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Christianity[note
1] is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and
teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. Its adherents, known as Christians,
believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and savior of all people,
whose coming as the Messiah was prophesied in the Old Testament and
chronicled in the New Testament.[2] It is the world's largest religion
with over 2.4 billion followers.[3]
Christianity began as a
Second Temple Judaic sect in the 1st century in the Roman province of
Judea. Jesus' apostles, and their followers, spread it around Syria,
Europe, Anatolia, Mesopotamia, Transcaucasia, Egypt, and Ethiopia,
despite initial persecution. It soon also attracted Gentile God-fearers,
which lead to a departure from Jewish customs, and the establishment of
Christianity as a distinct religion. Emperor Constantine the Great
converted to Christianity and decriminalized it in the Roman Empire by
the Edict of Milan (313), later convening the Council of Nicaea (325)
where Early Christianity was consolidated into what would become the
state church of the Roman Empire (380). The early history of
Christianity is sometimes referred to as the "Great Church", the united
communion of the "orthodox" Christian churches before their schisms.
Oriental Orthodoxy split after the Council of Chalcedon (451) over
differences in Christology,[4] while the Eastern Orthodox Church and the
Catholic Church separated in the East–West Schism (1054), especially
over the authority of the bishop of Rome. Similarly, Protestantism split
in numerous denominations from the Catholic Church in the Reformation
(16th century) over theological and ecclesiological disputes, most
predominantly on the issue of justification and the primacy of the
bishop of Rome. Following the Age of Discovery (15th–17th century),
Christianity was spread into the Americas, Oceania, sub-Saharan Africa,
and the rest of the world via missionary work.[5][6][7]
Christianity
remains culturally diverse in its Western and Eastern branches, as well
as in its doctrines concerning justification and the nature of
salvation, ecclesiology, ordination, and Christology. The four largest
branches of Christianity are the Catholic Church (1.3 billion),
Protestantism (920 million), the Eastern Orthodox Church (260 million)
and Oriental Orthodoxy (86 million), amid various efforts toward unity
(ecumenism).[8] Their theology and professions of faith, in addition to
the Bible (scripture), generally hold in common that Jesus suffered,
died, was buried, descended into the grave and rose from the dead to
grant eternal life to those who believe in him for the forgiveness of
their sins. His incarnation, earthly ministry, crucifixion and
resurrection are often referred to as the gospel, meaning the "good
news". Describing Jesus' life and teachings are the four canonical
gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, with the Jewish Old Testament
as the gospel's respected background.
Christianity and Christian
ethics played a prominent role in the development of Western
civilization,[9][10][11][12][13] particularly around Europe during late
antiquity and the Middle Ages. Despite a decline in adherence in the
West,[14] Christianity remains the dominant religion in the region, with
about 70% of the population identifying as Christian.[15] Christianity
is growing rapidly in Africa and Asia, the world's most populous
continents.[16]
Etymology
In the New Testament, the names
by which the disciples were known among themselves were "brethren", "the
faithful", "elect", "saints" and "believers".[citation needed] Early
Jewish Christians referred to themselves as 'The Way' (της οδου),
probably coming from Isaiah 40:3, "prepare the way of the
Lord."[17][note 2] According to Acts 11:26, the term "Christian" (Greek:
Χριστιανός) was first used in reference to Jesus's disciples in the
city of Antioch, meaning "followers of Christ," by the non-Jewish
inhabitants of Antioch.[23] The earliest recorded use of the term
"Christianity" (Greek: Χριστιανισμός) was by Ignatius of Antioch, in
around 100 AD.[1]
Beliefs
While Christians worldwide share
basic convictions, there are also differences of interpretations and
opinions of the Bible and sacred traditions on which Christianity is
based.[24]
Creeds
An Eastern Christian icon depicting Emperor
Constantine and the Fathers of the First Council of Nicaea (325) as
holding the Niceno–Constantinopolitan Creed of 381
Main articles: Creed § Christian creeds, and List of Christian creeds
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Apostles' Creed
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Nicene Creed
Concise
doctrinal statements or confessions of religious beliefs are known as
creeds. They began as baptismal formulae and were later expanded during
the Christological controversies of the 4th and 5th centuries to become
statements of faith.
The Apostles' Creed is the most widely
accepted statement of the articles of Christian faith. It is used by a
number of Christian denominations for both liturgical and catechetical
purposes, most visibly by liturgical churches of Western Christian
tradition, including the Latin Church of the Catholic Church,
Lutheranism, Anglicanism, and Western Rite Orthodoxy. It is also used by
Presbyterians, Methodists, and Congregationalists. This particular
creed was developed between the 2nd and 9th centuries. Its central
doctrines are those of the Trinity and God the Creator. Each of the
doctrines found in this creed can be traced to statements current in the
apostolic period. The creed was apparently used as a summary of
Christian doctrine for baptismal candidates in the churches of Rome.[25]
Its main points include:[citation needed]
Belief in God the Father, Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and the Holy Spirit
The death, descent into hell, resurrection and ascension of Christ
The holiness of the Church and the communion of saints
Christ's second coming, the Day of Judgement and salvation of the faithful.
The
Nicene Creed was formulated, largely in response to Arianism, at the
Councils of Nicaea and Constantinople in 325 and 381
respectively,[26][27] and ratified as the universal creed of Christendom
by the First Council of Ephesus in 431.[28]
The Chalcedonian
Definition, or Creed of Chalcedon, developed at the Council of Chalcedon
in 451,[29] though rejected by the Oriental Orthodox churches,[30]
taught Christ "to be acknowledged in two natures, inconfusedly,
unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably": one divine and one human, and
that both natures, while perfect in themselves, are nevertheless also
perfectly united into one person.[31]
The Athanasian Creed,
received in the Western Church as having the same status as the Nicene
and Chalcedonian, says: "We worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in
Unity; neither confounding the Persons nor dividing the Substance."[32]
Most
Christians (Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and
Protestant alike) accept the use of creeds, and subscribe to at least
one of the creeds mentioned above.[33]
Many evangelical
Protestants reject creeds as definitive statements of faith, even while
agreeing with some or all of the substance of the creeds. Most Baptists
do not use creeds "in that they have not sought to establish binding
authoritative confessions of faith on one another."[34]:111 Also
rejecting creeds are groups with roots in the Restoration Movement, such
as the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), the Evangelical
Christian Church in Canada, and the Churches of
Christ.[35][36]:14–15[37]:123
Jesus
Various depictions of Jesus
Main articles: Jesus, Jesus in Christianity, and Christ (title)
See also: Incarnation (Christianity) and Jesus in comparative mythology
The
central tenet of Christianity is the belief in Jesus as the Son of God
and the Messiah (Christ). Christians believe that Jesus, as the Messiah,
was anointed by God as savior of humanity and hold that Jesus' coming
was the fulfillment of messianic prophecies of the Old Testament. The
Christian concept of the Messiah differs significantly from the
contemporary Jewish concept. The core Christian belief is that through
belief in and acceptance of the death and resurrection of Jesus, sinful
humans can be reconciled to God, and thereby are offered salvation and
the promise of eternal life.[38]
While there have been many
theological disputes over the nature of Jesus over the earliest
centuries of Christian history, generally, Christians believe that Jesus
is God incarnate and "true God and true man" (or both fully divine and
fully human). Jesus, having become fully human, suffered the pains and
temptations of a mortal man, but did not sin. As fully God, he rose to
life again. According to the New Testament, he rose from the dead,[39]
ascended to heaven, is seated at the right hand of the Father,[40] and
will ultimately return[Acts 1:9–11] to fulfill the rest of the Messianic
prophecy, including the resurrection of the dead, the Last Judgment,
and the final establishment of the Kingdom of God.
According to
the canonical gospels of Matthew and Luke, Jesus was conceived by the
Holy Spirit and born from the Virgin Mary. Little of Jesus' childhood is
recorded in the canonical gospels, although infancy gospels were
popular in antiquity. In comparison, his adulthood, especially the week
before his death, is well documented in the gospels contained within the
New Testament, because that part of his life is believed to be most
important. The biblical accounts of Jesus' ministry include: his
baptism, miracles, preaching, teaching, and deeds.
Death and resurrection
Main articles: Crucifixion of Jesus and Resurrection of Jesus
See also: Overview of resurrection appearances in the Gospels and Paul (table)
Crucifixion, representing the death of Jesus on the Cross, painting by Diego Velázquez, c. 1632
Christians
consider the resurrection of Jesus to be the cornerstone of their faith
(see 1 Corinthians 15) and the most important event in history.[41]
Among Christian beliefs, the death and resurrection of Jesus are two
core events on which much of Christian doctrine and theology is
based.[42] According to the New Testament, Jesus was crucified, died a
physical death, was buried within a tomb, and rose from the dead three
days later.[Jn. 19:30–31] [Mk. 16:1] [16:6]
The New Testament
mentions several resurrection appearances of Jesus on different
occasions to his twelve apostles and disciples, including "more than
five hundred brethren at once",[1Cor 15:6] before Jesus' ascension to
heaven. Jesus' death and resurrection are commemorated by Christians in
all worship services, with special emphasis during Holy Week, which
includes Good Friday and Easter Sunday.
The death and
resurrection of Jesus are usually considered the most important events
in Christian theology, partly because they demonstrate that Jesus has
power over life and death and therefore has the authority and power to
give people eternal life.[43]
Christian churches accept and teach
the New Testament account of the resurrection of Jesus with very few
exceptions.[44] Some modern scholars use the belief of Jesus' followers
in the resurrection as a point of departure for establishing the
continuity of the historical Jesus and the proclamation of the early
church.[45] Some liberal Christians do not accept a literal bodily
resurrection,[46][47] seeing the story as richly symbolic and
spiritually nourishing myth. Arguments over death and resurrection
claims occur at many religious debates and interfaith dialogues.[48]
Paul the Apostle, an early Christian convert and missionary, wrote, "If
Christ was not raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your trust
in God is useless."[1Cor 15:14] [49]
Salvation
Main article: Salvation (Christianity)
Paul
the Apostle, like Jews and Roman pagans of his time, believed that
sacrifice can bring about new kinship ties, purity, and eternal
life.[50] For Paul, the necessary sacrifice was the death of Jesus:
Gentiles who are "Christ's" are, like Israel, descendants of Abraham and
"heirs according to the promise".[Gal. 3:29] [51] The God who raised
Jesus from the dead would also give new life to the "mortal bodies" of
Gentile Christians, who had become with Israel, the "children of God",
and were therefore no longer "in the flesh".[Rom. 8:9,11,16] [50]
Modern
Christian churches tend to be much more concerned with how humanity can
be saved from a universal condition of sin and death than the question
of how both Jews and Gentiles can be in God's family. According to
Eastern Orthodox theology, based upon their understanding of the
atonement as put forward by Irenaeus' recapitulation theory, Jesus'
death is a ransom. This restores the relation with God, who is loving
and reaches out to humanity, and offers the possibility of theosis c.q.
divinization, becoming the kind of humans God wants humanity to be.
According to Catholic doctrine, Jesus' death satisfies the wrath of God,
aroused by the offense to God's honour caused by human's sinfulness.
The Catholic Church teaches that salvation does not occur without
faithfulness on the part of Christians; converts must live in accordance
with principles of love and ordinarily must be baptized.[52][53] In
Protestant theology, Jesus' death is regarded as a substitionary penalty
carried by Jesus, for the debt that has to be paid by humankind when it
broke God's moral law. Martin Luther taught that baptism was necessary
for salvation, but modern Lutherans and other Protestants tend to teach
that salvation is a gift that comes to an individual by God's grace,
sometimes defined as "unmerited favor", even apart from baptism.
Christians
differ in their views on the extent to which individuals' salvation is
pre-ordained by God. Reformed theology places distinctive emphasis on
grace by teaching that individuals are completely incapable of
self-redemption, but that sanctifying grace is irresistible.[54] In
contrast Catholics, Orthodox Christians, and Arminian Protestants
believe that the exercise of free will is necessary to have faith in
Jesus.[55]
Trinity
Main article: Trinity
The Trinity is the belief that God is one God in three persons: the Father, the Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit.[56]
Trinity
refers to the teaching that the one God[57] comprises three distinct,
eternally co-existing persons: the Father, the Son (incarnate in Jesus
Christ), and the Holy Spirit. Together, these three persons are
sometimes called the Godhead,[58][59][60] although there is no single
term in use in Scripture to denote the unified Godhead.[61] In the words
of the Athanasian Creed, an early statement of Christian belief, "the
Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, and yet there
are not three Gods but one God".[62] They are distinct from another:
the Father has no source, the Son is begotten of the Father, and the
Spirit proceeds from the Father. Though distinct, the three persons
cannot be divided from one another in being or in operation. While some
Christians also believe that God appeared as the Father in the Old
Testament, it is agreed that he appeared as the Son in the New
Testament, and will still continue to manifest as the Holy Spirit in the
present. But still, God still existed as three persons in each of these
times.[63] However, traditionally there is a belief that it was the Son
who appeared in the Old Testament because, for example, when the
Trinity is depicted in art, the Son typically has the distinctive
appearance, a cruciform halo identifying Christ, and in depictions of
the Garden of Eden, this looks forward to an Incarnation yet to occur.
In some Early Christian sarcophagi the Logos is distinguished with a
beard, "which allows him to appear ancient, even pre-existent."[64]
The
Trinity is an essential doctrine of mainstream Christianity. From
earlier than the times of the Nicene Creed (325) Christianity
advocated[65] the triune mystery-nature of God as a normative profession
of faith. According to Roger E. Olson and Christopher Hall, through
prayer, meditation, study and practice, the Christian community
concluded "that God must exist as both a unity and trinity", codifying
this in ecumenical council at the end of the 4th century.[66][67]
According
to this doctrine, God is not divided in the sense that each person has a
third of the whole; rather, each person is considered to be fully God
(see Perichoresis). The distinction lies in their relations, the Father
being unbegotten; the Son being begotten of the Father; and the Holy
Spirit proceeding from the Father and (in Western Christian theology)
from the Son. Regardless of this apparent difference, the three
"persons" are each eternal and omnipotent. Other Christian religions
including Unitarian Universalism, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Mormonism, do
not share those views on the Trinity.
The Greek word
trias[68][note 3] is first seen in this sense in the works of Theophilus
of Antioch; his text reads: "of the Trinity, of God, and of His Word,
and of His Wisdom".[72] The term may have been in use before this time;
its Latin equivalent,[note 3] trinitas,[70] appears afterwards with an
explicit reference to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, in
Tertullian.[73][74] In the following century, the word was in general
use. It is found in many passages of Origen.[75]
Trinitarians
Main article: Trinitarianism
Trinitarianism
denotes Christians who believe in the concept of the Trinity. Almost
all Christian denominations and churches hold Trinitarian beliefs.
Although the words "Trinity" and "Triune" do not appear in the Bible,
theologians, beginning in the 3rd century, developed the term and
concept to facilitate comprehension of the New Testament teachings of
God as being Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Since that time, Christian
theologians have been careful to emphasize that Trinity does not imply
that there are three gods (the antitrinitarian heresy of Tritheism), nor
that each hypostasis of the Trinity is one-third of an infinite God
(partialism), nor that the Son and the Holy Spirit are beings created by
and subordinate to the Father (Arianism). Rather, the Trinity is
defined as one God in three Persons.[76]
Nontrinitarianism
Main article: Nontrinitarianism
Nontrinitarianism
(or antitrinitarianism) refers to theology that rejects the doctrine of
the Trinity. Various nontrinitarian views, such as adoptionism or
modalism, existed in early Christianity, leading to the disputes about
Christology.[77] Nontrinitarianism later appeared again in the
Gnosticism of the Cathars between the 11th and 13th centuries, among
groups with Unitarian theology in the Protestant Reformation of the 16th
century,[78] in the 18th-century Enlightenment, and in some groups
arising during the Second Great Awakening of the 19th century.
Eschatology
Main article: Christian eschatology
The
7th-century Khor Virap monastery in the shadow of Mount Ararat. Armenia
was the first state to adopt Christianity as the state religion, in AD
301.[79]
The end of things, whether the end of an individual
life, the end of the age, or the end of the world, broadly speaking, is
Christian eschatology; the study of the destiny of humans as it is
revealed in the Bible. The major issues in Christian eschatology are the
Tribulation, death and the afterlife, the Rapture, the Second Coming of
Jesus, Resurrection of the Dead, Heaven and Hell, Millennialism, the
Last Judgment, the end of the world, and the New Heavens and New Earth.
Christians
believe that the second coming of Christ will occur at the end of time,
after a period of severe persecution (the Great Tribulation). All who
have died will be resurrected bodily from the dead for the Last
Judgment. Jesus will fully establish the Kingdom of God in fulfillment
of scriptural prophecies.[80][81]
Death and afterlife
Most
Christians believe that human beings experience divine judgment and are
rewarded either with eternal life or eternal damnation. This includes
the general judgement at the resurrection of the dead as well as the
belief (held by Catholics,[82][83] Orthodox[84][85] and most
Protestants) in a judgment particular to the individual soul upon
physical death.
In Catholicism, those who die in a state of
grace, i.e., without any mortal sin separating them from God, but are
still imperfectly purified from the effects of sin, undergo purification
through the intermediate state of purgatory to achieve the holiness
necessary for entrance into God's presence.[86] Those who have attained
this goal are called saints (Latin sanctus, "holy").[87]
Some
Christian groups, such as Seventh-day Adventists, hold to mortalism, the
belief that the human soul is not naturally immortal, and is
unconscious during the intermediate state between bodily death and
resurrection. These Christians also hold to Annihilationism, the belief
that subsequent to the final judgement, the wicked will cease to exist
rather than suffer everlasting torment. Jehovah's Witnesses hold to a
similar view.[88]
Practices
Main articles: Christian worship and Church service
See also: Mass (liturgy), Reformed worship, and Contemporary worship
Samples of Catholic religious objects – the Bible, a crucifix and a rosary
Depending
on the specific denomination of Christianity, practices may include
baptism, Eucharist (Holy Communion or the Lord's Supper), prayer
(including the Lord's Prayer), confession, confirmation, burial rites,
marriage rites and the religious education of children. Most
denominations have ordained clergy and hold regular group worship
services.
Communal worship
Justin Martyr described 2nd-century
Christian liturgy in his First Apology (c. 150) to Emperor Antoninus
Pius, and his description remains relevant to the basic structure of
Christian liturgical worship:
And on the day called Sunday,
all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place,
and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are
read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the
president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good
things. Then we all rise together and pray, and, as we before said,
when our prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought, and the
president in like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings, according to
his ability, and the people assent, saying Amen; and there is a
distribution to each, and a participation of that over which thanks have
been given, and to those who are absent a portion is sent by the
deacons. And they who are well to do, and willing, give what each thinks
fit; and what is collected is deposited with the president, who
succours the orphans and widows and those who, through sickness or any
other cause, are in want, and those who are in bonds and the strangers
sojourning among us, and in a word takes care of all who are in
need.[89]
Thus, as Justin described, Christians assemble for
communal worship on Sunday, the day of the resurrection, though other
liturgical practices often occur outside this setting. Scripture
readings are drawn from the Old and New Testaments, but especially the
gospel accounts. Often these are arranged on an annual cycle, using a
book called a lectionary. Instruction is given based on these readings,
called a sermon, or homily. There are a variety of congregational
prayers, including thanksgiving, confession, and intercession, which
occur throughout the service and take a variety of forms including
recited, responsive, silent, or sung. The Lord's Prayer, or Our Father,
is regularly prayed.
A modern Protestant worship band leading a contemporary worship session
Some
groups depart from this traditional liturgical structure. A division is
often made between "High" church services, characterized by greater
solemnity and ritual, and "Low" services, but even within these two
categories, there is great diversity in forms of worship. Seventh-day
Adventists meet on Saturday, while others do not meet on a weekly basis.
Charismatic or Pentecostal congregations may spontaneously feel led by
the Holy Spirit to action rather than follow a formal order of service,
including spontaneous prayer. Quakers sit quietly until moved by the
Holy Spirit to speak.
Some evangelical services resemble concerts
with rock and pop music, dancing and use of multimedia. For groups
which do not recognize a priesthood distinct from ordinary believers,
the services are generally led by a minister, preacher, or pastor. Still
others may lack any formal leaders, either in principle or by local
necessity. Some churches use only a cappella music, either on principle
(for example, many Churches of Christ object to the use of instruments
in worship) or by tradition (as in Orthodoxy).
Nearly all forms
of churchmanship celebrate the Eucharist (Holy Communion), which
consists of a consecrated meal. It is reenacted in accordance with
Jesus' instruction at the Last Supper that his followers do in
remembrance of him as when he gave his disciples bread, saying, "This is
my body", and gave them wine saying, "This is my blood".[90] Some
Christian denominations practice closed communion. They offer communion
to those who are already united in that denomination or sometimes
individual church. Catholics restrict participation to their members who
are not in a state of mortal sin. Most other churches practice open
communion since they view communion as a means to unity, rather than an
end, and invite all believing Christians to participate.
Worship
can be varied for special events like baptisms or weddings in the
service or significant feast days. In the early church, Christians and
those yet to complete initiation would separate for the Eucharistic part
of the worship. In many churches today, adults and children will
separate for all or some of the service to receive age-appropriate
teaching. Such children's worship is often called Sunday school or
Sabbath school (Sunday schools are often held before rather than during
services).
