CHRISTIANITYBy:

Briaunna ColemanBrianca Coleman

Nicholas SonMiguel Rodriguez

Origins of Christianity

■ Christianity developed out of Judaism in the 1st century C.E. It was founded on the life, teachings, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and those who follow him are called Christians

■ Christianity has many different forms and branches with accompanying variety and beliefs and practices. The three major branches of Christianity

■ Roman Catholicism- The Roman Catholicism traces its history to Jesus Christ and Apostles

■ Eastern Orthodoxy- Eastern Orthodoxy were formed and later differences in tradition and theology arose.

■ Protestantism- Protestantism was the faith, practice and order to protestant churches

Origins of Christianity

■ Christianity originated in the country Palestine located at the eastern end of the Mediterranean. The religion grew quickly expanding to Africa, Asia, Minor and Europe. It has believed that the Christians to spread the religion as far west as Spain by the second century. It has dominated western culture for centuries and remains the majority religion of Europe and the Americas.

■ Christianity also originated with Jesus of Nazareth, a Jewish prophet and teacher who came to believe he was a son of god.

Origins of Christianity

■ Gradually of the next 250 years Christianity won a growing number of converts. As is spread Christianity connected increasingly with larger themes in the roman empire. Also Christianity was well positioned to reflect social grievances in an empire increasingly marked by inequality.

■ The spread of Christianity also benefited from some of the positive qualities of the roman great empire.

Turning Points of Christianity

■ Through time Christianity has lost its prestige authority both politically and intellectually

■ During the 20th century Christianity was the most disseminated religion worldwide.

■ The 19th century was called the great century in the history of the Christian mission by Roman Catholic and Protestant

■ The 20th century saw challenges to the Christian cause in form totalitarianism of resurgent world religions and of indifference. Both the relation of Church and state and missionary program of the churches thus demanded reconsideration

■ By the 20th century Christianity has become the most disseminated religion on earth

Modern Day Christianity

■ Modern day Christianity has is one of the World's largest religions with a following of over 2 billion people, making it the most widely diffused of all faiths.

■ Modern Christianity's largest groups are the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox churches, and the Protestant churches. There are also countless independent churches and sects that branch off of Christianity.

■ Christianity in today's scientifically and culturally advanced world has the purpose of giving meaning to the lives of those that follow it.

■ In the twentieth century, many religions, including Christianity, had their power diminished by secularism and more private teachings to what we have today.

Secularism - The principle of separation of the state from religious institutions

Christianity today is most prevalent in the

West, South America, Sub-Saharan Africa,

and Eurasia

Core Beliefs of Modern Day Christianity

■ Humans are evil as a species because they inherited "original sin" from Adam.

■ Only by Man putting complete faith in their Messiah can they be saved from this sin.

■ Followers must go to church, read the bible, and pray to god often to be a true Christian.

■ Followers are encouraged to attend church services whenever possible.

Differences between original Christianity and modern day Christianity■ If God or Jesus were to look down on Earth modern Christianity, he would see many new groups

that have branched off to put their faith in them different ways. The main differences are in Catholicism. The Orthodox and the Protestants kept more of the beliefs of original

Christianity, while Catholicism went in a different direction during the "Great Schism". Some of the main differences are that the Catholics confess their sins to priests instead of God, and that the Pope has complete power over all Catholics. Catholics also do not believe that one is born

again during Baptism. God may or may not like Catholicism as it integrates Humans (Priests,

Bishops) more than the others, and maybe even where God himself should act. The Orthodox and Protestant's form of Christianity are much more similar to original Christianity than Catholicism

Modern Festivities - Lent

■ When:40 days before Easter.

■ Why: Acts as preparation for Easter.

■ More Info: Catholics are more lenient with fasting / dietary restrictions, only Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and all Fridays during Lent are considered fasting days. For Orthodox followers, one must give up meat, dairy products, and eggs during the duration of Lent as they were seen as luxuries. Some Protestants observe Lent, but others put more emphasis on the holy days leading up to Easter.

Modern Festivities – Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday

Palm Sunday

■ When: Sunday before Easter.

■ Why: To celebrate Jesus entering Jerusalem.

■ More Info: Celebrated during church services, some churches might spread palm branches around. Followers openly proclaim Jesus's glory.

Maundy Thursday

■ When: Thursday before Easter

■ Why: To celebrate the Last Supper of Jesus

■ More Info: Many Christians don’t do anything special on this day. It marks the day when Jesus ate his last supper and the last time he taught his disciples before his crucifixion.

Modern Festivities – Good Friday, EasterGood Friday

■ When: Friday before Easter.

