Christianity
Unlike many other religions, Christianity is a religion based on love and penance that will allow you into heaven no matter what your past wrongs or faults are. Most Christian denominations have a minister or pastor who serves as the leader or guide through the rituals and readings learned by the individual. The ultimate goals in these teachings are to be accepted into God’s kingdom by being baptized, devoting your life to God, and admitting that he is your savior. These teachings are based off the original teachings and life of Jesus of Nazareth.
The history of Christianity begins with the birth of its founder, Jesus of Nazareth. The traditional story says that he was born around 4 B.C.E. In a Palestinian City called Bethlehem which was occupied by Roman authorities. His mother was a young virgin named Mary, who had become pregnant through the action of the Holy Spirit. Jesus’s birth is believed to the fulfillment of prophesies in the Jewish Old Testament. In this testament, it said that a Messiah would save the Jewish people from captivity. This is where the term “Jesus Christ” is derived from. (7) Although not much is known about Jesus until he began his ministry around the age of thirty, there is one episode of his early life in the gospel of Luke. At the age of twelve, Jesus accompanied Mary and Joseph, his earthly father, and a large group of people to Jerusalem on pilgrimage. On the way back to Bethlehem Jesus wandered into the Temple without his parents knowing. A day later they returned to look for him and it took them three days to find him in the Temple. They found him in the Temple talking to elders, who were amazed at his learning, especially at the age he was in. (17)
In the first century of the Common...
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...tp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confession_of_Peter
21. http://christianity.about.com/od/biblestorysummaries/p/walkingonwater.htm
22. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triumphal_entry_into_Jerusalem
23. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passion_(Christianity)
24. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Supper#Sermon
25. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrest_of_Jesus
26. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanhedrin_Trial_of_Jesus
27. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resurrection_of_Jesus
28. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crucifixion_of_Jesus
29. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resurrection_appearances_of_Jesus
30. http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+28%3A16-20&version=NIV
31. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Church
32. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/crusades
33. http://christianity.about.com/od/easternorthodoxy/p/orthodoxprofile.htm
34. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestantism
35.
The role of religion in early-modern Europe (from about 1400 to 1700) religion remained an essential ‘lens’ through which members of this period viewed their lives and the world around them. The influence of religious outlooks was always important during this time period. This can be seen through Cabeza de Vaca’s Adventures in the Unknown Interior of America, Michel de Montaigne’s On Cannibals, and the political works of philosophers Thomas Hobbes and John Locke. These authors’ works can only be understood and put into proper context with an understanding of the religious lens through which they wrote.
The spread of Christianity overtime replaced the old warrior religion changing the way of life, and at the giving it new meaning. With the coming of Christianity a hope for poets also came about. As the conversion of Ireland to Christianity took place a new era known as Ireland's Golden Age began to take over. Christian munks worked hard preserving literature of the ancient world and works of popular culture. Due to the rapid growth of Christianity the Anglo-Saxon's were given a common faith, a common system of morality and right conduct, linking England with Europe.
The single most important aspect of European empires, beginning just prior to the fall of Rome, is the spread of Christianity to all areas of the continent in as little as a few hundred years. Many theologians state that Christianities spread is the indirect influence of God and the adoration of people to one true faith. Though it is true that Christianity has brought about people that even atheists could call saints, it is unquestionable that Christianity was so monumental because it united larger groups of people and its spread is contributed to adherence to local customs and its lack of new ideas in comparison to other religions of the day.
The most important historical fact of Christianity is the life of Jesus, the prophet that the faith of Christians is centered around. The historical Jesus grew up in Nazareth where John the Baptist baptized him, thus beginning his career as a teacher and healer of God. Little is known about where Jesus came from or what he looks like, only his personality through actions and words. Like most prophets, Jesus looked to the spiritual world to find answers to remove the suffering; John was the prophet to open Jesus’ eyes to heaven, leading him into a state solitude until he became empowered by the Spirit. The actions that speak for his personality are of power to heal sickness, cast away evil, and perform miracles, all that the prophets gave credit to Jesus, but this what not the focus of his ministry. What drew people into Jesus was his hope to heal humanity, not just people; he urged peace and loving of the enemies, which created ties with the Pharisees. However, the Pharisees did not see God as compassion, so they created categories of clean and unclean people. Christianity is originally created for the undesirables, so Jesus felt that the boundaries were not exemplifying His compassion, thus he set out to change the system. This did not sit well with the Pharisees, so Jesus began to compiled enemies of Rome, which would lead to his crucifixion. It was the death of Jesus that began the Christianity faith, but his words and deeds that empowered the people. Jesus had no new teachings that were different from those before him, but he had a weight of meaning to his words. Christ’s teachings were mostly in the forms of stories where lessons of the heart lay behind the message. Not only did he speak with authority, but he spoke out ag...
Christianity has grounded our lives in the living God as revealed through Jesus. This belief must be a choice people make as well as a gift we all receive within the Christian community. Christians must trust in and rely upon God as the source of everything in their lives. Faith is about believing in the trinity; God, Jesus the Son of God, and the Holy Spirit as three in one. Christians follow Jesus’ teachings and answer the call to be his disciples in the world. Christian faith is looking forward to joining God in the future and entering into the coming kingdom that God has promised His followers through Jesus. Christians join together in reflecting with each other in the Christian community about the good news of God’s love through Jesus Christ. Christians believe in the “new life in Christ,” which is the gift of God’s grace; such rebirth and personal assurance gives all new eyes to see the living truth in Scripture. The Christian worldview may differ in different denominations of Christianity but only exist because of their belief of God and Jesus.