Sacraments
Main article: Sacrament
See also: Sacraments of the Catholic Church, Anglican sacraments, and Lutheran sacraments
2nd-century description of the Eucharist
And
this food is called among us Eukharistia [the Eucharist], of which no
one is allowed to partake but the man who believes that the things which
we teach are true, and who has been washed with the washing that is for
the remission of sins, and unto regeneration, and who is so living as
Christ has enjoined. For not as common bread and common drink do we
receive these; but in like manner as Jesus Christ our Savior, having
been made flesh by the Word of God, had both flesh and blood for our
salvation, so likewise have we been taught that the food which is
blessed by the prayer of His word, and from which our blood and flesh by
transmutation are nourished, is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who
was made flesh.
Justin Martyr[89]
In Christian belief and
practice, a sacrament is a rite, instituted by Christ, that confers
grace, constituting a sacred mystery. The term is derived from the Latin
word sacramentum, which was used to translate the Greek word for
mystery. Views concerning both which rites are sacramental, and what it
means for an act to be a sacrament, vary among Christian denominations
and traditions.[91]
The most conventional functional definition
of a sacrament is that it is an outward sign, instituted by Christ, that
conveys an inward, spiritual grace through Christ. The two most widely
accepted sacraments are Baptism and the Eucharist (or Holy Communion),
however, the majority of Christians also recognize five additional
sacraments: Confirmation (Chrismation in the Orthodox tradition), Holy
orders (ordination), Penance (or Confession), Anointing of the Sick, and
Matrimony (see Christian views on marriage).[91]
Taken together,
these are the Seven Sacraments as recognized by churches in the High
Church tradition—notably Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox,
Independent Catholic, Old Catholic, many Anglicans, and some Lutherans.
Most other denominations and traditions typically affirm only Baptism
and Eucharist as sacraments, while some Protestant groups, such as the
Quakers, reject sacramental theology.[91] Christian denominations, such
as Baptists, which believe these rites do not communicate grace, prefer
to call Baptism and Holy Communion ordinances rather than sacraments.
In
addition to this, the Church of the East has two additional sacraments
in place of the traditional sacraments of Matrimony and the Anointing of
the Sick. These include Holy Leaven (Melka) and the sign of the
cross.[92]
Baptism, specifically infant baptism, in the Lutheran tradition
A penitent confessing his sins in a Ukrainian Catholic church
A Methodist minister celebrating the Eucharist
Confirmation being administered in an Anglican church
Ordination of a priest in the Eastern Orthodox tradition
Crowning during Holy Matrimony in the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church
Service of the Sacrament of Holy Unction served on Great and Holy Wednesday
Liturgical calendar
Main article: Liturgical year
See also: Calendar of saints
Catholics,
Anglicans, Eastern Christians, and traditional Protestant communities
frame worship around the liturgical year. The liturgical cycle divides
the year into a series of seasons, each with their theological emphases,
and modes of prayer, which can be signified by different ways of
decorating churches, colours of paraments and vestments for clergy,[93]
scriptural readings, themes for preaching and even different traditions
and practices often observed personally or in the home.
Western
Christian liturgical calendars are based on the cycle of the Roman Rite
of the Catholic Church,[93] and Eastern Christians use analogous
calendars based on the cycle of their respective rites. Calendars set
aside holy days, such as solemnities which commemorate an event in the
life of Jesus, Mary, or the saints, and periods of fasting, such as Lent
and other pious events such as memoria, or lesser festivals
commemorating saints. Christian groups that do not follow a liturgical
tradition often retain certain celebrations, such as Christmas, Easter,
and Pentecost: these are the celebrations of Christ's birth,
resurrection, and the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Church,
respectively. A few denominations make no use of a liturgical
calendar.[94]
Symbols
Main article: Christian symbolism
The
cross and the fish are two common symbols of Jesus Christ. The letters
of the Greek word ΙΧΘΥΣ Ichthys (fish) form an acronym for "Ἰησοῦς
Χριστός, Θεοῦ Υἱός, Σωτήρ", which translates into English as "Jesus
Christ, God's Son, Savior".
Christianity has not generally
practiced aniconism, the avoidance or prohibition of devotional images,
even if early Jewish Christians and some modern denominations, invoking
the Decalogue's prohibition of idolatry, avoided figures in their
symbols.
The cross, today one of the most widely recognized
symbols, was used by Christians from the earliest times.[95][96]
Tertullian, in his book De Corona, tells how it was already a tradition
for Christians to trace the sign of the cross on their foreheads.[97]
Although the cross was known to the early Christians, the crucifix did
not appear in use until the 5th century.[98]
Among the earliest
Christian symbols, that of the fish or Ichthys seems to have ranked
first in importance, as seen on monumental sources such as tombs from
the first decades of the 2nd century.[99] Its popularity seemingly arose
from the Greek word ichthys (fish) forming an acronym for the Greek
phrase Iesous Christos Theou Yios Soter (Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, Θεοῦ Υἱός,
Σωτήρ),[note 4] (Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior), a concise summary of
Christian faith.[99]
Other major Christian symbols include the
chi-rho monogram, the dove (symbolic of the Holy Spirit), the
sacrificial lamb (representing Christ's sacrifice), the vine
(symbolizing the connection of the Christian with Christ) and many
others. These all derive from passages of the New Testament.[98]
Baptism
Main article: Baptism
The baptism of Jesus depicted by Almeida Júnior (1895)
Baptism
is the ritual act, with the use of water, by which a person is admitted
to membership of the Church. Beliefs on baptism vary among
denominations. Differences occur firstly on whether the act has any
spiritual significance. Some, such as the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox
churches, as well as Lutherans and Anglicans, hold to the doctrine of
baptismal regeneration, which affirms that baptism creates or
strengthens a person's faith, and is intimately linked to salvation.
Others view baptism as a purely symbolic act, an external public
declaration of the inward change which has taken place in the person,
but not as spiritually efficacious. Secondly, there are differences of
opinion on the methodology of the act. These methods are: by immersion;
if immersion is total, by submersion; by affusion (pouring); and by
aspersion (sprinkling). Those who hold the first view may also adhere to
the tradition of infant baptism;[100] the Orthodox Churches all
practice infant baptism and always baptize by total immersion repeated
three times in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit.[101][102] The Catholic Church also practices infant
baptism,[103] usually by affusion, and utilizing the Trinitarian
formula.[104]
Prayer
Main article: Prayer in Christianity
Jesus'
teaching on prayer in the Sermon on the Mount displays a distinct lack
of interest in the external aspects of prayer. A concern with the
techniques of prayer is condemned as "pagan", and instead a simple trust
in God's fatherly goodness is encouraged.[Mat. 6:5–15] Elsewhere in the
New Testament, this same freedom of access to God is also
emphasized.[Phil. 4:6][Jam. 5:13–19] This confident position should be
understood in light of Christian belief in the unique relationship
between the believer and Christ through the indwelling of the Holy
Spirit.[105]
In subsequent Christian traditions, certain physical
gestures are emphasized, including medieval gestures such as
genuflection or making the sign of the cross. Kneeling, bowing, and
prostrations (see also poklon) are often practiced in more traditional
branches of Christianity. Frequently in Western Christianity, the hands
are placed palms together and forward as in the feudal commendation
ceremony. At other times the older orans posture may be used, with palms
up and elbows in.
Intercessory prayer is prayer offered for the
benefit of other people. There are many intercessory prayers recorded in
the Bible, including prayers of the Apostle Peter on behalf of sick
persons[Acts 9:40] and by prophets of the Old Testament in favor of
other people.[1Ki 17:19–22] In the Epistle of James, no distinction is
made between the intercessory prayer offered by ordinary believers and
the prominent Old Testament prophet Elijah.[Jam 5:16–18] The
effectiveness of prayer in Christianity derives from the power of God
rather than the status of the one praying.[105]
The ancient
church, in both Eastern and Western Christianity, developed a tradition
of asking for the intercession of (deceased) saints, and this remains
the practice of most Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic, and
some Anglican churches. Churches of the Protestant Reformation, however,
rejected prayer to the saints, largely on the basis of the sole
mediatorship of Christ.[106] The reformer Huldrych Zwingli admitted that
he had offered prayers to the saints until his reading of the Bible
convinced him that this was idolatrous.[107]
According to the
Catechism of the Catholic Church: "Prayer is the raising of one's mind
and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God."[108] The
Book of Common Prayer in the Anglican tradition is a guide which
provides a set order for church services, containing set prayers,
scripture readings, and hymns or sung Psalms.
Scriptures
Main articles: Bible, Biblical canon, and Development of the Christian biblical canon
The Bible is the sacred book in Christianity.
Christianity,
like other religions, has adherents whose beliefs and biblical
interpretations vary. Christianity regards the biblical canon, the Old
Testament and the New Testament, as the inspired word of God. The
traditional view of inspiration is that God worked through human authors
so that what they produced was what God wished to communicate. The
Greek word referring to inspiration in 2 Timothy 3:16 is theopneustos,
which literally means "God-breathed".[109]
Some believe that
divine inspiration makes our present Bibles inerrant. Others claim
inerrancy for the Bible in its original manuscripts, although none of
those are extant. Still others maintain that only a particular
translation is inerrant, such as the King James Version.[110][111][112]
Another closely related view is biblical infallibility or limited
inerrancy, which affirms that the Bible is free of error as a guide to
salvation, but may include errors on matters such as history, geography,
or science.
The books of the Bible accepted by the Orthodox,
Catholic, and Protestant churches vary somewhat, with Jews accepting
only the Hebrew Bible as canonical; however, there is substantial
overlap. These variations are a reflection of the range of traditions,
and of the councils that have convened on the subject. Every version of
the Old Testament always includes the books of the Tanakh, the canon of
the Hebrew Bible. The Catholic and Orthodox canons, in addition to the
Tanakh, also include the deuterocanonical books as part of the Old
Testament. These books appear in the Septuagint, but are regarded by
Protestants to be apocryphal. However, they are considered to be
important historical documents which help to inform the understanding of
words, grammar, and syntax used in the historical period of their
conception. Some versions of the Bible include a separate Apocrypha
section between the Old Testament and the New Testament.[113] The New
Testament, originally written in Koine Greek, contains 27 books which
are agreed upon by all churches.
Modern scholarship has raised
many issues with the Bible. While the Authorized King James Version is
held to by many because of its striking English prose, in fact it was
translated from the Erasmus Greek Bible, which in turn "was based on a
single 12th Century manuscript that is one of the worst manuscripts we
have available to us".[114] Much scholarship in the past several hundred
years has gone into comparing different manuscripts in order to
reconstruct the original text. Another issue is that several books are
considered to be forgeries. The injunction that women "be silent and
submissive" in 1 Timothy 2[115] is thought by many to be a forgery by a
follower of Paul, a similar phrase in 1 Corinthians 14,[116] which is
thought to be by Paul, appears in different places in different
manuscripts and is thought to originally be a margin note by a
copyist.[114] Other verses in 1 Corinthians, such as 1 Corinthians
11:2–16 where women are instructed to wear a covering over their hair
"when they pray or prophesies",[117] contradict this verse.
A
final issue with the Bible is the way in which books were selected for
inclusion in the New Testament. Other gospels have now been recovered,
such as those found near Nag Hammadi in 1945, and while some of these
texts are quite different from what Christians have been used to, it
should be understood that some of this newly recovered Gospel material
is quite possibly contemporaneous with, or even earlier than, the New
Testament Gospels. The core of the Gospel of Thomas, in particular, may
date from as early as AD 50 (although some major scholars contest this
early dating),[118] and if so would provide an insight into the earliest
gospel texts that underlie the canonical Gospels, texts that are
mentioned in Luke 1:1–2. The Gospel of Thomas contains much that is
familiar from the canonical Gospels—verse 113, for example ("The
Father's Kingdom is spread out upon the earth, but people do not see
it"),[119] is reminiscent of Luke 17:20–21[120][121]—and the Gospel of
John, with a terminology and approach that is suggestive of what was
later termed Gnosticism, has recently been seen as a possible response
to the Gospel of Thomas, a text that is commonly labelled proto-Gnostic.
Scholarship, then, is currently exploring the relationship in the Early
Church between mystical speculation and experience on the one hand and
the search for church order on the other, by analyzing new-found texts,
by subjecting canonical texts to further scrutiny, and by an examination
of the passage of New Testament texts to canonical status.
Catholic interpretation
St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City, the largest church in the world and a symbol of the Catholic Church
Main article: Catholic theology of Scripture
In
antiquity, two schools of exegesis developed in Alexandria and Antioch.
The Alexandrian interpretation, exemplified by Origen, tended to read
Scripture allegorically, while the Antiochene interpretation adhered to
the literal sense, holding that other meanings (called theoria) could
only be accepted if based on the literal meaning.[122]
Catholic theology distinguishes two senses of scripture: the literal and the spiritual.[123]
The
literal sense of understanding scripture is the meaning conveyed by the
words of Scripture. The spiritual sense is further subdivided into:
The allegorical sense, which includes typology. An example would be the
parting of the Red Sea being understood as a "type" (sign) of
baptism.[1Cor 10:2]
The moral sense, which understands the scripture to contain some ethical teaching.
The anagogical sense, which applies to eschatology, eternity and the consummation of the world
Regarding exegesis, following the rules of sound interpretation, Catholic theology holds:
The injunction that all other senses of sacred scripture are based on the literal[124][125]
That the historicity of the Gospels must be absolutely and constantly held[126]
That scripture must be read within the "living Tradition of the whole Church"[127] and
That "the task of interpretation has been entrusted to the bishops in
communion with the successor of Peter, the Bishop of Rome".[128]
Protestant interpretation
The
Luther Bible (shown above) was an early translation of the Bible by a
Protestant. Another early unauthorised translation was Wycliffe's Bible.
Qualities of Scripture
Protestant
Christians believe that the Bible is a self-sufficient revelation, the
final authority on all Christian doctrine, and revealed all truth
necessary for salvation. This concept is known as sola scriptura.[129]
Protestants characteristically believe that ordinary believers may reach
an adequate understanding of Scripture because Scripture itself is
clear in its meaning (or "perspicuous"). Martin Luther believed that
without God's help, Scripture would be "enveloped in darkness".[130] He
advocated for "one definite and simple understanding of Scripture".[130]
John Calvin wrote, "all who refuse not to follow the Holy Spirit as
their guide, find in the Scripture a clear light".[131] Related to this
is "efficacy", that Scripture is able to lead people to faith; and
"sufficiency", that the Scriptures contain everything that one needs to
know in order to obtain salvation and to live a Christian life.[132]
Original intended meaning of Scripture
Protestants
stress the meaning conveyed by the words of Scripture, the
historical-grammatical method.[133] The historical-grammatical method or
grammatico-historical method is an effort in Biblical hermeneutics to
find the intended original meaning in the text.[134] This original
intended meaning of the text is drawn out through examination of the
passage in light of the grammatical and syntactical aspects, the
historical background, the literary genre, as well as theological
(canonical) considerations.[135] The historical-grammatical method
distinguishes between the one original meaning and the significance of
the text. The significance of the text includes the ensuing use of the
text or application. The original passage is seen as having only a
single meaning or sense. As Milton S. Terry said: "A fundamental
principle in grammatico-historical exposition is that the words and
sentences can have but one significance in one and the same connection.
The moment we neglect this principle we drift out upon a sea of
uncertainty and conjecture."[136] Technically speaking, the
grammatical-historical method of interpretation is distinct from the
determination of the passage's significance in light of that
interpretation. Taken together, both define the term (Biblical)
hermeneutics.[134]
Some Protestant interpreters make use of typology.[137]
Ecclesiology
Main article: Ecclesiology
History
Main article: History of Christianity
Early Christianity
Main article: Early Christianity
Apostolic Age
Chapel of Saint Ananias, Damascus, Syria, an early example of a Christian house of worship; built in the 1st century AD
An early circular ichthys symbol, created by combining the Greek letters ΙΧΘΥΣ into a wheel. Ephesus, Asia Minor.
The
Monastery of St. Matthew, located atop Mount Alfaf in northern Iraq, is
recognized as one of the oldest Christian monasteries in
existence.[138]
Kadisha Valley, Lebanon, home to some of the earliest Christian monasteries in the world
Main articles: Origins of Christianity, Apostolic Age, and Ante-Nicene Period
Christianity
developed during the 1st century CE as a Jewish Christian sect of
Second Temple Judaism.[139][140] An early Jewish Christian community was
founded in Jerusalem under the leadership of the Pillars of the Church,
namely James the Just, the brother of the Lord, Saint Peter, and John.
They had known Jesus, and, according to Paul, the arisen Christ had
first appeared to James and Peter.
Jewish Christianity soon
attracted Gentile God-fearers, posing a problem for its Jewish religious
outlook, which insisted on close observance of the Jewish commands.
Paul the Apostle solved this by insisting that salvation by faith in
Christ, and participation in His death and resurrection, sufficed. At
first he persecuted the early Christians, but after a conversion
experience he preached to the gentiles, and is regarded as having had a
formative effect on the emerging Christian identity as separate from
Judaism. Eventually, his departure from Jewish customs would result in
the establishment of Christianity as an independent religion.
Ante-Nicene period
Main article: Ante-Nicene period
This
formative period was followed by the early bishops, whom Christians
consider the successors of the Apostles. From the year 150, Christian
teachers began to produce theological and apologetic works aimed at
defending the faith. These authors are known as the Church Fathers, and
the study of them is called patristics. Notable early Fathers include
Ignatius of Antioch, Polycarp, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian,
Clement of Alexandria and Origen.
According to the New Testament,
Christians were from the beginning, subject to persecution by some
Jewish and Roman religious authorities. This involved punishments,
including death, for Christians such as Stephen[Acts 7:59] and James,
son of Zebedee.[Acts 12:2] Further widespread persecution of the Church
occurred under nine subsequent Roman emperors, most intensely under
Decius and Diocletian.
Spread and acceptance in Roman Empire
An example of Byzantine pictorial art, the Deësis mosaic at the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople
See also: Edict of Thessalonica
Christianity
spread to Aramaic-speaking peoples along the Mediterranean coast and
also to the inland parts of the Roman Empire and beyond that into the
Parthian Empire and the later Sasanian Empire, including Mesopotamia,
which was dominated at different times and to varying extents by these
empires.[141] The presence of Christianity in Africa began in the middle
of the 1st century in Egypt and by the end of the 2nd century in the
region around Carthage. Mark the Evangelist is claimed to have started
the Church of Alexandria in about 43 CE; various later churches and
denominations claim this as their own legacy, including the Coptic
Orthodox Church of Alexandria.[142][143][144] Important Africans who
influenced the early development of Christianity include Tertullian,
Clement of Alexandria, Origen of Alexandria, Cyprian, Athanasius, and
Augustine of Hippo.
By 201 or earlier, under King Abgar the
Great, Osroene became the first Christian state.[145] King Trdat IV made
Christianity the state religion in Armenia between 301 and
314.[79][146][147] It was not an entirely new religion in Armenia,
having penetrated into the country from at least the third century, but
it may have been present even earlier.[148]
Under Emperor
Constantine, state-sanctioned persecution of early Christians ended with
the Edict of Toleration in 311 and the Edict of Milan in 313. At that
point, Christianity was still a minority belief, comprising perhaps only
five percent of the Roman population.[149] Influenced by his adviser
Mardonius, Constantine's nephew Julian unsuccessfully tried to suppress
Christianity.[150] On 27 February 380, Theodosius I, Gratian, and
Valentinian II established Nicene Christianity as the state church of
the Roman Empire.[151] As soon as it became connected to the state,
Christianity grew wealthy; the Church solicited donations from the rich
and could now own land.[152]
Constantine was also instrumental in
the convocation of the First Council of Nicaea in 325, which sought to
address Arianism and formulated the Nicene Creed, which is still used by
the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, Anglican Communion, and many
Protestant churches.[33] Nicaea was the first of a series of ecumenical
councils, which formally defined critical elements of the theology of
the Church, notably concerning Christology.[153] The Assyrian Church of
the East did not accept the third and following ecumenical councils and
is still separate today.
In terms of prosperity and cultural
life, the Byzantine Empire was one of the peaks in Christian history and
Christian civilization,[154] and Constantinople remained the leading
city of the Christian world in size, wealth, and culture.[155] There was
a renewed interest in classical Greek philosophy, as well as an
increase in literary output in vernacular Greek.[156] Byzantine art and
literature held a preeminent place in Europe, and the cultural impact of
Byzantine art on the West during this period was enormous and of
long-lasting significance.[157] The later rise of Islam in North Africa
reduced the size and numbers of Christian congregations, leaving in
large numbers only the Coptic Church in Egypt, the Ethiopian Orthodox
Tewahedo Church in the Horn of Africa and the Nubian Church in the Sudan
(Nobatia, Makuria and Alodia).
Early Middle Ages
With the
decline and fall of the Roman Empire in the West, the papacy became a
political player, first visible in Pope Leo's diplomatic dealings with
Huns and Vandals.[158] The church also entered into a long period of
missionary activity and expansion among the various tribes. While
Arianists instituted the death penalty for practicing pagans (see the
Massacre of Verden, for example), what would later become Catholicism
also spread among the Hungarians, the Germanic,[158] the Celtic, the
Baltic and some Slavic peoples.
Around 500, St. Benedict set out
his Monastic Rule, establishing a system of regulations for the
foundation and running of monasteries.[158] Monasticism became a
powerful force throughout Europe,[158] and gave rise to many early
centers of learning, most famously in Ireland, Scotland, and Gaul,
contributing to the Carolingian Renaissance of the 9th century.
