1.
Christian culture
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Christian culture is a term primarily used in academia to describe the cultural practices common to Christianity. Christian culture has influenced and assimilated much from the Greco-Roman Byzantine, Western culture, Middle Eastern, Slavic, Caucasian, until the Age of Enlightenment, Christian culture guided the course of philosophy, literature, art, music and science. Christian disciplines of the arts have subsequently developed into Christian philosophy, Christian art, Christian music. Many clerics throughout history have made significant contributions to science and Jesuits in particular have made significant contributions to the development of science. The cultural influence of Christianity includes social welfare, founding hospitals, economics, politics, architecture, literature and family life. Christianity it also had a impact on all other aspects of life, marriage and family, education, the humanities and sciences, the political and social order, the economy. Eastern Christians contributed to the Arab Islamic Civilization during the Ummayad and they also excelled in philosophy, science, theology and medicine. Christians have made a myriad contributions in a broad and diverse range of fields, including the sciences, arts, politics, literatures, another frequent application of the term is to distinguish political groups in areas of mixed religious backgrounds. Cathedrals in particular, as well as abbey churches and basilicas, have certain complex structural forms that are found less often in parish churches. Such a cathedral or great church is one of the finest buildings within its region and is a focus of local pride. Many cathedrals and basilicas, and a number of churches are among the worlds most renowned works of architecture. The earliest large churches date from Late Antiquity, as Christianity and the construction of churches and cathedrals spread throughout the world, their manner of building was dependent upon local materials and local techniques. Overlaid on each of the styles are the regional characteristics. Some of these characteristics are so typical of a country or region that they appear, regardless of style. Christian art is sacred art which uses themes and imagery from Christianity, images of Jesus and narrative scenes from the Life of Christ are the most common subjects, and scenes from the Old Testament play a part in the art of most denominations. Images of the Virgin Mary and saints are much rarer in Protestant art than that of Roman Catholicism, Christianity makes far wider use of images than related religions, in which figurative representations are forbidden, such as Islam and Judaism. However, there is also a history of aniconism in Christianity from various periods. An illuminated manuscript is a manuscript in which the text is supplemented by the addition of decoration, the earliest surviving substantive illuminated manuscripts are from the period AD400 to 600, primarily produced in Ireland, Constantinople and Italy
2.
Byzantine Empire
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It survived the fragmentation and fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD and continued to exist for an additional thousand years until it fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. During most of its existence, the empire was the most powerful economic, cultural, several signal events from the 4th to 6th centuries mark the period of transition during which the Roman Empires Greek East and Latin West divided. Constantine I reorganised the empire, made Constantinople the new capital, under Theodosius I, Christianity became the Empires official state religion and other religious practices were proscribed. Finally, under the reign of Heraclius, the Empires military, the borders of the Empire evolved significantly over its existence, as it went through several cycles of decline and recovery. During the reign of Maurice, the Empires eastern frontier was expanded, in a matter of years the Empire lost its richest provinces, Egypt and Syria, to the Arabs. This battle opened the way for the Turks to settle in Anatolia, the Empire recovered again during the Komnenian restoration, such that by the 12th century Constantinople was the largest and wealthiest European city. Despite the eventual recovery of Constantinople in 1261, the Byzantine Empire remained only one of several small states in the area for the final two centuries of its existence. Its remaining territories were annexed by the Ottomans over the 15th century. The Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 finally ended the Byzantine Empire, the term comes from Byzantium, the name of the city of Constantinople before it became Constantines capital. This older name of the city would rarely be used from this point onward except in historical or poetic contexts. The publication in 1648 of the Byzantine du Louvre, and in 1680 of Du Canges Historia Byzantina further popularised the use of Byzantine among French authors, however, it was not until the mid-19th century that the term came into general use in the Western world. The Byzantine Empire was known to its inhabitants as the Roman Empire, the Empire of the Romans, Romania, the Roman Republic, Graikia, and also as Rhōmais. The inhabitants called themselves Romaioi and Graikoi, and even as late as the 19th century Greeks typically referred to modern Greek as Romaika and Graikika. The authority of the Byzantine emperor as the legitimate Roman emperor was challenged by the coronation of Charlemagne as Imperator Augustus by Pope Leo III in the year 800. No such distinction existed in the Islamic and Slavic worlds, where the Empire was more seen as the continuation of the Roman Empire. In the Islamic world, the Roman Empire was known primarily as Rûm, the Roman army succeeded in conquering many territories covering the entire Mediterranean region and coastal regions in southwestern Europe and north Africa. These territories were home to different cultural groups, both urban populations and rural populations. The West also suffered heavily from the instability of the 3rd century AD
3.
Protestant culture
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All Protestant churches allow their clergy to marry, in contrast to the Roman Catholic church. Historically, the role of women in church life, the Protestant clergy, the role of women expanded over time and was closely associated with the movements for universal education and womens suffrage. Since about 1990, many women have assumed senior leadership roles in several Protestant churches, including the Anglican Communion. Since the 1990s Protestant churches have encountered controversy regarding the Churchs response to persons of minority sexual orientations, compulsory education for both boys and girls was introduced. For example, the Puritans who established Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1628 founded Harvard College only eight years later, about a dozen other American colleges followed in the 18th century, including Yale University. Pennsylvania also became a centre of learning, by initiating translations of the Bible into various national languages, Protestantism supported the development of national literatures. The Protestant concept of God and man allows believers to use all their God-given faculties and that means that Protestant believers are encouraged to explore Gods creation and, according to Genesis 2,15, make use of it in a responsible and sustainable way. Thus a cultural climate was created that greatly enhanced the development of the humanities, another consequence of the Protestant understanding of man is that the believers, in gratitude for their election and redemption in Christ, are to follow Gods commandments. Industry, frugality, calling, discipline, and a sense of responsibility are at the heart of their moral code. In particular, John Calvin rejected luxury, as a result, productivity grew, which led to increased profits and enabled employers to pay higher wages. In this way, the economy, the sciences, and technology reinforced each other, the chance to participate in the economic success of technological inventions was a strong incentive to both inventors and investors. The Protestant work ethic was an important force behind the unplanned and uncoordinated mass action that influenced the development of capitalism and this idea is also known as the Protestant ethic thesis. Protestants are disproportionately represented in the reaches of American business, law and politics. According to the study there is correlation between education and income, about 59% of American Anglican have a graduate and post-graduate degree. Protestantism had an important influence on science, according to the Merton Thesis, there was a positive correlation between the rise of Puritanism and Protestant Pietism on the one hand and early experimental science on the other. In his theory, Robert K. Merton focused on English Puritanism, Merton explained that the connection between religious affiliation and interest in science was the result of a significant synergy between the ascetic Protestant values and those of modern science. Protestant values encouraged scientific research by allowing science to study Gods influence on the world, according to Harriet Zuckermans review of American Nobel prize laureates from 1901 to 1972, 72% were of Protestant background. According to Zuckerman, Protestants featured among the American laureates in a greater proportion than their prevalence within the general population
4.
Liturgical year
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Distinct liturgical colours may appear in connection with different seasons of the liturgical year. The dates of the festivals vary somewhat between the different churches, though the sequence and logic is largely the same, in churches that follow the liturgical year, the scripture passages for each Sunday are specified in a lectionary. After the Protestant Reformation, Anglicans and Lutherans continued to follow the lectionary of the Roman Rite, following a decision of the Second Vatican Council, the Catholic Church revised that lectionary in 1969, adopting a three-year cycle of readings for Sundays and a two-year cycle for weekdays. This has led to an awareness of the traditional Christian year among Protestants. The first month of the year was called אביב, meaning the month of green ears of grain and it thus occurred in the spring. At about the time of the Babylonian captivity, the Jews adopted as the name for the month the term ניסן, thomas J Talley says that the adoption of the Babylonian term occurred even before the captivity. In the earlier calendar, most of the months were called by a number. On the historical life of Jesus Christ, the believers are led to the eschatological fulfilment, viz. the heavenly bliss, the liturgical year is divided into 9 seasons mostly having 7 weeks each in principle, but with necessary adjustments. The arrangement of the Seasons in the Liturgical Year is based on seven central events on celebrations of the Salvation History, various Seasons in the liturgical calendar of Syro Malabar Church and Chaldean Catholic Church are given below Weeks of Annunciation is the first season of the liturgical year. The liturgical year begins with the proclamation and celebration of the encounter between God and man in the person of Jesus Christ, the human appearance of the Divine Person. The season begins on the Sunday just before fist of December and this season is developed in the context of the mystery of incarnation completed in the fullness of time. The Church recalls during these days the announcement of the birth of John the Baptist, the predecessor of Jesus, during this season we also meditate on the role of Mary in the history of the plan of salvation. The whole importance of Mary, and hence her veneration in the Church, depends on her relation to Jesus, the most special being His mother. Her celebration is also underlined with two very solemn festivals of her, Immaculate Conception on December 8 and Congratulation to Mary as Mother of Jesus on the last Friday of this season, Church practice abstinence December 1–25 in preparation for Christmas, this period is called 25 days Lent. The word Denha in Syriac means sunrise, during the period the faithful meditates on the manifestation of Holy trinity and revelation of Christ the light of the world. Baptism in Jordan was the first historical event when the Holy Trinity is revealed to humans in the humanity of Jesus Christ, during the season church celebrate the feasts of Saints in connection with the manifestation of the Lord. The season begins 50 days before Easter on Peturta Sunday and comprises whole period of Great Lent, Word Peturta in Syriac means looking back or reconciliation. Faithful enter the weeks of Great Fast, celebrating the memory of all the Faithful Departed on the last Friday of Denha
5.
