestantism and evangelical movement (Lindberg, 2006). All these denominations exist in competition with each other in term of doctrines in beliefs. Nowadays, Christianity is embroidered in a number of controversies over the interpretation of biblical doctrines. Originally, Women could not take leadership roles within the Christian faith a principle taken from the Judaism faith. In the catholic faith women could not hold the position of priest or clergy, but in most churches nowadays women can be found at all levels of leadership. Some strict theologians still oppose the ascending of women into leadership positions (Stott and Wyatt, 2006). Modern trends have also led to increasing controversy in the Christian faith particularly on issues of sexual orientation (Stott and Wyatt, 2006). Most believers in the Christian faith oppose homosexuality and in one instance the African Anglican community broke links with the American church when they consecrated an openly gay bishop. Acceptance of homosexual individual into Christianity remains controversial with more liberal societies mostly in the West accepting them openly while more conservative societies vehemently opposed to their inclusion. Conclusion Christianity has evolved for over two thousands from a small Jewish sect with a handful of believers to the world greatest religion with billions of followers. This evolution has also occurred in the belief system of Christianity. Traditionally, most Christian’s nations held a common state religion and the state had to consult the church but this is not the case nowadays. Consecration of gay bishops would be unthinkable one decade ago but in the future it is set to become a common occurrence. It can be concluded that with time Christianity has continually departed from its originally strict doctrines and it importance in people lives is on the decline especially now that most nations have adopted the principle of separating the state from religion. References Burton L. M (1993). The Lost Gospel: The Book of Q and Christian Origins. HarperCollins: New York. Foster, D. A & Dunnavant, A.L. (2004).The Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement: Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Christian Churches/Churches of Christ, Churches of Christ, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing: New York. Lindberg, C. (2006). A Brief History of Christianity. Blackwell Publishing: London McGrath, A.E (2006). Christianity: An Introduction. Blackwell Publishing: London. Rapids, Michigan. Stott, J & Wyatt, J (2006). Issues Facing Christians Today. 4th ed. Zondervan: Grand White, L. M. (2004). From Jesus to Christianity. HarperCollins: New York. Read More