In
the 7th century, Muslims conquered Syria (including Jerusalem), North
Africa, and Spain, converting some of the Christian population to Islam,
and placing the rest under a separate legal status. Part of the
Muslims' success was due to the exhaustion of the Byzantine Empire in
its decades long conflict with Persia.[159] Beginning in the 8th
century, with the rise of Carolingian leaders, the Papacy sought greater
political support in the Frankish Kingdom.[160]
The Middle Ages
brought about major changes within the church. Pope Gregory the Great
dramatically reformed the ecclesiastical structure and
administration.[161] In the early 8th century, iconoclasm became a
divisive issue, when it was sponsored by the Byzantine emperors. The
Second Ecumenical Council of Nicaea (787) finally pronounced in favor of
icons.[162] In the early 10th century, Western Christian monasticism
was further rejuvenated through the leadership of the great Benedictine
monastery of Cluny.[163]
High and Late Middle Ages
Pope Urban II at the Council of Clermont, where he preached the First Crusade
In
the West, from the 11th century onward, some older cathedral schools
became universities (see, for example, University of Oxford, University
of Paris and University of Bologna). Previously, higher education had
been the domain of Christian cathedral schools or monastic schools
(Scholae monasticae), led by monks and nuns. Evidence of such schools
dates back to the 6th century CE.[164] These new universities expanded
the curriculum to include academic programs for clerics, lawyers, civil
servants, and physicians.[165]
Originally teaching only theology,
universities steadily added subjects including medicine, philosophy,
and law, becoming the direct ancestors of modern institutions of
learning.[166] The university is generally regarded as an institution
that has its origin in the Medieval Christian setting.[167]
Accompanying
the rise of the "new towns" throughout Europe, mendicant orders were
founded, bringing the consecrated religious life out of the monastery
and into the new urban setting. The two principal mendicant movements
were the Franciscans[168] and the Dominicans,[169] founded by St.
Francis and St. Dominic, respectively. Both orders made significant
contributions to the development of the great universities of Europe.
Another new order was the Cistercians, whose large isolated monasteries
spearheaded the settlement of former wilderness areas. In this period,
church building and ecclesiastical architecture reached new heights,
culminating in the orders of Romanesque and Gothic architecture and the
building of the great European cathedrals.[170]
From 1095 under
the pontificate of Urban II, the Crusades were launched.[171] These were
a series of military campaigns in the Holy Land and elsewhere,
initiated in response to pleas from the Byzantine Emperor Alexios I for
aid against Turkish expansion. The Crusades ultimately failed to stifle
Islamic aggression and even contributed to Christian enmity with the
sacking of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade.[172]
The
Christian Church experienced internal conflict between the 7th and 13th
centuries that resulted in a schism between the so-called Latin or
Western Christian branch (the Catholic Church),[173] and an Eastern,
largely Greek, branch (the Eastern Orthodox Church). The two sides
disagreed on a number of administrative, liturgical and doctrinal
issues, most notably papal primacy of jurisdiction.[174][175] The Second
Council of Lyon (1274) and the Council of Florence (1439) attempted to
reunite the churches, but in both cases, the Eastern Orthodox refused to
implement the decisions, and the two principal churches remain in
schism to the present day. However, the Catholic Church has achieved
union with various smaller eastern churches.
In the thirteenth
century, a new emphasis on Jesus' suffering, exemplified by the
Franciscans' preaching, had the consequence of turning worshippers'
attention towards Jews, on whom Christians had placed the blame for
Jesus' death. Christianity's limited tolerance of Jews was not
new—Augustine of Hippo said that Jews should not be allowed to enjoy the
citizenship that Christians took for granted—but the growing antipathy
towards Jews was a factor that led to the expulsion of Jews from England
in 1290, the first of many such expulsions in Europe.[176][177]
Beginning
around 1184, following the crusade against Cathar heresy,[178] various
institutions, broadly referred to as the Inquisition, were established
with the aim of suppressing heresy and securing religious and doctrinal
unity within Christianity through conversion and prosecution.[179]
Protestant Reformation and Counter-Reformation
The Ninety-five Theses, which Luther published in 1517.
Main articles: Protestant Reformation and Counter-Reformation
See also: European wars of religion
The
15th-century Renaissance brought about a renewed interest in ancient
and classical learning. During the Reformation, Martin Luther posted the
Ninety-five Theses 1517 against the sale of indulgences.[180] Printed
copies soon spread throughout Europe. In 1521 the Edict of Worms
condemned and excommunicated Luther and his followers, resulting in the
schism of the Western Christendom into several branches.[181]
Other
reformers like Zwingli, Oecolampadius, Calvin, Knox, and Arminius
further criticized Catholic teaching and worship. These challenges
developed into the movement called Protestantism, which repudiated the
primacy of the pope, the role of tradition, the seven sacraments, and
other doctrines and practices.[180] The Reformation in England began in
1534, when King Henry VIII had himself declared head of the Church of
England. Beginning in 1536, the monasteries throughout England, Wales
and Ireland were dissolved.[182]
Thomas Müntzer, Andreas
Karlstadt and other theologians perceived both the Catholic Church and
the confessions of the Magisterial Reformation as corrupted. Their
activity brought about the Radical Reformation, which gave birth to
various Anabaptist denominations.
Michelangelo's 1498-99 Pietà in St.
Peter's Basilica, The Catholic Church was among the patronages of the
Renaissance.[183][184][185]
Partly in response to the Protestant
Reformation, the Catholic Church engaged in a substantial process of
reform and renewal, known as the Counter-Reformation or Catholic
Reform.[186] The Council of Trent clarified and reasserted Catholic
doctrine. During the following centuries, competition between
Catholicism and Protestantism became deeply entangled with political
struggles among European states.[187]
Meanwhile, the discovery of
America by Christopher Columbus in 1492 brought about a new wave of
missionary activity. Partly from missionary zeal, but under the impetus
of colonial expansion by the European powers, Christianity spread to the
Americas, Oceania, East Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
Throughout
Europe, the division caused by the Reformation led to outbreaks of
religious violence and the establishment of separate state churches in
Europe. Lutheranism spread into the northern, central, and eastern parts
of present-day Germany, Livonia, and Scandinavia. Anglicanism was
established in England in 1534. Calvinism and its varieties, such as
Presbyterianism, were introduced in Scotland, the Netherlands, Hungary,
Switzerland, and France. Arminianism gained followers in the Netherlands
and Frisia. Ultimately, these differences led to the outbreak of
conflicts in which religion played a key factor. The Thirty Years' War,
the English Civil War, and the French Wars of Religion are prominent
examples. These events intensified the Christian debate on persecution
and toleration.[188]
Post-Enlightenment
A depiction of Madonna and Child in a 19th-century Kakure Kirishitan Japanese woodcut
In
the era known as the Great Divergence, when in the West, the Age of
Enlightenment and the scientific revolution brought about great societal
changes, Christianity was confronted with various forms of skepticism
and with certain modern political ideologies, such as versions of
socialism and liberalism.[189] Events ranged from mere anti-clericalism
to violent outbursts against Christianity, such as the
dechristianization of France during the French Revolution,[190] the
Spanish Civil War, and certain Marxist movements, especially the Russian
Revolution and the persecution of Christians in the Soviet Union under
state atheism.[191][192][193][194]
Especially pressing in Europe
was the formation of nation states after the Napoleonic era. In all
European countries, different Christian denominations found themselves
in competition to greater or lesser extents with each other and with the
state. Variables were the relative sizes of the denominations and the
religious, political, and ideological orientation of the states. Urs
Altermatt of the University of Fribourg, looking specifically at
Catholicism in Europe, identifies four models for the European nations.
In traditionally Catholic-majority countries such as Belgium, Spain, and
Austria, to some extent, religious and national communities are more or
less identical. Cultural symbiosis and separation are found in Poland,
the Republic of Ireland, and Switzerland, all countries with competing
denominations. Competition is found in Germany, the Netherlands, and
again Switzerland, all countries with minority Catholic populations,
which to a greater or lesser extent identified with the nation. Finally,
separation between religion (again, specifically Catholicism) and the
state is found to a great degree in France and Italy, countries where
the state actively opposed itself to the authority of the Catholic
Church.[195]
The combined factors of the formation of nation
states and ultramontanism, especially in Germany and the Netherlands,
but also in England to a much lesser extent,[196] often forced Catholic
churches, organizations, and believers to choose between the national
demands of the state and the authority of the Church, specifically the
papacy. This conflict came to a head in the First Vatican Council, and
in Germany would lead directly to the Kulturkampf, where liberals and
Protestants under the leadership of Bismarck managed to severely
restrict Catholic expression and organization.
Christian
commitment in Europe dropped as modernity and secularism came into their
own,[197] particularly in the Czech Republic and Estonia,[198] while
religious commitments in America have been generally high in comparison
to Europe. The late 20th century has shown the shift of Christian
adherence to the Third World and the Southern Hemisphere in general,
with the West no longer the chief standard bearer of Christianity.
Approximately 7 to 10% of Arabs are Christians,[199] most prevalent in
Egypt, Syria and Lebanon.
Demographics
Main articles: Christianity by country, Christian population growth, and Christian denominations by membership
See also: Christendom and Christian state
With
around 2.3 billion adherents,[200][201] split into three main branches
of Catholic, Protestant, and Eastern Orthodox, Christianity is the
world's largest religion.[202] The Christian share of the world's
population has stood at around 33% for the last hundred years, which
means that one in three persons on Earth are Christians. This masks a
major shift in the demographics of Christianity; large increases in the
developing world have been accompanied by substantial declines in the
developed world, mainly in Europe and North America.[203] According to a
2015 Pew Research Center study, within the next four decades,
Christians will remain the world's largest religion; and by 2050, the
Christian population is expected to exceed 3 billion.[204]:60
Brazil is the country with the largest Catholic population in the world.
Trinity Sunday in Russia. The Russian Orthodox Church has experienced a great revival since the fall of communism.
As
a percentage of Christians, the Catholic Church and Orthodoxy (both
Eastern and Oriental) are declining in parts of the world (though
Catholicism is growing in Asia, in Africa, vibrant in Eastern Europe,
etc.), while Protestants and other Christians are on the rise in the
developing world.[205][206][207] The so-called popular
Protestantism[note 5] is one of the fastest growing religious categories
in the world.[208][209] Nevertheless, Catholicism will also continue to
grow to 1.63 billion by 2050, according to Todd Johnson of the Center
for the Study of Global Christianity.[210] Africa alone, by 2015, will
be home to 230 million African Catholics.[211] And if in 2018, the U.N.
projects that Africa's population will reach 4.5 billion by 2100 (not 2
billion as predicted in 2004), Catholicism will indeed grow, as will
other religious groups.[212]
Christianity is the predominant
religion in Europe, the Americas, and Southern Africa. In Asia, it is
the dominant religion in Georgia, Armenia, East Timor, and the
Philippines.[213] However, it is declining in many areas including the
Northern and Western United States,[214] Oceania (Australia and New
Zealand), northern Europe (including Great Britain,[215] Scandinavia and
other places), France, Germany, and the Canadian provinces of Ontario,
British Columbia, and Quebec, and parts of Asia (especially the Middle
East, due to the Christian emigration,[216][217][218] South Korea,[219]
Taiwan,[220] and Macau[221]).
The Christian population is not
decreasing in Brazil, the Southern United States,[222] and the province
of Alberta, Canada,[223] but the percentage is decreasing. In countries
such as Australia[224] and New Zealand,[225] the Christian population
are declining in both numbers and percentage.
Despite the
declining numbers, Christianity remains the dominant religion in the
Western World, where 70% are Christians.[15] A 2011 Pew Research Center
survey found that 76% of Europeans, 73% in Oceania and about 86% in the
Americas (90% in Latin America and 77% in North America) identified
themselves as Christians.[15][226][227][228] By 2010 about 157 countries
and territories in the world had Christian majorities.[202]
However,
there are many charismatic movements that have become well established
over large parts of the world, especially Africa, Latin America, and
Asia.[229][230][231][232][233] Since 1900, primarily due to conversion,
Protestantism has spread rapidly in Africa, Asia, Oceania, and Latin
America.[234] From 1960 to 2000, the global growth of the number of
reported Evangelical Protestants grew three times the world's population
rate, and twice that of Islam.[235] A study conducted by St. Mary's
University estimated about 10.2 million Muslim converts to Christianity
in 2015.[236] The results also state that significant numbers of Muslims
converts to Christianity in Afghanistan,[237] Albania,[236]
Azerbaijan,[238][239] Algeria,[240][241] Belgium,[242] France,[241]
Germany,[243] Iran,[244] India,[241] Indonesia,[245] Malaysia,[246]
Morocco,[241][247] Russia,[241] the Netherlands,[248] Saudi Arabia,[249]
Tunisia,[236] Turkey,[241][250][251][252] Kazakhstan,[253]
Kyrgyzstan,[236] Kosovo,[254] the United States,[255] and Central
Asia.[256][257] It is also reported that Christianity is popular among
people of different backgrounds in India (mostly Hindus),[258][259] and
Malaysia,[260] Mongolia,[261] Nigeria,[262] Vietnam,[263]
Singapore,[264] Indonesia,[265][266] China,[267] Japan,[268] and South
Korea.[269]
In most countries in the developed world, church
attendance among people who continue to identify themselves as
Christians has been falling over the last few decades.[270] Some sources
view this simply as part of a drift away from traditional membership
institutions,[271] while others link it to signs of a decline in belief
in the importance of religion in general.[272] Europe's Christian
population, though in decline, still constitutes the largest
geographical component of the religion.[273] According to data from the
2012 European Social Survey, around a third of European Christians say
they attend services once a month or more,[274] Conversely about more
than two-thirds of Latin American Christians; according to the World
Values Survey, about 90% of African Christians (in Ghana, Nigeria,
Rwand], South Africa and Zimbabwe) said they attended church
regularly.[274]
Christianity, in one form or another, is the sole
state religion of the following nations: Argentina (Catholic),[275]
Tuvalu (Reformed), Tonga (Methodist), Norway (Lutheran),[276][277][278]
Costa Rica (Catholic),[279] the Kingdom of Denmark (Lutheran),[280]
England (Anglican),[281] Georgia (Georgian Orthodox),[282] Greece (Greek
Orthodox),[283] Iceland (Lutheran),[284] Liechtenstein (Catholic),[285]
Malta (Catholic),[286] Monaco (Catholic),[287] and Vatican City
(Catholic).[288]
There are numerous other countries, such as
Cyprus, which although do not have an established church, still give
official recognition and support to a specific Christian
denomination.[289]
Demographics of major traditions within
Christianity (Pew Research Center, 2010 data)[290] Tradition
Followers % of the Christian population % of the world
population Follower dynamics Dynamics in- and outside
Christianity
Catholic Church 1,094,610,000 50.1 15.9 Increase Growing Increase Growing
Protestantism 800,640,000 36.7 11.6 Increase Growing Increase Growing
Orthodoxy 260,380,000 11.9 3.8 Decrease Declining Decrease Declining
Other Christianity 28,430,000 1.3 0.4 Increase Growing Increase Growing
Christianity 2,184,060,000 100 31.7 Increase Growing Steady Stable
Regional
median ages of Christians compared with overall median ages (Pew
Research Center, 2010 data)[291] Christian median age in region
(years) Regional median age (years)
World 30 --
Sub-Saharan Africa 19 18
Latin America-Caribbean 27 27
Asia-Pacific 28 29
Middle East-North Africa 29 24
North America 39 37
Europe 42 40
The global distribution of Christians: Countries colored a darker shade have a higher proportion of Christians.[292]
Countries with 50% or more Christians are colored purple while countries with 10% to 50% Christians are colored pink
Nations with Christianity as their state religion are in blue
Nations with Christianity as their state religion (detailed map; see legend for more)
Distribution of Catholics
Distribution of Protestants
Distribution of Eastern Orthodox
Distribution of Oriental Orthodox
Other Christians by number: black – more than 10 million; red – more than 1 million
Denominations
Further information: List of Christian denominations and List of Christian denominations by number of members
Christianity Branches without text.svg
Major denominational families in Christianity:
This box:
viewtalkedit
Western Christianity
Eastern Christianity
Protestantism
Evangelical
Anabaptist
Anglican
Reformed
Lutheran
(Latin Church)
Catholic
(Eastern Catholic)
Eastern Orthodox
Oriental Orthodox
Church of the East
Schism (1552)
Assyrian Church of the East
Ancient Church of the East
Protestant Reformation
(16th century)
Great Schism
(11th century)
Council of Ephesus (431)
Council of Chalcedon (451)
Early Christianity
"Great Church"
(Full communion)
The
four primary divisions of Christianity are the Catholic Church, the
Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodoxy, and
Protestantism.[37]:14[293] A broader distinction that is sometimes drawn
is between Eastern Christianity and Western Christianity, which has its
origins in the East–West Schism (Great Schism) of the 11th century.
However, there are other present[294] and historical[295] Christian
groups that do not fit neatly into one of these primary categories.
There
is a diversity of doctrines and liturgical practices among groups
calling themselves Christian. These groups may vary ecclesiologically in
their views on a classification of Christian denominations.[296] The
Nicene Creed (325), however, is typically accepted as authoritative by
most Christians, including the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental
Orthodox, and major Protestant, including Anglican, denominations.[297]
By
reason of Protestant ecclesiology, ever since its emergence in the 16th
century, Protestantism comprises the widest diversity of groupings and
practices. In addition to the Lutheran and Reformed (or Calvinist)
branches of the Reformation, Anglicanism appeared after the English
Reformation. The Anabaptist tradition was largely ostracized by the
other Protestant parties at the time, but has achieved a measure of
affirmation in contemporary history. Adventist, Baptist, Methodist,
Pentecostal, and other Protestant confessions arose in the following
centuries.
Catholic Church
Main article: Catholic Church
Pope Francis, the current leader of the Catholic Church
The
Catholic Church consists of those particular Churches, headed by
bishops, in communion with the pope, the bishop of Rome, as its highest
authority in matters of faith, morality, and Church
governance.[298][299] Like Eastern Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church,
through apostolic succession, traces its origins to the Christian
community founded by Jesus Christ.[300][301] Catholics maintain that the
"one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church" founded by Jesus subsists
fully in the Catholic Church, but also acknowledges other Christian
churches and communities[302][303] and works towards reconciliation
among all Christians.[302] The Catholic faith is detailed in the
Catechism of the Catholic Church.[304][305]
The 2,834 sees[306]
are grouped into 24 particular autonomous Churches (the largest of which
being the Latin Church), each with its own distinct traditions
regarding the liturgy and the administering of sacraments.[307] With
more than 1.1 billion baptized members, the Catholic Church is the
largest Christian church and represents over half of all Christians as
well as one sixth of the world's population.[308][309][310]
Eastern Orthodox Church
Main article: Eastern Orthodox Church
The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow is the tallest Eastern Orthodox Christian church in the world.
The
Eastern Orthodox Church consists of those churches in communion with
the Patriarchal Sees of the East, such as the Ecumenical Patriarch of
Constantinople.[311] Like the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox
Church also traces its heritage to the foundation of Christianity
through apostolic succession and has an episcopal structure, though the
autonomy of its component parts is emphasized, and most of them are
national churches.
A number of conflicts with Western
Christianity over questions of doctrine and authority culminated in the
Great Schism. Eastern Orthodoxy is the second largest single
denomination in Christianity, with an estimated 225–300 million
adherents.[15][309][312]
Oriental Orthodoxy
Main article: Oriental Orthodoxy
The
Oriental Orthodox churches (also called "Old Oriental" churches) are
those eastern churches that recognize the first three ecumenical
councils—Nicaea, Constantinople, and Ephesus—but reject the dogmatic
definitions of the Council of Chalcedon and instead espouse a Miaphysite
christology.
The Oriental Orthodox communion consists of six
groups: Syriac Orthodox, Coptic Orthodox, Ethiopian Orthodox, Eritrean
Orthodox, Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (India), and Armenian
Apostolic churches.[313] These six churches, while being in communion
with each other, are completely independent hierarchically.[314] These
churches are generally not in communion with Eastern Orthodox Churches,
with whom they are in dialogue for erecting a communion.[315]
Assyrian Church of the East
A 6th-century Nestorian church, St. John the Arab, in the Assyrian village of Geramon in Hakkari, southeastern Turkey.
