Christianity. Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the Sin of the

Transcription

1 Christianity Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the Sin of the World

2 Students need to bear in mind This is not a religious education class. You are expected to know the material, but you are not expected to believe anything against your personal sacred belief. Your own personal beliefs about Jesus are sacred and are not in question. Every student must respect every other students sacred beliefs. You will not all agree with each other. Save the debates for formal debate lessons. This is a history lesson. Historians take a different perspective from religious leaders.

3 Who are Christians?

4 Who are Christians?

5 Who are Christians?

6 Who are Christians?

7 Who are Christians?

8 Which Cross? IESVS NAZARENVS REX IVDÆORVM

9 Which Jesus?

10 Christ Christos Anointed one Χριστός oil

11 Which Christians are Christian? Some estimates put the number of doctrinally different Christians at thousands. I cannot do them all justice in a single period. We ll hit the main varieties and a very brief history.

12 Basic Christianity most popular religion in the world based on the number of worshippers about 1/3 monotheistic religion developed from Judaism Founder-Jesus of Nazareth (Yeshua bin-yosef) and his disciples, esp. Paul Geographic Origin-Developed in Judea (now Israel), sometime around the year 30 CE.

13

14 Basic Christianity Currently Practiced-Christianity is the dominant religion in North America, South America, Europe, and Russia. Significant Writings-The Holy Bible, consisting of both the Old Testament and the New Testament. Places of Worship-Christians practice their faith in temples usually referred to as churches.

15 Basic Christianity Significant Religious PeoplePriests and ministers are Christian holy men and women who are charged with conducting religious services, ensuring that Jewish laws are observed, and serving as a spiritual guide for the community. In addition, deacons, nuns, and monks are people who have dedicated their lives to Christian service.

16 Basic Christianity Because Christianity evolved from Judaism, there are certain concepts that these two religions share. Ten Commandments found in the Book of Exodus. prophecies of Jewish prophets Christians believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Son of God, sent to redeem the world of sin.

17 Basic Christianity Holy Trinity, three entities all part of a single higher power. Creator (Father) Redeemer (Son) Sustainer (Holy Spirit).

18 Christian History Historical Jesus Palestine in Jesus Day

19 Sources of Historical Information Books in New TestamentProfessor Bart D. Ehrman Historical Jesus Limited pagan sources Lecture 2 Introduction Pliny Josephus Gnostic Gospels Q (Quelle) Scholars debate on whether the Bible is a completely historical source Sound Clip = 07:20:00

20 Historical Jesus in a Nutshell Jewish man, working class Born ~c. 4 BCE Childhood mostly unknown Began ministry John the Baptist Galilee area of Palestine Gathered followers Sayings and miraculous works attributed to him To Jerusalem at Passover ~33 CE Tense time in Roman Palestine Annoyed Jewish authorities Tried and found guilty Died c. 33 CE Executed by Roman authorities at behest of Jewish leaders

21 Jesus in his Historical Context Pharisees - keep the law of God to the fullest degree possible Sadducees - worshiping God in the Temple in strict accordance with the Torah, the Law of Moses. Essenes - emphasized maintaining their own purity in light of the imminent apocalypse in which God would judge the world and his own people. Fourth Philosophy the Jewish homeland and their divinely appointed right and duty to reestablish Israel as a sovereign state, by force if necessary. Many Jews not a member of any

22 END PART 1 Part 2: Early Types of Christianity, Christianity Spreads, Types of Christian

23 Scholars Address Historical Jesus The Jesus Seminar Current Historical Focus Careful examination of all sources on Jesus to derive what he most likely actually said/did Jesus as moral teacher Jesus as 1st century Jewish apocalyptic prophet GK apocalypsis = unveiling or a revealing. Jews who subscribed to this world view maintained that God had revealed to them the future course of events, in which he was soon to overthrow the forces of evil and establish his good kingdom on earth.