Jesus’ life was ministry and death. Much of the early life of Jesus Christ is a mystery. The preponderance of information on or about his life is found in the four gospels of the New Testament. Jesus was born to the Virgin Mary in the year “0” B.C. near the town of Bethlehem in a manger outside an inn. This humble beginning was the foreshadowing of a life of humility and service.
Essentially, Christianity was developed out of the other popular religion known as Judaism. It all started with Jesus, a child who was born in a small corner within the Roman Empire, to the woman known as the Virgin Mary. The Virgin Mary is well known due to the writings of Luke and Matthew that appear in the New Testament, which is part of the Bible. He was a Jewish child that is often remembered as being called Jesus of Nazareth or simply that he is recognized as being the Son of God. Jesus didn’t become well known until he was thirty years old, which is during the time that John the Baptist baptized him and he started his ministry by teaching, healing and working miracles .
Christianity is mainly founded on the life, death, teachings, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Christianity was developed from Judaism during the 1st century, it has several different branches and forms which accompany different beliefs and practices. Christianity
Christianity started as a missionary religion and has now become the world's most widespread faith. It focuses on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The traditional story of Jesus tells of his birth in a stable in Bethlehem in the Holy Land, to a young virgin called Mary who had become pregnant with the son of God through the action of the Holy Spirit. The story of Jesus' birth is told in the writings of Matthew and Luke in the New Testament of the Bible. The New Testament, a collection of twenty-seven books written in the century after Jesus' death in 30 C.E., has had importance by shaping the church's teachings, ethics, ritual, organization, and mission in the world (Van Voorst 245). His birth is believed by Christians to be the fulfillment of prophecies in the Jewish Old Testament which claimed that a Messiah would deliver the Jewish people from captivity ("The Basics").
The rise of Christianity in western civilization is arguably among the most important memories in history. There is no denying what the spread of Christianity has done for the world, for better or worse. Its impact on western civilizations is unrivaled and unprecedented. Christianity slowly became something for many individuals to turn to; in times of hurt its provided comfort, in times of pleasure it has given thanks. The will and belief for salvation has driven individuals to be better, and to have a reference while in need. The rise of Christianity more than 2000 years ago provided necessary building blocks for the future. Without Christianity there would be no cathedrals, no monasteries, no music from one Johann Sebastian Bach, no paintings from Michelangelo, nor no philosophy from Saint Augustine (Backman 205). There are countless times in history, whether good or bad, that can be credited to
According to the book of Matthew, “Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king,” indicating he was born between 6 and 4 BCE (Matthew 2:1). The Bible refers to this as the virgin birth because Joseph and Mary never conceived him. He was a human being in which God took his form. Very little is known about his childhood and the Bible only reveals a picture of Jesus and his teachings when he was approximately 30 years of age. Whatever happened to Jesus during these years is a mystery to us all, but whatever happened transformed him into the divine being which he is today.
Jesus is said to have been born around 4-6 BC. When Jesus was 30 he began his ministry. Many of the reasons that his religion succeeded were that it treated everyone equally promised eternal life and was centered on on your personal relationship with God. Jesus¹ teachings included love for God, neighbors, enemies and yourself. The ten commandments and the basic foundation of Judaism was included in his teachings as Jesus was born a Jew.
The earliest recorded text teaching Christianity has its roots buried deep within Judaism. The birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, as the Messiah, created a new ideology of worship. The Messiah is the savior for all people and of all sins. Paul carried the message of the Messiah to the Gentiles. His missionary journeys and establishment of churches enabled the spreading of the message throughout the Roman Empire. Christianity grew in acceptance; those that believed in the Messiah separated and began to worship on their own. This marked the beginning of the split of Judaism and Christianity.
Christianity teaches that there is merely one God in all existence and that God created the universe. It also teaches that Jesus is the only way to be set free from the coming judgment of God and that Jesus desires his values and his standards to abound. Moreover, Christianity is the only religion that
Religion is a major influence in our lives. Although religion covers every aspect of our lives, I am going to discuss the influence of religion in two areas. Religion among young adults and Religion and sexual issues. These topics are large, so I will only scratch the surface by discussing only a few issues within these two main topic areas. Religion is gaining popularity among young adults and college students, increasingly more students are attending a church and many different colleges are becoming involved in religious activities. Students at Wake Forest University are looking into dorms that will diversify the student body to educate students about other religions (4). Other schools have programs where people with similar interests can live in the same dorm. Some examples are the University of California, Berkeley and Davis Campuses, University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, University of Missouri at Columbia, and Columbia University in New York (2). These colleges allow students with similar religious views to live together. And it’s not just a few students, there are enough students to fill at least a wing of a dorm, if not a whole dorm (2). On Monday February 22nd, students and faculty members at Clemson University in South Carolina gathered to hear what Dr. Eugene C. Scott, from the National Center for Science Education, had to say about "Adam and Eve, and creationism versus evolution and a quivering mass of protoplasm." (1). She stated that "Evolution in its simplest form refers to a change over time, or decent with modification. Evolution is a scientific explanation based on observable facts." And that "Creationism simply put, means that God created." (1). Dr. Scott was trying to relay the message that religion and science don’t have to be opposites. Like the idea that God created evolution (1). The Students at Clemson received the message well. Despite the fact that Clemson sits in the middle of a geographic area nicknamed "The Bible Belt" known for its strong religious beliefs. In the Pop music industry, which is popular with young adults, religious groups are beginning to gain popularity. Greg Graffin, the co-founder of one of punk-rock’s most venerable bands, believes " when you’re 18, some kids want more then just bland pop culture , they want something with a little more substance." (3) And that substance can be pop music with religion tied into it. Violence among young adults is also becoming a greater problem.