Main article: Assyrian Church of the East
The
Assyrian Church of the East, with an unbroken patriarchate established
in the 17th century, is an independent Eastern Christian denomination
which claims continuity from the Church of the East—in parallel to the
Catholic patriarchate established in the 16th century that evolved into
the Chaldean Catholic Church, an Eastern Catholic church in full
communion with the Pope. It is an Eastern Christian Church that follows
the traditional christology and ecclesiology of the historical Church of
the East. Largely aniconic and not in communion with any other church,
it belongs to the eastern branch of Syriac Christianity, and uses the
East Syriac Rite in its liturgy.[316]
Its main spoken language is
Syriac, a dialect of Eastern Aramaic, and the majority of its adherents
are ethnic Assyrians. It is officially headquartered in the city of
Erbil in northern Iraqi Kurdistan, and its original area also spreads
into south-eastern Turkey and north-western Iran, corresponding to
ancient Assyria. Its hierarchy is composed of metropolitan bishops and
diocesan bishops, while lower clergy consists of priests and deacons,
who serve in dioceses (eparchies) and parishes throughout the Middle
East, India, North America, Oceania, and Europe (including the Caucasus
and Russia).[317]
The Ancient Church of the East distinguished
itself from the Assyrian Church of the East in 1964. It is one of the
Assyrian churches that claim continuity with the historical Patriarchate
of Seleucia-Ctesiphon—the Church of the East, one of the oldest
Christian churches in Mesopotamia.[318]
Protestantism
Main article: Protestantism
Part of a series on
Protestantism
Latin version of the Christian cross which is used by virtually all Protestant denominations
Topics
[show]
Major branches
[show]
Minor branches
[show]
Broad-based movements
[show]
Other developments
[show]
Related movements
[show]
vte
In
1521, the Edict of Worms condemned Martin Luther and officially banned
citizens of the Holy Roman Empire from defending or propagating his
ideas.[319] This split within the Roman Catholic church is now called
the Reformation. Prominent Reformers included Martin Luther, Huldrych
Zwingli, and John Calvin. The 1529 Protestation at Speyer against being
excommunicated gave this party the name Protestantism. Luther's primary
theological heirs are known as Lutherans. Zwingli and Calvin's heirs are
far broader denominationally, and are referred to as the Reformed
tradition.[320]
The Anglican churches descended from the Church
of England and organized in the Anglican Communion. Some, but not all
Anglicans consider themselves both Protestant and Catholic.[321][322]
Since
the Anglican, Lutheran, and the Reformed branches of Protestantism
originated for the most part in cooperation with the government, these
movements are termed the "Magisterial Reformation". On the other hand,
groups such as the Anabaptists, who often do not consider themselves to
be Protestant, originated in the Radical Reformation, which though
sometimes protected under Acts of Toleration, do not trace their history
back to any state church. They are further distinguished by their
rejection of infant baptism; they believe in baptism only of adult
believers—credobaptism (Anabaptists include the Amish, Apostolic,
Bruderhof, Mennonites, Hutterites and Schwarzenau Brethren/German
Baptist groups.)[323][324][325]
The term Protestant also refers
to any churches which formed later, with either the Magisterial or
Radical traditions. In the 18th century, for example, Methodism grew out
of Anglican minister John Wesley's evangelical and revival
movement.[326] Several Pentecostal and non-denominational churches,
which emphasize the cleansing power of the Holy Spirit, in turn grew out
of Methodism.[327] Because Methodists, Pentecostals and other
evangelicals stress "accepting Jesus as your personal Lord and
Savior",[328] which comes from Wesley's emphasis of the New Birth,[329]
they often refer to themselves as being born-again.[330][331]
Estimates
of the total number of Protestants are very uncertain, but it seems
clear that Protestantism is the second largest major group of Christians
after Catholicism in number of followers, although the Eastern Orthodox
Church is larger than any single Protestant denomination.[309] Often
that number is put at more than 800 million, corresponding to nearly 40%
of world's Christians.[205] The majority of Protestants are members of
just a handful of denominational families, i.e. Adventists, Anglicans,
Baptists, Reformed (Calvinists),[332] Lutherans, Methodists, and
Pentecostals.[205] Nondenominational, evangelical, charismatic,
neo-charismatic, independent, and other churches are on the rise, and
constitute a significant part of Protestant Christianity.[333]
Some
groups of individuals who hold basic Protestant tenets identify
themselves simply as "Christians" or "born-again Christians". They
typically distance themselves from the confessionalism and creedalism of
other Christian communities[334] by calling themselves
"non-denominational" or "evangelical". Often founded by individual
pastors, they have little affiliation with historic denominations.[335]
Historical chart of the main Protestant branches
Links between interdenominational movements and other developments within Protestantism
Restorationism
Main article: Restorationism
A
19th-century drawing of Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery receiving the
Aaronic priesthood from John the Baptist. Latter Day Saints believe that
the Priesthood ceased to exist after the death of the Apostles and
therefore needed to be restored.
The Second Great Awakening, a
period of religious revival that occurred in the United States during
the early 1800s, saw the development of a number of unrelated churches.
They generally saw themselves as restoring the original church of Jesus
Christ rather than reforming one of the existing churches.[336] A common
belief held by Restorationists was that the other divisions of
Christianity had introduced doctrinal defects into Christianity, which
was known as the Great Apostasy.[337] In Asia, Iglesia ni Cristo is a
known restorationist religion that was established during the early
1900s.
Some of the churches originating during this period are
historically connected to early 19th-century camp meetings in the
Midwest and upstate New York. One of the largest churches produced from
the movement is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.[338]
American Millennialism and Adventism, which arose from Evangelical
Protestantism, influenced the Jehovah's Witnesses movement and, as a
reaction specifically to William Miller, the Seventh-day Adventists.
Others, including the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ),
Evangelical Christian Church in Canada,[339][340] Churches of Christ,
and the Christian churches and churches of Christ, have their roots in
the contemporaneous Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement, which was
centered in Kentucky and Tennessee. Other groups originating in this
time period include the Christadelphians and the previously mentioned
Latter Day Saints movement. While the churches originating in the Second
Great Awakening have some superficial similarities, their doctrine and
practices vary significantly.
Other
Various smaller
Independent Catholic communities, such as the Old Catholic Church,
include the word Catholic in their title, and arguably have more or less
liturgical practices in common with the Catholic Church, but are no
longer in full communion with the Holy See.
Spiritual Christians,
such as the Doukhobor and Molokan, broke from the Russian Orthodox
Church and maintain close association with Mennonites and Quakers due to
similar religious practices; all of these groups are furthermore
collectively considered to be peace churches due to their belief in
pacifism.[341][342]
Messianic Judaism (or the Messianic Movement)
is the name of a Christian movement comprising a number of streams,
whose members may consider themselves Jewish. The movement originated in
the 1960s and 1970s, and it blends elements of religious Jewish
practice with evangelical Christianity. Messianic Judaism affirms
Christian creeds such as the messiahship and divinity of "Yeshua" (the
Hebrew name of Jesus) and the Triune Nature of God, while also adhering
to some Jewish dietary laws and customs.[343]
Esoteric Christians
regard Christianity as a mystery religion,[344][345] and profess the
existence and possession of certain esoteric doctrines or
practices,[346][347] hidden from the public but accessible only to a
narrow circle of "enlightened", "initiated", or highly educated
people.[348][349] Some of the esoteric Christian institutions include
the Rosicrucian Fellowship, the Anthroposophical Society, and Martinism.
Influence on western culture
Main articles: Christian culture and Role of Christianity in civilization
Further information: Protestant culture, Cultural Christian, and Christian influences in Islam
Set of pictures showcasing Christian culture and famous Christian leaders
Western
culture, throughout most of its history, has been nearly equivalent to
Christian culture, and a large portion of the population of the Western
Hemisphere can be described as cultural Christians. The notion of
"Europe" and the "Western World" has been intimately connected with the
concept of "Christianity and Christendom". Many even attribute
Christianity for being the link that created a unified European
identity.[350]
Though Western culture contained several
polytheistic religions during its early years under the Greek and Roman
empires, as the centralized Roman power waned, the dominance of the
Catholic Church was the only consistent force in Western Europe.[351]
Until the Age of Enlightenment,[352] Christian culture guided the course
of philosophy, literature, art, music and science.[351][353] Christian
disciplines of the respective arts have subsequently developed into
Christian philosophy, Christian art, Christian music, Christian
literature, etc.
Christianity has had a significant impact on
education, as the church created the bases of the Western system of
education,[354] and was the sponsor of founding universities in the
Western world; as the university is generally regarded as an institution
that has its origin in the Medieval Christian setting.[167]
Historically, Christianity has often been a patron of science and
medicine. It has been prolific in the foundation of schools,
universities, and hospitals, and many Catholic clergy;[355] Jesuits in
particular,[356][357] have been active in the sciences throughout
history and have made significant contributions to the development of
science.[358] Protestantism also has had an important influence on
science. According to the Merton Thesis, there was a positive
correlation between the rise of English Puritanism and German Pietism on
the one hand, and early experimental science on the other.[359] The
civilizing influence of Christianity includes social welfare,[360]
founding hospitals,[361] economics (as the Protestant work
ethic),[362][363] politics,[364] architecture,[365] literature,[366]
personal hygiene,[367][368] and family life.[369]
Eastern
Christians (particularly Nestorian Christians) contributed to the Arab
Islamic Civilization during the reign of the Ummayad and the Abbasid, by
translating works of Greek philosophers to Syriac and afterwards, to
Arabic.[370][371][372] They also excelled in philosophy, science,
theology, and medicine.[373][374][375] Also, many scholars of the House
of Wisdom were of Christian background.[376]
Christians have made
a myriad of contributions to human progress in a broad and diverse
range of fields,[377] including philosophy,[378] science and
technology,[355][379][380][381][382] fine arts and architecture,[383]
politics, literatures, music,[384] and business.[385] According to 100
Years of Nobel Prizes a review of the Nobel Prizes award between 1901
and 2000 reveals that (65%) of Nobel Prizes Laureates, have identified
Christianity in its various forms as their religious preference.[386]
Postchristianity[387]
is the term for the decline of Christianity, particularly in Europe,
Canada, Australia, and to a minor degree the Southern Cone, in the 20th
and 21st centuries, considered in terms of postmodernism. It refers to
the loss of Christianity's monopoly on values and world view in
historically Christian societies.
Cultural Christians are secular
people with a Christian heritage who may not believe in the religious
claims of Christianity, but who retain an affinity for the popular
culture, art, music, and so on related to it. Another frequent
application of the term is to distinguish political groups in areas of
mixed religious backgrounds.
Ecumenism
Main article: Ecumenism
Ecumenical worship service at the monastery of Taizé in France
Christian
groups and denominations have long expressed ideals of being
reconciled, and in the 20th century, Christian ecumenism advanced in two
ways.[388] One way was greater cooperation between groups, such as the
World Evangelical Alliance founded in 1846 in London or the Edinburgh
Missionary Conference of Protestants in 1910, the Justice, Peace and
Creation Commission of the World Council of Churches founded in 1948 by
Protestant and Orthodox churches, and similar national councils like the
National Council of Churches in Australia, which includes
Catholics.[388]
The other way was an institutional union with
united churches, a practice that can be traced back to unions between
Lutherans and Calvinists in early 19th-century Germany.
Congregationalist, Methodist, and Presbyterian churches united in 1925
to form the United Church of Canada,[389] and in 1977 to form the
Uniting Church in Australia. The Church of South India was formed in
1947 by the union of Anglican, Baptist, Methodist, Congregationalist,
and Presbyterian churches.[390]
The ecumenical, monastic Taizé
Community is notable for being composed of more than one hundred
brothers from Protestant and Catholic traditions.[391] The community
emphasizes the reconciliation of all denominations and its main church,
located in Taizé, Saône-et-Loire, France, is named the "Church of
Reconciliation".[391] The community is internationally known, attracting
over 100,000 young pilgrims annually.[392]
Steps towards
reconciliation on a global level were taken in 1965 by the Catholic and
Orthodox churches, mutually revoking the excommunications that marked
their Great Schism in 1054;[393] the Anglican Catholic International
Commission (ARCIC) working towards full communion between those churches
since 1970;[394] and some Lutheran and Catholic churches signing the
Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification in 1999 to address
conflicts at the root of the Protestant Reformation. In 2006, the World
Methodist Council, representing all Methodist denominations, adopted the
declaration.[395]
Criticism, persecution, and apologetics
Main articles: Christian apologetics, Criticism of Christianity, and Persecution of Christians
A copy of the Summa Theologica by Thomas Aquinas, a famous Christian apologetic work
Criticism
of Christianity and Christians goes back to the Apostolic Age, with the
New Testament recording friction between the followers of Jesus and the
Pharisees and scribes (e.g. Matthew 15:1–20 and Mark 7:1–23).[396] In
the 2nd century, Christianity was criticized by the Jews on various
grounds, e.g. that the prophecies of the Hebrew Bible could not have
been fulfilled by Jesus, given that he did not have a successful
life.[397] Additionally, a sacrifice to remove sins in advance, for
everyone or as a human being, did not fit to the Jewish sacrifice
ritual; furthermore, God is said to judge people on their deeds instead
of their beliefs.[398][399] One of the first comprehensive attacks on
Christianity came from the Greek philosopher Celsus, who wrote The True
Word, a polemic criticizing Christians as being unprofitable members of
society.[400][401][402] In response, the church father Origen published
his treatise Contra Celsum, or Against Celsus, a seminal work of
Christian apologetics, which systematically addressed Celsus's
criticisms and helped bring Christianity a level of academic
respectability.[403][402]
By the 3rd century, criticism of
Christianity had mounted, partly as a defense against it. Wild rumors
about Christians were widely circulated, claiming that they were
atheists and that, as part of their rituals, they devoured human infants
and engaged in incestuous orgies.[404][405] The Neoplatonist
philosopher Porphyry wrote the fifteen-volume Adversus Christianos as a
comprehensive attack on Christianity, in part building on the teachings
of Plotinus.[406][407]
By the 12th century, the Mishneh Torah
(i.e., Rabbi Moses Maimonides) was criticizing Christianity on the
grounds of idol worship, in that Christians attributed divinity to
Jesus, who had a physical body.[408] In the 19th century, Nietzsche
began to write a series of polemics on the "unnatural" teachings of
Christianity (e.g. sexual abstinence), and continued his criticism of
Christianity to the end of his life.[409] In the 20th century, the
philosopher Bertrand Russell expressed his criticism of Christianity in
Why I Am Not a Christian, formulating his rejection of Christianity in
the setting of logical arguments.[410]
Criticism of Christianity
continues to date, e.g. Jewish and Muslim theologians criticize the
doctrine of the Trinity held by most Christians, stating that this
doctrine in effect assumes that there are three Gods, running against
the basic tenet of monotheism.[411] New Testament scholar Robert M.
Price has outlined the possibility that some Bible stories are based
partly on myth in The Christ Myth Theory and its problems.[412]
Christian
apologetics aims to present a rational basis for Christianity. The word
"apologetic" (Greek: ἀπολογητικός apologētikos) comes from the Greek
verb ἀπολογέομαι apologeomai, meaning "(I) speak in defense of".[413]
Christian apologetics has taken many forms over the centuries, starting
with Paul the Apostle. The philosopher Thomas Aquinas presented five
arguments for God's existence in the Summa Theologica, while his Summa
contra Gentiles was a major apologetic work.[414][415] Another famous
apologist, G. K. Chesterton, wrote in the early twentieth century about
the benefits of religion and, specifically, Christianity. Famous for his
use of paradox, Chesterton explained that while Christianity had the
most mysteries, it was the most practical religion.[416][417] He pointed
to the advance of Christian civilizations as proof of its
practicality.[418] The physicist and priest John Polkinghorne, in his
Questions of Truth discusses the subject of religion and science, a
topic that other Christian apologists such as Ravi Zacharias, John
Lennox, and William Lane Craig have engaged, with the latter two men
opining that the inflationary Big Bang model is evidence for the
existence of God.[419]
See also
icon
Book: Abrahamic religions
Book: Christianity
Book: Christianity: A History
iconChristianity portal iconReligion portal Spirituality portal
Christianity and Judaism
Judaism
Mandaeism
Old Norse religion
Christianity and politics
Christian mythology
List of schisms in Christianity
Criticism of Christianity
Outline of Christianity
One true church
Notes
The
term "Christian" (Greek: Χριστιανός) was first used in reference to
Jesus's disciples in the city of Antioch[Acts 11:26] about 44 AD,
meaning "followers of Christ". The name was given by the non-Jewish
inhabitants of Antioch to the disciples of Jesus. In the New Testament,
the names by which the disciples were known among themselves were
"brethren", "the faithful", "elect", "saints" and "believers". The
earliest recorded use of the term "Christianity" (Greek: Χριστιανισμός)
was by Ignatius of Antioch, in around 100 AD.[1]
It appears in the
Acts of the Apostles, Acts 9:2, Acts 19:9 and Acts 19:23). Some English
translations of the New Testament capitalize 'the Way' (e.g. the New
King James Version and the English Standard Version), indicating that
this was how 'the new religion seemed then to be designated' [18]
whereas others treat the phrase as indicative—'the way',[19] 'that way'
[20] or 'the way of the Lord'.[21] The Syriac version reads, "the way of
God" and the Vulgate Latin version, "the way of the Lord".[22]
The
Latin equivalent, from which English trinity is derived,[69] is
trinitas[70] though Latin also borrowed Greek trias verbatim.[71]
Iesous
Christos Theou Hyios Soter would be a more complete transliteration; in
Greek though, the daseia or spiritus asper was not—commonly—marked in
the majuscule script of the time.
A flexible term; defined as
all forms of Protestantism with the notable exception of the historical
denominations deriving directly from the Protestant Reformation.
References
Elwell & Comfort 2001, pp. 266, 828.
Woodhead, Linda (2004). Christianity: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. n.p.
"World's largest religion by population is still Christianity". Pew Research Center. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
S.
T. Kimbrough, ed. (2005). Orthodox and Wesleyan Scriptural
understanding and practice. St Vladimir's Seminary Press. ISBN
978-0-88141-301-4.
Muslim-Christian Relations. Amsterdam University
Press. 2006. ISBN 978-90-5356-938-2. Retrieved 18 October 2007. "The
enthusiasm for evangelization among the Christians was also accompanied
by the awareness that the most immediate problem to solve was how to
serve the huge number of new converts. Simatupang said, if the number of
the Christians were double or triple, then the number of the ministers
should also be doubled or tripled and the tole of the laity should be
maximized and Christian service to society through schools,
universities, hospitals and orphanages, should be increased. In
addition, for him the Christian mission should be involved in the
struggle for justice amid the process of modernization."
Fred Kammer
(1 May 2004). Doing Faith Justice. Paulist Press. p. 77. ISBN
978-0-8091-4227-9. Retrieved 18 October 2007. "Theologians, bishops, and
preachers urged the Christian community to be as compassionate as their
God was, reiterating that creation was for all of humanity. They also
accepted and developed the identification of Christ with the poor and
the requisite Christian duty to the poor. Religious congregations and
individual charismatic leaders promoted the development of a number of
helping institutions-hospitals, hospices for pilgrims, orphanages,
shelters for unwed mothers-that laid the foundation for the modern
"large network of hospitals, orphanages and schools, to serve the poor
and society at large.""
Christian Church Women: Shapers of a
Movement. Chalice Press. March 1994. ISBN 978-0-8272-0463-8. Retrieved
18 October 2007. "In the central provinces of India they established
schools, orphanages, hospitals, and churches, and spread the gospel
message in zenanas."
Peter, Laurence (17 October 2018). "Orthodox Church split: Five reasons why it matters". BBC. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
Religions in Global Society. p. 146, Peter Beyer, 2006
Cambridge
University Historical Series, An Essay on Western Civilization in Its
Economic Aspects, p. 40: Hebraism, like Hellenism, has been an
all-important factor in the development of Western Civilization;
Judaism, as the precursor of Christianity, has indirectly had had much
to do with shaping the ideals and morality of western nations since the
christian era.
Caltron J.H Hayas, Christianity and Western
Civilization (1953), Stanford University Press, p. 2: "That certain
distinctive features of our Western civilization—the civilization of
western Europe and of America—have been shaped chiefly by Judaeo –
Graeco – Christianity, Catholic and Protestant."
Horst Hutter,
University of New York, Shaping the Future: Nietzsche's New Regime of
the Soul And Its Ascetic Practices (2004), p. 111: three mighty founders
of Western culture, namely Socrates, Jesus, and Plato.
Fred Reinhard
Dallmayr, Dialogue Among Civilizations: Some Exemplary Voices (2004),
p. 22: Western civilization is also sometimes described as "Christian"
or "Judaeo- Christian" civilization.
Sherwood, Harriet (21 March
2018). "'Christianity as default is gone': the rise of a non-Christian
Europe". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
Analysis (19 December 2011). "Global Christianity". Pew Research Center. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
Pew Research Center
Larry Hurtado (August 17, 2017 ), "Paul, the Pagans’ Apostle"
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary on Acts 19, http://biblehub.com/commentaries/jfb//acts/19.htm accessed 8 October 2015
Jubilee Bible 2000
American King James Version
Douai-Rheims Bible
Gill,
J., Gill's Exposition of the Bible, commentary on Acts 19:23
http://biblehub.com/commentaries/gill/acts/19.htm accessed 8 October
2015
E. Peterson (1959), "Christianus." In: Frühkirche, Judentum und Gnosis, publisher: Herder, Freiburg, pp. 353–72
Olson, The Mosaic of Christian Belief.
Pelikan/Hotchkiss, Creeds and Confessions of Faith in the Christian Tradition.
""We Believe in One God....": The Nicene Creed and Mass". Catholics United for the Fath. February 2005. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
Encyclopedia of Religion, "Arianism".
Catholic Encyclopedia, "Council of Ephesus".
Christian History Institute, First Meeting of the Council of Chalcedon.
Peter
Theodore Farrington (February 2006). "The Oriental Orthodox Rejection
of Chalcedon". Glastonbury Review (113). Archived from the original on
19 June 2008.
Pope Leo I, Letter to Flavian
Catholic Encyclopedia, "Athanasian Creed".
"Our
Common Heritage as Christians". The United Methodist Church. Archived
from the original on 14 January 2006. Retrieved 31 December 2007.
Avis, Paul (2002) The Christian Church: An Introduction to the Major Traditions, SPCK, London, ISBN 0-281-05246-8 paperback
White, Howard A. The History of the Church.
