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Christianity description

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity

Christianity (Hebrew: נצרות) is a monotheistic[1] religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as depicted in the New Testament. Christianity teaches that Jesus is the Son of God and the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament, and that the New Testament records the Gospel that was revealed by Jesus.

Christianity began as a sect within Judaism, and includes the Hebrew Bible (known to Christians as the Old Testament) as well as the New Testament as its canonical scriptures. Like Judaism and Islam, Christianity is classified as an Abrahamic religion (see also, Judeo-Christian).

The name "Christian" (Greek Χριστιανός Strong's G5546), meaning "belonging to Christ" or "partisan of Christ", was first applied to the disciples in Antioch, as recorded in Acts 11:26. The earliest recorded use of the term "Christianity" (Greek Χριστιανισμός) is by Ignatius of Antioch.

Beliefs

In spite of important differences of interpretation and opinion, Christians in the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Protestant traditions share a common faith.[10] Although Christianity has always had a significant diversity of belief on controversial issues, most Christians share a common set of doctrines that they hold as essential to their faith. This common Christian heritage of beliefs has been given such titles as "the Good News of Jesus Christ,"[11] “the Way”[12] and “mere Christianity,”[10] among others.

Jeses, the Christ

As indicated by the name "Christianity," the focus of a Christian's life is a firm belief in Jesus as the Son of God and the Messiah or Christ. The title "Messiah" comes from the Hebrew word מָשִׁיחַ (māšiáħ) meaning anointed one. The Greek translation Χριστός (Christos) is the source of the English word Christ.

Christians believe that, as the Messiah, Jesus was anointed as ruler and 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.[13] The core Christian belief is that, through the death and resurrection of Jesus, sinful humans can be reconciled to God and thereby are offered salvation and the promise of eternal life. [Ref. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Romans 10:13 KJB]

While there have been theological disputes over the nature of Jesus, Christians generally believe that Jesus is God incarnate and "true God and true man" (or both fully divine and fully human). Jesus, having become fully human in all respects, suffered the pains and temptations of a mortal man, yet he did not sin. As fully God, he defeated death and rose to life again. According to the Bible, "God raised him from the dead," he ascended to heaven, to the "right hand of God,"[15] and he will return again[16] to fulfil the rest of Messianic prophecy such as the Resurrection of the dead, the Last Judgment and establishment of the physical Kingdom of God.

According to the 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, however infancy Gospels were popular in antiquity. In comparison, his adulthood, especially the week before his death, are well documented in the Gospels contained within the New Testament. The Biblical accounts of Jesus' ministry include: his baptism, miracles, preaching, teaching, and deeds.

The Death and Resurrection of Jesus

Christians consider the resurrection of Jesus to be the cornerstone of their faith and the most important event in human history.[17][18] According to the Gospels, Jesus and his followers went to Jerusalem the week of the Passover where they were eagerly greeted by a crowd. In Jerusalem, Jesus drove money changers from the Temple,[19] and predicted its destruction[20] - heightening conflict with the Jewish authorities who were plotting his death.

After sharing his last meal with his disciples, Jesus went to pray in the Garden of Gethsemane where he was betrayed by his disciple Judas Iscariot and arrested by the temple guard on orders from the Sanhedrin and the high priest Caiaphas. Jesus was convicted by the Sanhedrin of blasphemy and transferred to the Roman governor Pilate. Pilate was pressured into crucifying Jesus by the nearly rioting crowds. Although the crowds were incited by the religious authorities, Jesus was sentenced to death for "inciting rebellion." Jesus died by late afternoon and was entombed.

Christians believe that God raised Jesus from the dead on the third day, that Jesus appeared to his apostles and other disciples, commissioned his disciples to "make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son (Jesus) and of the Holy Spirit."[22] and then ascended to heaven. Christians also believe that God the Father sent the Holy Spirit (or Paraclete)[23] to the disciples. The purpose of Jesus' death and resurrection is described in various doctrines of atonement. Some see Jesus as a Sacrifice (substitutionary atonement) made to take away the sin of the world (John 1:29} in a manner similar to Old Testament sacrifices.

Others see Jesus' dying and suffering on the cross as a sign and demonstration from God the Father that His Son was willing to endure the shame and suffering of the cross because of his agape (parental, self-sacrificing) love for humanity. In other Scriptures which record Jesus' death and resurrection, The Gospel According to St. John compares the crucifixion of Jesus to the lifting up of the Nehushtan (brass serpent) saying that "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:14-16)

Many modern writers such as members of the Jesus Seminar and other Biblical scholars such as Michael Ramsey (a former Archbishop of Canterbury) have argued that the historical Jesus never claimed to be divine. John Hick observes that it is generally agreed among scholars today that Jesus did not claim to be God.[24] Many also reject the historicity of the empty tomb (and thus a bodily resurrection) and many other events narrated in the gospels.