Mormon culture
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The basic beliefs and traditions of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have a cultural impact that distinguishes church members, practices and activities. The culture is concentrated in the Mormon Corridor in the United States. In some aspects, Latter-day Saint culture is distinct from church doctrine, the majority of Mormons live outside the United States. Therefore, even though the differences are important, there are some common traits around Mormons worldwide. The church puts notable emphasis on the family, and the concept of a united family which lives and progresses forever is at the core of Latter-day Saint doctrine. Church members are encouraged to marry and have children, and as a result, All sexual activity outside of marriage is considered a serious sin. All homosexual activity is considered sinful and same-sex marriages are not performed or supported by the LDS Church, Latter-day Saint fathers who hold the priesthood typically name and bless their children shortly after birth to formally give the child a name and generate a church record for them. Latter-day Saints believe that one of the most important aspects of life on Earth is the opportunity for individuals to learn and they further believe that whatever learning they obtain in this life is retained in the next life. All participating members ages twelve years and older attend Sunday School classes, Seminary is an established religious education program for secondary school students, which is often scheduled before or after school hours. In some areas with large LDS populations, provisions are made by the school to students to attend Seminary off-campus during the school day. Attendance at seminary is voluntary, although it is considered when a person applies to a church-owned university, CES administers the seminary program and also an Institute of Religion program for tertiary education-age church members. The church sponsors a low-interest educational loan program known as the Perpetual Education Fund and this fund is designed to benefit young men and women from developing areas to receive student loans. Many of them have served a mission, returned to their home, as they finish their education and enter the work force, they pay back the funds, which are then loaned to other individuals. In Buena Vista, Virginia, a group of LDS businessmen bought out a failing college and it is not owned by the church, nor does it receive any funding from the church. SVU depends heavily upon donations from members and friends. The school enforces an honor code that is similar to that of the higher education units of CES, the LDS Church encourages and hosts social activities such as sports, dances and picnics. Local Young Men and Young Women organizations sponsor weekly activities, in general, the LDS Church distances itself from politics, although it encourages its members to be politically active. Opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment during the 1970s, support of the Defense of Marriage Act to define marriage in the United States as between one man and one woman
6.
Christian art
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Christian art is sacred art which uses themes and imagery from Christianity. Images of Jesus and narrative scenes from the Life of Christ are the most common subjects, images of the Virgin Mary and saints are much rarer in Protestant art than that of Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy. Christianity makes far wider use of images than related religions, in which representations are forbidden, such as Islam. However, there is also a history of aniconism in Christianity from various periods. Early Christian art survives from dates near the origins of Christianity, the oldest Christian sculptures are from sarcophagi, dating to the beginning of the 2nd century. The Orthodox Church of Constantinople, which enjoyed greater stability within the surviving Eastern Empire was key in commissioning imagery there and glorifying Christianity. As a stable Western European society emerged during the Middle Ages, during the development of Christian art in the Byzantine Empire, a more abstract aesthetic replaced the naturalism previously established in Hellenistic art. This new style was hieratic, meaning its primary purpose was to convey religious meaning rather than accurately render objects, realistic perspective, proportions, light and color were ignored in favor of geometric simplification of forms, reverse perspective and standardized conventions to portray individuals and events. The fall of Constantinople in 1453 brought an end to the highest quality Byzantine art, artists were commissioned more secular genres like portraits, landscape paintings and because of the revival of Neoplatonism, subjects from classical mythology. Occasionally, secular artists treated Christian themes — but only rarely was a Christian artist included in the historical canon. However many modern artists such as Eric Gill, Marc Chagall, Henri Matisse, Jacob Epstein, Elizabeth Frink, salvador Dali is an artist who had also produced notable and popular artworks with Christian themes. Artists such as Makoto Fujimura have had significant influence both in sacred and secular arts, other notable artists include Larry D. Alexander and John August Swanson. Some writers, such as Gregory Wolfe, see this as part of a rebirth of Christian humanism, since the advent of printing, the sale of reproductions of pious works has been a major element of popular Christian culture. In the nineteenth century, this included genre painters such as Mihály Munkácsy, the invention of color lithography led to broad circulation of holy cards. Subjects often seen in Christian art include the following, see Life of Christ and Life of the Virgin for fuller lists of narrative scenes included in cycles, Grabar, André. Christian iconography, a study of its origins, the glory of Byzantium, art and culture of the Middle Byzantine era, A. D. 843-1261. New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Living Church, May 4,2014, 8–11
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Christian symbolism
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Christian symbolism is the use of symbols, including archetypes, acts, artwork or events, by Christianity. It invests objects or actions with an inner meaning expressing Christian ideas, the symbolism of the early Church was characterized by being understood by initiates only, while after the legalization of Christianity in the 4th-century more recognizable symbols entered in use. Christianity has borrowed from the stock of significant symbols known to most periods. The shape of the cross, as represented by the letter T, at the end of the 2nd century, it is mentioned in the Octavius of Minucius Felix, rejecting the claim by detractors that Christians worship the cross. In his book De Corona, written in 204, Tertullian tells how it was already a tradition for Christians to trace repeatedly on their foreheads the sign of the cross. An early example of the halo, used to identify Christ in paintings, is found in the Miracles of the Loaves and Fishes mosaic of SantApollinare Nuovo. Instances of the St Thomas cross, a Greek cross with clover leaf edges, popular in southern India, the Patriarchal cross, a Latin cross with an additional horizontal bar, first appears in the 10th century. Although the cross was used as a symbol by early Christians, the purported discovery of the True Cross by Constantines mother, Helena, and the development of Golgotha as a site for pilgrimage led to a change of attitude. In the early period, the plain cross became depicted as the crux gemmata, covered with jewels. The first depictions of crucifixion displaying suffering are believed to have arisen in Byzantine art, Early Western examples include the Gero Cross and the reverse of the Cross of Lothair, both from the end of the 10th century. Marie-Madeleine Davy described in great detail Romanesque Symbolism as it developed in the Middle Ages in Western Europe, among the symbols employed by the early Christians, that of the fish seems to have ranked first in importance. The Staurogram ⳨, also Monogrammatic Cross or Tau-Rho symbol, is composed by a tau superimposed on a rho, in such a way the symbol expresses the idea that the Cross saves. The two letters tau and rho can also be found separately as symbols on early Christian ossuaries, the Monogrammatic Cross was later seen also as a variation of the Chi Rho symbol, and it spread over Western Europe in the 5th and 6th centuries. The Chi Rho is formed by superimposing the first two letters chi and rho of the Greek word ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ =Christ in such a way to produce the monogram, widespread in ancient Christianity, it was the symbol used by the Roman emperor Constantine I as vexillum. This symbol was explained in the Epistle of Barnabas and by Clement of Alexandria. For other christograms such as IHS, see Article Christogram, initially it was also understood as a symbol like others used in Early Christian art. By about the 5th century the more often took on the appearance of the conventional depiction of Christ, as it had developed by this time. The dove as a Christian symbol is of frequent occurrence in ancient ecclesiastical art
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Early Christian art and architecture
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In practice identifiably Christian art only survives from the 2nd century onwards. After 550 at the latest, Christian art is classified as Byzantine and it is hard to know when distinctly Christian art began. Prior to 100, Christians may have been constrained by their position as a group from producing durable works of art. Since Christianity was largely a religion of the classes in this period, the lack of surviving art may reflect a lack of funds for patronage. The Old Testament restrictions against the production of images may also have constrained Christians from producing art. Christians may have made or purchased art with pagan iconography, but given it Christian meanings, if this happened, Christian art would not be immediately recognizable as such. Early Christianity used the artistic media as the surrounding pagan culture. These media included fresco, mosaics, sculpture, and manuscript illumination, Early Christian art not only used Roman forms, it also used Roman styles. Late classical style included a portrayal of the human body. Late classical style is seen in early Christian frescos, such as those in the Catacombs of Rome, Early Christians adapted Roman motifs and gave new meanings to what had been pagan symbols. Among the motifs adopted were the peacock, grapevines, and the Good Shepherd, Early Christians also developed their own iconography, for example, such symbols as the fish, were not borrowed from pagan iconography. The earlier period being called the Pre-Constantinian or Ante-Nicene Period and after being the period of the First seven Ecumenical Councils, the earliest surviving Christian art comes from the late 2nd to early 4th centuries on the walls of Christian tombs in the catacombs of Rome. From literary evidence, there may well have been panel icons which, initially Jesus was represented indirectly by pictogram symbols such as the Ichthys, peacock, Lamb of God, or an anchor. The image of The Good Shepherd, a youth in pastoral scenes collecting sheep, was the most common of these images. These images bear some resemblance to depictions of figures in Greco-Roman art. The almost total absence from Christian monuments of the period of persecutions of the plain, the dove is a symbol of peace and purity. It can be found with a halo or celestial light, in one of the earliest known Trinitarian images, the Throne of God as a Trinitarian image, the dove represents the Spirit. It is flying above an empty throne representing God, in the throne are a chlamys, the Chi-Rho monogram, XP, apparently first used by Constantine I, consists of the first two characters of the name Christos in Greek