Cummins,
Duane D. (1991). A handbook for Today's Disciples in the Christian
Church (Disciples of Christ) (Revised ed.). St Louis, MO: Chalice Press.
ISBN 978-0-8272-1425-5.
Ron Rhodes, The Complete Guide to Christian Denominations, Harvest House Publishers, 2005, ISBN 0-7369-1289-4
Metzger/Coogan, Oxford Companion to the Bible, pp. 513, 649.
Acts
2:24, 2:31–32, 3:15, 3:26, 4:10, 5:30, 10:40–41, 13:30, 13:34, 13:37,
17:30–31, Romans 10:9, 1 Cor. 15:15, 6:14, 2 Cor. 4:14, Gal 1:1, Eph
1:20, Col 2:12, 1 Thess. 11:10, Heb. 13:20, 1 Pet. 1:3, 1:21
s:Nicene Creed
Hanegraaff. Resurrection: The Capstone in the Arch of Christianity.
"The
Significance of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus for the Christian".
Australian Catholic University National. Archived from the original on 1
September 2007. Retrieved 16 May 2007.
John, 5:24, 6:39–40, 6:47, 10:10, 11:25–26, and 17:3
This
is drawn from a number of sources, especially the early Creeds, the
Catechism of the Catholic Church, certain theological works, and various
Confessions drafted during the Reformation including the Thirty Nine
Articles of the Church of England, works contained in the Book of
Concord.
Fuller, The Foundations of New Testament Christology, p. 11.
A
Jesus Seminar conclusion held that "in the view of the Seminar, he did
not rise bodily from the dead; the resurrection is based instead on
visionary experiences of Peter, Paul, and Mary."
Funk. The Acts of Jesus: What Did Jesus Really Do?.
Lorenzen. Resurrection, Discipleship, Justice: Affirming the Resurrection Jesus Christ Today, p. 13.
Ball/Johnsson (ed.). The Essential Jesus.
Eisenbaum,
Pamela (Winter 2004). "A Remedy for Having Been Born of Woman: Jesus,
Gentiles, and Genealogy in Romans" (PDF). Journal of Biblical
Literature. 123 (4): 671–702. doi:10.2307/3268465. JSTOR 3268465.
Retrieved 3 April 2009.
Wright, N.T. What Saint Paul Really Said: Was Paul of Tarsus the Real Founder of Christianity? (Oxford, 1997), p. 121.
CCC 846; Vatican II, Lumen Gentium 14
See quotations from Council of Trent on Justification at Justforcatholics.org
Westminster Confession, Chapter X Archived 28 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine;
Spurgeon, A Defense of Calvinism Archived 10 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine.
"Grace and Justification". Catechism of the Catholic Church. Archived from the original on 15 August 2010.
Definition of the Fourth Lateran Council quoted in Catechism of the Catholic Church §253.
Christianity's
status as monotheistic is affirmed in, among other sources, the
Catholic Encyclopedia (article "Monotheism"); William F. Albright, From
the Stone Age to Christianity; H. Richard Niebuhr; About.com,
Monotheistic Religion resources; Kirsch, God Against the Gods; Woodhead,
An Introduction to Christianity; The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia
Monotheism; The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, monotheism; New
Dictionary of Theology, Paul, pp. 496–499; Meconi. "Pagan Monotheism in
Late Antiquity". pp. 111ff.
Kelly. Early Christian Doctrines. pp. 87–90.
Alexander. New Dictionary of Biblical Theology. pp. 514ff.
McGrath. Historical Theology. p. 61.
Metzger/Coogan. Oxford Companion to the Bible. p. 782.
Kelly. The Athanasian Creed.
Oxford, "Encyclopedia Of Christianity, pg1207
Heidi
J. Hornik and Mikeal Carl Parsons, Interpreting Christian Art:
Reflections on Christian art, Mercer University Press, 2003, ISBN
0-86554-850-1, pp. 32–35.
Examples of ante-Nicene statements:
Hence all the power of magic became dissolved; and every bond of
wickedness was destroyed, men's ignorance was taken away, and the old
kingdom abolished God Himself appearing in the form of a man, for the
renewal of eternal life.
— St. Ignatius of Antioch in Letter to the Ephesians, ch.4, shorter version, Roberts-Donaldson translation
We have also as a Physician the Lord our God Jesus the Christ the
only-begotten Son and Word, before time began, but who afterwards became
also man, of Mary the virgin. For 'the Word was made flesh.' Being
incorporeal, He was in the body; being impassible, He was in a passable
body; being immortal, He was in a mortal body; being life, He became
subject to corruption, that He might free our souls from death and
corruption, and heal them, and might restore them to health, when they
were diseased with ungodliness and wicked lusts
— St. Ignatius of Antioch in Letter to the Ephesians, ch.7, shorter version, Roberts-Donaldson translation
The Church, though dispersed throughout the whole world, even to the
ends of the earth, has received from the apostles and their disciples
this faith: ...one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven, and earth,
and the sea, and all things that are in them; and in one Christ Jesus,
the Son of God, who became incarnate for our salvation; and in the Holy
Spirit, who proclaimed through the prophets the dispensations of God,
and the advents, and the birth from a virgin, and the passion, and the
resurrection from the dead, and the ascension into heaven in the flesh
of the beloved Christ Jesus, our Lord, and His manifestation from heaven
in the glory of the Father 'to gather all things in one,' and to raise
up anew all flesh of the whole human race, in order that to Christ
Jesus, our Lord, and God, and Savior, and King, according to the will of
the invisible Father, 'every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and
things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue
should confess; to him, and that He should execute just judgment towards
all...
— St. Irenaeus in Against Heresies, ch.X, v.I, Donaldson,
Sir James (1950), Ante Nicene Fathers, Volume 1: Apostolic Fathers,
Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., ISBN
978-0802880871
For, in the name of God, the Father and Lord
of the universe, and of our Savior Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit,
they then receive the washing with water
— Justin Martyr in
First Apology, ch. LXI, Donaldson, Sir James (1950), Ante Nicene
Fathers, Volume 1: Apostolic Fathers, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Wm. B.
Eerdmans Publishing Company, ISBN 978-0802880871
Olson, Roger E. (2002). The Trinity. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 15. ISBN 978-0-8028-4827-7.
Fowler. World Religions: An Introduction for Students. p. 58.
τριάς. Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; A Greek–English Lexicon at the Perseus Project.
Harper, Douglas. "trinity". Online Etymology Dictionary.
trinitas. Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short. A Latin Dictionary on Perseus Project.
trias. Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short. A Latin Dictionary on Perseus Project.
Theophilus
of Antioch. "Book II.15". Apologia ad Autolycum. Patrologiae Graecae
Cursus Completus (in Greek and Latin). 6. "Ὡσαύτως καὶ αἱ τρεῖς ἡμέραι
τῶν φωστήρων γεγονυῖαι τύποι εἰσὶν τῆς Τριάδος, τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ τοῦ Λόγου
αὐτοῦ, καὶ τῆς Σοφίας αὐτοῦ."
McManners, Oxford Illustrated History of Christianity. p. 50.
Tertullian,
"21", De Pudicitia (in Latin), "Nam et ipsa ecclesia proprie et
principaliter ipse est spiritus, in quo est trinitas unius diuinitatis,
Pater et Filius et Spiritus sanctus.".
McManners, Oxford Illustrated History of Christianity, p. 53.
Moltman, Jurgen. The Trinity and the Kingdom: The Doctrine of God. Tr. from German. Fortress Press, 1993. ISBN 0-8006-2825-X
Harnack, History of Dogma.
Pocket
Dictionary of Church History Nathan P. Feldmeth p. 135 "Unitarianism.
Unitarians emerged from Protestant Christian beginnings in the sixteenth
century with a central focus on the unity of God and subsequent denial
of the doctrine of the Trinity"
Gill, N.S. "Which Nation First
Adopted Christianity?". About.com. Retrieved 8 October 2011. "Armenia is
considered the first nation to have adopted Christianity as the state
religion in a traditional date of c. A.D. 301."
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologicum, Supplementum Tertiae Partis questions 69 through 99
Calvin, John. "Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book Three, Ch. 25". www.reformed.org. Retrieved 1 January 2008.
Catholic Encyclopedia, "Particular Judgment".
Ott, Grundriß der Dogmatik, p. 566.
David Moser, What the Orthodox believe concerning prayer for the dead.
Ken Collins, What Happens to Me When I Die? Archived 28 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine.
"Audience of 4 August 1999". Vatican.va. 4 August 1999. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
Catholic Encyclopedia, "The Communion of Saints".
"The
death that Adam brought into the world is spiritual as well as
physical, and only those who gain entrance into the Kingdom of God will
exist eternally. However, this division will not occur until Armageddon,
when all people will be resurrected and given a chance to gain eternal
life. In the meantime, "the dead are conscious of nothing." What is
God's Purpose for the Earth?" Official Site of Jehovah's Witnesses.
Watchtower, 15 July 2002.
Justin Martyr, First Apology §LXVII
Ignazio Silone, Bread and Wine (1937).
Cross/Livingstone. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. pp. 1435ff.
Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East, Archdiocese of Australia, New Zealand and Lebanon.
Fortescue, Adrian (1912). "Christian Calendar". The Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
Hickman. Handbook of the Christian Year.
"ANF04.
Fathers of the Third Century: Tertullian, Part Fourth; Minucius Felix;
Commodian; Origen, Parts First and Second | Christian Classics Ethereal
Library". Ccel.org. 1 June 2005. Retrieved 5 May 2009.
Minucius Felix
speaks of the cross of Jesus in its familiar form, likening it to
objects with a crossbeam or to a man with arms outstretched in prayer
(Octavius of Minucius Felix, chapter XXIX).
"At every forward step
and movement, at every going in and out, when we put on our clothes and
shoes, when we bathe, when we sit at table, when we light the lamps, on
couch, on seat, in all the ordinary actions of daily life, we trace upon
the forehead the sign." (Tertullian, De Corona, chapter 3)
Dilasser. The Symbols of the Church.
Catholic Encyclopedia, "Symbolism of the Fish".
"Through
Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God; we become
members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church and made sharers in
her mission" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1213 Archived 22 July
2016 at the Wayback Machine); "Holy Baptism is the sacrament by which
God adopts us as his children and makes us members of Christ's Body, the
Church, and inheritors of the kingdom of God" (Book of Common Prayer,
1979, Episcopal ); "Baptism is the sacrament of initiation and
incorporation into the body of Christ" (By Water and The Spirit – The
Official United Methodist Understanding of Baptism (PDF) Archived 13
March 2016 at the Wayback Machine;
"As an initiatory rite into
membership of the Family of God, baptismal candidates are symbolically
purified or washed as their sins have been forgiven and washed away"
(William H. Brackney, Doing Baptism Baptist Style – Believer's Baptism
Archived 7 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine)
"After the
proclamation of faith, the baptismal water is prayed over and blessed as
the sign of the goodness of God's creation. The person to be baptized
is also prayed over and blessed with sanctified oil as the sign that his
creation by God is holy and good. And then, after the solemn
proclamation of "Alleluia" (God be praised), the person is immersed
three times in the water in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy
Spirit" (Orthodox Church in America: Baptism).
"In the Orthodox
Church we totally immerse, because such total immersion symbolizes
death. What death? The death of the "old, sinful man". After Baptism we
are freed from the dominion of sin, even though after Baptism we retain
an inclination and tendency toward evil.", Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of
Australia, article "Baptism Archived 30 September 2014 at the Wayback
Machine".
Catechism of the Catholic Church 403, 1231, 1233, 1250, 1252.
Catechism of the Catholic Church 1240.
Alexander, T.D.; Rosner, B.S, eds. (2001). "Prayer". New Dictionary of Biblical Theology. Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press.
Ferguson, S.B. & Packer, J. (1988). "Saints". New Dictionary of Theology. Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press.
Madeleine Gray, The Protestant Reformation, (Sussex Academic Press, 2003), p. 140.
"Catechism of the Catholic Church: Part Four – Christian Prayer". Va. Retrieved 19 November 2010.[dead link]
Virkler,
Henry A. (2007). Ayayo, Karelynne Gerber (ed.). Hermeneutics:
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"Inspiration
and Truth of Sacred Scripture". Catechism of the Catholic Church.
Archived from the original on 9 September 2010.(§105–108)
Second Helvetic Confession, Of the Holy Scripture Being the True Word of God
Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy, online text
Metzger/Coogan, Oxford Companion to the Bible. p. 39.
Ehrman,
Bart D. (2005). Misquoting Jesus: the story behind who changed the
Bible and why. San Francisco: Harper ISBN 978-0060738174 pp. 183, 209
"1 Timothy 2:11–12 NIV – A woman should learn in quietness and". Bible Gateway. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
"1 Corinthians 14:34–35 NIV – Women should remain silent in the". Bible Gateway. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
"1 corinthians 11:2–16 NIV – On Covering the Head in Worship – I". Bible Gateway. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
Wright, N.T. (1992). The New Testament and the People of God. Minneapolis: Fortress Press. pp. 435–443. ISBN 978-0-8006-2681-5.
"The Gospel of Thomas Collection – Translations and Resources". Gnosis.org. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
"Luke 17:20–21 NIV – The Coming of the Kingdom of God". Bible Gateway. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
"Reflections on religions". Mmnet.com.au. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
Kelly. Early Christian Doctrines. pp. 69–78.
Catechism
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115–118. Archived 25 March 2015 at the Wayback Machine
Thomas Aquinas, "Whether in Holy Scripture a word may have several senses" Archived 6 September 2006 at the Wayback Machine
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Second Vatican Council, Dei Verbum (V.19) Archived 31 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine.
Catechism
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113. Archived 25 March 2015 at the Wayback Machine
Catechism of the
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Keith A. Mathison (2001). "Introduction". The Shape of Sola Scriptura. Canon Press. p. 15. ISBN 978-1-885767-74-5.
Foutz,
Scott David. "Martin Luther and Scripture". Quodlibet Journal. Archived
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John Calvin, Commentaries on the Catholic Epistles 2 Peter 3:14–18
Engelder,
Theodore E.W. (1934). Popular Symbolics: The Doctrines of the Churches
of Christendom and Of Other Religious Bodies Examined in the Light of
Scripture. Saint Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House. p. 28.
Sproul. Knowing Scripture, pp. 45–61; Bahnsen, A Reformed Confession Regarding Hermeneutics (article 6).
Elwell,
Walter A. (1984). Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. Grand Rapids,
Mich.: Baker Book House. p. 565. ISBN 978-0-8010-3413-8.
Johnson, Elliott (1990). Expository hermeneutics : an introduction. Grand Rapids Mich.: Academie Books. ISBN 978-0-310-34160-4.
Terry,
Milton (1974). Biblical hermeneutics : a treatise on the interpretation
of the Old and New Testaments. Grand Rapids Mich.: Zondervan Pub.
House. p. 205. (1890 edition page 103, view1, view2)
e.g., in his
commentary on Matthew 1 (§III.1). Matthew Henry interprets the twin sons
of Judah, Phares and Zara, as an allegory of the Gentile and Jewish
Christians. For a contemporary treatment, see Glenny, Typology: A
Summary Of The Present Evangelical Discussion.
"Monastère de Mor Mattai - Mossul - Irak" (in French). Archived from the original on 3 March 2014.
Catherine Cory (13 August 2015). Christian Theological Tradition. Routledge. p. 20 and forwards. ISBN 978-1-317-34958-7.
Stephen Benko (1984). Pagan Rome and the Early Christians. Indiana University Press. p. 22 and forwards. ISBN 978-0-253-34286-7.
Michael Whitby, et al. eds. Christian Persecution, Martyrdom and Orthodoxy (2006) online edition
Eusebius
of Caesarea, the author of Ecclesiastical History in the 4th century,
states that St. Mark came to Egypt in the first or third year of the
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Asher Norman Twenty-six Reasons why Jews Don't Believe in Jesus Feldheim Publishers 2007 ISBN 978-0-977-19370-7 p. 11
Keith
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Apologetic Discourse and the Scribal Tradition by Wayne Campbell Kannaday 2005 ISBN 90-04-13085-3 pp. 32–33
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" The Christ Myth Theory and its Problems ", published 2011 by American Atheist press, Cranford, NJ, ISBN 1-57884-017-1
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Howson, Colin (2011). Objecting to God. Cambridge University Press. p.
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to a substantial constituency of religious apologists, who regard the
inflationary Big Bang model as direct evidence for God. John Lennox, a
mathematician at the University of Oxford, tells us that 'even if the
non-believers don't like it, the Big Bang fits in exactly with the
Christian narrative of creation'. ... William Lane Craig is another who
claims that the Biblical account is corroborated by Big Bang cosmology.
Lane Craig also claims that there is a prior proof that there is a God
who created this universe."
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McGrath, Alister E. Historical Theology.
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Jaroslav; Hotchkiss, Valerie (ed.) Creeds and Confessions of Faith in
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Riley-Smith, Jonathan. The Oxford History of the Crusades. New York: Oxford University Press, (1999).
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Further reading
Gill, Robin (2001). The Cambridge companion to Christian ethics.
Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-77918-0.
Gunton, Colin E. (1997). The Cambridge companion to Christian doctrine.
Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-47695-9.
MacCulloch, Diarmaid. Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years (Viking; 2010) 1,161 pp.; survey by leading historian
MacMullen, Ramsay (2006). Voting About God in Early Church Councils.
New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-11596-3.
Padgett, Alan G.; Sally Bruyneel (2003). Introducing Christianity. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books. ISBN 978-1-57075-395-4.
Price, Matthew Arlen; Collins, Michael (1999). The story of
Christianity. New York: Dorling Kindersley. ISBN 978-0-7513-0467-1.
Ratzinger, Joseph (2004). Introduction To Christianity (Communio
Books). San Francisco: Ignatius Press. ISBN 978-1-58617-029-5.
Roper, J.C., Bp. (1923), et al.. Faith in God, in series, Layman's
Library of Practical Religion, Church of England in Canada, vol. 2.
Toronto, Ont.: Musson Book Co. N.B.: The series statement is given in
the more extended form which appears on the book's front cover.
Rüegg, Walter (1992). "Foreword. The University as a European
Institution," in: A History of the University in Europe. Vol. 1,
Universities in the Middle Ages. Cambridge University Press. ISBN
0-521-36105-2.
Tucker, Karen; Wainwright, Geoffrey (2006). The
Oxford history of Christian worship. Oxford [Oxfordshire]: Oxford
University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-513886-3.
Verger, Jacques (1999).
Culture, enseignement et société en Occident aux XIIe et XIIIe siècles
(1st ed.). Presses universitaires de Rennes in Rennes. ISBN
978-2868473448.
Wagner, Richard (2004). Christianity for Dummies. For Dummies. ISBN 978-0-7645-4482-8.
Webb, Jeffrey B. (2004). The Complete Idiot's Guide to Christianity. Indianapolis, Ind: Alpha Books. ISBN 978-1-59257-176-5.
Wills, Garry, "A Wild and Indecent Book" (review of David Bentley Hart,
The New Testament: A Translation, Yale University Press, 577 pp.), The
New York Review of Books, vol. LXV, no. 2 (8 February 2018), pp. 34–35.
Discusses some pitfalls in interpreting and translating the New
Testament.
Woodhead, Linda (2004). Christianity: a very short
introduction. Oxford [Oxfordshire]: Oxford University Press. ISBN
978-0-19-280322-1.
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God
This
article is about the concept of a supreme "God" in the context of
monotheism. For the general concept of a being superior to humans that
is worshiped as "a god", see Deity and God (male deity). For God in
specific religions, see Conceptions of God. For other uses of the term,
see God (disambiguation).
Many religions use images to "represent"
God in icons for art or for worship. Here are some examples of
representations of God in Christianity and various branches of Hinduism.
Part of a series on
God
General conceptions
[hide]
Agnosticism Apatheism Atheism Deism Henotheism Ietsism Ignosticism
Monotheism Monism Dualism Monolatry Kathenotheism Omnism Pandeism
Panentheism Pantheism Polytheism Theism Transtheism
Specific conceptions
[hide]
Creator Demiurge Deus Father Form of the Good Great Architect Monad
Mother Summum bonum Supreme Being Sustainer The All The Lord Trinity
Tawhid Ditheism Monism Personal Unitarianism
In particular religions
[hide]
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Attributes
[hide]
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ExperiencesPractices
[hide]
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Related topics
[hide]
Euthyphro dilemma God complex God gene Theology Ontology Problem of evil (theodicy) Religion
philosophy texts Portrayals of God in popular media
vte
In
monotheistic thought, God is conceived of as the supreme being, creator
deity, and principal object of faith.[1] God is usually conceived as
being omniscient (all-knowing), omnipotent (all-powerful), omnipresent
(all-present) and as having an eternal and necessary existence. These
attributes are used either in way of analogy or are taken literally. God
is most often held to be incorporeal (immaterial).[1][2][3]
Incorporeality and corporeality of God are related to conceptions of
transcendence (being outside nature) and immanence (being in nature) of
God, with positions of synthesis such as the "immanent transcendence".
