Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament writings of his early followers. It is the world's largest religion, with an estimated 2.1 billion followers, or about one-third of the world's population. It shares with Judaism the books of the Hebrew Bible (all of which are incorporated in the Old Testament), and for this reason is sometimes called an Abrahamic religion.

Christianity encompasses numerous religious traditions that widely vary by culture, as well as many diverse beliefs and sects. It is usually represented as having divided into three main branches, over the past two millennia:

Roman Catholicism (the largest coherent group, representing over one billion baptized members),
Orthodox Christianity (including Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy),
Protestantism (Many denominations and schools of thought, including Anglicanism, Reformed, Lutheran, Methodist, Evangelicalism, and Pentecostalism)

These three broad divisions do not represent equally uniform branches. On the contrary, in some cases they disguise vast disagreements, and in other cases minimize sympathies that exist. But this is the convenient standard overview of distinctions, especially as Christianity has been viewed in the Western world.

A more comprehensive overview would categorize Oriental Orthodoxy and the Assyrian Church of the East as branches distinct from the Chalcedonian Christianity of Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Protestantism, and Restorationism as a tradition separate from Protestantism, with which it has often been included.

Beliefs

In accordance with the portrayal of him in the canonical Gospel accounts, most Christians believe Jesus of Nazareth to be God incarnate (that is, "God in the flesh") and the Messiah prophesied (see Bible prophecy) in the Old Testament (or Hebrew Bible). This is reflected in their use of the term "Christ" to describe Jesus, which is derived from the Greek translation for "Messiah". The word Christian means "belonging to Christ" or "of Christ".

Christianity is a monotheistic religion. Christians believe in one God, and most self-identified Christians, but not all, believe that God is a unity in Trinity, that is to say that God is one being "subsisting" in three divine persons, namely the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and that Jesus of Nazareth is the Son without beginning in time (sometimes called the "Logos", or "Second Person"). The vast majority of Christian denominations (including Roman Catholicism, Orthodox Christianity, and most forms of Protestantism) hold to the statements of the Apostles Creed and the Nicene Creed (in the form of the Creed of Constantinople, 381) as summaries of the essentials of the faith.

In addition to the belief in "one God, the Father, Almighty, maker of heaven and earth ..." and in "the Holy Spirit, the Lord and life-giver, Who proceeds from the Father ...", the latter Creed confesses the belief in "one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten" (literally "generated," so also "born" as in the Latin version) "from the Father before all ages, light from light, true God from true God, begotten not made, of one substance with the Father, through Whom all things came into existence, Who because of us men and because of our salvation came down from the heavens, and was incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became man, and was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried, and rose again on the third day according to the Scriptures and ascended to heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father, and will come again with glory to judge living and dead, of Whose kingdom there will be no end".

Christians believe that, for individuals who have reached an age of accountibility, personal faith in Jesus Christ is essential for salvation from sin, leading to eternal life in God's presence, and that salvation is a gift given by the grace of God. Some churches also allow for the possible salvation of those who through no fault of their own have not heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. However, Christianity encompasses numerous religious traditions that widely vary by culture, as well as many diverse beliefs and sects.

History

Origins

According to Acts 11:19 and 11:26 in the New Testament, Jesus' followers were first called Christians by non-Christians in the city of Antioch, where they had fled and settled after early persecutions in Judea. After Jesus' death, early Christian doctrine was taught by Simon Peter, Paul of Tarsus, and the other apostles.

According to the New Testament Jesus of Nazareth was a descendant of Judah, declared himself to be the long awaited Messiah (John 8:23–24, 14:11)that was predicted in Bible prophecy, but was rejected as an apostate by the Jewish authorities (Matt. 26:63–64). Around the year 30 he was accused of blasphemy in a meeting by leading Jews and hours later accused before the Roman procurator Pontius Pilate and then crucified. The charge cited in his execution was subverting Roman authority (Luke 23:1–5): he was called the "King of the Jews" by Pontius Pilate (John 19:19–22; see Luke 16:8) on the titulus crucis or statement of the charge hung over the condemned on the cross.

The Gospel accounts suggest that the Roman charge was an attempt to appease the Jewish authorities, although some scholars argue that it was merely an ordinary Roman trial of a rebel. According to Christians, the Old Testament prophecies considered to be Messianic by first century Jewish rabbis predicted the death and humiliation of Jesus as recorded in the New Testament. Examples include parallels between the crucifixion accounts (Matt. 27, Mark 15:34, Luke 23 and John 19) and David and Isaiah’s writings about death and the suffering servant (Psalm 22, Isa. 53). The authors of Matthew and Mark record Jesus quoting Psalm 22:1 in Matt 27:46 and Mark 15:34 when he is experiencing the situation described in the Psalm. There are also other comparisons including more from the book of Isaiah that alludes to the slapping (Matt. 26:67–68; Isa. 50:6, 52:14–15; Mark 14:65; Luke 23:63–64), whipping (Isa. 53:5; John 19:1; Matt. 27:26) and general humiliation that is centered on the given references.