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Church architecture
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Church architecture refers to the architecture of buildings of Christian churches. These large, often ornate and architecturally prestigious buildings were dominant features of the towns, however, far more numerous were the parish churches in Christendom, the focus of Christian devotion in every town and village. In the 20th century, the use of new materials, such as steel, the history of church architecture divides itself into periods, and into countries or regions and by religious affiliation. The simplest church building comprises a single meeting space, built of locally available material, such churches are generally rectangular, but in African countries where circular dwellings are the norm, vernacular churches may be circular as well. A simple church may be built of mud brick, wattle and daub and it may be roofed with thatch, shingles, corrugated iron or banana leaves. However, church congregations, from the 4th century onwards, have sought to construct buildings that were both permanent and aesthetically pleasing. This had led to a tradition in which congregations and local leaders have invested time, money and personal prestige into the building, within any parish, the local church is often the oldest building, and is larger than any pre-19th-century structure except perhaps a barn. The church is built of the most durable material available. To the two-room structure is often added aisles, a tower, chapels, in the first three centuries of the Early Christian Church, the practice of Christianity was illegal and few churches were constructed. In the beginning Christians worshipped along with Jews in synagogues and in private houses, after the separation of Jews and Christians the latter continued to worship in peoples houses, known as house churches. These were often the homes of the members of the faith. Saint Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthians writes, aquila and Prisca, together with the church in their house, greet you warmly in the Lord. Some domestic buildings were adapted to function as churches, one of the earliest of adapted residences is at Dura Europos church, built shortly after 200 AD, where two rooms were made into one, by removing a wall, and a dais was set up. To the right of the entrance a small room was made into a baptistry, some church buildings were specifically built as church assemblies, such as that opposite the emperor Diocletians palace in Nicomedia. The books of the Holy Scriptures were found, and they were committed to the flames, the utensils and furniture of the church were abandoned to pillage, all was rapine, confusion, tumult. That church, situated on rising ground, was within view of the palace, and Diocletian and Galerius stood, as if on a watchtower, disputing long whether it ought to be set on fire. The sentiment of Diocletian prevailed, who dreaded lest, so great a fire being once kindled, some part of the city might he burnt, for there were many and large buildings that surrounded the church. Then the Pretorian Guards came in battle array, with axes and other iron instruments, from the first to the early fourth centuries most Christian communities worshipped in private homes, often secretly
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Icon
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An icon is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, from Eastern Christianity and certain Eastern Catholic churches. The most common subjects include Christ, Mary, saints and/or angels, icons may also be cast in metal, carved in stone, embroidered on cloth, painted on wood, done in mosaic or fresco work, printed on paper or metal, etc. Comparable images from Western Christianity are generally not described as icons, Eastern Orthodox tradition holds that the creation of Christian images dates back to the very early days of Christianity, and there is has been a continuous tradition since then. The icons of later centuries can be linked, often closely, to images from the 5th century onwards, there was enormous destruction of images during the Byzantine Iconoclasm of 726-842, although this did settle for good the question of the appropriateness of images. Since then icons have had a continuity of style and subject. At the same time there has been change and development, Christian tradition dating from the 8th century identifies Luke the Evangelist as the first icon painter. Aside from the legend that Pilate had made an image of Christ and he relates that King Abgar of Edessa sent a letter to Jesus at Jerusalem, asking Jesus to come and heal him of an illness. In this version there is no image, further legends relate that the cloth remained in Edessa until the 10th century, when it was taken to Constantinople. It went missing in 1204 when Crusaders sacked Constantinople, but by then numerous copies had firmly established its iconic type. They crown these images, and set them up along with the images of the philosophers of the world that is to say, with the images of Pythagoras, and Plato, and Aristotle, and the rest. They have also other modes of honouring these images, after the manner of the Gentiles. And he called him and said, Lycomedes, what do you mean by this matter of the portrait, can it be one of thy gods that is painted here. For I see that you are living in heathen fashion. Later in the passage John says, But this that you have now done is childish and imperfect, at least some of the hierarchy of the Christian churches still strictly opposed icons in the early 4th century. At the Spanish non-ecumenical Synod of Elvira bishops concluded, Pictures are not to be placed in churches, so that they do not become objects of worship and adoration. to our religion. After the emperor Constantine I extended official toleration of Christianity within the Roman Empire in 313 and this period of Christianization probably saw the use of Christian images became very widespread among the faithful, though with great differences from pagan habits. Robin Lane Fox states By the early century, we know of the ownership of private icons of saints. 480-500, we can be sure that the inside of a saints shrine would be adorned with images and votive portraits, when Constantine himself apparently converted to Christianity, the majority of his subjects remained pagans
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Christian novel
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A Christian novel is any novel that expounds and illustrates a Christian world view in its plot, its characters, or both, also seen in the Bible. Or which deals with Christian themes in a positive way, twentieth century proponents of the Christian novel in English include J. R. R. Tolkien, G. K. Chesterton, C. S. Lewis, many novels with Christian themes also fall into specific mainstream fiction genres. In North America, the Christian novel has evolved into a genre of its own, written explicitly by. Such a Christian novel does not have to involve an event or character in Bible history. Popular authors of Christian novels include Francine Rivers in the romance subgenre, other authors of Christian novels include Karen Kingsbury, Judith McCoy Miller, Tracie Peterson, Bethany Kennedy Scanlon, Tosca Lee and Robert Whitlow. Some authors of Christian novels have received a mixed reception within the conservative Christian community, William P. Youngs best-selling theological novel The Shack, for example, was strongly criticised by some reviewers. Cook, HarperCollins Christian and Zondervan, Harvest House, Howard Publishing, Kregel Publications, Tyndale House, such novels are today marketed world-wide through Christian bookstores and online distributors, such as ChristianBook. com and Amazon. com, respectively. Urban Christian fiction is a genre in which conflicting stories of emotion and vividness mixes God, the urban church, violence and sex is not purposely excluded, but are included whenever necessary for the story line. God is the center of the lives in Urban Christian Fiction. Urban Christian publishing company publishes urban Christian books along with other subdivisions of urban Christian which includes urban renaissance, some best-selling authors in this genre for 2012 are Kimberla Lawson Roby, Victoria Christopher Murray, Tony Dungy, Lutishia Lovely, Neta Jackson, Keyon C. Polite, Serita Jakes, and ReShonda Tate Billingsley, some best-selling authors in this genre for 2015 are Jonathan Cahn, William Paul Young, and Francine Rivers. A Christian urban title that ventures into the Young Adult/SuperHero genre is In the Shadows of Myrmidons by B, lloyd Reese and Nicholas J. Rzepczynski. Urban Christian fiction is classified as part of the African-American Christian Market, where the topics are fiction, books for dating, dramatic testimony. Prominent pastors of megachurches and leaders of powerful ministries contributes largely to AACM, baker Publishing Group is one publisher to make an authentic impact in publishing African-American authors of Christian fiction and religious materials. Amish romance List of Christian fiction authors List of Christian novels Home of the Christy Awards
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Spiritual autobiography
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Spiritual autobiography is a genre of non-fiction prose that dominated Protestant writing during the seventeenth century, particularly in England, particularly that of dissenters. The narrative follows the believer from a state of damnation to a state of grace, because so many autobiographies were written, they began to fall into a predictable pattern. The formula began with a youth, followed by a gradual awakening of spiritual feelings. The person would repent, fall again into sin, repent, the Bible was often a source of comfort or fear during this time. Finally, the person had an experience, an epiphany, often of an emotionally shattering character. Life was not necessarily easy after this, but it was a good deal less traumatic and these overarching narratives were seen to be not only relevant to human life, but also to human history. Those who practiced this type of spiritual autobiography believed that history repeats itself not only in mans outward, group existence and this also contributed to the growth of what we now know as the novel. Beyond the Abrahamic traditions Recent examples in the genre come from outside the Abrahamic traditions. Of special interest here is the study by Sarah H. Jacoby, Love and Liberation. Dr Jacobys study draws on the rare autobiographical and biographical writing of Sera Kandro, Sera Khandro, who studied outside of the monastic disciplines, also wrote the biography of her guru, Drimé Özer. Insightful work coming from the encounter of Western aspirants with Buddhism also includes Stephen Batchelors Confession of a Buddhist Atheist. Damrosch, Leopold, Jr. Gods Plot and Mans Stories, british Autobiography in the Seventeenth Century. The Evangelical Conversion Narrative, Spiritual Autobiography in Early Modern England, imagining a Self, Autobiography and Novel in Eighteenth-Century England. Starr, G. A. Defoe and Spiritual Autobiography, full text of John Bunyans Grace Abounding at Project Gutenberg