Some
religions describe God without reference to gender, while others or
their translations use sex-specific terminology. Judaism, for example,
attributes only a grammatical gender to God, using terms such as "Him"
or "Father" for convenience.[4]
God has been conceived as either
personal or impersonal. In theism, God is the creator and sustainer of
the universe, while in deism, God is the creator, but not the sustainer,
of the universe. In pantheism, God is the universe itself. In atheism,
there is an absence of belief in God. In agnosticism, the existence of
God is deemed unknown or unknowable. God has also been conceived as the
source of all moral obligation, and the "greatest conceivable
existent".[1] Many notable philosophers have developed arguments for and
against the existence of God.[5]
Monotheists refer to their gods
using names prescribed by their respective religions, with some of
these names referring to certain cultural ideas about their god's
identity and attributes. In the ancient Egyptian era of Atenism,
possibly the earliest recorded monotheistic religion, this deity was
called Aten,[6] premised on being the one "true" Supreme Being and
creator of the universe.[7] In the Hebrew Bible and Judaism, Elohim,
Adonai, YHWH (Hebrew: יהוה) and other names are used as the names of
God. Yahweh and Jehovah, possible vocalizations of YHWH, are used in
Christianity. In the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, God, coexisting
in three "persons", is called the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
In Islam, the name Allah is used, while Muslims also have a multitude of
titular names for God. In Hinduism, Brahman is often considered a
monistic concept of God.[8] In Chinese religion, Shangdi is conceived as
the progenitor (first ancestor) of the universe, intrinsic to it and
constantly bringing order to it. Other religions have names for the
concept, for instance, Baha in the Bahá'í Faith,[9] Waheguru in
Sikhism,[10] Sang Hyang Widhi Wasa in Balinese Hinduism,[11] and Ahura
Mazda in Zoroastrianism.[12]
The many different conceptions of
God, and competing claims as to God's characteristics, aims, and
actions, have led to the development of ideas of omnitheism,
pandeism,[13] or a perennial philosophy, which postulates that there is
one underlying theological truth, of which all religions express a
partial understanding, and as to which "the devout in the various great
world religions are in fact worshipping that one God, but through
different, overlapping concepts".[14]
Etymology and usage
The Mesha Stele bears the earliest known reference (840 BCE) to the Israelite God Yahweh.
Main article: God (word)
The
earliest written form of the Germanic word God comes from the
6th-century Christian Codex Argenteus. The English word itself is
derived from the Proto-Germanic * ǥuđan. The reconstructed
Proto-Indo-European form * ǵhu-tó-m was likely based on the root *
ǵhau(ə)-, which meant either "to call" or "to invoke".[15] The Germanic
words for God were originally neuter—applying to both genders—but during
the process of the Christianization of the Germanic peoples from their
indigenous Germanic paganism, the words became a masculine syntactic
form.[16]
The word 'Allah' in Arabic calligraphy
In the
English language, capitalization is used for names by which a god is
known, including 'God'.[17] Consequently, the capitalized form of god is
not used for multiple gods (polytheism) or when used to refer to the
generic idea of a deity.[18][19] The English word God and its
counterparts in other languages are normally used for any and all
conceptions and, in spite of significant differences between religions,
the term remains an English translation common to all. The same holds
for Hebrew El, but in Judaism, God is also given a proper name, the
tetragrammaton YHWH, in origin possibly the name of an Edomite or
Midianite deity, Yahweh. In many translations of the Bible, when the
word LORD is in all capitals, it signifies that the word represents the
tetragrammaton.[20]
Allāh (Arabic: الله) is the Arabic term with
no plural used by Muslims and Arabic speaking Christians and Jews
meaning "The God" (with the first letter capitalized), while "ʾilāh"
(Arabic: إله) is the term used for a deity or a god in
general.[21][22][23]
God may also be given a proper name in
monotheistic currents of Hinduism which emphasize the personal nature of
God, with early references to his name as Krishna-Vasudeva in Bhagavata
or later Vishnu and Hari.[24]
Ahura Mazda is the name for God
used in Zoroastrianism. "Mazda", or rather the Avestan stem-form Mazdā-,
nominative Mazdå, reflects Proto-Iranian *Mazdāh (female). It is
generally taken to be the proper name of the spirit, and like its
Sanskrit cognate medhā, means "intelligence" or "wisdom". Both the
Avestan and Sanskrit words reflect Proto-Indo-Iranian *mazdhā-, from
Proto-Indo-European mn̩sdʰeh1, literally meaning "placing (dʰeh1) one's
mind (*mn̩-s)", hence "wise".[25]
Waheguru (Punjabi: vāhigurū) is
a term most often used in Sikhism to refer to God. It means "Wonderful
Teacher" in the Punjabi language. Vāhi (a Middle Persian borrowing)
means "wonderful" and guru (Sanskrit: guru) is a term denoting
"teacher". Waheguru is also described by some as an experience of
ecstasy which is beyond all descriptions. The most common usage of the
word "Waheguru" is in the greeting Sikhs use with each other:
Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh
Wonderful Lord's Khalsa, Victory is to the Wonderful Lord.
Baha, the "greatest" name for God in the Baha'i faith, is Arabic for "All-Glorious".
General conceptions
Main article: Conceptions of God
There
is no clear consensus on the nature or the existence of God.[26] The
Abrahamic conceptions of God include the monotheistic definition of God
in Judaism, the trinitarian view of Christians, and the Islamic concept
of God. The dharmic religions differ in their view of the divine: views
of God in Hinduism vary by region, sect, and caste, ranging from
monotheistic to polytheistic. Many polytheistic religions share the idea
of a creator deity, although having a name other than "God" and without
all of the other roles attributed to a singular God by monotheistic
religions. Jainism is polytheistic and non-creationist. Depending on
one's interpretation and tradition, Buddhism can be conceived as being
either atheistic, non-theistic, pantheistic, panentheistic, or
polytheistic.
Oneness
Main articles: Monotheism and Henotheism
The
Trinity is the belief that God is composed of The Father, The Son
(embodied metaphysically in the physical realm by Jesus), and The Holy
Spirit.
Monotheists hold that there is only one god, and may
claim that the one true god is worshiped in different religions under
different names. The view that all theists actually worship the same
god, whether they know it or not, is especially emphasized in the Bahá'í
Faith, Hinduism[27] and Sikhism.[28]
In Christianity, the
doctrine of the Trinity describes God as one God in three divine Persons
(each of the three Persons is God himself). The Most Holy Trinity
comprises[29] God the Father, God the Son (which is Jesus Christ God),
and God the Holy Spirit. In the past centuries, this fundamental Mystery
of the Christian faith was also summarized by the Latin formula Sancta
Trinitas, Unus Deus (Holy Trinity, Unique God), reported in the Litanias
Lauretanas.
Islam's most fundamental concept is tawhid (meaning
"oneness" or "uniqueness"). God is described in the Quran as: "Say: He
is Allah, the One and Only; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth
not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto Him."[30][31]
Muslims repudiate the Christian doctrine of the Trinity and the divinity
of Jesus, comparing it to polytheism. In Islam, God is transcendent and
does not resemble any of his creations in any way. Thus, Muslims are
not iconodules, and are not expected to visualize God.[32]
Henotheism is the belief and worship of a single god while accepting the existence or possible existence of other deities.[33]
Theism, deism, and pantheism
Main articles: Theism, Deism, and Pantheism
Theism
generally holds that God exists realistically, objectively, and
independently of human thought; that God created and sustains
everything; that God is omnipotent and eternal; and that God is personal
and interacting with the universe through, for example, religious
experience and the prayers of humans.[34] Theism holds that God is both
transcendent and immanent; thus, God is simultaneously infinite and, in
some way, present in the affairs of the world.[35] Not all theists
subscribe to all of these propositions, but each usually subscribes to
some of them (see, by way of comparison, family resemblance).[34]
Catholic theology holds that God is infinitely simple and is not
involuntarily subject to time. Most theists hold that God is omnipotent,
omniscient, and benevolent, although this belief raises questions about
God's responsibility for evil and suffering in the world. Some theists
ascribe to God a self-conscious or purposeful limiting of omnipotence,
omniscience, or benevolence. Open Theism, by contrast, contends that,
due to the nature of time, God's omniscience does not mean the deity can
predict the future. Theism is sometimes used to refer in general to any
belief in a god or gods, i.e., monotheism or polytheism.[36][37]
God blessing the seventh day, a watercolor painting depicting God, by William Blake (1757–1827)
Deism
holds that God is wholly transcendent: God exists, but does not
intervene in the world beyond what was necessary to create it.[35] In
this view, God is not anthropomorphic, and neither answers prayers nor
produces miracles. Common in Deism is a belief that God has no interest
in humanity and may not even be aware of humanity. Pandeism combines
Deism with Pantheistic beliefs.[13][38][39] Pandeism is proposed to
explain as to Deism why God would create a universe and then abandon
it,[40] and as to Pantheism, the origin and purpose of the
universe.[40][41]
Pantheism holds that God is the universe and
the universe is God, whereas Panentheism holds that God contains, but is
not identical to, the Universe.[42] It is also the view of the Liberal
Catholic Church; Theosophy; some views of Hinduism except Vaishnavism,
which believes in panentheism; Sikhism; some divisions of Neopaganism
and Taoism, along with many varying denominations and individuals within
denominations. Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism, paints a
pantheistic/panentheistic view of God—which has wide acceptance in
Hasidic Judaism, particularly from their founder The Baal Shem Tov—but
only as an addition to the Jewish view of a personal god, not in the
original pantheistic sense that denies or limits persona to
God.[citation needed]
Other concepts
Dystheism, which is
related to theodicy, is a form of theism which holds that God is either
not wholly good or is fully malevolent as a consequence of the problem
of evil. One such example comes from Dostoevsky's The Brothers
Karamazov, in which Ivan Karamazov rejects God on the grounds that he
allows children to suffer.[43]
In modern times, some more
abstract concepts have been developed, such as process theology and open
theism. The contemporaneous French philosopher Michel Henry has however
proposed a phenomenological approach and definition of God as
phenomenological essence of Life.[44]
God has also been conceived
as being incorporeal (immaterial), a personal being, the source of all
moral obligation, and the "greatest conceivable existent".[1] These
attributes were all supported to varying degrees by the early Jewish,
Christian and Muslim theologian philosophers, including Maimonides,[45]
Augustine of Hippo,[45] and Al-Ghazali,[5] respectively.
Non-theistic views
See also: Evolutionary origin of religions and Evolutionary psychology of religion
Non-theist
views about God also vary. Some non-theists avoid the concept of God,
whilst accepting that it is significant to many; other non-theists
understand God as a symbol of human values and aspirations. The
nineteenth-century English atheist Charles Bradlaugh declared that he
refused to say "There is no God", because "the word 'God' is to me a
sound conveying no clear or distinct affirmation";[46] he said more
specifically that he disbelieved in the Christian god. Stephen Jay Gould
proposed an approach dividing the world of philosophy into what he
called "non-overlapping magisteria" (NOMA). In this view, questions of
the supernatural, such as those relating to the existence and nature of
God, are non-empirical and are the proper domain of theology. The
methods of science should then be used to answer any empirical question
about the natural world, and theology should be used to answer questions
about ultimate meaning and moral value. In this view, the perceived
lack of any empirical footprint from the magisterium of the supernatural
onto natural events makes science the sole player in the natural
world.[47]
Another view, advanced by Richard Dawkins, is that the
existence of God is an empirical question, on the grounds that "a
universe with a god would be a completely different kind of universe
from one without, and it would be a scientific difference."[48] Carl
Sagan argued that the doctrine of a Creator of the Universe was
difficult to prove or disprove and that the only conceivable scientific
discovery that could disprove the existence of a Creator (not
necessarily a God) would be the discovery that the universe is
infinitely old.[49]
Stephen Hawking and co-author Leonard
Mlodinow state in their book, The Grand Design, that it is reasonable to
ask who or what created the universe, but if the answer is God, then
the question has merely been deflected to that of who created God. Both
authors claim however, that it is possible to answer these questions
purely within the realm of science, and without invoking any divine
beings.[50]
Agnosticism and atheism
Agnosticism is the view
that the truth values of certain claims – especially metaphysical and
religious claims such as whether God, the divine or the supernatural
exist – are unknown and perhaps unknowable.[51][52][53]
Atheism
is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of
deities.[54][55] In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the
position that there are no deities, although it can be defined as a lack
of belief in the existence of any deities, rather than a positive
belief in the nonexistence of any deities.[56]
Anthropomorphism
Main article: Anthropomorphism
Pascal
Boyer argues that while there is a wide array of supernatural concepts
found around the world, in general, supernatural beings tend to behave
much like people. The construction of gods and spirits like persons is
one of the best known traits of religion. He cites examples from Greek
mythology, which is, in his opinion, more like a modern soap opera than
other religious systems.[57] Bertrand du Castel and Timothy Jurgensen
demonstrate through formalization that Boyer's explanatory model matches
physics' epistemology in positing not directly observable entities as
intermediaries.[58] Anthropologist Stewart Guthrie contends that people
project human features onto non-human aspects of the world because it
makes those aspects more familiar. Sigmund Freud also suggested that god
concepts are projections of one's father.[59]
Likewise, Émile
Durkheim was one of the earliest to suggest that gods represent an
extension of human social life to include supernatural beings. In line
with this reasoning, psychologist Matt Rossano contends that when humans
began living in larger groups, they may have created gods as a means of
enforcing morality. In small groups, morality can be enforced by social
forces such as gossip or reputation. However, it is much harder to
enforce morality using social forces in much larger groups. Rossano
indicates that by including ever-watchful gods and spirits, humans
discovered an effective strategy for restraining selfishness and
building more cooperative groups.[60]
Existence
Main article: Existence of God
St. Thomas Aquinas summed up five main arguments as proofs for God's existence.
Isaac Newton saw the existence of a Creator necessary in the movement of astronomical objects.
Arguments
about the existence of God typically include empirical, deductive, and
inductive types. Different views include that: "God does not exist"
(strong atheism); "God almost certainly does not exist" (de facto
atheism); "no one knows whether God exists" (agnosticism[61]); "God
exists, but this cannot be proven or disproven" (de facto theism); and
that "God exists and this can be proven" (strong theism).[47]
Countless
arguments have been proposed to prove the existence of God.[62] Some of
the most notable arguments are the Five Ways of Aquinas, the Argument
from desire proposed by C.S. Lewis, and the Ontological Argument
formulated both by St. Anselm and René Descartes.[63]
St.
Anselm's approach was to define God as, "that than which nothing greater
can be conceived". Famed pantheist philosopher Baruch Spinoza would
later carry this idea to its extreme: "By God I understand a being
absolutely infinite, i.e., a substance consisting of infinite
attributes, of which each one expresses an eternal and infinite
essence." For Spinoza, the whole of the natural universe is made of one
substance, God, or its equivalent, Nature.[64] His proof for the
existence of God was a variation of the Ontological argument.[65]
Scientist
Isaac Newton saw the nontrinitarian God[66] as the masterful creator
whose existence could not be denied in the face of the grandeur of all
creation.[67] Nevertheless, he rejected polymath Leibniz' thesis that
God would necessarily make a perfect world which requires no
intervention from the creator. In Query 31 of the Opticks, Newton
simultaneously made an argument from design and for the necessity of
intervention:
For while comets move in very eccentric orbs in
all manner of positions, blind fate could never make all the planets
move one and the same way in orbs concentric, some inconsiderable
irregularities excepted which may have arisen from the mutual actions of
comets and planets on one another, and which will be apt to increase,
till this system wants a reformation.[68]
St. Thomas believed
that the existence of God is self-evident in itself, but not to us.
"Therefore I say that this proposition, "God exists", of itself is
self-evident, for the predicate is the same as the subject.... Now
because we do not know the essence of God, the proposition is not
self-evident to us; but needs to be demonstrated by things that are more
known to us, though less known in their nature—namely, by effects."[69]
St. Thomas believed that the existence of God can be demonstrated.
Briefly in the Summa theologiae and more extensively in the Summa contra
Gentiles, he considered in great detail five arguments for the
existence of God, widely known as the quinque viae (Five Ways).
For the original text of the five proofs, see quinque viae
Motion: Some things undoubtedly move, though cannot cause their own
motion. Since there can be no infinite chain of causes of motion, there
must be a First Mover not moved by anything else, and this is what
everyone understands by God.
Causation: As in the case of motion,
nothing can cause itself, and an infinite chain of causation is
impossible, so there must be a First Cause, called God.
Existence
of necessary and the unnecessary: Our experience includes things
certainly existing but apparently unnecessary. Not everything can be
unnecessary, for then once there was nothing and there would still be
nothing. Therefore, we are compelled to suppose something that exists
necessarily, having this necessity only from itself; in fact itself the
cause for other things to exist.
Gradation: If we can notice a
gradation in things in the sense that some things are more hot, good,
etc., there must be a superlative that is the truest and noblest thing,
and so most fully existing. This then, we call God (Note: Thomas does
not ascribe actual qualities to God Himself).
Ordered tendencies
of nature: A direction of actions to an end is noticed in all bodies
following natural laws. Anything without awareness tends to a goal under
the guidance of one who is aware. This we call God (Note that even when
we guide objects, in Thomas's view, the source of all our knowledge
comes from God as well).[70]
Some theologians, such as the
scientist and theologian A.E. McGrath, argue that the existence of God
is not a question that can be answered using the scientific
method.[71][72] Agnostic Stephen Jay Gould argues that science and
religion are not in conflict and do not overlap.[73]
Some
findings in the fields of cosmology, evolutionary biology and
neuroscience are interpreted by some atheists (including Lawrence M.
Krauss and Sam Harris) as evidence that God is an imaginary entity only,
with no basis in reality.[74][75] These atheists claim that a single,
omniscient God who is imagined to have created the universe and is
particularly attentive to the lives of humans has been imagined,
embellished and promulgated in a trans-generational manner.[76] Richard
Dawkins interprets such findings not only as a lack of evidence for the
material existence of such a God, but as extensive evidence to the
contrary.[47] However, his views are opposed by some theologians and
scientists including Alister McGrath, who argues that existence of God
is compatible with science.[77]
Specific attributes
Different
religious traditions assign differing (though often similar) attributes
and characteristics to God, including expansive powers and abilities,
psychological characteristics, gender characteristics, and preferred
nomenclature. The assignment of these attributes often differs according
to the conceptions of God in the culture from which they arise. For
example, attributes of God in Christianity, attributes of God in Islam,
and the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy in Judaism share certain
similarities arising from their common roots.
Names
Main article: Names of God
99 names of Allah, in Chinese Sini (script)
The
word God is "one of the most complex and difficult in the English
language." In the Judeo-Christian tradition, "the Bible has been the
principal source of the conceptions of God". That the Bible "includes
many different images, concepts, and ways of thinking about" God has
resulted in perpetual "disagreements about how God is to be conceived
and understood".[78]
Many traditions see God as incorporeal and
eternal, and regard him as a point of living light like human souls, but
without a physical body, as he does not enter the cycle of birth, death
and rebirth. God is seen as the perfect and constant embodiment of all
virtues, powers and values and that he is the unconditionally loving
Father of all souls, irrespective of their religion, gender, or
culture.[79]
Throughout the Hebrew and Christian Bibles there are
many names for God. One of them is Elohim. Another one is El Shaddai,
translated "God Almighty".[80] A third notable name is El Elyon, which
means "The High God".[81]
God is described and referred in the
Quran and hadith by certain names or attributes, the most common being
Al-Rahman, meaning "Most Compassionate" and Al-Rahim, meaning "Most
Merciful" (See Names of God in Islam).[82] Many of these names are also
used in the scriptures of the Bahá'í Faith.
Vaishnavism, a tradition in Hinduism, has a list of titles and names of Krishna.
Gender
Main article: Gender of God
The
gender of God may be viewed as either a literal or an allegorical
aspect of a deity who, in classical western philosophy, transcends
bodily form.[83][84] Polytheistic religions commonly attribute to each
of the gods a gender, allowing each to interact with any of the others,
and perhaps with humans, sexually. In most monotheistic religions, God
has no counterpart with which to relate sexually. Thus, in classical
western philosophy the gender of this one-and-only deity is most likely
to be an analogical statement of how humans and God address, and relate
to, each other. Namely, God is seen as begetter of the world and
revelation which corresponds to the active (as opposed to the receptive)
role in sexual intercourse.[85]
Biblical sources usually refer
to God using male words, except Genesis 1:26–27,[86][87] Psalm 123:2–3,
and Luke 15:8–10 (female); Hosea 11:3–4, Deuteronomy 32:18, Isaiah
66:13, Isaiah 49:15, Isaiah 42:14, Psalm 131:2 (a mother); Deuteronomy
32:11–12 (a mother eagle); and Matthew 23:37 and Luke 13:34 (a mother
hen).
Relationship with creation
See also: Creator deity, Prayer, and Worship
And Elohim Created Adam by William Blake, c. 1795
Prayer
plays a significant role among many believers. Muslims believe that the
purpose of existence is to worship God.[88][89] He is viewed as a
personal God and there are no intermediaries, such as clergy, to contact
God. Prayer often also includes supplication and asking forgiveness.
God is often believed to be forgiving. For example, a hadith states God
would replace a sinless people with one who sinned but still asked
repentance.[90] Christian theologian Alister McGrath writes that there
are good reasons to suggest that a "personal god" is integral to the
Christian outlook, but that one has to understand it is an analogy. "To
say that God is like a person is to affirm the divine ability and
willingness to relate to others. This does not imply that God is human,
or located at a specific point in the universe."[91]
Adherents of
different religions generally disagree as to how to best worship God
and what is God's plan for mankind, if there is one. There are different
approaches to reconciling the contradictory claims of monotheistic
religions. One view is taken by exclusivists, who believe they are the
chosen people or have exclusive access to absolute truth, generally
through revelation or encounter with the Divine, which adherents of
other religions do not. Another view is religious pluralism. A pluralist
typically believes that his religion is the right one, but does not
deny the partial truth of other religions. An example of a pluralist
view in Christianity is supersessionism, i.e., the belief that one's
religion is the fulfillment of previous religions. A third approach is
relativistic inclusivism, where everybody is seen as equally right; an
example being universalism: the doctrine that salvation is eventually
available for everyone. A fourth approach is syncretism, mixing
different elements from different religions. An example of syncretism is
the New Age movement.