According to the writings of the New Testament (Luke 24:48) Jesus' apostles were the witnesses (Grk: martures) of his life, teaching and resurrection from the dead; and they mention numerous disciples (as many as 70, including James the Just, Mark, Luke, Mary Magdalene, etc.) who also followed Jesus in his travels and therefore were eye-witnesses (Grk: autoptai, epoptai) of his miracles and teachings. After his crucifixion, his apostles and other followers, convinced that Jesus rose from the dead, set out to proclaim (Grk: kērussō, cf. Luke 24:47) this "good news." Evangelizing, spreading the "Gospel", is derived from the Greek word for "good message" or "good news" [1].

It is disputed whether or not the New Testament's Gospels are eponymous writtings by their respective namesakes. Early church tradition, however, is unanimous in naming the authors as Matthew, John Mark, Luke and John. Some modern scholars suggest that the original apostles may simply have written some portions of the New Testament's Gospels and Epistles but not the entire text. Scholars have debated the origins of the canonical Gospels. The term the Synoptic Problem concerns the literary relationship between and among the first three canonical gospels (the Gospels of Mark, Matthew, and Luke), known as the Synoptic Gospels.

Many of the New Testament's twenty-seven books were written by Paul of Tarsus. Twelve Epistles name him as writer, and some traditions also credit him as the writer of the book of Hebrews. The Gospel according to Luke and the Acts of the Apostles are stated as having been written by Luke, whom many believe to have been under Paul's direct influence. Acts cites Paul as a student of Gamaliel (Acts 22:3), a leading figure amongst the Jewish Sanhedrin (Acts 5:34–40) and a noteworthy authority in his own right (Acts 28:16–22) considering that the Jews of Rome sought his opinion on Christianity. Paul was the principal missionary of the Christian message to the Gentile world.

Early Church

The story goes that an early Christian, upon meeting another person, might draw an arc in the earth, and if the other person shared the faith, he would draw another arc completing this ichthys, a symbol of Christianity.

Christianity spread rapidly over the first three centuries aided by the relative internal peace and good roads of the Roman Empire:

via Egypt into North Africa, Sudan and Ethiopia
via Mesopotamia to Persia, Inner Asia and India
via Greece and Rome to Europe

Within a generation after Jesus' death, several notable movements in Christianity emerged. These are the Jewish Christians, the Pauline/Hellenistic Christians and Gnostic Christians.

Jewish Christians were those Jews and Gentile converts who maintained the Old Testament Law of Moses (including circumcision, animal sacrifices, dietary restrictions and the concept of purity, sabbath, and quartodecimanism) pejoratively called judaizers.

Hellenistic Christians were those who were more influenced by the Greek-speaking world and believed that the central message of Christianity could be re-presented in ways more appropriate for Gentiles. These converts were largely Hellenistic Jews and Gentiles from the early churches founded by the apostle Paul outside of Judea.

The Gnostic forms of Christianity, which embraced mystical theories of the true nature of Jesus or the Christ, emerged early and continued in some forms into the 3rd century.

This early diversity tended to solidify as the Canon of Scripture was developed and early church councils formulated consensus regarding such doctrines as the deity of Christ and the Trinity in response to what were deemed heretical views. Most Christians view the developing orthodoxy (especially the development of the Canon) as superintended by God.

One of the first great writers of Christianity, Tertullian, gives an indication of the early rapid growth of Christianity in a rhetorical address to a Roman governor. Writing from Carthage, he says that just yesterday Christians were few in number, now they "have filled every place among you—cities, islands, fortresses, towns, market-places, the very camp, tribes, companies, palaces, senate, forum; we have left nothing to you but the temples of your gods." (Apologeticus written at Carthage, ca. 197)

Over the course of the first few centuries, classically trained theologians and philosophers such as Origen and Augustine developed Christian theology and Christian philosophy, which some argue was a synthesis of Hellenic and Early Christian thought.

During this period of first organization the Christian church had to deal mainly with occasional, but sometimes severe persecutions under Roman emperors such as Nero, Valerian, Diocletian, and Galerius. The life of the martyr, who would rather die than renounce his faith, became the highest virtue. The canonical books of the New Testament were agreed, early translations appeared, and a church hierarchy emerged: the Bishops of Alexandria, Antioch and Rome assumed the title Patriarch.