They assert that Gospel accounts describing these things are probably literary fabrications.[25] However, many other scholars and historians maintain that the Gospel accounts of Jesus are, in fact, historically reliable: In terms of ancient history, the New Testament sources were written a short time after the events,[26] and having been written, they encountered insignificant changes in later transcriptions and translations, according to scholars such as the late Sir Frederic Kenyon.[27]

Salvation

Christians believe salvation is a gift by means of the unmerited grace of God, a gift from a loving heavenly Father who sent His only begotten Son Jesus to be their savior. Christians believe that, through faith in Jesus, one can be saved from sin and eternal death. The crucifixion of Jesus is explained as an atoning sacrifice, which, in the words of the Gospel of John, "takes away the sins of the world." One's reception of salvation is related to justification.[28]

The operation and effects of grace are understood differently by different traditions. Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy teach the necessity of the free will to cooperate with grace.[29] Reformed theology places distinctive emphasis on grace by teaching that individuals are completely incapable of self-redemption, but the grace of God overcomes even the unwilling heart

Trinity

Trinitarians

Most Christians believe that God is spirit (John 4:24), an uncreated, omnipotent, and eternal being, the creator and sustainer of all things, who works the redemption of the world through his Son, Jesus Christ. With this background, belief in the divinity of Christ and the Holy Spirit is expressed as the doctrine of the Holy Trinity,[31] which describes the single Divine substance existing as three distinct and inseparable persons: the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ the eternal Word), and the Holy Spirit (1 John 5:7). 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 begotten of the Father, and the Holy Spirit proceeding.[32] "Begotten," in these formulae, refers to the idea that Jesus was uncreated and "eternally begotten" of the Father. Christians of Reformed theology also conceive salvation to be one work of the triune God in which "the three divine persons act together as one, and manifest their own proper characteristics" with the agency of the Holy Spirit as an essential element."

Trinitarian Christians trace the orthodox formula of the Trinity — The Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost — back to the resurrected Jesus himself who spoke these words, and which words were subsequently recorded in Matthew 28:16-20, and are commonly referred to as the Great Commission. The "Indwelling of the Holy Spirit" has been called the "common privilege of all believers."[34] John 20:22 quotes Jesus as saying to His apostles, "Receive the Holy Spirit." They were to receive the Holy Spirit Himself in some way.

Nearly all Christians speak of the "Indwelling of the Holy Spirit." The person who has "received the Holy Spirit" thereafter not only has a sinful nature and carnal desires. According to this theological position, there now is also a second, competing, moral presence, that of the Holy Spirit, forever indwelling within him/her. From that point on, the person is able to see daily situations from either of two perspectives, and as a result, can choose to respond in a moral, Christian manner.

However, the Christian often ignores these ethical, moral, positive thoughts inspired by the presence (indwelling) of the Holy Spirit, and respond in some selfish or lustful way as their own original nature desires.[35] (John 16:7-14; 1 Corinthians 2:10ff) In Catholic, Orthodox, and some Anglican theology, this indwelling is received through the sacrament called Confirmation or, in the East, Chrismation. In most Protestant traditions, the "Indwelling of the Holy Spirit" takes place in the action of becoming a Christian.[35]

Non-Trinitarians

Main article: Nontrinitarianism In antiquity, and again following the Reformation, several sects advocated views contrary to the Trinity. These views were rejected by many bishops such as Irenaeus and subsequently by the Ecumenical Councils. During the Reformation (though most Catholics, Orthodox, and Protestants accepted the value of many of the Councils) some groups rejected these councils as spiritually tainted.

Clemens Ziegler, Casper Schwenckfeld, and Melchior Hoffman, advanced the view that Christ was only divine and not human. Michael Servetus denied that the traditional doctrine of the Trinity was necessary to defend the divinity of Christ. He claimed that Jesus was God Himself in the flesh. [39] Modalists, such as Oneness Pentecostals, regard God as a single person, with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit considered modes or roles by which the unipersonal God expresses himself.[40] Latter-day Saints (commonly called Mormons) accept the divinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but deny that they are the same being.

Rather, they believe them to be separate beings united perfectly in will and purpose, thus making up one single Godhead.[41] They believe that the Father, like the Son, has a glorified physical body. Present day groups who do not consider Jesus to be God include: Unitarians,[42] descendants of Reformation era Socinians, Christadelphians,[43] and Jehovah's Witnesses

Scriptures

Christianity regards the Holy Bible, a collection of canonical books in two parts (the Old Testament and the New Testament) as authoritative: written by human authors under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and therefore the inerrant Word of God.[45] Protestants believe that the Holy Scriptures contain all revealed truth necessary for salvation (See Sola scriptura)

The Old Testament contains the entire Jewish Tanakh, though in the Christian canon, the books are ordered differently, and some books of the Tanakh are divided into several books by the Christian canon. While these books are part of the Christian canon, scholars of Judaism generally teach that Christians misinterpret passages from the Old Testament, or Tanakh. (See also Christianity and Judaism.)

The Catholic and Orthodox canons include the Hebrew Jewish canon and other books (from the Septuagint Greek Jewish canon) which Catholics call Deuterocanonical, while Protestants consider them Apocrypha.[47] The first four books of the New Testament are the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), which recount the life and teachings of Jesus. The first three are often called synoptic because of the amount of material they share. The remainder of the New Testament consists of:

1. a sequel to Luke's Gospel which describes the very early history of the Church (the Acts of the Apostles),

2. a collection of letters from early Christian leaders to congregations or individuals, (the Pauline and General epistles), and the

3. Apocalyptic Book of Revelation.[47]

The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church maintains two canons,

1. the Narrow Canon (itself larger than any Biblical canon outside Ethiopia), and

2. the Broad Canon (which has even more books.)

Campaigning to be a restoration of the Christian church,[49] denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement (commonly called Mormons) are distinct from other forms of Christianity in that they consider the Book of Mormon holy scripture and comparable to the Bible.[50] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints also considers the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price scriptural. Along with the Bible (the preferred English translation is the King James Version), these books are collectively called the Standard Works of the church.