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Contemporary Christian music
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Contemporary Christian music is a genre of modern popular music which is lyrically focused on matters concerned with the Christian faith. Today, the term is used to refer to pop, rock. Top-selling CCM artists will also appear on the Billboard 200, in the iTunes Store, the genre is represented as part of the Christian and gospel genre. The growing popularity in the styles of Rock n Roll music in the 1950s was initially dismissed by the church because it was believed to encourage sinfulness. Yet as evangelical churches adapted to appeal to people, the musical styles used in worship changed as well by adopting the sounds of this popular style. The genre became known as contemporary Christian music as a result of the Jesus movement revival in the latter 1960s and early 1970s, about that time, many young people from the sixties counterculture professed to believe in Jesus. Convinced of the bareness of a lifestyle based on drugs, free sex, however, there were people who felt that Jesus was another trip. It was during the 1970s Jesus movement that Christian music started to become an industry within itself, Jesus Music started by playing instruments and singing songs about love and peace, which then translated into love of God. Paul Wohlegemuth, who wrote the book Rethinking Church Music, said 1970s will see a marked acceptance of rock-influenced music in all levels of church music. The rock style will become familiar to all people, its rhythmic excesses will become refined. Larry Norman is often remembered as the father of Christian rock and he is remembered as the artist who first combined rock n roll with Christian lyrics in the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. Unlike traditional or southern gospel music, this new Jesus music was birthed out of rock, pioneers of this movement also included Keith Green, 2nd Chapter of Acts, Barry McGuire, Andraé Crouch and the Disciples, Evie, Benny Hester, and The Imperials, among others. The small Jesus music culture had expanded into an industry by the 1980s. Many CCM artists such as Benny Hester, Amy Grant, DC Talk, Michael W. Smith, Stryper, the genre emerged and became prevalent in the 1970s and 1980s. Beginning in July 1978, CCM Magazine began covering Contemporary Christian Music artists and it has certain themes and messages behind the songs and their lyrics including Praise and worship, faith, encouragement, and prayer. These songs also focus on themes of devotion, inspiration, redemption, reconciliation, many people listen to contemporary Christian music for comfort through tough times. The lyrics and messages conveyed in CCM songs are aimed to evangelize, one of the earliest goals of CCM was to spread the news of Jesus to non-Christians. In addition, contemporary Christian music also strengthens the faith of believers, Contemporary Christian music has influences from folk, gospel, pop and rock music
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Christmas music
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Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music normally performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music was a feature of the Christmas season and its celebrations. The earliest examples are hymnographic works intended for use in observance of both the Feast of the Nativity and Theophany, many of which are still in use by the Eastern Orthodox Church. The 13th century saw the rise of the written in the vernacular. In the Middle Ages, the English combined circle dances with singing, later, the word carol came to mean a song in which a religious topic is treated in a style that is familiar or festive. From Italy, it passed to France and Germany, and later to England, Music in itself soon became one of the greatest tributes to Christmas, and Christmas music includes some of the noblest compositions of the great musicians. During the Commonwealth of England government under Cromwell, the Rump Parliament prohibited the practice of singing Christmas carols as Pagan, like other customs associated with popular Catholic Christianity, it earned the disapproval of Protestant Puritans. Famously, Cromwells interregnum prohibited all celebrations of the Christmas holiday and this attempt to ban the public celebration of Christmas can also be seen in the early history of Father Christmas. The Westminster Assembly of Divines established Sunday as the holy day in the calendar in 1644. The new liturgy produced for the English church recognised this in 1645 and its celebration was declared an offence by Parliament in 1647. There is some debate as to the effectiveness of this ban, Puritans generally disapproved of the celebration of Christmas—a trend which continually resurfaced in Europe and the USA through the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries. William Sandyss Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern, contained the first appearance in print of many now-classic English carols, singing carols in church was instituted on Christmas Eve 1880 in Truro Cathedral, Cornwall, England, which is now seen in churches all over the world. Christmas festivities, including music, are celebrated in a more secular fashion by such institutions as the Santa Claus Village, in Rovaniemi. The tradition of singing Christmas carols in return for alms or charity began in England in the century after the Restoration. Also from the century, there was the English custom, predominantly involving women, of taking a wassail bowl to their neighbours to solicit gifts. The status of Christmas as an important feast within the year also means there is a long tradition of music specially composed for celebrating the season. S. This is in due to the efforts of amateur choral societies during the nineteenth century. When it was composed, it was performed during Passiontide, jakub Jan Ryba, Czech Christmas Mass Hey, Master
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Church music
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Church music is music written for performance in church, or any musical setting of ecclesiastical liturgy, or music set to words expressing propositions of a sacred nature, such as a hymn. Christianity began as a small, persecuted Jewish sect, the only record of communal song in the Gospels is the last meeting of the disciples before the Crucifixion. Outside the Gospels, there is a reference to St. Paul encouraging the Ephesians and Colossians to use psalms, hymns, antiphonal psalmody is the singing or musical playing of psalms by alternating groups of performers. The peculiar mirror structure of the Hebrew psalms makes it likely that the method originated in the services of the ancient Israelites. According to the historian Socrates of Constantinople, its introduction into Christian worship was due to Ignatius of Antioch, the use of instruments in early Christian music seems to have been frowned upon. In the late 4th or early 5th century St. Jerome wrote that a Christian maiden ought not even to know what a lyre or flute is like, or to what use it is put. The introduction of church music is traditionally believed to date from the time of the papacy of Pope Vitalian in the 7th century. Gregorian chant is the tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic liturgical chant of Western Christianity that accompanied the celebration of Mass. This musical form originated in Monastic life, in singing the Divine Service nine times a day at the proper hours was upheld according to the Rule of Saint Benedict. Singing psalms made up a part of the life in a monastic community, while a smaller group. In its long history Gregorian Chant has been subjected to many gradual changes and this practice continued into the lifetime of François Couperin, whose Organ Masses were meant to be performed with alternating homophonic Chant. Although it had fallen into disuse after the Baroque period, Chant experienced a revival in the 19th century in the Roman Catholic Church. The mass is a form of music that sets out the parts of the Eucharistic liturgy to music, for example, there are many Masses written in English for the Church of England. Music is an part of mass, it accompanies various rituals acts. Many Masses, especially later ones, were never intended to be performed during the celebration of an actual mass, generally, for a composition to be a full Mass, it must contain the following invariable five sections, which together constitute the Ordinary of the Mass. Kyrie Gloria Credo, the Nicene Creed Sanctus, the part of which, beginning with the word Benedictus, was often sung separately after the consecration. Agnus Dei The Requiem Mass is a version of the ordinary mass. Musical settings of the Requiem mass have a tradition in Western music
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Gospel music
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Gospel music is a music genre in Christian music. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of music varies according to culture. Gospel music is composed and performed for many purposes, including aesthetic pleasure, religious or ceremonial purposes, Gospel music usually has dominant vocals with Christian lyrics. Gospel music can be traced to the early 17th century, with roots in the oral tradition. Hymns and sacred songs were repeated in a call and response fashion, most of the churches relied on hand clapping and foot stomping as rhythmic accompaniment. Most of the singing was done a cappella, the first published use of the term Gospel Song probably appeared in 1874. The original gospel songs were written and composed by such as George F. Root, Philip Bliss, Charles H. Gabriel, William Howard Doane. The advent of radio in the 1920s greatly increased the audience for gospel music, following World War II, gospel music moved into major auditoriums, and gospel music concerts became quite elaborate. Gospel blues is a form of gospel music. Southern gospel used all male, tenor-lead-baritone-bass quartet make-up, progressive Southern gospel is an American music genre that has grown out of Southern gospel over the past couple of decades. Christian country music, sometimes referred to as gospel music, is a subgenre of gospel music with a country flair. It peaked in popularity in the mid-1990s, bluegrass gospel music is rooted in American mountain music. Celtic gospel music infuses gospel music with a Celtic flair, and is popular in countries such as Ireland. British black gospel refers to Gospel music of the African diaspora, some proponents of standard hymns generally dislike gospel music of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Today, with distance, there is a greater acceptance of such gospel songs into official denominational hymnals. Gospel music in general is characterized by dominant vocals referencing lyrics of a Christian nature, subgenres include contemporary gospel, urban contemporary gospel, Southern gospel, and modern gospel music. Several forms of gospel music utilize choirs, use piano or Hammond organ, tambourines, drums, bass guitar and, increasingly, electric guitar. In comparison with hymns, which are generally of a statelier measure, several attempts have been made to describe the style of late 19th and early 20th century gospel songs in general
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Liturgical music