Galerius, on his death bed, signed the Edict of Galerius, allowing Christians freedom to practice their religion without hindrance (although early Christian writers like Lactantius consider Galerius the author of the last great persecution of Christians). Then, Roman Emperor Constantine I was converted in 312 and with his Edict of Milan (313) made the state neutral with regard to religion, mostly ending its official support of paganism. However, on occasion official paganism was revived, especially in the military. Some theorize that Constantine I himself surreptitiously conflated the Jesus of the Christians with Mithras the sun god, in an attempt to unite the empire under one religion by inserting a pagan influence into the Christian church. Persecution was briefly revived during the reign of Julian the Apostate (361–363) who tried to restore paganism to the empire; Christianity was later made the officially favored religion in about 382 by Emperor Theodotius. Similar events took place in neighbouring Georgia and Armenia. But in Persia, which was at constant war with Rome, the Christians struggled under the oppressive Sassanids, who were trying to revive the Zoroastrian religion.

In the Persian empire, at the synod of Seleucia in 410, the bishop of Seleucia was pronounced Catholicos and replaced the Patriarch of Antioch as the highest authority in the Assyrian Church of the East. Soon after, during the Nestorian Schism, this church broke all ties with the West. It would be the dominant church of Asia for more than a millennium, with bishoprics as far away as India, Java, and China.

Emergence of national Churches

The question of Jesus' divinity was central to early Christians. A wide range of early writers, including Justin Martyr and Tertullian testify to belief that Jesus is God. At the same time, various Christian groups did not share that belief. The situation came to a head with the teaching of Arius, who brought large numbers of bishops and faithful to his belief that Jesus was a created being. The issue was settled by vote at the First Council of Nicaea, convened by Emperor Constantine I, where the teaching championed by Athanasius, trinitarianism, was enshrined as dogma (See Nicene Creed, Athanasian Creed). Although Constantine ordered all Arian books burned and Arius exiled, Arianism continued to exist and thrive in the empire for several decades, and among the Germanic tribes for almost two centuries, after the decision of the council.

This was only the first of several ecumenical councils for resolving doctrinal issues. These councils sought to unify Christianity, and were supported by the Byzantine Emperors in order to promote political stability. Some of the theological terminology of these councils may have been misunderstood by those Orthodox whose main language was Syriac, Armenian, or Coptic. As a result differences in later theological constructs led these national branches of the church to break away from the rest, forming the Oriental Orthodox Churches, sometimes called the monophysites, but perhaps more accurately, known to themselves as miaphysite or, simply, orthodox.

By the second millennium, Christianity had spread to most of the Western world, Russia and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, parts of Africa, and had made some small inroads into the Far East as well. For the most part it had remained fairly unified in its fundamental beliefs with major theological disagreements being resolved in council. But as the millennium approached, certain major differences in theology and practice became increasingly troublesome. The Great Schism of 1054 split the Church into Western and Eastern churches: the Western church gradually consolidated under the central authority of Rome (see Catholicism), while the Eastern church adopted the name "Orthodox" to emphasize their commitment to preserving the traditions of the church and resistance to change. This Eastern Church refused to be consolidated under a single bishop, as this was completely alien to the structure the church had hitherto enjoyed. The Eastern Church recognized the Patriarch of Constantinople as the "First among equals" of the numerous bishops in charge of its autocephalous churches (see Eastern Orthodoxy).

In the European Reformation of the 1500s, Protestants and numerous similar churches renounced allegiance to Rome in objection to perceived abuses of growing Papal authority and to perceived doctrinal error and novelty in Rome. Some key concerns in the Reformation controversy were summed up in the famous five solas. The Reformation sparked a vigorous struggle for the hearts and minds of Europeans. Disputes between Roman Catholics and Protestants sparked persecution in different countries and caused various wars, both civil and foreign.

Roman Catholicism and Protestantism arrived in North America (and later Australasia) with European settlement. Lacking any central authority in either Rome or national governments, Protestants worshipped in hundreds, and later thousands, of independent denominations. Protestantism was taken to South America and Africa by European colonists, especially in the 16th to 19th centuries. Orthodoxy first arrived in North America via Russian settlers in the Alaska in the 18th century; they came to North America from Europe in much greater numbers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

In the 19th and 20th centuries many Christian nations, especially in Western Europe, became more secular. Most communist states were governed by avowed atheists, though only Albania was officially atheist. Adherents to Fundamentalist Christianity, particularly in the United States, also perceived threats from new scientific estimates about the age of the Earth and the development of the concept of evolution.

Differing interpretations of the Bible and other forces led to schisms in Christianity over the millennia, but all branches trace their roots to early Christianity.

For more, see:

Christianity today

According to Adherents.com [2], Christianity is the world's most widely practiced religion, with 2.1 billion adherents, including 1.1 billion Roman Catholics, 510 million Protestants in a number of traditions, 216 million Orthodox, 158 million Independents (unaffiliated with the major streams of Christianity), and 31.7 million belonging to other groups (Jehovah's Witnesses, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Mormons, etc.). These last denominations describe themselves as Christian but are not usually recognized as such by other denominations, because of their unorthodox teachings.