24 Three main early groups Jewish (Matthew) Pauline (Letters) Hellenized Jews and gentiles Gnostic (Thomas) Hellenized of all types

25 Christianity History Christ = Gk Anointed One Coalesce by 3rd 4th century CE to early Catholic church Bishop Iranaeus

26 Christianity History Persecution by Romans, Roman Empire adopts Christianity Edict of Milan, 313 CE Constantine Schism 4th Century: East and West

27 Roman Empire and Christianity Cities Aristocrats Poor Women Constantine Theodosius

28 Christianity History 476 CE - Western Roman Empire falls, Christianity prevails Roman Catholic Church glue ofclick to eait Master the Middle Ages Second level Adopts Roman organization Third level Fourth level 1517 Protestant Fifth level Reformation in Europe text style

29

30 Paul of Tarsus Hellenized Jew Roman citizen C CE Persecutor, then converted Apostle to the gentiles 13 books attributed to him (half of NT) but scholars question some Modern Christianity stems from his thinking

31 Typical Questions on early Christianity What was the Jewish ideal of Messiah? How did early Christians deal with the crucifixion? How was the Bible put together? What were early Christian gatherings like? When did church start?

32 Not reall y unifi ed

33 So what do Christians believe? Different Christians have different beliefs. Here are the main beliefs they have in common. If there s something you think is missing here, it s probably because not all Christians believe it Monotheist 3 parts: Father, Son, Holy Ghost Jesus is all god and all man Jesus was executed and rose from the dead as sacrifice to make up for sin Christianity is about faith and good works (emphasis depends on the version) and establishing the right relationship with God Final judgment (Apocalyptic)

34 Christianity Sacred Text Old Testament Shared most books with Jews Different denominations accept different books New Testament For Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints: Book of Mormon

35 About Christianity Statistics and Basic Information Christian Sacred Writings

36

37 Christianity Stats Sacred Texts: Old Testament, New Testament Origin: Jewish sect of the first century Common Era Region of the World: Middle East, Europe, North and South America, Russia Number of Adherents: 1,927,953,000 Big Guy : Jesus Christ Symbol: Cross USA - 224,457,000 (85%) Brazil - 139,000,000 (93%) Mexico - 86,120,000 (99%) World: Roman Catholics = largest denomination >1 b followers Protestant types combined = 500 m Eastern Orthodox = 200 m 75% Americans = some type of Christian

38 New Testament and other sources

39

40 Christianity New Testament Acts and sayings of Jesus spread orally after his death 27 books Unknown number of authors; most estimates run from 9 to 15.

41 Christianity New Testament Gospel= Gk. euangelion Good News Dozens of Gospels written within 200 years of Jesus death. In 300s CE, 4 selected Synoptic Gospels Canonical Gospels Acts (Jewish and Pauline Christians) Epistles (Letters) Revelation

42 Christianity New Testament Canonical Gospels Matthew, Mark, Luke, John Synoptic Gospels Synposis of Jesus life Matthew, Mark, Luke Parallel with some differences

43 Christianity New Testament Gospel of John Later composition, possibly 2 authors Differs considerably from Synoptics Contrasts sharply with Gospel of Thomas (removed from Canon 4th century CE) Conservative Christians focus on this book

44 Christianity Ideas John s Gospel The Fall Adam and Eve sinned, cursed, sent from Eden The Ultimate Sacrifice No sacrifice to Yahweh could make up for the Fall except God s Son ( lamb of God ) The Redemption resurrection from the dead on 3rd day redeemed sin

45 The Variety of Christian Belief

46

47 Meta-Groups Roman Catholicism Eastern Orthodoxy Oriental Orthodox and Assyrian Churches Protestantism Others

48 Christian Groups Conservative Wing Fundamentalists other Evangelical Protestants Roman Catholics Eastern Orthodox Liberal Wing The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Progressive Christianity United Church of Christ United Church of Canada and others

49 Mainline Wing Often, a third, mainline wing is added, composed of such denominations as: American Baptist Churches in the USA Presbyterian Church (USA) United Methodist Church Episcopal Church, etc.