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Liturgical music originated as a part of religious ceremony, and includes a number of traditions, both ancient and modern. Such ceremonial music in the Judeo-Christian tradition can be traced back to both Temple and synagogue worship of the Hebrews. The interest taken by the Catholic Church in music is not only by practitioners. Gregorian chant is warmly recommended by the Catholic Church, as both music and modern unison music for the assembly. It must be holy, and must therefore exclude all profanity, not only from itself and it must be true art, for otherwise it cannot exercise on the minds of the hearers that influence which the Church meditates when she welcomes into her liturgy the art of music. This was expanded upon by Pope Pius XII in his motu proprio Musicae sacrae, liturgy Ephrem the Syrian Contemporary Catholic liturgical music Church music Christian music Religious music Herbermann, Charles, ed. Ecclesiastical Music
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Christian attitudes towards science
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Most sources of knowledge available to early Christians were connected to pagan world-views. There were various opinions on how Christianity should regard pagan learning, historically, Christianity has often been a patron of sciences. It has been prolific in the foundation of schools, universities and hospitals, historians of science such as Pierre Duhem credit medieval Catholic mathematicians and philosophers such as John Buridan, Nicole Oresme and Roger Bacon as the founders of modern science. Earlier attempts at reconciliation of Christianity with Newtonian mechanics appear quite different from later attempts at reconciliation with the scientific ideas of evolution or relativity. Many early interpretations of evolution polarized themselves around a struggle for existence and these ideas were significantly countered by later findings of universal patterns of biological cooperation. According to John Habgood, all man really knows here is that the universe seems to be a mix of good and evil, beauty and pain, and that suffering may somehow be part of the process of creation. Habgood holds that Christians should not be surprised that suffering may be used creatively by God, Robert John Russell has examined consonance and dissonance between modern physics, evolutionary biology, and Christian theology. Also the sense that God created the world as an operating system is what motivated many Christians throughout the Middle Ages to investigate nature. Modern historians of science such as J. L and he was not unlike other medieval theologians who sought out reason in the effort to defend his faith. Some of todays scholars, such as Stanley Jaki, have claimed that Christianity with its particular worldview, was a factor for the emergence of modern science. Lindberg states that the popular belief that the Middle Ages was a time of ignorance. According to Lindberg, while there are portions of the classical tradition which suggest this view. It was common to tolerate and encourage critical thinking about the nature of the world, the relation between Christianity and science is complex and cannot be simplified to either harmony or conflict, according to Lindberg. Lindberg reports that the medieval scholar rarely experienced the coercive power of the church. There was no warfare between science and the church, in 1992, the Catholic Churchs seeming vindication of Galileo attracted much comment in the media. A degree of concord between science and religion can be seen in religious belief and empirical science, the belief that God created the world and therefore humans, can lead to the view that he arranged for humans to know the world. This is underwritten by the doctrine of imago dei, many well-known historical figures who influenced Western science considered themselves Christian such as Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Newton and Boyle. Isaac Newton, for example, believed that gravity caused the planets to revolve about the Sun, other famous founders of science who adhered to Christian beliefs include Galileo, Johannes Kepler, and Blaise Pascal
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Parson-naturalist
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A parson-naturalist was a cleric, who often saw the study of natural science as an extension of his religious work. The natural theologians John Ray and William Paley argued that the complexity of the world of nature was evidence for the existence of a creator. Accordingly, a parson-naturalist frequently made use of his insights into philosophy, notable early parson-naturalists were William Turner, John Ray, William Derham, and Gilbert White. The 19th century witnessed the wide proliferation of the tradition, which continued into the 20th century, Charles Darwin aspired to be a parson-naturalist until his return from his voyage on the Beagle. Parson-naturalism declined in the twentieth century, Armstrong covers two men, the ornithologist Charles Earle Raven and his own father, Edward Armstrong, whom he describes as an authority on bird behaviour and bird song. The Times publishes a letter every year from the Reverend Prebendary John Woolmer recording the status of the dung-feeding forest butterfly, Woolmer has a stole embroidered with butterflies for the service he holds in a Northamptonshire woodland to bless the forest rides. Woolmer wrote the book The Grand Surprise, Butterflies and the Kingdom of Heaven, christianity and science List of Catholic cleric-scientists Natural theology Armstrong, Patrick. The English Parson-naturalist, A Companionship Between Science and Religion, natures Economy, A History of Ecological Ideas
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History of Christianity
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The history of Christianity concerns the Christian religion, Christendom, and the Church with its various denominations, from the 1st century to the present. Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christianity spread to all of Europe in the Middle Ages, Christianity expanded throughout the world during Europes Age of Exploration from the Renaissance onwards, becoming the worlds largest religion. Today there are more than two billion Christians worldwide, during its early history, Christianity grew from a 1st-century Jewish following to a religion that existed across the entire Greco-Roman world and beyond. The Roman persecution of Christians ended in AD313 when Constantine the Great decreed tolerance for the religion and he then called the First Council of Nicaea in AD325, beginning of the period of the First seven Ecumenical Councils. The Apostolic Church was the community led by the apostles, and to some degree, in his Great Commission, the resurrected Jesus commanded that his teachings be spread to all the world. While the historical reliability of the Acts of the Apostles is disputed by critics, Acts gives a history of the Church from this commission in 1, 3–11 to the spread of the religion among the Gentiles and the eastern Mediterranean by Paul and others. The first Christians were essentially all ethnically Jewish or Jewish proselytes, in other words, Jesus preached to the Jewish people and called from them his first disciples, see for example Matthew 10. Circumcision in particular was considered repulsive by Greeks and Hellenists while circumcision advocates were labelled Judaisers, related issues are still debated today. The doctrines of the apostles brought the Early Church into conflict with some Jewish religious authorities and this eventually led to their expulsion from the synagogues, according to one theory of the Council of Jamnia. Acts records the martyrdom of the Christian leaders, Stephen and James of Zebedee, the name Christian was first applied to the disciples in Antioch, as recorded in Acts 11,26. Some contend that the term Christian was first coined as a term, meaning little Christs, and was meant as a mockery. The sources for the beliefs of the community include the Gospels. According to a recorded by Eusebius and Epiphanius, the Jerusalem church fled to Pella at the outbreak of the First Jewish–Roman War. The post-apostolic period concerns the time after the death of the apostles until persecutions ended with the legalisation of Christian worship under Emperors Constantine the Great, according to the New Testament, Christians were subject to various persecutions from the beginning. This involved even death for Christians such as Stephen and James, according to Church tradition, it was under Neros persecution that Peter and Paul were each martyred in Rome. Similarly, several of the New Testament writings mention persecutions and stress endurance through them, the last and most severe persecution organised by the imperial authorities was the Diocletianic Persecution,303 -311. In spite of these sometimes intense persecutions, the Christian religion continued its spread throughout the Mediterranean Basin, There is no agreement on how Christianity managed to spread so successfully prior to the Edict of Milan and the establishment of Christianity as the state religion of the Roman Empire. In The Rise of Christianity, Rodney Stark argues that Christianity triumphed over paganism chiefly because it improved the lives of its adherents in various ways
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Role of Christianity in civilization
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The role of Christianity in civilization has been intricately intertwined with the history and formation of Western society. In various ways it has sought to affect Western attitudes to vice and it has, over many centuries, promulgated the teachings of Jesus within the Western world as well as throughout other third-world nations. The cultural influence of the Church has been vast, Church scholars preserved literacy in Western Europe following the Fall of the Western Roman Empire. During the Middle Ages, the Church rose to replace the Roman Empire as the force in Europe. The cathedrals of that age remain among the most iconic feats of architecture produced by Western civilization, many of Europes universities were also founded by the church at that time. Many historians state that universities and cathedral schools were a continuation of the interest in learning promoted by monasteries, the university is generally regarded as an institution that has its origin in the Medieval Christian setting. The Bible and Christian theology have also strongly influenced Western philosophers, long held Christian teachings on sexuality and marriage and family life have also been both influential and controversial. Christianity played a role in ending practices such as sacrifice, slavery, infanticide. Christianity in general affected the status of women by condemning marital infidelity, divorce, incest, polygamy, birth control, infanticide, and abortion. Nevertheless, women have played prominent roles in Western history through as part of the church, particularly in education and healthcare, some of the things that Christianity is commonly criticized for include the oppression of women, condemnation of homosexuality, colonialism, and various other violence. Christian ideas have been used both to support and to end slavery as an institution, the criticism of Christianity has come from the various religious and non-religious groups around the world, some of whom were themselves Christians. Christianity began as a Jewish sect in the mid-1st century arising out of the life, the life of Jesus is recounted in the New Testament of the Bible, one of the bedrock texts of Western Civilization and inspiration for countless works of Western art. Jesus birth is commemorated in the festival of Christmas, his death during the Paschal Triduum, Christmas and Easter remain holidays in many Western nations. Jesus learned the texts of the Hebrew Bible, with its Ten Commandments and he was a persuasive teller of parables and moral philosopher who urged followers to worship God, act without violence or prejudice and care for the sick, hungry and poor. These teachings have been influential in Western culture. In Jerusalem, around 30AD, Jesus was crucified, Catholicism, as we know it, emerged slowly. Christians often faced persecution during these centuries, particularly for their refusal to join in worshiping the emperors. Nevertheless, carried through the synagogues, merchants and missionaries across the known world, Emperor Constantines Edict of Milan in 313 AD ended the persecutions and his own conversion to Christianity was a significant turning point in history
