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The success of Christianity on European history and culture
The success of Christianity on European history and culture
Spread of Christianity through Europe
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Christianity started in Israel, and spread westward into Europe. If it hadn’t have spread westward, there is a good chance that the population of the world that is Christian today, would be much smaller. When the pope was trying to promote Christianity, he realized that in order to get more people's attention, he would have to adopt things from other religions. Such as specific practices, that persuaded some of the pagans to convert to christianity. One specific practice that he adopted was holidays such as easter and christmas. Of course the Pagans already celebrated these things, but for different reasons. In christianity, before the purpose of the holidays were extended into what they are now,, the only reason for the holidays was to celebrate
People come from different backgrounds which mean they will celebrate holidays differently even though they might be of the same religion. The world is huge has a variety of people whom speak many different languages and have different styles, which is why it is a good reason to keep an open mind to learn something new. David Sedaris is a well-known comedian writer who by some calls him the funniest writer alive. He has also written many best sellers such as Naked and Talk pretty to me. Jesus Shaves is a short story by Sedaris in which cultures cross between students in a French class. The Students come from different backgrounds even though a lot of them share the same religion they practice it differently. There are a lot of elements in Jesus
...Christ making it the most honored and important holiday in the Christian religion. But it does have its traditions that are a far cry from the original intent. It should come as no surprise to find that the Easter Bunny was not present and distributing multi-colored hard-boiled eggs to the twelve apostles two-thousand years ago.
What or who is a Saint? In a very simple way to answer the question, we may say that a saint is any person who dies and who is now enjoying his/her external life before the eternal and divine presence of God in heavens. For people, well known or not, are celebrated on the very first day of the month of November; the All Saints Day. The origins of the religious feast in the Roman Catholic Church came from the early days of the church around the year 80 or 80 AC when sealed by the blood of Jesus’ crucifixion on the cross. By the martyrdoms of many Catholics, who are dedicated to Jesus’ teachings and the example of Saint Peter, pay with their lives to the Glory of belonging to the only church founded by Jesus Christ himself. The Catholics by the virtue of their martyrdom and their lives in all of the extinction of the Roman Empire, where they were persecuted and executed at the Circus Maximus, The Roman Coliseum at the Caracalla, and even inside of the Domus Aurea (Nero’s Palace). Those martyrs who lost their lives from th...
There is an obvious difference of opinion between two members of the Saint Elizabeth Catholic Church as it relates to whether as Christian we should celebrate Halloween. Couple A argues that is not up to Christianity to dictate what they should and should not celebrate, and uses Romans 14:5 to support their argument. Romans 14:5 reads, “In the same way, some think one day it is more holy than another day, while others think every day is alike. Each person should have a personal conviction about this matter” (Romans 14:5, New International Version). It is, therefore, their belief that they are within their rights to celebrate Halloween, as long as a family they are not dishonoring God. According to Couple A, they are free in Christ “to enjoy liberty without being judged by others” (Colorado Christian University, Case Discussion Lecture) and as such should not be condemned for celebrating a particular holiday as long at their heart remains faithful to God. They find biblical support for their argument in Colossians 2:16 which reads, “So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths” (Colossians 2:16,New International Version).
With Christianity, a sort of Sabbath is celebrated on Sunday rather than Saturday like in Judaism. The reason for this is that Jesus’s resurrection occurred on
Christianity and Judaism are the few examples of religions that are originated from Western Traditions. These religions take different approaches to representational art and iconography which is found in their religious festivals. The Christian celebration of Easter and the Jewish Passover differentiate in their approaches to these icons in the history, the celebration and the symbols used during the commemoration of these holidays.
ChristmasThe year's most celebrated holiday is celebrated on December 25th, both in homes and churches worldwide. The meaning for Christmas is to recognize Christ's birth, of which the exact date is not known. During the fourth century the Bishop of Rome set December 25th as Christ's birth date. Some authorities claim that the choice of December 25th was made because it coincided with Chanukah, Mithraic's feast of the sun god, and the people of northern Europe's winter solstice feast. The winter solstice is the time of year in the Northern Hemisphere when the noon sun appears to be farthest south. (All About American Holidays, 1962 Encyclopedia Encarta, 1998)The Saturnalia was celebrated for seven days, during the period of time when the winter solstice occurred.
