The Growth of the Roman Catholic Church (10th-15th Centuries)

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Introduction Jesus Christ, the first celebrity, born to a virgin, performed miracles and rose from the dead. The great healer, savior and son of God. With a following of approximately 2.2 billion people worldwide (including 1.2 billion Catholics), Christianity is arguably the largest religion in the world today. According to Christian teachings God made the heavens and the Earth in 6 days and rested on the seventh day, or the Sabbath. Then God made the first humans, Adam and Eve. God flooded the Earth out of dissatisfaction with the human race, except for Noah and his family. Noah was instructed to build an ark with 2 of every animal for reproductive purposes. God presented Moses with the 10 Commandments on Mt. Sinai. The Catholic Church has played a prominent role in Western history influencing culture, art and philosophy. Introduction to Catholicism The sacred text of the christian church, both Catholic and Protestant is the Holy Bible. The Bible is made up of 2 parts; the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament is a collection of religious writings by ancient Israelites. The Catholic Old Testament is made up of 46 books including Genesis, Isaiah, Jobs, Proverbs and Psalms. The New Testament is a compilation of Christian literature. The life of Jesus is the main part of the New Testament. There are 27 books in the New Testament, including the 4 Gospels; Matthew, Mark, Luke and John,Acts, Peter and, Revelation. In the Catholic church priests serve as a direct link between God and the people. He is responsible for sacred rituals, such as performing masses, offering the Eucharist (symbolic body and blood of Jesus Christ), hearing confessions, and counselling. All priest are men because Jesus’ apostles were all men and it is considered tradition. The lack of female priest has raised concerns in the past but as of now there is no change in sight.

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