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History of the Eastern Orthodox Church
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The history of the Orthodox Church is traced back to Jesus Christ and the Apostles. The Apostles appointed successors, known as bishops, and they in turn appointed other bishops in a known as Apostolic succession. Over time, five Patriarchates were established to organize the Christian world, in the early Middle Ages, Orthodox missionaries spread Christianity towards the north, to the Bulgarians, Serbs, Russians and others. In the Late Middle Ages, the Fall of Constantinople brought a part of the worlds Orthodox Christians under Ottoman Turkish rule. Nevertheless, Orthodoxy continued to flourish in Russia, as well as within the Ottoman Empire among the latters Christian subject peoples, four stages of development can be distinguished in the history of the Orthodox Church. Early Christianity, which represents the first three centuries through the age of Constantine the Great, constitutes the Apostolic and ancient period. The Byzantine period, beginning with the time of the Ecumenical Councils, the last stage is the modern period. The Orthodox jurisdictions with the largest number of adherents in modern times are the Russian, the Ethiopian, the most ancient of the Orthodox communities existing today are the churches of Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria, Constantinople, Armenia, Georgia, and Ethiopia. Christianity first spread in the predominantly Greek-speaking eastern half of the Roman Empire, early growth also occurred in the two political centers of Rome and Greece, as well as in Byzantium. Historically the word church did not mean a building or housing structure, the earliest Ecclesiology would posit that the Eucharistic assembly, under the authority and permission of a Bishop, is what constitutes a Church. As St. Ignatius of Antioch said, Let no man do anything connected with the Church without the bishop, Let that be deemed a proper Eucharist, which is either by the bishop, or by one to whom he has entrusted it. Wherever the bishop shall appear, there let the multitude also be, even as, wherever Jesus Christ is and it is not lawful without the bishop either to baptize or to celebrate a love-feast. The church of Rome by tradition was founded by both Saint Peter and Saint Paul, systematic persecution of the early Christian church caused it to become an underground movement. The first above-ground legal churches were built in Armenia, Armenia became the first country to legalize Christianity under King Tiridates III and also embrace it as the state religion in 310 AD. However, illegal churches before Christian legalization are mentioned throughout history, for example. Also noteworthy are the Church of St Peter in Antioch and the Cenacle in Jerusalem, much of the official organizing of the ecclesiastical structure, clarifying true from false teachings was done by the bishops of the church. Their works are referred to as Patristics and this tradition of clarification can be seen as established in the saints of the Orthodox Church referred to as the Apostolic Fathers, bishops themselves established by apostolic succession. This also continued into the age when the practice of the religion of Christianity became legal, the Biblical canon began with the officially accepted books of the Koine Greek Old Testament
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Christian influences in Islam
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Christian influences in Islam could be traced back to the Eastern Christianity, which surrounded the origins of Islam. Christians also introduced the Muslims to Greek learning, Eastern Christians contributed to the Arab Islamic Civilization during the Ummayad and the Abbasid periods by translating works of Greek philosophers to Syriac and afterwards to Arabic. They also excelled in philosophy, science, theology and medicine, the majority of Muslim countries also use a Gregorian calendar and some countries observes Sunday as a non-working day. In the late 7th and 8th centuries, Muslims encountered Levantine Christians, the cognate Syriac word sahedo may have influenced the Arabic shahid. During the Abbasid dynasty, translations of the gospels from Syriac into Arabic were made, particularly by historian Bar-Hebraeus, Roman and Byzantine styles were particularly prevalent in early Islamic architecture. One of the examples is the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem and its design is derived from Roman architecture. Madrasa-Mausoleum of Sultan Al Nasir Muhammad in Cairo has a Gothic doorway from Acre, the former Christian cathedral Madrasat al-Halawiyya in Aleppo, probably taken by Nur ad-Din Zangi, featured an altar. The Aqsa Mosque has an ornament, taken from Crusader structures of the 12th century. The upper double capital of the mosque on twisted columns expresses the unity of nature in a characteristic Romanesque style. After the fall of Constantinople, the Ottomans converted a major basilica, Hagia Sophia, to a mosque and incorporated Byzantine architectural elements into their own work and this was a part of the conversion of non-Muslim places of worship into mosques. The Hagia Sophia also served as model for many Ottoman mosques, such as the Shehzadeh Mosque, the Suleiman Mosque, christological motifs could be found in the works of Nizami, Rumi and others. Islamic artists applied Christian patterns for iconography, the picture of the birth of Muhammad in Rashid ad-Dins Jami at-Tarawikh is reminiscent of the birth of Jesus. The angels, hovering over the mother, correspond to a Christian type, some surviving Ayyubid inlaid brasses feature Gospel scenes and images of Madonna with infant Jesus. References to the Annunciation and the baptism of Jesus are manifest in al-Athar al-Baqiyah, the frescoes of Samarra, painted between 836 and 883, also suggest the Christian craft because of the Christian priests who are the subjects and the signatures of the artist. Christians contributed to the Arab Islamic Civilization during the Ummayad and the Abbasid periods by translating works of Greek philosophers to Syriac, during the 4th through the 7th centuries, scholarly work in the Syriac and Greek languages was either newly initiated, or carried on from the Hellenistic period. The House of Wisdom was a library, translation institute, and academy established in Abbasid-era Baghdad, nestorians played a prominent role in the formation of Arab culture, with the Jundishapur school being prominent in the late Sassanid, Umayyad and early Abbasid periods. Notably, eight generations of the Nestorian Bukhtishu family served as doctors to caliphs. Christians especially Nestorian contributed to the Arab Islamic Civilization during the Ummayads and they also excelled in philosophy, science and theology and the personal physicians of the Abbasid Caliphs were often Assyrian Christians such as the long serving Bukhtishu dynasty
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Christianity
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Christianity is a Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, who serves as the focal point for the religion. It is the worlds largest religion, with over 2.4 billion followers, or 33% of the global population, Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God and the savior of humanity whose coming as the Messiah was prophesied in the Old Testament. Christian theology is summarized in creeds such as the Apostles Creed and his incarnation, earthly ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection are often referred to as the gospel, meaning good news. The term gospel also refers to accounts of Jesuss life and teaching, four of which—Matthew, Mark, Luke. Christianity is an Abrahamic religion that began as a Second Temple Judaic sect in the mid-1st century, following the Age of Discovery, Christianity spread to the Americas, Australasia, sub-Saharan Africa, and the rest of the world through missionary work and colonization. Christianity has played a prominent role in the shaping of Western civilization, throughout its history, Christianity has weathered schisms and theological disputes that have resulted in many distinct churches and denominations. Worldwide, the three largest branches of Christianity are the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the denominations of Protestantism. There are many important differences of interpretation and opinion of the Bible, concise doctrinal statements or confessions of religious beliefs are known as creeds. They began as baptismal formulae and were expanded during the Christological controversies of the 4th and 5th centuries to become statements of faith. Many evangelical Protestants reject creeds as definitive statements of faith, even agreeing with some or all of the substance of the creeds. The Baptists have been non-creedal in that they have not sought to establish binding authoritative confessions of faith on one another. Also rejecting creeds are groups with roots in the Restoration Movement, such as the Christian Church, the Evangelical Christian Church in Canada, the Apostles Creed is the most widely accepted statement of the articles of Christian faith. It is also used by Presbyterians, Methodists, and Congregationalists and 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 used as a summary of Christian doctrine for baptismal candidates in the churches of Rome. Most Christians accept the use of creeds, and subscribe to at least one of the mentioned above. The central tenet of Christianity is the belief in Jesus as the Son of God, 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, Jesus, having become fully human, suffered the pains and temptations of a mortal man, but did not sin
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Jesus