Throughout the early centuries of the church’s existence, the Roman government suppressed the spread of Christianity. Many emperors did their absolute best to try to stop the Christian populace from spreading with none succeeding (demonstrated by the fact that Christianity is still in existence today). It was not until 322 A.D. when Constantine united all of Europe under his throne that Christianity could be spread without threat of persecution. Under Constantine, Christianity, in terms of numerically, thrived. Councils were held, doctrine developed, and great strides were taken in order to have Christianity be one catholic church. However, in the next couple centuries, the church would grow apart and rulers would fall resulting in mass turmoil throughout the Western Empire. The Roman Catholic Church (as it would later be called) used these events to secure its grip over the entire western empire.
Holidays are a major part of culture around the world. No matter where someone goes, the culture that surrounds them may have their own unique holidays. In the culture that has surrounded me my whole life, we celebrate 18 holidays. Every holiday has their own reason to be celebrated, whether it’s a holiday to remember something or someone who has made an impact on our society, or if it is to celebrate pagan holidays that were established back in biblical times, we always have something to celebrate. The one holiday that stands out to me the most, is Easter.
The popularity of Christmas grew until the Reformation, a religious movement of the 1500's. This movement gave birth to Protestantism. During the Reformation, many Christians began to consider Christmas a pagan celebration because it included nonreligious customs. During the 1600's, because of these feelings, Christmas was outlawed in England and in parts of the English colonies in America.
How can you celebrate Advent? Advent is a Latin word that actually means “coming.” In the Church, advent is a time of preparation and waiting for the birth of Jesus. Advent begins the church’s liturgical year and officially begins four Sundays before Christmas. During the Advent season, we focus on the virtues of faith, hope, and love. This Advent season, as we await the birth of Jesus Christ, I can be a sign of faith, hope, and love.
A comparative analysis of salvation in Christianity and Buddhism exposes stark contrasts between the grace of Jesus Christ and the self-saving action and enlightenment of Buddha. I attempt to compare the Christian and Buddhist concepts of salvation in this essay to emphasise on the significance of each founder's roles in salvation, and to extract similarities and differences between them both.
Semana Santa is primarily to celebrate the death of Christ. They take this week to commemorate his death and to confess their sins. They value the thought of suffering and sacrifice. The holiday was started in 1521 when Marqués de Tarifa came back from the Holy Land to Spain. He established the Via Crusis or Stations of the Cross. This started the celebrations of Semana Santa and the holiday has evolved greatly over the years.
In the Christian religion, Easter has become a grand day of celebration in honor of the resurrection of Christ. Easter falls on the first Sunday following the first full moon after a specific time and varies on how the day is followed throughout. Each denomination of the faith varies on the celebration day, hosting various outings and activities. Specifically, the Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox denominations of Christianity view and celebrate the Holy Day of Easter differently. In addition to the various amounts of changes throughout the denominations, Easter has become modernized to what the world now sees as a big bunny handling colorful, candy-filled eggs for little children, making smiles appear left and right. However, the real question
Easter is celebrated as a Christian holiday. Christians celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus. This means that Easter is the core holiday in the christian religion and without it, there is no point in Christianity. According to history, Easter is the oldest Christian holiday and almost all other Christian celebrations are actually put in place in direct relation to Easter. What makes it rather interesting is the fact that the Bible doesn’t even once mention Easter, instead it talks about the celebration of ‘Passover’. Passover was, and still is, a celebration in remembrance of God’s deliverance of the Jews from Egypt. To be more specific, the last of the 10 plagues that God sent to the Egyptians: the angel of God passed over the houses whose doors were marked with blood from a lamb and the first borns in those houses were not killed. The blood used had to be from a lamb without blemish which in the New Testament of the Bible is associated with Jesus Christ and His sacrifice on the cross for the redemption of mankind. So, early Christians observed Passover and not Easter. Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th edit., Vol. 8, p. 828: “There is no indication of the observance of the Easter festival in the New Testament, or in the writings of the Apostolic Fathers…” So where did the bunnies and chocolate come from?