The Catholic Church’s message and influence has spread across all of Europe, the Americas and even into the majority of Asia and Africa. The central issue with spreading a rather westernized religion such as Catholicism, is incorporating other country’s ideas and culture into the faith. There is no easy way to merge Catholic doctrine with other country’s culture due to the fact that some beliefs just do not assimilate with each other seamlessly. Therefore, the modern church’s daunting issue today is representing a westernized faith to other countries while simultaneously including every culture’s traditional aspects. The Making of a Local Church by Francisco F. Claver begins to divulge into the complexities with adapting the Catholic Church …show more content…
It is a widely known fact that when Christopher Columbus found the New World, European powers soon brought religion with them to these new lands. Latin America was a land where the idea of God and the Gospel was yet to established, the Church made the most of this opportunity. For the most part, Natives were basically forced into “be converted to the God of the white men” (Bedouelle, 168). Las Casa saw the issues with forcing the Gospel onto people and quickly advocated for “peaceful evangelization…with tribes reputed as being very aggressive. His efforts led indeed to pacification and the preaching of the Gospel in this territory” (Bedouelle, 169). Overtime, the colonization of Latin America led to the majority of people accepting the Catholic faith and God. The same cannot be said for Asia. In the Beginning, when Jesuit missionaries arrived in China, the Catholic faith was perceived by the Chinese as a good entity. The Jesuits, upon arriving, decided that “it would be better to adopt the dress of the scholarly Confucians” (Bedouelle, 175). The Jesuits were widely accepted by the Chinese people considering that the Jesuits unified with Chinese culture and did not enforce only Western principles. China’s problems with the Catholic faith did not occur until “Dominicans and Franciscans who penetrated the Chinese continent after …show more content…
Over the last few decades, Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity has grown at a dramatic rate around the world. More and more people seem to be leaving the Catholic faith for Pentecostalism, “numbers of Asians, Africans and Latin Americans leave historically main line Christian churches for the more recently introduced Pentecostal denominations (Arbuckle, 133). In some areas of the world Pentecostalism is actually spreading faster than the Catholic faith. Pentecostalism is becoming so popular due to the fact that it advocates and expresses certain values that the Catholic Church fails to do. Pentecostalism is based off the, “traditional popular religiously, especially its emphasis on healing and liveliness in worship” (Arbuckle, 135). For most people, Pentecostalism feels more open since the presence of controlling clergy is
Mead, Loren B. The Once and Future Church Reinventing the Congregation for a New Mission Frontier . The Alban Institute, Inc., 1991. Kindle eBook file.
Through the close study of two of the aspects shown in the diagram, their contributions allow Christianity to be considered a living religious tradition. The significant contributions of Pope John XXIII, during both his papal and Pre-papal life have had everlasting effects on not only Catholicism, but Christianity as a whole and lead to the sense of Christianity being a living religious tradition. His works include two Papal encyclicals, Mater et Magistra and Pacem in Terris, along with his work being Apostolic Delegate of Greece and Turkey. Moreover, The significant practice of Baptism has further contributed to Christian being considered a living religious tradition as it accounts for the premise of most Christian beliefs to be initiated, especially in terms of salvation and affirming the beliefs in the trinity and following the teachings of Jesus Christ.
The size of the Christian megachurch is manifested in its title, which demonstrates that this typically prodigious and resplendent edifice sustains a weekly attendance of at least two thousand congregants; and that the majority of the mega churches are of the Protestant persuasion, of which its doctrine is basically the antithesis of Catholicism’s authoritarian structures, as well as the other major religions of Islam, Hinduism and Old Testament Judaism (The Hartford Seminary). Over the years, there has not only been an enormous emergence of mega churches here in the US, but also of many disparaging remarks from the public, comedians, books and the news media, about this institution. Some assert that these types of churches are not really concerned about the souls of the people, and they are prodigious only because of the avarice, a misrepresentation of Jesus Christ and a manipulation of the hearts of people, in conjunction with a gross negligence of spiritual leadership. The truth is, that in some instances there is malfeasance, but in others, the church is led by the Spirit of God with vigor and integrity.