Not all people identified as Christians accept all, or even most, of the theological positions held by their particular churches. Like the Jews, Christians in the West were greatly affected by The Age of Enlightenment in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Perhaps the most significant change for them was total or effective separation of church and state, thus ending the state-sponsored Christianity that had existed in European countries. Now one could be a free member of society and disagree with one's church on various issues, and one could even be free to leave the church altogether. Many did leave, developing belief systems such as Deism, Unitarianism, and Universalism, or becoming atheists, agnostics, or humanists.

Others created liberal wings of Protestant Christian theology. Modernism in the late 19th century encouraged new forms of thought and expression that did not follow traditional lines.

Reaction to the Enlightenment and Modernism triggered the development of literally thousands of Christian Protestant denominations, Roman traditionalist splinter groups of the Roman Catholic Church that do not recognize the legitimacy of many reforms the Roman Catholic Church has undertaken, and the growth of hundreds of fundamentalist groups that interpret the entire Bible in a literal fashion.

In Europe, and to a lesser extent the United States, liberalism has also led to increased secularism. Some Christians have long since stopped participating in traditional religious duties, attending churches only on a few particular holy days per year or not at all. Many of them recall having highly religious grandparents, but grew up in homes where Christian theology was no longer a priority. They have developed ambivalent feelings towards their religious duties. On the one hand they cling to their traditions for identity reasons; on the other hand, the influence of the secular Western mentality, the demands of daily life, and peer pressure tear them away from traditional Christianity. Marriage between Christians of different denominations, or between a Christian and a non-Christian, was once taboo, but has become commonplace. Some traditionally Roman Catholic countries have largely become agnostic.

Liberal Christianity grew rapidly during the early 20th century in Europe and North America, by the 1960s gaining the leadership of many of the larger U.S. and Canadian mainline denominations. However, this trend has reversed. At the turn of the 21st century, though secular society tends to consider the more accommodating liberals as the representatives and spokesmen of Christianity, the mainline churches are shrinking. This is partly due to a loss of evangelistic zeal, partly due to drift of their membership to more conservative denominations, and partly due to the failure of one generation to pass on Christianity to the next. Among the larger Protestant denominations in the United States, only the conservative Southern Baptist is growing. Evangelical parachurch organizations have grown rapidly in the last half of the 20th century. The liberal Christian Century magazine has shrunk, while being replaced by its challenger, the rapidly growing evangelical Christianity Today.

The Enlightenment had much less impact on the Eastern Churches of Eastern and Oriental Orthodoxy. Having to face a much more hostile secular society, especially during the rise of Communism, the church clung to ancient beliefs, even as its membership eroded.

Today in Eastern Europe and Russia, a renewing trend is taking place. After decades of communist-instated atheism, there is widespread interest in Christianity, as well as religion in general. Many Orthodox churches and monasteries are being rebuilt and restored; Protestants of many denominations are pouring in to evangelize and build churches; and the Roman Catholic Church is revealing once secret dioceses and undertaking other steps to support Roman Catholic churches more openly.

In South America and Africa, Evangelical and Pentecostal Christianity form rapidly growing movements that are increasingly sending missionaries to Europe and North America. This is also true of Asia where many of the underground "house churches" intend to send hundreds of thousands of missionaries out over the next decade.

During the second half of the 20th century the Megachurch phenomenon developed, featuring media rich presentations and ministries targeted by careful demographics. These and other modern approaches have been reproached from some quarters as crass consumerism, a dead-end result of Modernism. "Seeker sensitive" presentations, such as the Alpha Course, which cater to those who are skeptical of the Christian message or have no personal familiarity with it, are occasionally the subject of such charges.

Since the development of Postmodernism with its rejection of universally accepted belief structures in favour of more personalized and experiential truth, organized Christianity has increasingly found itself at odds with the desire many people have to express faith and spirituality in a way that is authentic to them. What has thus far been known as the Emerging Church is a by-product of this trend, as many people who broadly accept Christianity seek to practice that faith while avoiding established Church institutions.

Another reaction of some Christians to Postmodernism is the advent of what might be called Postmodern Christianity.

A large and growing movement within the Christian church, especially in the West and most visible in the United States, is the Evangelical movement. Most mainstream Protestant denominations have a significantly active Evangelical minority and, in some cases, a dominant majority (see Confessing Movement). Evangelicals are "trans-denominational" and are more willing to have formal and informal relationships with Evangelicals from outside their denomination than to have the same sort of relationship with non-Evangelicals within their denomination.

Some Evangelicals have been schismatic within various church organisations, leaving to form their own denominations. More often they are forced out. It was only by dint of sheer determination that John Wesley, founder of Methodism, was able to remain an Anglican priest against intense opposition. His followers separated in America and in England after his death. Some Evangelicals claim that their beliefs are no less than true Christianity itself and that those within the church who differ from them may not be true believers. This attitude has led to much disunity amongst churches, especially those with a large modernist influence. Evangelicals cannot be easily categorized, but almost all believe in the necessity of a personal conversion and acceptance of Jesus as Savior and Lord, the eventual literal return of Christ, a more conservative understanding of the Bible and a belief in the miraculous. There are many different types of Evangelicals including Dispensationists, Pentecostals, Charismatics and Fundamentalists.