Jews and Christians believe that humans
are created in the image of God, and are the center, crown and key to
God's creation, stewards for God, supreme over everything else God had
made (Gen 1:26); for this reason, humans are in Christianity called the
"Children of God".[92]
Depiction
Zoroastrianism
Ahura Mazda
(depiction is on the right, with high crown) presents Ardashir I (left)
with the ring of kingship. (Relief at Naqsh-e Rustam, 3rd century CE)
During
the early Parthian Empire, Ahura Mazda was visually represented for
worship. This practice ended during the beginning of the Sassanid
empire. Zoroastrian iconoclasm, which can be traced to the end of the
Parthian period and the beginning of the Sassanid, eventually put an end
to the use of all images of Ahura Mazda in worship. However, Ahura
Mazda continued to be symbolized by a dignified male figure, standing or
on horseback which is found in Sassanian investiture.[93]
Judaism
At
least some Jews do not use any image for God, since God is the
unimaginable Being who cannot be represented in material forms.[94] In
some samples of Jewish Art, however, sometimes God, or at least his
intervention, is indicated by a Hand Of God symbol, which represents the
bath Kol (literally "daughter of a voice") or Voice of God.[95]
The
burning bush that was not consumed by the flames is described in Book
of Exodus as a symbolic representation of God when he appeared to
Moses.[96]
Christianity
Further information: God in Catholicism
See also: God the Father in Western art
Early
Christians believed that the words of the Gospel of John 1:18: "No man
has seen God at any time" and numerous other statements were meant to
apply not only to God, but to all attempts at the depiction of God.[97]
Use of the symbolic Hand of God in the Ascension from the Drogo Sacramentary, c. 850
However, later depictions of God are found. Some, like the Hand of God, are depiction borrowed from Jewish art.
The
beginning of the 8th century witnessed the suppression and destruction
of religious icons as the period of Byzantine iconoclasm (literally
image-breaking) started. The Second Council of Nicaea in 787 effectively
ended the first period of Byzantine iconoclasm and restored the
honouring of icons and holy images in general.[98] However, this did not
immediately translate into large scale depictions of God the Father.
Even supporters of the use of icons in the 8th century, such as Saint
John of Damascus, drew a distinction between images of God the Father
and those of Christ.
Prior to the 10th century no attempt was
made to use a human to symbolize God the Father in Western art.[97] Yet,
Western art eventually required some way to illustrate the presence of
the Father, so through successive representations a set of artistic
styles for symbolizing the Father using a man gradually emerged around
the 10th century AD. A rationale for the use of a human is the belief
that God created the soul of Man in the image of his own (thus allowing
Human to transcend the other animals).
It appears that when early
artists designed to represent God the Father, fear and awe restrained
them from a usage of the whole human figure. Typically only a small part
would be used as the image, usually the hand, or sometimes the face,
but rarely a whole human. In many images, the figure of the Son
supplants the Father, so a smaller portion of the person of the Father
is depicted.[99]
By the 12th century depictions of God the Father
had started to appear in French illuminated manuscripts, which as a
less public form could often be more adventurous in their iconography,
and in stained glass church windows in England. Initially the head or
bust was usually shown in some form of frame of clouds in the top of the
picture space, where the Hand of God had formerly appeared; the Baptism
of Christ on the famous baptismal font in Liège of Rainer of Huy is an
example from 1118 (a Hand of God is used in another scene). Gradually
the amount of the human symbol shown can increase to a half-length
figure, then a full-length, usually enthroned, as in Giotto's fresco of
c. 1305 in Padua.[100] In the 14th century the Naples Bible carried a
depiction of God the Father in the Burning bush. By the early 15th
century, the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry has a considerable
number of symbols, including an elderly but tall and elegant full-length
figure walking in the Garden of Eden, which show a considerable
diversity of apparent ages and dress. The "Gates of Paradise" of the
Florence Baptistry by Lorenzo Ghiberti, begun in 1425 use a similar tall
full-length symbol for the Father. The Rohan Book of Hours of about
1430 also included depictions of God the Father in half-length human
form, which were now becoming standard, and the Hand of God becoming
rarer. At the same period other works, like the large Genesis altarpiece
by the Hamburg painter Meister Bertram, continued to use the old
depiction of Christ as Logos in Genesis scenes. In the 15th century
there was a brief fashion for depicting all three persons of the Trinity
as similar or identical figures with the usual appearance of Christ.
In
an early Venetian school Coronation of the Virgin by Giovanni
d'Alemagna and Antonio Vivarini (c. 1443), The Father is depicted using
the symbol consistently used by other artists later, namely a patriarch,
with benign, yet powerful countenance and with long white hair and a
beard, a depiction largely derived from, and justified by, the
near-physical, but still figurative, description of the Ancient of
Days.[101]
. ...the Ancient of Days did sit, whose garment was
white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne
was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. (Daniel 7:9)
Usage of two Hands of God (relatively unusual) and the Holy Spirit as a dove in Baptism of Christ by Verrocchio, 1472.
In
the Annunciation by Benvenuto di Giovanni in 1470, God the Father is
portrayed in the red robe and a hat that resembles that of a Cardinal.
However, even in the later part of the 15th century, the symbolic
representation of the Father and the Holy Spirit as "hands and dove"
continued, e.g. in Verrocchio's Baptism of Christ in 1472.[102]
God
the Father with His Right Hand Raised in Blessing, with a triangular
halo representing the Trinity, Girolamo dai Libri c. 1555
In
Renaissance paintings of the adoration of the Trinity, God may be
depicted in two ways, either with emphasis on The Father, or the three
elements of the Trinity. The most usual depiction of the Trinity in
Renaissance art depicts God the Father using an old man, usually with a
long beard and patriarchal in appearance, sometimes with a triangular
halo (as a reference to the Trinity), or with a papal crown, specially
in Northern Renaissance painting. In these depictions The Father may
hold a globe or book (to symbolize God's knowledge and as a reference to
how knowledge is deemed divine). He is behind and above Christ on the
Cross in the Throne of Mercy iconography. A dove, the symbol of the Holy
Spirit may hover above. Various people from different classes of
society, e.g. kings, popes or martyrs may be present in the picture. In a
Trinitarian Pietà, God the Father is often symbolized using a man
wearing a papal dress and a papal crown, supporting the dead Christ in
his arms. They are depicted as floating in heaven with angels who carry
the instruments of the Passion.[103]
Representations of God the
Father and the Trinity were attacked both by Protestants and within
Catholicism, by the Jansenist and Baianist movements as well as more
orthodox theologians. As with other attacks on Catholic imagery, this
had the effect both of reducing Church support for the less central
depictions, and strengthening it for the core ones. In the Western
Church, the pressure to restrain religious imagery resulted in the
highly influential decrees of the final session of the Council of Trent
in 1563. The Council of Trent decrees confirmed the traditional Catholic
doctrine that images only represented the person depicted, and that
veneration to them was paid to the person, not the image.[104]
Artistic
depictions of God the Father were uncontroversial in Catholic art
thereafter, but less common depictions of the Trinity were condemned. In
1745 Pope Benedict XIV explicitly supported the Throne of Mercy
depiction, referring to the "Ancient of Days", but in 1786 it was still
necessary for Pope Pius VI to issue a papal bull condemning the decision
of an Italian church council to remove all images of the Trinity from
churches.[105]
The famous The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo, c. 1512
God
the Father is symbolized in several Genesis scenes in Michelangelo's
Sistine Chapel ceiling, most famously The Creation of Adam (whose image
of near touching hands of God and Adam is iconic of humanity, being a
reminder that Man is created in the Image and Likeness of God (Gen
1:26)).God the Father is depicted as a powerful figure, floating in the
clouds in Titian's Assumption of the Virgin in the Frari of Venice, long
admired as a masterpiece of High Renaissance art.[106] The Church of
the Gesù in Rome includes a number of 16th-century depictions of God the
Father. In some of these paintings the Trinity is still alluded to in
terms of three angels, but Giovanni Battista Fiammeri also depicted God
the Father as a man riding on a cloud, above the scenes.[107]
In
both the Last Judgment and the Coronation of the Virgin paintings by
Rubens he depicted God the Father using the image that by then had
become widely accepted, a bearded patriarchal figure above the fray. In
the 17th century, the two Spanish artists Diego Velázquez (whose
father-in-law Francisco Pacheco was in charge of the approval of new
images for the Inquisition) and Bartolomé Esteban Murillo both depicted
God the Father using a patriarchal figure with a white beard in a purple
robe.
While representations of God the Father were growing in
Italy, Spain, Germany and the Low Countries, there was resistance
elsewhere in Europe, even during the 17th century. In 1632 most members
of the Star Chamber court in England (except the Archbishop of York)
condemned the use of the images of the Trinity in church windows, and
some considered them illegal.[108] Later in the 17th century Sir Thomas
Browne wrote that he considered the representation of God the Father
using an old man "a dangerous act" that might lead to Egyptian
symbolism.[109] In 1847, Charles Winston was still critical of such
images as a "Romish trend" (a term used to refer to Roman Catholics)
that he considered best avoided in England.[110]
In 1667 the 43rd
chapter of the Great Moscow Council specifically included a ban on a
number of symbolic depictions of God the Father and the Holy Spirit,
which then also resulted in a whole range of other icons being placed on
the forbidden list,[111][112] mostly affecting Western-style depictions
which had been gaining ground in Orthodox icons. The Council also
declared that the person of the Trinity who was the "Ancient of Days"
was Christ, as Logos, not God the Father. However some icons continued
to be produced in Russia, as well as Greece, Romania, and other Orthodox
countries.
Islam
The Arabic script of "Allah" in the Hagia Sophia, Istanbul
Further information: God in Islam
Muslims
believe that God (Allah) is beyond all comprehension and equal, and
does not resemble any of his creations in any way. Thus, Muslims are not
iconodules, are not expected to visualize God, and instead of having
pictures of Allah in their mosques, typically have religious calligraphy
written on the wall.[32]
Bahá'í Faith
Further information: Manifestation of God
Bahá'u'lláh
taught that God is directly unknowable to common mortals, but that his
attributes and qualities can be indirectly known by learning from and
imitating his divine Manifestations, which in Bahá'í theology are
somewhat comparable to Hindu avatars or Abrahamic prophets. These
Manifestations are the great prophets and teachers of many of the major
religious traditions. These include Krishna, Buddha, Jesus, Zoroaster,
Muhammad, Bahá'ú'lláh, and others. Although the faith is strictly
monotheistic, it also preaches the unity of all religions and focuses on
these multiple epiphanies as necessary for meeting the needs of
humanity at different points in history and for different cultures, and
as part of a scheme of progressive revelation and education of humanity.
Theological approaches
See also: Classical theism and Theistic Personalism
Classical
theists (such as Ancient Greco-Medieval philosophers, Roman Catholics,
Eastern Orthodox Christians, much of Jews and Muslims, and some
Protestants) speak of God as a divinely simple “nothing” that is
completely transcendent (totally independent of all else), and having
attributes such as immutability, impassibility, and timelessness.[113]
Theologians of theistic personalism (the view held by Rene Descartes,
Isaac Newton, Alvin Plantinga, Richard Swinburne, William Lane Craig,
and most modern evangelicals) argue that God is most generally the
ground of all being, immanent in and transcendent over the whole world
of reality, with immanence and transcendence being the contrapletes of
personality.[114] Carl Jung equated religious ideas of God with
transcendental metaphors of higher consciousness, in which God can be
just as easily be imagined "as an eternally flowing current of vital
energy that endlessly changes shape ... as an eternally unmoved,
unchangeable essence."[115]
The attributes of the God of
classical theism were all claimed to varying degrees by the early
Jewish, Christian and Muslim scholars, including Maimonides,[45] St
Augustine,[45] and Al-Ghazali.[116]
Many philosophers developed
arguments for the existence of God,[5] while attempting to comprehend
the precise implications of God's attributes. Reconciling some of those
attributes-particularly the attributes of the God of theistic
personalism- generated important philosophical problems and debates. For
example, God's omniscience may seem to imply that God knows how free
agents will choose to act. If God does know this, their ostensible free
will might be illusory, or foreknowledge does not imply predestination,
and if God does not know it, God may not be omniscient.[117]
The
last centuries of philosophy have seen vigorous questions regarding the
arguments for God's existence raised by such philosophers as Immanuel
Kant, David Hume and Antony Flew, although Kant held that the argument
from morality was valid. The theist response has been either to contend,
as does Alvin Plantinga, that faith is "properly basic", or to take, as
does Richard Swinburne, the evidentialist position.[118] Some theists
agree that only some of the arguments for God's existence are
compelling, but argue that faith is not a product of reason, but
requires risk. There would be no risk, they say, if the arguments for
God's existence were as solid as the laws of logic, a position summed up
by Pascal as "the heart has reasons of which reason does not
know."[119]
Many religious believers allow for the existence of
other, less powerful spiritual beings such as angels, saints, jinn,
demons, and devas.[120][121][122][123][124]
See also
Mythology portal Philosophy portal iconReligion portal Spirituality portal
All pages with titles beginning with God
Absolute (philosophy)
Apeiron (cosmology)
God (disambiguation)
God (male deity)
Goddess
List of deities
Logos
Logos (Christianity)
Monad (philosophy)
Relationship between religion and science
Satan
Demon
Devil
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"G-d
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female is patently absurd. Although in the Talmudic part of the Torah
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creation and nature are actually in the receiving end in reference to
the creator and as no part of the creation can perceive the creator
outside of nature, it is adequate to refer to the divine presence in
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The
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(he) calls upon; 1. any of various beings conceived of as supernatural,
immortal, and having special powers over the lives and affairs of people
and the course of nature; deity, esp. a male deity: typically
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person or thing deified or excessively honored and admired; 4. [G-] in
monotheistic religions, the creator and ruler of the universe, regarded
as eternal, infinite, all-powerful, and all-knowing; Supreme Being; the
Almighty"
Dictionary.com; "God /gɒd/ noun: 1. the one Supreme Being,
the creator and ruler of the universe. 2. the Supreme Being considered
with reference to a particular attribute. 3. (lowercase) one of several
deities, esp. a male deity, presiding over some portion of worldly
affairs. 4. (often lowercase) a supreme being according to some
particular conception: the God of mercy. 5. Christian Science. the
Supreme Being, understood as Life, Truth, Love, Mind, Soul, Spirit,
Principle. 6. (lowercase) an image of a deity; an idol. 7. (lowercase)
any deified person or object. 8. (often lowercase) Gods, Theater. 8a.
the upper balcony in a theater. 8b. the spectators in this part of the
balcony."
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"Islam and Christianity", Encyclopedia of Christianity (2001): Arabic-speaking Christians and Jews also refer to God as Allāh.
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978-1-85168-681-0. "In its most abstract form, deism may not attempt to
describe the characteristics of such a non-interventionist creator, or
even that the universe is identical with God (a variant known as
pandeism)."
Paul Bradley (2011). This Strange Eventful History: A
Philosophy of Meaning. p. 156. ISBN 978-0-87586-876-9. "Pandeism
combines the concepts of Deism and Pantheism with a god who creates the
universe and then becomes it."
Allan R. Fuller (2010). Thought: The
Only Reality. p. 79. ISBN 978-1-60844-590-5. "Pandeism is another belief
that states that God is identical to the universe, but God no longer
exists in a way where He can be contacted; therefore, this theory can
only be proven to exist by reason. Pandeism views the entire universe as
being from God and now the universe is the entirety of God, but the
universe at some point in time will fold back into one single being
which is God Himself that created all. Pandeism raises the question as
to why would God create a universe and then abandon it? As this relates
to pantheism, it raises the question of how did the universe come about
what is its aim and purpose?"
Peter C. Rogers (2009). Ultimate Truth,
Book 1. p. 121. ISBN 978-1-4389-7968-7. "As with Panentheism, Pantheism
is derived from the Greek: 'pan'= all and 'theos' = God, it literally
means "God is All" and "All is God." Pantheist purports that everything
is part of an all-inclusive, indwelling, intangible God; or that the
Universe, or nature, and God are the same. Further review helps to
accentuate the idea that natural law, existence, and the Universe which
is the sum total of all that is, was, and shall be, is represented in
the theological principle of an abstract 'god' rather than an
individual, creative Divine Being or Beings of any kind. This is the key
element which distinguishes them from Panentheists and Pandeists. As
such, although many religions may claim to hold Pantheistic elements,
they are more commonly Panentheistic or Pandeistic in nature."
John Culp (2013). "Panentheism," Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Spring.
The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky pp. 259–61
Henry,
Michel (2003). I am the Truth. Toward a philosophy of Christianity.
Translated by Susan Emanuel. Stanford University Press. ISBN
978-0-8047-3780-7.
Edwards, Paul. "God and the philosophers" in
Honderich, Ted. (ed)The Oxford Companion to Philosophy, Oxford
University Press, 1995. ISBN 978-1-61592-446-2.
"A Plea for Atheism. By 'Iconoclast'", London, Austin & Co., 1876, p. 2.
Dawkins, Richard (2006). The God Delusion. Great Britain: Bantam Press. ISBN 978-0-618-68000-9.
Dawkins, Richard (23 October 2006). "Why There Almost Certainly Is No God". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 10 January 2007.
Sagan, Carl (1996). The Demon Haunted World. New York: Ballantine Books. p. 278. ISBN 978-0-345-40946-1.
Stephen Hawking; Leonard Mlodinow (2010). The Grand Design. Bantam Books. p. 172. ISBN 978-0-553-80537-6.
Hepburn,
Ronald W. (2005) [1967]. "Agnosticism". In Donald M. Borchert (ed.).
The Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 1 (2nd ed.). MacMillan Reference USA
(Gale). p. 92. ISBN 978-0-02-865780-6. "In the most general use of the
term, agnosticism is the view that we do not know whether there is a God
or not." (p. 56 in 1967 edition)
Rowe, William L. (1998).
"Agnosticism". In Edward Craig (ed.). Routledge Encyclopedia of
Philosophy. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-0-415-07310-3. "In the
popular sense, an agnostic is someone who neither believes nor
disbelieves in God, whereas an atheist disbelieves in God. In the strict
sense, however, agnosticism is the view that human reason is incapable
of providing sufficient rational grounds to justify either the belief
that God exists or the belief that God does not exist. In so far as one
holds that our beliefs are rational only if they are sufficiently
supported by human reason, the person who accepts the philosophical
position of agnosticism will hold that neither the belief that God
exists nor the belief that God does not exist is rational."
"agnostic,
agnosticism". OED Online, 3rd ed. Oxford University Press. 2012.
"agnostic. : A. n[oun]. :# A person who believes that nothing is known
or can be known of immaterial things, especially of the existence or
nature of God. :# In extended use: a person who is not persuaded by or
committed to a particular point of view; a sceptic. Also: person of
indeterminate ideology or conviction; an equivocator. : B. adj[ective].
:# Of or relating to the belief that the existence of anything beyond
and behind material phenomena is unknown and (as far as can be judged)
unknowable. Also: holding this belief. :# a. In extended use: not
committed to or persuaded by a particular point of view; sceptical.
Also: politically or ideologically unaligned; non-partisan, equivocal.
agnosticism n. The doctrine or tenets of agnostics with regard to the
existence of anything beyond and behind material phenomena or to
knowledge of a First Cause or God."
Nielsen 2013: "Instead of saying
that an atheist is someone who believes that it is false or probably
false that there is a God, a more adequate characterization of atheism
consists in the more complex claim that to be an atheist is to be
someone who rejects belief in God for the following reasons ... : for an
anthropomorphic God, the atheist rejects belief in God because it is
false or probably false that there is a God; for a nonanthropomorphic
God ... because the concept of such a God is either meaningless,
unintelligible, contradictory, incomprehensible, or incoherent; for the
God portrayed by some modern or contemporary theologians or philosophers
... because the concept of God in question is such that it merely masks
an atheistic substance—e.g., "God" is just another name for love, or
... a symbolic term for moral ideals."
Edwards 2005: "On our
definition, an 'atheist' is a person who rejects belief in God,
regardless of whether or not his reason for the rejection is the claim
that 'God exists' expresses a false proposition. People frequently adopt
an attitude of rejection toward a position for reasons other than that
it is a false proposition. It is common among contemporary philosophers,
and indeed it was not uncommon in earlier centuries, to reject
positions on the ground that they are meaningless. Sometimes, too, a
theory is rejected on such grounds as that it is sterile or redundant or
capricious, and there are many other considerations which in certain
contexts are generally agreed to constitute good grounds for rejecting
an assertion."
Rowe 1998: "As commonly understood, atheism is the
position that affirms the nonexistence of God. So an atheist is someone
who disbelieves in God, whereas a theist is someone who believes in God.
Another meaning of 'atheism' is simply nonbelief in the existence of
God, rather than positive belief in the nonexistence of God. ... an
atheist, in the broader sense of the term, is someone who disbelieves in
every form of deity, not just the God of traditional Western theology."
Boyer, Pascal (2001). Religion Explained. New York: Basic Books. pp. 142–243. ISBN 978-0-465-00696-0.
du
Castel, Bertrand; Jurgensen, Timothy M. (2008). Computer Theology.