Chapter one, ‘Beginnings at Assisi,’ offers a vivid description of the social, political, economic, cultural, demographic description of Assisi and its inhabitants. Here, the author describes the life of Francis and the situations and circumstances prompting his journey to spread the ideal gospel life to the world. This chapter is relevant in determining the circumstances that instigated a need for reforms in the Catholic Church. This chapter is applicable in my life because it offers insight on the fundamental Christian I can rely on in my daily life.
One of the three basic pillars of the Roman Catholic Church is Tradition. The Church often uses this pillar of Tradition to validate its actions or to establish its own infallibility. One unspoken foundation that I feel is more essential, however, is that of Love. Love is what is taught in Scripture, another pillar of the Church, and should, therefore be the root of any traditions in the Catholic faith. By judging human actions or the spirit of God by cold laws enforced by the Church, we lose important insight into what our faith and our existence are truly about. Even the Church, in its humanness, sometimes forgets that love of God, others, and ourselves should be the core of every decision we make. The Church that many see as harsh and archaic could easily be refreshed and renewed, not by peppier music or stand-up comic priests, but by emphasis on the spirit of love rather than the letter of the law.
Religion is a huge part of the lives of the people of Latin America. It is not so much just a belief but a way of life.Whenever you discuss religion in Latin America you have to be able to understand the meaning of the Church, because of the fact that approximately 90% of the people who live in this region practice Catholicism. Due to Spanish and Portuguese colonization that started in the 1500s. Latin America was under the control of the Catholic Church,and about 80% of the Latin Americans identified as Catholics. While the Catholic Church is a big part and has a big political impact too in Latin America, it can no longer be seen as the only religion practiced. The religious image of Latin America is further clouded and complicated by
“Go, therefore and make disciples of all the nations,” is the essence of Christianity. Jesus Christ commanded his followers to go to all the directions of the world and share the good news. But how is one to do this when these nations are full of cultures and differences that these disciples had yet to encounter? Throughout the history of Christianity, we see many types of Christianities taking place through different forms of leadership, and hierarchy. To each, they contain their own views, ideas and concepts on how Christianity should look and what it should contain all the while trying to keep the very foundations of Christ’s teachings. But as the world continues to get older and grander, we begin to see the practices and factors of Christianity being weakened by the unnoticed acts of Jesus and his ideas of social cultural acceptances. By taking a look at the Chinese Rites Controversy, I will argue the importance of culture and the adaptation of culture in evangelical approaches.
During the fourteenth century, the facilitation of trade and communication throughout Eurasia caused the Mongols to unintentionally expedite the spread of the bubonic plague in South- western China causing the disappearance of Christianity. However, in the sixteenth century, when the world economy began to stabilize, Roman Catholic missionaries made their way throughout Asia to win converts and set up churches, monasteries, and Christian communities by using European science, technology, and mechanics to piqué Chinese and Japanese curiosity. Without any adaptations of Proselytism “off limits”, it ensured the rise of Christianity in Asia after the demographic recovery of Europe. Missions conducted by notable Jesuits, such as, Matteo Ricci made Christianity both accessible and more appealing to the culturally and ethnically diverse population of Asia through language and technology while St. Francis Xavier, another missionary, took a similar approach but focused more on the arguments placed against Christianity. Matteo Ricci, an Italian Jesuit priest, traveled from Portugal in trying to persuade China into adopting the Christian doctrine. Ricci and his cohorts were the first missionaries to make significant progress in China during the seventeenth century. Although he failed to evangelize all of China, his method of introducing Christianity created a significant cultural impact. These impacts required him to learn and be familiar with the Chinese language. Upon arrival to China, Ricci learned “to speak the native language and to read their books,” (Ricci, 271) which helped him to communicate with the locals about European science, technology, and mechanics. The document entitled, “A Discourse of the Kingdom of China” by Matteo Ricci...
The spreading of Christian views and beliefs were very popular amongst the French and Spanish societies. Both the French and Spanish missionaries took it upon themselves to travel to the “New World” to spread the message of Christ. Many of the missionaries were not prepared to deal with the very different lifestyles and religious views that the natives had. The missionaries had to use many tactics to relay the message of Christ to the native people of the Americas. Many missionaries would struggle at converting the natives while on their religious quest to mission. Both the French and the Spanish would feel as though it is their duty to try and convert these pagan believers to Catholicism. This would ultimately lead to conflict amongst the different cultures. This paper will discuss the many different tactics used by both the French and Spanish missionaries in trying to convert and spread Catholicism. It will also discuss how they also viewed the lifestyle and culture of the natives. Lastly I will discuss how the natives responded to the missionaries and what they thought of these foreign invaders.