Doctrine

Christians often view Christianity as the fulfillment and successor of Judaism, and Christianity carried forward much of the doctrine and many of the practices from the Hebrew faith, including monotheism, the belief in a Messiah (or Christ from the Greek Christós, which means "anointed one"), certain forms of worship (such as prayer, and reading from religious texts), a priesthood (although most Protestants assert the "priesthood of all believers" is the only valid priesthood today), and the idea that worship on Earth is modeled on worship in Heaven.

The central belief of Christianity is that by faith in the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus, individuals are saved from death—both spiritual and physical—by redemption from their sins (i.e., faults, misdeeds, disobedience, rebellion against God). Through God's grace, by faith and repentance, men and women are reconciled to God through forgiveness and by sanctification or theosis to return to their place with God in Heaven.

Crucial beliefs in Christian teaching are Jesus' incarnation, atonement, crucifixion, and resurrection from the dead to redeem humankind from sin and death; and the belief that the New Testament is a part of the Bible. Many Christians today (and traditionally even more) also hold to supersessionism, the belief that Christianity is the fulfillment of Biblical Judaism.

The emphasis on God the Father giving his son, or the Son (who is God) becoming incarnate for the sake of humanity, is an essential difference between Christianity and most other religions, where the emphasis is instead placed solely on humans working for salvation.

The most uniform and broadly accepted tradition of doctrine, with the longest continuous representation, repeatedly reaffirmed by official Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant definitions (although not without dissent, as noted below) asserts that specific beliefs are essential to Christianity, including but not limited to:

God is a Trinity, a single eternal being existing as three persons: Father, Son (Divine Logos, incarnated as Jesus Christ), and Holy Spirit.
Jesus is both fully God and fully human, two "natures" in one person.
Salvation from spiritual death, a separation from God due to mankind's sin, is available to individual believers only through the person and work of Jesus Christ and by the grace of God. Most generally maintain that personal faith in Jesus is necessary for salvation, and many view faith without associated "good works" as a "dead" (illegitimate) faith.
Mary, the mother of Jesus, bore in her womb and gave birth to the Son of God, who although eternally existent as God was humanly formed in her womb by the Spirit of God. From her humanity he received in his person a human intellect and will, and all else that a child would naturally receive from its mother.
Jesus is the Messiah hoped for by the Jews, the heir to the throne of David. He reigns at the right hand of the Father with all authority and power forevermore. He is the hope of all mankind, their advocate and judge. Until he returns at the end of the world, the Church has the authority and obligation to preach the Gospel and to gather new disciples.
Jesus was innocent of any sin. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus, believers are forgiven of sins and reconciled to God. Although virtually all Christians agree on this, there are a variety of views on the significance of Jesus' resurrection. Christians are baptized into the death, resurrection and new life of Christ. Through faith, they live by the promise of resurrection from death to everlasting life through Christ. The Holy Spirit is sent to them by Christ to bring hope, to lead mankind into true knowledge of God and His purposes, and to help them grow in holiness.
Jesus will return personally, and bodily, to judge all mankind and receive the faithful to himself, so they will live forever in the intimate presence of God.
The Bible is an authoritative book, inspired by God but written by men. Some, particularly in the West, refer to the Bible as the "word of God." Other Christians, particularly in the East, reserve to Jesus alone the title, Word of God. Christians disagree in various ways about the authority of the Bible (especially in relation to the authority of tradition) and how the Scriptures are best interpreted.

These beliefs are stated in a number of creeds, of which the most important and widely used are probably the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, commonly known as the Nicene Creed. These statements of belief were written in the first few centuries after Christ to reject certain heresies. Although there are arguments about specific parts of these creeds, they are still used by mainstream Christians to state their basic beliefs. (See also: Athanasian Creed)

Christian Love is basic to many forms of Christianity, based in part on Christ's answer to the question, "Which is the greatest commandment?" To which he answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself." (Matt. 22:36–39 NASB).

Many persons and groups throughout history have had varying ideas about the basic tenets of the Christian faith, from ancient sects such as Arians and Gnostics to modern groups who have different understandings of fundamental Christian ideas. Some of these groups are the Jehovah's Witnesses, who have a different theological understanding of Jesus, God and the Bible; the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who believe that in 1829 God restored the apostolic priesthood to their leader Joseph Smith, Jr., making possible continuing revelation (including additional teachings and scripture); and the Unification Church. While various groups may differ in their approach to the specifics of Christ's role, ministry, and nature (some calling him a god or Gods, and others a man), Christ is generally assumed to be of cosmic importance. Some of these groups number themselves among the Christian churches, or believe themselves to be the only true Christian church. Furthermore, many present-day liberal Christians do not define essential Christian belief necessarily including belief in the deity of Jesus, the virgin birth, the Trinity, miracles, the resurrection, the ascension of Christ, or the personality or deity of the Holy Spirit. Liberals may or may not recommend belief in such things, but differentiate themselves from conservative Christians by defining as included within genuine Christianity anyone who explains their views or teachings principally by appeal to Jesus; for example, John 3:16. It is common for those who hold the more traditional tenets of faith described in the paragraph above to assert that some or all of these groups are not true Christians, principally because they feel that by denying fundamental teachings about the nature, actions and teachings of Jesus, such persons are following a different religion. Conversely, liberals are often feel that "traditional" Christians have been misled by political organizations spanning thousands of years, and follow dogma designed to assign power to certain institutions.