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In Christology, the Person of Christ refers to the study of the human and divine natures of Jesus Christ as they co-exist within one person. There is no discussion in the New Testament regarding the dual nature of the Person of Christ as both divine and human. Hence, since the days of Christianity theologians have debated various approaches to the understanding of these natures. In the period following the Apostolic Age, specific beliefs such as Arianism and Docetism were criticized. On the other end of the spectrum, Docetism argued that Jesus physical body was an illusion, docetic teachings were attacked by St. Ignatius of Antioch and were eventually abandoned by proto-orthodox Christians. However, after the First Council of Nicaea in 325 the Logos, historically in the Alexandrian school of christology, Jesus Christ is the eternal Logos paradoxically humanized in history, a divine Person who became enfleshed, uniting himself to the human nature. The views of these schools can be summarized as follows, Alexandria, Antioch, Logos assumes a specific human being The First Council of Ephesus in 431 debated a number of views regarding the Person of Christ. At the same gathering the council debated the doctrines of monophysitism or miaphysitism. The council rejected Nestorianism and adopted the term hypostatic union, referring to divine, the language used in the 431 declaration was further refined at the 451 Council of Chalcedon. However, the Chalcedon creed was not accepted by all Christians, because Saint Augustine died in 430 he did not participate in the Council of Ephesus in 431 or Chalcedon in 451, but his ideas had some impact on both councils. On the other hand, the major theological figure of the Middle Ages. The Third Council of Constantinople in 680 held that both divine and human wills exist in Jesus, with the divine will having precedence, leading and guiding the human will. John Calvin maintained that there was no element in the Person of Christ which could be separated from the person of The Word. Calvin also emphasized the importance of the Work of Christ in any attempt at understanding the Person of Christ, the study of the Person of Christ continued into the 20th century, with modern theologians such as Karl Rahner and Hans von Balthasar. Balthasar argued that the union of the human and divine natures of Christ was achieved not by the absorption of human attributes, thus in his view the divine nature of Christ was not affected by the human attributes and remained forever divine
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Christ (title)
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In Christianity, the Christ is a title for the saviour and redeemer who would bring salvation to the Jewish people and mankind. Christians believe that Jesus is the Jewish messiah called Christ in both the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament, Christ, used by Christians as both a name and a title, is synonymous with Jesus. The role of the Christ in Christianity originated from the concept of the messiah in Judaism. Though the conceptions of the messiah in each religion are similar, for the most part they are distinct from one due to the split of early Christianity. Jesus came to be called Jesus Christ by his followers after his crucifixion and resurrection, Christians believe that the messianic prophecies were fulfilled in his mission, death, and resurrection. The Pauline epistles, the earliest texts of the New Testament, the word Christ was originally a title, but later became part of the name Jesus Christ. It is, however, still used as a title, in the reciprocal use Christ Jesus, meaning the Messiah Jesus. The followers of Jesus became known as Christians because they believed Jesus to be the Khristós or Mashiach prophesied in the Hebrew Bible. Jesus was not, and is not, accepted in Judaism as a Jewish messiah, religious Jews still await their messiahs first coming and the Messianic prophecies of Jewish tradition to be accomplished. Religious Christians believe in the Second Coming of Christ, and they await the rest of Christian messianic prophecies to be fulfilled. Muslims accept Jesus as al-Masih, the messiah in Islam, but dont believe that the messiah is divine or the Son of God, but do believe he will come again. The area of Christian theology called Christology is primarily concerned with the nature and person of Jesus Christ as recorded in the canonical gospels, the word Christ appears in English and in most European languages. English-speakers now often use Christ as if it were a name, one part of the name Jesus Christ and its usage in Christ Jesus emphasizes its nature as a title. The spelling Christ in English became standardized in the 18th century, when, in the spirit of the Enlightenment, the spelling Christ in English is attested from the 14th century. In modern and ancient usage, even in secular terminology, Christ usually refers to Jesus, at the time of Jesus, there was no single form of Second Temple Judaism, and there were significant political, social, and religious differences among the various Jews groups. However, for centuries the Jews had used the term moshiach to refer to their expected deliverer, the Greek word messias appears only twice in the Septuagint of the promised prince. This title was used when a name was wanted for the one who was to be at once King. The New Testament states that the long-awaited messiah had come and describes this savior as the Christ
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Jesus in Christianity
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Christians believe that Jesus is the Messiah and believe that through his death and resurrection, humans can be reconciled to God and thereby are offered salvation and the promise of eternal life. The choice Jesus made thus counter-positions him as a new man of morality and obedience, most Christians believe that Jesus was both human and divine—the Son of God. Jesus, having become fully human in all respects, suffered the pains and temptations of a mortal man, as fully God, he defeated death and rose to life again. According to the Bible, God raised him from the dead and he ascended to heaven to sit at the Right Hand of God, and he will return to earth again for the Last Judgment and the establishment of the Kingdom of God in the World to Come. Although Christian views of Jesus vary, it is possible to summarize key elements of the shared beliefs among major denominations based on their catechetical or confessional texts. Christian views of Jesus are derived from biblical sources, particularly from the canonical Gospels. Christians predominantly hold that these works are historically true and those groups or denominations committed to what are considered biblically orthodox Christianity nearly all agree on the following points, Christians believe that the mother of Jesus was a virgin. Christians believe that Jesus was a human being who was also fully God, Christians believe that Jesus came into the world as the son of only one earthly parent, Mary. Christians believe that Jesus never sinned or did anything wrong, Christians believe that Jesus was eventually martyred, was buried in a tomb, and then on the third day came back to life. Christians believe that because he rose from the tomb on the third day, Christians believe that Jesus eventually ascended back to God the Father. Christians believe that Jesus will come back to earth a second time, the five major milestones in the gospel narrative of the life of Jesus are his Baptism, Transfiguration, Crucifixion, Resurrection and Ascension. These are usually bracketed by two episodes, his Nativity at the beginning and the sending of the Paraclete at the end. The gospel accounts of the teachings of Jesus are often presented in terms of specific categories involving his works and words, e. g. his ministry, Christians not only attach theological significance to the works of Jesus, but also to his name. Devotions to the name of Jesus go back to the earliest days of Christianity and these exist today both in Eastern and Western Christianity—both Catholic and Protestant. Christians predominantly profess that through Jesus life, death, and resurrection and his death on a cross is understood as a redemptive sacrifice, the source of humanitys salvation and the atonement for sin which had entered human history through the sin of Adam. But who do you say that I am, only Simon Peter answered him, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God — Matthew 16, 15-16 Jesus is mediator, but…the title means more that someone between God and man. He is not just a third party between God and humanity…, as true God he brings God to mankind. As true man he brings mankind to God, most Christians generally consider Jesus to be the Christ, the long awaited Messiah, as well as the one and only Son of God
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Virgin birth of Jesus
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The virgin birth of Jesus is the belief that Jesus was conceived in the womb of his mother Mary through the Holy Spirit without the agency of a human father and born while Mary was still a virgin. The New Testament references are Matthew 1, 18-25 and Luke 1 and it is believed by Christians to follow the prophetic message in Isaiah 7,14. It is not expressly mentioned elsewhere in the Christian scriptures, the virgin birth was universally accepted in the Christian church by the 2nd century and, except for some minor sects, was not seriously challenged until the 18th century. Muslims also accept the virgin birth of Jesus,18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit,19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus,22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet,23 Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel. 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, he took his wife,25, and he called his name Jesus. 26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, and the virgins name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, Greetings, O favored one,29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary,31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David,33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever,34 And Mary said to the angel, How will this be, since I am a virgin. 35 And the angel answered her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you, therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. 36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son,37 For nothing will be impossible with God. 38 And Mary said, Behold, I am the servant of the Lord, and the angel departed from her. Jesus miraculous conception by the Holy Spirit is found only in the gospels of Matthew, both probably date from the period 80-100 AD, and both were originally anonymous. Matthew 1,23 quotes a prophecy from the Isaiah as the basis for the virgin birth, in Isaiah the Immanuel prophecy has an immediate aim, but Matthew uses it to find patterns of Gods dealings with Israel rather than a single and specific fulfillment. In the genealogy preceding his birth story Matthew calls Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ
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Ministry of Jesus