■ Why: Marks the day when Jesus was crucified.

■ More Info: It is a day full of mourning, sadness, but also gratitude for the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. Catholics often remove everything from the altar and kiss the crucifix as an expression of worship. Protestants hold services from 12:00 pm to 3:00 pm to commemorate Jesus's time on the cross.

Easter

■ When: First Sunday after the first full moon after March 21

■ Why: To celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ

■ More Info: Serves to give hope to Christians that they too can live a resurrected life in heaven. The Catholics and Protestants follow the old-fashioned way of marking Easter (based on the lunar calendar), while the Orthodox wanted to tie it in with Passover given the relationship between the two. Easter for the Orthodox can be as far as 5 weeks apart from the day when the rest of Christianity celebrates Easter. Church services are held to celebrate.

Modern Festivities - Christmas

■ When: December 25

■ Why: Birth of Jesus

■ More Info: Neither the New Testament nor any historical record marks the exact date

of Jesus’ birth. As a result, the Church initially considered many different dates,

including January 2, March 21, March 25, April 18, April 19, May 20, May 28,

November 17, and November 20. The Catholics and Protestants in the West said it

was the 25th, so the Orthodox soon made it on the 25th as well.

Primary Source : gospel of John

■ SPEAKER: the story is written in 3rd person meaning it may have been written by someone who was a worshipped god and had the same virtues the author is yet unidentified.

■ OCCASION: this was written around 50 C.E of the first century ; originating in Ancient Rome.

■ AUDIENCE : the book is directed towards people who want to hear more about the story of god , such as Christians, and how he became who he is now. The first followed of this religion was the Jewish.

Continued…

■ SUBJECT: Christianity along origin and development. It always talks about gods views

on mankind meaning the rights and wrongs for the people.

■ PURPOSE: tell the story after the death of Jesus. The beginning of the after life.

■ TONE : Tone of the source is calm and nonchalantly. Depending on the perspective

of the reader reading the source. For some people believe the gospel of John is

viewers because it was written by someone who may had beliefs in God and others

say it’s non biased because the person reading it could be a Christian as well.

Primary source : Genesis 1

■ SPEAKER: There is no true author of the genesis 1 , but was written in 3rd person

perspective by someone of the same values.

■ OCCASION: This source takes place in the beginning of time , during the monarchic

times . ( Kings and queens )

■ AUDIENCE : The mankind , the people, Christians mostly because when studying a

religion you want to know more about it.

CONTINUED…

■ PURPOSE: Was to show how the earth was created in a step by step process. The

beginning of the world .

■ SUBJECT: how he created the world within six days. For example day 1 “ let there be

light “ making the night and day.

■ TONE: is nonchalant doesn’t show any or give any emotion. Once again it is based

on perspective of the reader for a biased or non biased view

■ The Beginning

■ 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.2

Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

■3

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.4

God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.5

God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

■6

And God said, “Let there be a vaultbetween the waters to separate water from water.”7

So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so.8

God called the vault “sky.”And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.

■9

And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so.10

God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.

■11

Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so.12

The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kindsand trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

13And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.

■14

And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years,15

and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so.

16God made two great lights—the greater light to governthe day and the lesser light to governthe night. He also made the stars.

17God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the

earth,18

to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good.19

And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.

■20

And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.”21

So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

22God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let

the birds increase on the earth.”23

And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.

■24

And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so.25

God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

■26

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness,so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,[a]

and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

■27

So God created mankind in his own image,in the image of God he created them;male and female he created them.

■28

God blessed them and said to them,“Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

■29

Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.30

And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.

■31

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.2 He was with God in the

beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was

life, and that life was the light of all mankind.5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not

overcome[a] it.6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testifyconcerning that light, so

that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world

was made through him,the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not

receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children

of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

Works Cited

■ Stefon, M., & Sullivan, L. E. (2017, July 14). The Christian community and the world. Retrieved October 17, 2017, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/Christianity/The-Christian-community-and-the-world

■ Christianity Fast Facts. (2017, September 04). Retrieved October 17, 2017, from http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/12/world/christianity-fast-facts/index.html

■ Religions - Christianity: The basics of Christian beliefs. (2009, August 14). Retrieved October 18, 2017, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/beliefs/basics_1.shtml

■ Bahr, A. M. (2004). Christianity. Philadelphia: Chelsea House.

■ Stefon, M., Spencer, S., Wainwright, G., Crow, P. A., Pelikan, J. J., & Hick, J. (2017, July 14). Christianity. Retrieved October 24, 2017, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/Christianity#toc67449