See also Apostasy, Heresy, Heterodoxy, Orthodoxy.

Excommunication

Excommunication is the formal act of a Church in recognizing that a person has removed him or herself from the practice of orthodox faith. It is important to note that people excommunicate themselves by their own actions; the Church merely affirms that fact formally with a declaration of excommunication. It effectively banishes a member of the Church from the communion of believers and the privileges of the Church. Excommunication is generally reserved for the most serious sins, including serious crimes, adultery, polygamy, homosexual conduct, apostasy, and teaching false doctrines. In the case of apostasy and false teaching, excommunication is often a last resort after repeated warnings. In some denominations it may be a final action, while in others it may be rescinded if certain conditions are met, such as the repentance of the excommunicated member.

Christianity's relationship with other faiths

Comparative religion scholars attempt to find commonality between religions; and, the description of Christianity as an Abrahamic religion arises from this effort, using the term to point out supposed commonalities especially in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, which each refer to Abraham as important to their faith. The Jews see Abraham as the progenitor of the people of Israel, through his descendants Isaac and Jacob, and Muslims also admire Abraham (whom they call Ibrahim) as a great prophet and revere him as the father of Ishmael, whom they believe to be the progenitor of Muhammad.

For their part, Christians point to Abraham as a spiritual ancestor and an exemplar of justifying faith. (This relationship is not to be confused with Abraham's role as a blood ancestor of Jesus, as described in the genealogies of Matthew chapter 1 and Luke chapter 3.) They see Jesus as Abraham's spiritual descendant, in whom God promised that all the families of the earth would be blessed (Gen. 12:3; 22:18), and thus they consider themselves heirs of that promise (Gal. 3, especially vv. 7,14,29; Rom. 9:6–8). Unlike Judaism, Christians see Abraham's willingness to offer his son, Isaac, to God, as foreshadowing God's giving of his son, Jesus, for the salvation of men (Gen. 22:1–14; Heb. 11:17–19). Muslims however believe Abraham was ordered to sacrifice his first son, Ishmael, not Isaac.

Thus, some members of each faith see Abraham as a basis for understanding between Christians, Jews, and Muslims, but when Christians use the "Abrahamic roots" language, they do not mean that true Christianity is found in some kind of average of religions with overlapping traditions, but merely that, the Christian faith has elements in common, which may provide a helpful basis for constructive relationships between peoples of the divergent traditions. Two representatives of the Roman Catholic Church, for instance, have recently referenced the Abrahamic roots of the Christian faith publicly: In a statement to the United Nations in 2001, Apostolic Nuncio Renato Cardinal Martino, spoke of "the peoples of the Holy Land" as "cousins in the Abrahamic faith." Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) struck the same theme in his statement in 2000 in an effort to repair damaged Jewish-Roman Catholic relations during the time of Pope Pius XII and Adolph Hitler: "Even if the most recent, loathsome experience of the Shoah [the Holocaust] was perpetrated in the name of an anti-Christian ideology, which tried to strike the Christian faith at its Abrahamic roots in the people of Israel, it cannot be denied that a certain insufficient resistance to this atrocity on the part of Christians can be explained by an inherited anti-Judaism present in the hearts of not a few Christians".

Christianity and Judaism

There have long been some sentiments of anti-semitism in Christianity (see Christianity and anti-Semitism), but especially since the Holocaust, there has been much dialogue between Christians groups and Jews aimed at Christian-Jewish reconciliation and Christian attitudes toward Jews have greatly improved. Many conservative evangelicals support Christian Zionism, which is tied to the common belief that the Jewish people are "the apple of God's eye". Many are dispensationalists, who believe that the ingathering of Jews to the modern state of Israel is a fulfillment of Biblical prophecy. They await the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem, which they believe to be one of the final signs that Jesus is returning soon to rescue the Church from the Great Tribulation, and to save the Jews from the Antichrist about to appear, after which Jesus is expected to reign over the earth from Jerusalem, during the Millennium.

