Christianity: Difference between revisions

To most of the people of his time Jesus was a preacher, teacher, healer, and prophet from ancient [[Judea (Roman province)|Judea]]. However, his disciples believed him to be much more than that: they believed that Jesus was God's one and only son who was sent down to earth to die on a cross for their sins. The man said to be his father, Joseph, was a [[carpenter]]. Jesus was executed by being nailed to a cross (or [[Crucifixion of Jesus|crucified]]) under [[Pontius Pilate]], the local Roman [[wikt:procurator|governor]] at the time.<ref>[[Tacitus]] tells about this in his Annales: [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Tac.+Ann.+15.44 ''Perseus''-Project: Annales 15,44] In the passage, Tacitus talks about the burning of Rome, which [[Nero]] attributed to the Christians: ''Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their center and become popular''.</ref> His life and followers are written about in the [[New Testament]], part of the [[Bible]].  Christians consider the Bible, both the Old Testament and New Testament, as [[sacred]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/ |title=''BBC - Religion & Ethics - 566, Christianity'' |access-date=2008-10-01 |work=[[BBC]] }}</ref> The [[Gospel|Gospels]] or "The Good News" are the first four books of the New Testament and are about the life of Jesus, his death, and him rising from the dead.

God created the world. Jesus is the name of God the Son. Christians believe Him to be the [[Son of God]]. They believe that He was the human son of the [[Mary (mother of Jesus)|Virgin Mary]] and the divine Son of God. They believe he [[wikt:suffering|suffered]] and [[Death|died]] to free humans from their [[sin]]<ref name="McGrath4">McGrath, ''Christianity: An Introduction'', p. 4-6.</ref> and was later [[resurrection|raised from the dead.]] He then [[Ascension of Jesus|went up]] into [[Heaven]]. At the end of time, Jesus will [[Second Coming|come back]] to Earth to [[Last Judgment |judge]] all mankind, both alive and dead, giving [[Immortality|everlasting life]] to those who believe in him.  The Holy Spirit is the spirit of God on the Earth that spoke through prophets.

* [[Dove]] - The dove is a bird and a symbol of the [[Holy Spirit]]. When Jesus was [[baptism| baptized]], the Holy Spirit came to him in the form of a dove and rested on him.

In the [[15th century]] the invention of the [[printing press]] made it easier for more people to read and study the Bible. This led many thinkers over the years to return to biblical ideas and to break away from the Catholic Church. They started the [[Protestant Reformation]]. The most important Protestant leaders were Jan Hus, [[Martin Luther]], and [[John Calvin]]. Later some of these groups disagreed amongst themselves so that these denominations split again into smaller groups. The largest Protestant denominations today are within [[Evangelicalism|Evangelical]], [[Lutheranism|Lutheran]], and [[Calvinist|Reformed]] Christianity. In [[England]], a similar protest against the Pope, first political and later religious, led to the [[Church of England]] which has [[bishop]]s and officially calls itself Reformed Catholic but is often referred to as Protestant. The Anglican communion of churches includes several churches called "Episcopal" or "Episcopalian" because they have bishops. Some [[Anglican]] Churches have a style of worship that is closer to the Protestant services, others worship more like Catholics, but none of them accept the Pope, or are accepted by him. The [[Anabaptist|Anabaptists]] also arose from disagreements with Lutheran and Reformed Protestants during what is often called the Radical Reformation. The Evangelical churches arose in reaction to what they views as needs for reform within mainstream Protestantism. This can be seen in the rise of [[Non-conformism|non-conformist]] movements against the Anglican church in Britain and during [[Revival meeting|revivalist]] movements, prominently in the several [[Great Awakening|Great Awakenings]] in Britain and North America. Denominations that arose or surged as a result of these Evangelical reform, renewal, and revival movements include [[Religious Society of Friends|Quakers]], [[Baptist|Baptists]], Moravians, [[Methodism|Methodists]], the [[Restorationism|Restoration (Stone-Campbell)]] movement, Adventists, the [[Holiness movement]], [[Pentecostalism|Pentecostals]], the Fundamentalist movement, the [[Charismatic Movement|Charismatic]] movement, Messianic Judaism, among others including many independent and non-denominational churches. In general, some Protestant denominations, especially within Anabaptism and Evangelicalism, differ from the Catholic, Orthodox, Nestorian, and Miaphysite churches in having given up some of the traditional sacraments, having no ordained priesthood, and not having the same fondness for Mary, the mother of Jesus, that the Catholic and [[Eastern Christianity|Eastern]] churches have.

The other way was creating [[wikt: union|unions]] for different churches to join together. [[Congregation|Congregationalist]], [[Methodist]], and [[Presbyterian]] churches joined together in 1925 to form the United Church of Canada,<ref>McManners, ''Oxford Illustrated History of Christianity''. p. 413f.</ref> and in 1977 to form the Uniting Church in Australia. The Church of South India was formed in 1947 by the union of [[Anglicanism|Anglican]], [[Methodism|Methodist]], Congregationalist, [[Presbyterianism|Presbyterian]], and [[Protestant|Reformed]] churches.<ref>McManners, ''Oxford Illustrated History of Christianity'', p. 498.</ref> And other such formations have been done by different Christian groups throughout the years.