Austin, Texas: Midori Press. pp. 221–22. ISBN 978-0-9801821-1-8.
Barrett, Justin (1996). "Conceptualizing a Nonnatural Entity: Anthropomorphism in God Concepts" (PDF).
Rossano,
Matt (2007). "Supernaturalizing Social Life: Religion and the Evolution
of Human Cooperation" (PDF). Retrieved 25 June 2009.
Thomas Henry
Huxley, an English biologist, was the first to come up with the word
agnostic in 1869 Dixon, Thomas (2008). Science and Religion: A Very
Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 63. ISBN
978-0-19-929551-7. However, earlier authors and published works have
promoted an agnostic points of view. They include Protagoras, a
5th-century BCE Greek philosopher. "The Internet Encyclopedia of
Philosophy – Protagoras (c. 490 – c. 420 BCE)". Archived from the
original on 14 October 2008. Retrieved 6 October 2008. "While the pious
might wish to look to the gods to provide absolute moral guidance in the
relativistic universe of the Sophistic Enlightenment, that certainty
also was cast into doubt by philosophic and sophistic thinkers, who
pointed out the absurdity and immorality of the conventional epic
accounts of the gods. Protagoras' prose treatise about the gods began
'Concerning the gods, I have no means of knowing whether they exist or
not or of what sort they may be. Many things prevent knowledge including
the obscurity of the subject and the brevity of human life.'"
Aquinas, Thomas (1990). Kreeft, Peter (ed.). Summa of the Summa. Ignatius Press. p. 63.
Aquinas, Thomas (1990). Kreeft, Peter (ed.). Summa of the Summa. Ignatius Press. pp. 65–69.
Curley, Edwin M. (1985). The Collected Works of Spinoza. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-07222-7.
Nadler, Steven (29 June 2001). "Baruch Spinoza".
Snobelen,
Stephen D. (1999). "Isaac Newton, heretic : the strategies of a
Nicodemite" (PDF). British Journal for the History of Science. 32 (4):
381–419. doi:10.1017/S0007087499003751. Archived from the original (PDF)
on 8 September 2014. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
Webb, R.K. ed. Knud
Haakonssen. "The emergence of Rational Dissent." Enlightenment and
Religion: Rational Dissent in eighteenth-century Britain. Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge: 1996. p19.
Newton, 1706 Opticks (2nd
Edition), quoted in H.G. Alexander 1956 (ed): The Leibniz-Clarke
correspondence, University of Manchester Press.
"SUMMA THEOLOGIAE: The existence of God (Prima Pars, Q. 2)". Retrieved 30 December 2016.
Summa of Theology I, q. 2, The Five Ways Philosophers Have Proven God's Existence
Alister E. McGrath (2005). Dawkins' God: genes, memes, and the meaning of life. Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 978-1-4051-2539-0.
Floyd
H. Barackman (2001). Practical Christian Theology: Examining the Great
Doctrines of the Faith. Kregel Academic. ISBN 978-0-8254-2380-2.
Gould, Stephen J. (1998). Leonardo's Mountain of Clams and the Diet of Worms. Jonathan Cape. p. 274. ISBN 978-0-224-05043-2.
Krauss L. A Universe from Nothing. Free Press, New York. 2012. ISBN 978-1-4516-2445-8
Harris, S. The end of faith. W.W. Norton and Company, New York. 2005. ISBN 0-393-03515-8
Culotta,
E (2009). "The origins of religion". Science. 326 (5954): 784–87.
Bibcode:2009Sci...326..784C. doi:10.1126/science.326_784. PMID 19892955.
"Audio
Visual Resources". Ravi Zacharias International Ministries. Archived
from the original on 29 March 2007. Retrieved 7 April 2007., includes
sound recording of the Dawkins-McGrath debate
Francis Schüssler
Fiorenza and Gordon D. Kaufman, "God", Ch 6, in Mark C. Taylor, ed,
Critical Terms for Religious Studies (University of Chicago, 1998/2008),
136–40.
Ramsay, Tamasin (September 2010). "Custodians of Purity An Ethnography of the Brahma Kumaris". Monash University: 107–08.
Gen. 17:1; 28:3; 35:11; Ex. 6:31; Ps. 91:1, 2
Gen. 14:19; Ps. 9:2; Dan. 7:18, 22, 25
Bentley,
David (1999). The 99 Beautiful Names for God for All the People of the
Book. William Carey Library. ISBN 978-0-87808-299-5.
Aquinas, Thomas (1274). Summa Theologica. Part 1, Question 3, Article 1.
Augustine of Hippo (397). Confessions. Book 7.
Lang,
David; Kreeft, Peter (2002). Why Matter Matters: Philosophical and
Scriptural Reflections on the Sacraments. Chapter Five: Why Male
Priests?: Our Sunday Visitor. ISBN 978-1-931709-34-7.
Elaine H.
Pagels "What Became of God the Mother? Conflicting Images of God in
Early Christianity" Signs, Vol. 2, No. 2 (Winter, 1976), pp. 293–303
Coogan,
Michael (2010). "6. Fire in Divine Loins: God's Wives in Myth and
Metaphor". God and Sex. What the Bible Really Says (1st ed.). New York,
Boston: Twelve. Hachette Book Group. p. 175. ISBN 978-0-446-54525-9.
Retrieved 5 May 2011. "humans are modeled on elohim, specifically in
their sexual differences."
"Human Nature and the Purpose of Existence". Patheos.com. Retrieved 29 January 2011.
Quran 51:56
"Allah
would replace you with a people who sin". islamtoday.net. Archived from
the original on 14 October 2013. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
McGrath, Alister (2006). Christian Theology: An Introduction. Blackwell Publishing. p. 205. ISBN 978-1-4051-5360-7.
"International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: Sons of God (New Testament)". BibleStudyTools.com. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
Boyce 1983, p. 686.
"Moses – Hebrew prophet". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
A matter disputed by some scholars
Exodus 3:1–4:5
James Cornwell, 2009 Saints, Signs, and Symbols: The Symbolic Language of Christian Art ISBN 0-8192-2345-X p. 2
Edward Gibbon, 1995 The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire ISBN 0-679-60148-1 p. 1693
Adolphe
Napoléon Didron, 2003 Christian iconography: or The history of
Christian art in the middle ages ISBN 0-7661-4075-X p. 169
Arena Chapel, at the top of the triumphal arch, God sending out the angel of the Annunciation. See Schiller, I, fig 15
Bigham Chapter 7
Arthur de Bles, 2004 How to Distinguish the Saints in Art by Their Costumes, Symbols and Attributes ISBN 1-4179-0870-X p. 32
Irene Earls, 1987 Renaissance art: a topical dictionary ISBN 0-313-24658-0 pp. 8, 283
"CT25". Retrieved 30 December 2016.
Bigham, 73–76
Louis Lohr Martz, 1991 From Renaissance to baroque: essays on literature and art ISBN 0-8262-0796-0 p. 222
Gauvin Alexander Bailey, 2003 Between Renaissance and Baroque: Jesuit art in Rome ISBN 0-8020-3721-6 p. 233
Charles
Winston, 1847 An Inquiry Into the Difference of Style Observable in
Ancient Glass Paintings, Especially in England ISBN 1-103-66622-3,
(2009) p. 229
Sir Thomas Browne's Works, 1852, ISBN 0-559-37687-1, 2006 p. 156
Charles
Winston, 1847 An Inquiry Into the Difference of Style Observable in
Ancient Glass Paintings, Especially in England ISBN 1-103-66622-3,
(2009) p. 230
Oleg Tarasov, 2004 Icon and devotion: sacred spaces in Imperial Russia ISBN 1-86189-118-0 p. 185
"Council of Moscow – 1666–1667". Retrieved 30 December 2016.
1998, God, concepts of, Edward Craig, Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Taylor & Francis, [1]
www.ditext.com
Jung,
Carl (1976) [1971]. "Answer to Job". In Joseph Campbell (ed.). The
Portable Jung. Penguin Books. pp. 522–23. ISBN 978-0-14-015070-4.
Plantinga, Alvin. "God, Arguments for the Existence of", Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Routledge, 2000.
Wierenga,
Edward R. "Divine foreknowledge" in Audi, Robert. The Cambridge
Companion to Philosophy. Cambridge University Press, 2001.
Beaty,
Michael (1991). "God Among the Philosophers". The Christian Century.
Archived from the original on 9 January 2007. Retrieved 20 February
2007.
Pascal, Blaise. Pensées, 1669.
"More Americans Believe in Angels than Global Warming". Outsidethebeltway.com. 8 December 2009. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
Van, David (18 September 2008). "Guardian Angels Are Here, Say Most Americans". Time. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
"Poll: Nearly 8 in 10 Americans believe in angels". CBS News. 23 December 2011. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
Salmon, Jacqueline L. "Most Americans Believe in Higher Power, Poll Finds". washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
Qur'an 15:27
Further reading
Pickover, Cliff, The Paradox of God and the Science of Omniscience, Palgrave/St Martin's Press, 2001. ISBN 1-4039-6457-2
Collins, Francis, The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief, Free Press, 2006. ISBN 0-7432-8639-1
Miles, Jack, God: A Biography, Vintage, 1996. ISBN 0-679-74368-5
Armstrong, Karen, A History of God: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism,
Christianity and Islam, Ballantine Books, 1994. ISBN 0-434-02456-2
Paul Tillich, Systematic Theology, Vol. 1 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1951). ISBN 0-226-80337-6
Hastings, James Rodney (1925–2003) [1908–26]. Encyclopedia of Religion
and Ethics. John A Selbie (Volume 4 of 24 (Behistun (continued) to
Bunyan.) ed.). Edinburgh: Kessinger Publishing, LLC. p. 476. ISBN
978-0-7661-3673-1. "The encyclopedia will contain articles on all the
religions of the world and on all the great systems of ethics. It will
aim at containing articles on every religious belief or custom, and on
every ethical movement, every philosophical idea, every moral practice."
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The Purpose and Meaning of the Ten Commandments
Before
looking at the purpose and meaning of these Ten magnificent laws of
love, it should be noted that there really is only ONE passage we need
to know that demonstrates the unchanging, eternal nature of ALL the Ten
Commandments. Matthew 5:17-18 reads, “Think not that I am come to
destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to
fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till Heaven and Earth Pass, one jot
or one tittle shall in No Wise Pass from the Law, till all be
fulfilled.” See verses from the NIRV Bible and the CEV Bible and Luke's
account. Those unfortunate Christians that have been led astray by the
ruler of this world have only one response to attempt to nullify this
verse, which is that Jesus fulfilling the law brings an end to the law.
The NIRV explains the meaning of fulfil in these words, “I have come to
give full meaning to what is written” and the CEV reads, “I did not come
to do away with them, but to give them their full meaning.” There are
several scriptures that use the same Greek word as what is translated
“fulfil” in verse 17, and Matthew 3:15 is one example, “…it becometh us
to Fulfil all righteousness.” If the fulfilling of the law brings an end
to the law, then Righteousness, God's Word, Obedience, Joy and other
things eternal in nature are also gone. This of course is obviously not
so, and so neither are the Ten Commandments abolished. Not only that but
who could ever think that Jesus was abolishing the law after
instructing us that we should not only obey the law but teach it as
well. Put simply, unless Jesus is contradicting His Word, and Heaven and
Earth are still here, then All Ten Commandments have to remain
including the fourth Commandment. It is that simple!
Isaiah 42:21
says “The LORD is well pleased for his righteousness' sake; he will
magnify the law, and make it honourable.” In the remainder of Matthew
chapter five we see how Jesus has indeed magnified the law. We note the
following; Matthew 5:19 from not only obeying the law but teaching it
also, 5:21-22 from do not kill to not being angry with your brother
without cause, 5:27-28 from do not commit adultery to being guilty if
you look at a woman lustfully, 5:31 from divorcing by a letter to any
man who divorces his wife except for sexual immorality, causes her or
anyone who marries a divorced woman to commit adultery, 5:33-37 from not
breaking oaths made to the Lord to do not swear at all, either by
heaven or earth or by Jerusalem. And do not swear by your head, let your
Yes be Yes, and your No, No, 5:38-42 from an eye for an eye and tooth
for a tooth to turning the other cheek and if someone sues you for your
coat, give them your cloak also, 5:43-45 from love your neighbour and
hate your enemy to love your enemies and bless them that curse you and
pray for those that are spiteful and use you. Does it sound like Jesus
is destroying the law? Certainly not!
The purpose of the Ten
Commandments is to point out sin as Paul informs us in Romans 7:7 and
note Paul is expressing this long after the cross. Below you will find
more on the meaning of each commandment in brief with the option of
reading much more detail if required.
The Ten Commandments - I am the Lord1. The First Commandment is about Loyalty. Read more detail.
The
Creator of the universe declares He is our God and our deliverer and
asks us to demonstrate our love for Him by having no other God's. The
First Commandment is the first of a series of four that define our
relationship with our Heavenly Father. Establishing, developing and
maintaining that personal relationship with the true and living God is
the most important commitment we can ever make. That is the primary
focus of the first of the Ten Commandments, You shall have no other gods
before Me. We should love, honour and respect Him so much that He alone
is the supreme authority and model in our lives. He alone is God. We
should allow nothing to prevent us from serving and obeying Him.
2. The Second Commandments is about Worship. Read more detail.
The
one and only true God loves us so much that He is jealous of our love
and does not want to share our love by us bowing down to meaningless
idols. The Second Commandment goes to the heart of our relationship with
our Creator. It deals with several crucial questions. How do we
perceive God? How do we explain Him to ourselves and to others? Above
all, what is the proper way to worship the only true God? The Second
Commandment is a constant reminder that only we, of all created things,
are made in the image of God. Only we can be transformed into the
spiritual image of Christ, who of course came in the flesh as the
perfect spiritual image of our heavenly Father. This Commandment
protects our special relationship with our Creator, who made us in His
likeness and is still moulding us into His spiritual image.
3. The Third Commandment is about Reverence. Read more detail.
God
asks us to respect His Holy name and not to use it in vain. The Third
Commandment focuses on showing respect. It addresses the way we
communicate our feelings about God to others and to Him. It encompasses
our attitudes, speech and behaviour. Respect is the cornerstone of good
relationships. The quality of our relationship with God depends on the
love and regard we have for Him. It also depends on the way we express
respect for Him in the presence of others. We are expected always to
honour who and what He is. Conversely, the use of God's name in a
flippant, degrading or in any way disrespectful manner, dishonours the
relationship we are supposed to have with Him. This can vary from
careless disregard to hostility and antagonism. It covers misusing God's
name in any way. The Hebrew name for “vain” is “shaw” and means vanity,
falsehood, iniquity and emptiness. Simply summed up, “shaw” means
showing disrespect and this is what we do when we take God's name in
vain.
4. The Fourth Commandment is about Sanctification and Relationship. Read more detail.
God
starts off the fourth Commandment with the word “Remember”. This is
because He knew we would forget it. God asks that we keep it set apart
for Holy purposes so we can draw nearer to Him. The Fourth Commandment
to remember the Sabbath concludes the section of the Ten Commandments
that specifically helps define a proper relationship with God, how we
are to love, worship and relate to Him. It explains why and when we need
to take special time to draw closer to our Creator. It is also a
special sign between us and God forever, that it is Him that sanctifies
us Him alone we belong to and worship. The Sabbath, the seventh day of
the week was set apart by God as a time of rest and spiritual
rejuvenation. So why is this Commandment so frequently ignored, attacked
and explained away by so many? Could it be because the challenges to
the Sabbath Commandment are views generated by the ruler of this present
evil world? After all, this being wants us to accept these views
because he hates God's law. He does all he can to influence us to
ignore, avoid and reason our way around it. On our calendar the Sabbath
day begins at sunset Friday evening and ends at sunset Saturday evening.
5. The Fifth Commandment is about Respect for Parental authority. Read more detail.
God
instructs us to show love for our parents by honouring them. The Fifth
Commandment introduces us to a series of Commandments that define proper
relationships with other people. The fifth through to the 10th serve as
the standards of conduct in areas of human behaviour that generate the
most far reaching consequences on individuals, families, groups and
society. Families are the building blocks of societies that build strong
nations. When families are fractured and flawed, the sad results are
tragic and reflected in newspaper headlines every day. Any individual or
group, including whole nations that understand the importance of strong
families reap the rewards of an improved relationship and blessings
from God. The Fifth Commandment shows us from whom and how the
fundamentals of respect and honour are most effectively learned. It
guides us to know how to yield to others, how to properly submit to
authority and how to accept the influence of mentors. That is why the
apostle Paul wrote, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this
is right. Honor your father and mother, which is the first Commandment
with promise: that it may be well with you and you may live long on the
earth” Ephesians 6:2-3.
6. The Sixth Commandment is about Respect for Human life. Read more detail.
God
asks us to demonstrate love and not hate towards others by not
murdering. We must learn to control our tempers. Taking another person's
life is not our right to decide. That judgment is reserved for God
alone. That is the thrust of this Commandment. God does not allow us to
choose to wilfully or deliberately take another person's life. The Sixth
Commandment reminds us that God is the giver of life and He alone has
the authority to take it or to grant permission to take it. God wants us
to go far beyond avoiding murder. He requires that we not maliciously
harm another human being in word or deed. This is why John wrote,
“Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and you know that no
murderer has eternal life abiding in him” 1 John 3:15. God desires that
we treat even those who choose to hate us respectfully and do all within
our power to live in peace and harmony with them. He wants us to be
builders, not destroyers of good relationships. To accomplish this we
must respect this wonderful gift of this precious possession, human
life.
7. The Seventh Commandment is about Purity in Relationships. Read more detail.
God
asks us to express and demonstrate our love for our partner by not
committing adultery. Adultery is the violation of the marriage covenant
by wilful participation in sexual activity with someone other than one's
spouse. Since God's law sanctions sexual relationships only within a
legitimate marriage, the command not to commit adultery covers in
principle, all varieties of sexual immorality. No sexual relationship of
any sort should occur outside of marriage. That is the crux of this
Commandment. Most of us need the support and companionship of a loving
spouse. We need someone special who can share our ups and downs,
triumphs and failures. No one can fill this role like a mate who shares
with us a deep love and commitment. Society suffers because we have lost
the vision that God had for marriage from the beginning. Marriage is
not a requirement for success in pleasing God. But it is a tremendous
blessing to couples who treat each other as God intended. Most people
desire and need the benefits that come from a stable marriage. To return
to what God intended, we must give marriage the respect it deserves.
8. The Eighth Commandment is about Honesty. Read more detail.
God
instructs us to show our love and respect for others by not stealing
what belongs to them. The Eighth Commandment safeguards everyone's right
to legitimately acquire and own property. God wants that right honoured
and protected. His approach to material wealth is balanced. He wants us
to prosper and enjoy physical blessings. He also expects us to show
wisdom in how we use what He provides us and He does not want
possessions to be our primary pursuit in life. When we see material
blessings as a means to achieve more-important objectives, God enjoys
seeing us prosper. To Him it is important that generosity rather than
greed motivate the choices we make. Because they are qualities of His
own character, He asks that we, from the heart, put giving and serving
ahead of lavishing possessions on ourselves.
9. The Ninth Commandment is about Truthfulness. Read more detail.
God
says if we love others we should not deceive or lie to them. How
important is truth? The Bible says that Jesus is “the way and the Truth”
John 14:6. To fully appreciate the Ninth Commandment with its
prohibition of lying, we must realize how important truth is to God.
Jesus Christ said of God the Father, “Your word is truth” John 17:17.
The Bible throughout teaches that “God is not a man, that He should lie”
Numbers 23:19. As the source of truth, God requires that His servants
always speak truthfully. Under God's inspiration, King David wrote,
“…LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill?
He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks
the truth from his heart and has no slander on his tongue, who does his
neighbour no wrong and casts no slur on his fellow-man, who despises a
vile man but honours those who fear the LORD, who keeps his oath even
when it hurts” Psalms 15:1-3, NIV. God expects truth to permeate every
facet of our lives. Everything in the life of a Christian is anchored to
truth. God wants us as His children, to commit ourselves to truth and
reflect it in everything we do.
10. The Tenth Commandment is about Contentment. Read more detail.
God
instructs us not to covet because He knows it can entrap us into even
greater sin. To covet means to crave or desire, especially in excessive
or improper ways. The Tenth Commandment does not tell us that all of our
desires are immoral. It tells us that some desires are wrong. Coveting
is an immoral longing for something that is not rightfully ours. That is
usually because the object of our desire already belongs to someone
else. But coveting can also include our wanting far more than we would
legitimately deserve or that would be our rightful share. The focus of
the Tenth Commandment is that we are not to illicitly desire anything
that already belongs to others. The opposite of coveting is a positive
desire to help others preserve and protect their blessings from God. We
should rejoice when other people are blessed. Our desire should be to
contribute to the well being of others, to make our presence in their
lives a blessing to them. The last of the Ten Commandments is aimed
directly at the heart and mind of every human being. In prohibiting
coveting, it defines not so much what we must do but how we should
think. It asks us to look deep within ourselves to see what we are on
the inside. As with each of the previous nine Commandments, it is
directed toward our relationships. It specifically deals with the
thoughts that threaten those relationships and can potentially hurt
ourselves and our neighbours. Therefore, it is fitting that the formal
listing of these Ten foundational commands, which define the love of
God, should end by focusing on our hearts as the wellspring of our
relationship problems. From within come the desires that tempt us and
lead us astray.