Messianic Judaism refers to a group of religious movements, self-identified as Jewish, who believe that Jesus is the Messiah. Contrary to rabbinicalJudaism, they are Trinitarians, professing that Jesus is God, incarnate. Synagogues vary in their adherence to Jewish religious law and worship practices such as keeping of Kosher and Sabbath. Even though Messianic Jews are Jewish, they are not considered part of the Jewish community by mainstream Jewish groups. There are also Jews who are members of Christian churches but not affiliated with Messianic Judaism.

Christianity and Islam

Muslims refer to themselves, Jews, and Christians (among other religious adherents) as People of the Book since they all base their religion on books that are considered to have a divine origin. Christians accept the Old Testament as part of their Biblical canon, but they neither consider the Qur'an to be a book of divine revelation or a part of their faith nor agree with Islam's view that Jesus was a prophet, on par with Muhammad.

Christianity and persecution

Christians have been both the victims and perpetrators of persecution (see Persecution of Christians and Historical persecution by Christians).

Christian martyrs in the first three centuries were crucified, torn apart by chariots, cut down, or impaled on pikes in much the same manner as Roman political prisoners and rebels, and more commonly thrown to wild beast without weapons as a coliseum spectacle. Many were forced to fight in Roman coliseums as fodder for famous gladiators, or forced to fight each other for entertainment and as punishment. When early christians refused to fight each other wild beast or gladiators would often be set loose to slaughter them, providing sinister entertainment for betting Roman citizens. Bets were often cast on which Christian would die first, whether or not one would raise arms against another, and how long one would last before having his or her torso ripped apart. They are recognized as martyrs because they preferred to die rather than renounce their Christian faith.

Many people have been persecuted in parts of the Islamic world, Indian subcontinent and the Far East because they have converted to Christianity. Some in the Islamic world have even been arrested for simply converting to christianity, and in some Islamic countries put to death. Some people from these parts of the world who have converted to Christianity have often left for Europe, the United States, Canada and Australia, because their native countries have laws against proselytizing. In some countries, Christians are currently facing persecution, including acts of terrorism. Predominantly Christian regions (such as East Timor) in non-Christian nations have chosen independence partly for this reason.

In spite of the widely held belief that violence is antithetical to Christ's teachings, some Christian adherents have at times persecuted, tortured, and killed others for refusing to believe in their type of Christianity. Some individual Christians have also committed murder and acts of terrorism, such as bombing of abortion clinics. The Ku Klux Klan, a largely Christian terrorist group, often uses the Bible to incite violence against minorities and Jews. Likewise few would deny the role of Christianity in the Crusades, the Purging, and the Witch Hunts that acted as a means to exterminate nonchristians between the Dark Ages and the early settlement of the USA.

While most modern Christians would condemn such actions, some were even carried out by people who were seen as mainstream Christians at the time, although religion may have been an excuse to gain support and recognition for their acts. During the Crusades, Christian atrocities against Jews, Muslims, Pagans, Buddhist, and Hindus in German and Hungarian towns, and later in those of France and England, and in the massacres of non-combatants in Palestine and Syria initiated a tradition of Christian anti-Semitism, which was further bolstered by the blood libel cult, and continued into the 1500s by the Spanish Inquisition. The European colonization movement was endorsed by the mainstream European Christian churches as a medium for evangelism. This endorsement supposedly "legitimized" the exploitation of the colonized lands by the European powers. This colonization led to the destruction of many cultural artifacts, particularly in the American continent related to the Inca and Aztecs (because of the Christian prohibition of "idol worship").

Even today persecution is a large problem for and with christianity. Christians are still often persecuted in the Middle East, China, and Africa. Likewise some Christians are the proponents of persecution against Muslims, Atheists, Homosexuals, and various other minorities. In the modern world Muslims receive the brunt of persecution from Christians in the west. Atheist are far less persecuted in the west than they were in the mid-19th century but are still persecuted by many in America, especially by proponents of Dominion Theology. Pagans are often persecuted as "illegitimate" and as "idol worshippers" and are often mistakenly associated with satanist (a charge which many pagans abhor). Homosexuals are also still persecuted, with slogans such as "God Hates Fags" and even violence. Some Christians in the west strongly oppose allowing homosexuals equal rights, such as the right to marry, the right to adopt children, the right to employment in positions of authority (such as the teaching profession), and minority protection from hate crimes.

Conflicts within Christianity itself have led to persecutions of one Christian group by another. Protestants, Roman Catholics and other Christians have persecuted each other. In the second half of the 20th century the violent conflict between armed political groups among the unionist and nationalist communities in Northern Ireland carried a strong element of sectarianism between Protestants and Roman Catholics.

The concept of religious tolerance, that Christians in political authority should permit persons of differing faith, has risen and fallen many times in history. At times, church leaders have considered tolerance itself to be a heresy. The lack of religious tolerance caused many religious groups to migrate (Molokans, Quakers, Mennonites, and others). Modern Christianity appears, for the most part, to have adopted a position of tolerance, though some churches only extend their tolerance to other Christians. There are, however, exceptions such as American Christian Reconstructionism, which, according to some observers, could pave the way for the persecution of dissenting faiths. This is related to the issues of ecumenism and religious pluralism.