Religion in Latin America has always been tied closely to Catholicism because of the influence of Europeans who came to settle South America, bringing along their Catholic foundation. With the early formations of governments in Latin America, church and state were closely linked. The church had significant influence over what happened in the political realm of the countries’ relations. The case was no different for Colombia. The Catholic church has played a significant role in the history of Colombia, assuming an esteemed status in the country and exercising control over different areas of the government and public affairs, but as time passed its role in power has taken a slight downturn.
Throughout the Western culture, Christianity has played a crucial role in the spiritual life of many people. In fact, it is a one of the largest religion in the world with an estimating range from 2 to 3 billion Christians (Religions of the World: Numbers of Adherents; Growth Rates). Spreading with this worldwide religion, the idea that God is at the centre of daily life has a high importance to many people. In the early 20th Century, one of the significant developments of Christianity was the Pentecostal Movement (A Brief History of Christianity). More specifically, Pentecostalism is “the principles and practices of Pentecostal religious groups, characterized by religious excitement and talking in tongues”; its most remarkable detail is its emphasis of the Holy Spirit and the value of prayer (wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn). It has outspread around the world by the people who believed that they had experienced the marvelous moves of God.
The discovery of the Americas inspired the desire to explore for a multitude of counties and societies throughout Europe as it represented opportunity during a time in which this was often restricted. Social mobility was limited due to absolutism in government and religious freedom was becoming a dilemma due to the conflicts between Protestants and Catholics. One faction, the Society of Jesus, or Jesuits, became known for traveling to regions all over the world to strive for their specific objective. They aimed to convert nonbelievers in order to spread the teachings of Catholicism as a response to the Reformation movement that shook Europe. Jesuits also placed a great emphasis on created educational establishments. To them, the Americas represented a land full of uneducated, potential Catholic converts and this inspired them on missions of discovery. They were especially impactful in South America, specifically in what is now known as Brazil and Paraguay. While their efforts are often portrayed as a sacrificial effort with the noble intention of saving souls, it truly sought to increase the power of their order, the Catholic Church, and the country of Spain. Jesuits used religion as a justification for the political advantages gained by their
...er of evangelical history, in which the Pentecostal-charismatic movement is quickly supplanting the fundamentalist-conservative one as the most influential evangelical impulse at work today”(Carpenter 237). The neo-fundamentalist movement, stemming from Graham and Falwell, is just another story in the rise and fall of influential popular movements, as now Pentecostalism has become the fastest growing form of Christianity in the world, with three to four hundred million adherents(Notes 12/3). The pattern in this rise and fall tends to be pieces that overlap and pieces that change and fundamentalism is no different. This was a movement that survived through hardships and adapted to welcome every human being, but it appears that it will remain mainly a twentieth century phenomenon as new forms of the pattern take its’ place.
Why is the Catholic Church so corrupt in its teaching? They have found ways to control the knowledge that their followers contemplate on. The control of knowledge and power is the foundation for every successful religious organization. The Catholic Church have acquired this power through strategic control on the mind of its follower. The Catholic Church propagate their ideals as righteous in order to be accepted; for without this acceptance, they are faced with the task of initiating this power through force. So to beguile their followers, they present themselves in “sheep clothing” (KJV, Matt 7:15). They are accepted as blameless, peaceful, loving and harmless but in actuality, “they are ravening wolves” (KJV, Matt. 7:15).
The first Catholic priests came to South America with the conquistadors and through social and political force superimposed 16th century Catholicism upon conquered peoples and in subsequent generations upon slaves arriving in the New World. Catholicism has, likewise, frequently absorbed, rather than confronted, popular folk religious beliefs. The resulting religion is often overtly Catholic but covertly pagan. Behind the Catholic facade, the foundations and building structure reflect varying folk religious traditions. (2)