Criticisms of Christianity

Christianity's influence on western society has led many people to challenge its claims to be moral.

There are many issues that critics of Christianity have brought up. These criticisms come from philosophers, journalists, scientists and other serious minded people from all walks of life.

Whilst a small minority of extremist Christians would like to pretend that such criticisms do not exist, and do all they can to supress the reality of these criticisms, most mainstream Christians are happy to have such issues out in the open in order to discuss them properly.

Christianity and Tolerance

Some critics have argued that Christianity can be an intolerant religion. Intolerant of homosexuality, intolerant of social difference, of sex outside marriage, and a host of other areas that are generally acceptable to most mainstream people. Bertrand Russell has argued that "The puritanism of Christianity has played havoc with the moderation that an enlightened and tolerant critical spirit would have produced." . Voltaire has also said that: "Of all religions, Christianity is without a doubt the one that should inspire tolerance most, although, up to now, the Christians have been the most intolerant of all men"

Perhaps this intolerance is best shown in some fundamentalist Christians' refusal to accept the reality that criticism exists, preferring to perpetuate the fantasy that there is no criticism of the religion.

Christianity and Homosexuality

Christianity and Truth

Some critics, such as Richard Dawkins argue that Christianity has sought to suppress rational enquiry and hence the quest for truth. He cites the story of Doubting Thomas from the Bible and argues that the Bible actively seeks believers from making rational enquiries about their faith.

Dawkins has said that "I am against religion because it teaches us to be satisfied with not understanding the world."

Christianity and War

Some critics have argued that the Bible's insistence on absolute right and wrong have led misguided people to fight wars on the basis of that religion, such as the Crusades. An example of such a critic would be Noam Chomsky who has argued that "The Bible is one of the most genocidal books in history." George Monbiot has also argued that Christian fundamentalists are driving the United States's current foreign policy, to the detriment of all concerned in his view. (Source http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1195568,00.html)

A Common Jewish Criticism of Christianity

While all Christian churches teach that Jesus was and is the Messiah, members of the Jewish faith hold that Jesus never fulfilled prophecy, and thus could not be the true Messiah. Christians believe that he did fulfil prophecy, but not in the way that was expected at the time. The Jewish People were expecting a descendant of King David annointed by God who would lead to an end of bondage and earthly servitude, rebuild the nation of Israel, and bring world peace. Many Jews believe that were Jesus the true Messiah (or anointed one) it would be in the power of none to deny him. The belief that an eventual Second Coming of Jesus to fulfill all prophecy will occur is central to virtually all Christian denominations.

== See also ==

References and Select Bibliography

Archibald Robertson, The Origins of Christianity (1954, rev. ed. 1962).

The Story of Christianity by Justo L. Gonzalez (1984, 1985, 1999, ISBN 1565635221)
Christian Theology: An Introduction by Alister McGrath (ISBN 0631225285)
Christian Theology Reader by Alister McGrath (ISBN 063120637X)
Mere Christianity. C.S. Lewis
Systematic Theology, an ecumenical trilogy by Thomas Oden
- Volume 1: The Living God (1992, ISBN 0060663634)
- Volume 2: The Word of Life (1992, ISBN 0060663642)
- Volume 3: Life in the Spirit (1994, ISBN 0060663626)
The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine. Jaroslav Pelikan. 5 Volumes, published between 1971-1989.
The Kingdom of God is Within You [3] by Leo Tolstoy (1894, ISBN 0803294042)

External links

General on-line sources

ReligionFacts.com: Christianity Fast facts, glossary, timeline, history, beliefs, texts, holidays, symbols, people, etc.

The Christian Classics Ethereal Library, containing the works of a wide spectrum of authors in doctrine, history, devotion, and Bible commentary

The Catholic Encyclopedia, containing detailed information on Catholic beliefs and history and the Catholic view of other churches and beliefs

The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge from a Protestant perspective

The Vatican contains much official information related to the Roman Catholic Church in many languages

Catechism of the Catholic Church Comprehensive, official teaching of the Rome Catholic Church

Assyrian Church of the East

Syriac Orthodox Resources Large compedium of information and links relating to Oriental Orthodoxy.

Home Page of Orthodox Church and Bible Study Links While this site manifestly exhibits a certain point of view or editorial bias, it does provide some good information and links regarding Eastern Orthodoxy, particularly as it relates to the more mainstream Eastern Orthodox jurisdictions.

Crossmap Christian Search A large Christian web portal containing various Christian resources.

Defense of Christianity, apologetics

Criticisms

Why I am not a Christian by Nobel Prize laureate Bertrand Russell.

Directories

Dmoz.org Open Directory Project: Christianity (a list of links with information about Christianity)
Dmoz.org Open Directory Project: Contra Christianity (a list of links critical of Christianity)