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The Gospel of Luke states that Jesus was about 30 years of age at the start of his ministry. A chronology of Jesus typically has the date of the start of his ministry estimated at around AD 27–29, Jesus Early Galilean ministry begins when after his Baptism, he goes back to Galilee from his time in the Judean desert. The Major Galilean ministry which begins in Matthew 8 includes the commissioning of the Twelve Apostles, the Final Galilean ministry begins after the death of John the Baptist as Jesus prepares to go to Jerusalem. In the Later Judean ministry Jesus starts his journey to Jerusalem through Judea. As Jesus travels towards Jerusalem, in the Later Perean ministry, about one third the way down from the Sea of Galilee along the River Jordan, the Final ministry in Jerusalem is sometimes called the Passion Week and begins with Jesus triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The gospels provide more details about the final ministry than the other periods, the gospel accounts place the beginning of Jesus ministry in the countryside of Roman Judea, near the River Jordan. Jesuss Baptism is generally considered the beginning of his ministry and the Last Supper with his disciples in Jerusalem as the end, however, some authors also consider the period between the Resurrection and the Ascension part of the ministry of Jesus. Luke 3,23 states that Jesus was about 30 years of age at the start of his ministry, there have been different approaches to estimating the date of the start of the ministry of Jesus. In the New Testament, the date of the Last Supper is very close to the date of the crucifixion of Jesus, scholarly estimates for the date of the crucifixion generally fall in the range AD 30-36. The three Synoptic Gospels refer to just one passover during his ministry, while the Gospel of John refers to three passovers, suggesting a period of three years. However, the Synoptic gospels do not require a ministry that lasted one year. The gospels present John the Baptists ministry as the precursor to that of Jesus, John 1,28 specifies the location where John was baptizing as Bethany beyond the Jordan. This is not the village Bethany just east of Jerusalem, but the town Bethany, first-century historian Flavius Josephus also wrote in the Antiquities of the Jews that John the Baptist was imprisoned and then killed in Machaerus on the border of Perea. Assuming that there were two incidences of Cleansing of the Temple, which was located in Jerusalem, a reference to an early Judean ministry may be John 2. The Early Galilean ministry begins when Jesus goes back to Galilee from the Judean desert, after rebuffing the temptation of Satan. In this early period, Jesus preaches around Galilee and, in Matthew 4, 18-20, his first disciples encounter him, begin to travel with him and eventually form the core of the early Church. The Gospel of John includes Marriage at Cana as the first miracle of Jesus taking place in early period of ministry. A few villages in Galilee have been suggested as the location of Cana, the return of Jesus to Galilee follows the arrest of John the Baptist
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Crucifixion of Jesus
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The crucifixion of Jesus occurred in 1st century Judea, most probably between the years 30 and 33 AD. According to the gospels, Jesus, the Christ, was arrested, tried, and sentenced by Pontius Pilate to be scourged. Jesus was stripped of his clothing and offered wine mixed with gall to drink and he was then hung between two convicted thieves and according to Marks Gospel, died some six hours later. During this time, the soldiers affixed a sign to the top of the cross stating Jesus of Nazareth and they then divided his garments among them, but cast lots for his seamless robe. After Jesus death they pierced his side with a spear to be certain that he had died, the Bible describes seven statements that Jesus made while he was on the cross, as well as several supernatural events that occurred. Collectively referred to as the Passion, Jesus suffering and redemptive death by crucifixion are the aspects of Christian theology concerning the doctrines of salvation. The baptism of Jesus and his crucifixion are considered to be two historically certain facts about Jesus, bart Ehrman states that the crucifixion of Jesus on the orders of Pontius Pilate is the most certain element about him. John Dominic Crossan states that the crucifixion of Jesus is as certain as any historical fact can be, eddy and Boyd state that it is now firmly established that there is non-Christian confirmation of the crucifixion of Jesus. Craig Blomberg states that most scholars in the third quest for the historical Jesus consider the crucifixion indisputable. Christopher M. Tuckett states that, although the reasons for the death of Jesus are hard to determine, one of the indisputable facts about him is that he was crucified. While scholars agree on the historicity of the crucifixion, they differ on the reason, geza Vermes also views the crucifixion as a historical event but provides his own explanation and background for it. John P. Meier views the crucifixion of Jesus as historical fact and states that, based on the criterion of embarrassment, Christians would not have invented the painful death of their leader. Meier states that a number of criteria, e. g. the criterion of multiple attestation. The crucified man was identified as Yehohanan ben Hagkol and probably died about 70 AD, the analyses at the Hadassah Medical School estimated that he died in his late 20s. The earliest detailed accounts of the death of Jesus are contained in the four canonical gospels, there are other, more implicit references in the New Testament epistles. In the synoptic gospels, Jesus predicts his death in three separate episodes, all four Gospels conclude with an extended narrative of Jesus arrest, trial, crucifixion, burial, and accounts of resurrection. In each Gospel these five events in the life of Jesus are treated with more detail than any other portion of that Gospels narrative. Scholars note that the reader receives an almost hour-by-hour account of what is happening, after being flogged, Jesus was mocked by Roman soldiers as the King of the Jews, clothed in a purple robe, crowned with thorns, beaten and spat on
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Resurrection of Jesus
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The resurrection of Jesus is the Christian religious belief that, after being put to death, Jesus rose again from the dead. It is the central tenet of Christian theology and part of the Nicene Creed, Paul the Apostle declared that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. Paul further asserted And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday, two days after Good Friday, the day of his crucifixion. Easters date corresponds roughly with Passover, the Jewish observance associated with the Exodus, in the New Testament all four gospels conclude with an extended narrative of Jesuss arrest, trial, crucifixion, burial, and his resurrection. In each gospel these five events in the life of Jesus are treated with more detail than any other portion of that gospels narrative. Scholars note that the reader receives an almost hour-by-hour account of what is happening, the death and resurrection of Jesus are treated as the climax of the story, the point to which everything else has been moving all the while. After his death by crucifixion, Jesus was placed in a new tomb which was discovered early Sunday morning to be empty, the New Testament does not include an account of the moment of resurrection. In the Eastern Church icons do not depict that moment, but show the myrrhbearers, the major resurrection appearances of Jesus in the canonical gospels are reported to have occurred after his death, burial and resurrection, but prior to his ascension. This was in accordance with Mosaic Law, which stated that a person hanged on a tree must not be allowed to remain there at night, but should be buried before sundown. All four gospels report that women were the ones to find the tomb of Jesus empty, according to Mark and Luke, the announcement of Jesus resurrection was first made to women. According to Mark and John, Jesus actually appeared first to Mary Magdalene alone, in the gospels, especially the synoptics, women play a central role as eyewitnesses at Jesus death, entombment, and in the discovery of the empty tomb. All three synoptics repeatedly make women the subject of verbs of seeing, clearly presenting them as eyewitnesses, after they found the empty tomb, the gospels indicate that Jesus made a series of appearances to the disciples. He was not immediately recognizable, according to Luke, E. P. Sanders concluded that although he could appear and disappear, he was not a ghost. Writing that Luke was very insistent about that, Sanders pointed out that the risen Lord could be touched and he first appeared to Mary Magdalene, but she did not recognize him at first. The first two disciples to whom he appeared, walked and talked with him for quite a while without knowing who he was and he was made known in the breaking of the bread. Beside the Sea of Galilee he encouraged Peter to serve his followers and his final appearance is reported as being forty days after the resurrection when he was carried up into heaven where he sits on the right hand of God
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Bible
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The Bible is a collection of sacred texts or scriptures that Jews and Christians consider to be a product of divine inspiration and a record of the relationship between God and humans. Many different authors contributed to the Bible, what is regarded as canonical text differs depending on traditions and groups, a number of Bible canons have evolved, with overlapping and diverging contents. The Christian Old Testament overlaps with the Hebrew Bible and the Greek Septuagint, the New Testament is a collection of writings by early Christians, believed to be mostly Jewish disciples of Christ, written in first-century Koine Greek. These early Christian Greek writings consist of narratives, letters, among Christian denominations there is some disagreement about the contents of the canon, primarily the Apocrypha, a list of works that are regarded with varying levels of respect. Attitudes towards the Bible also differ amongst Christian groups and this concept arose during the Protestant Reformation, and many denominations today support the use of the Bible as the only source of Christian teaching. With estimated total sales of over 5 billion copies, the Bible is widely considered to be the book of all time. It has estimated sales of 100 million copies, and has been a major influence on literature and history, especially in the West. The English word Bible is from the Latin biblia, from the word in Medieval Latin and Late Latin. Medieval Latin biblia is short for biblia sacra holy book, while biblia in Greek and it gradually came to be regarded as a feminine singular noun in medieval Latin, and so the word was loaned as a singular into the vernaculars of Western Europe. Latin biblia sacra holy books translates Greek τὰ βιβλία τὰ ἅγια ta biblia ta hagia, the word βιβλίον itself had the literal meaning of paper or scroll and came to be used as the ordinary word for book. It is the diminutive of βύβλος byblos, Egyptian papyrus, possibly so called from the name of the Phoenician sea port Byblos from whence Egyptian papyrus was exported to Greece, the Greek ta biblia was an expression Hellenistic Jews used to describe their sacred books. Christian use of the term can be traced to c.223 CE, bruce notes that Chrysostom appears to be the first writer to use the Greek phrase ta biblia to describe both the Old and New Testaments together. The division of the Hebrew Bible into verses is based on the sof passuk cantillation mark used by the 10th-century Masoretes to record the verse divisions used in oral traditions. The oldest extant copy of a complete Bible is an early 4th-century parchment book preserved in the Vatican Library, the oldest copy of the Tanakh in Hebrew and Aramaic dates from the 10th century CE. The oldest copy of a complete Latin Bible is the Codex Amiatinus and he states that it is not a magical book, nor was it literally written by God and passed to mankind. In Christian Bibles, the New Testament Gospels were derived from traditions in the second half of the first century CE. Riches says that, Scholars have attempted to reconstruct something of the history of the oral traditions behind the Gospels, the period of transmission is short, less than 40 years passed between the death of Jesus and the writing of Marks Gospel. This means that there was time for oral traditions to assume fixed form
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Old Testament
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Its counterpart is the New Testament, the second part of the Christian Bible. The books that comprise the Old Testament canon differ between Christian Churches as well as their order and names. The most common Protestant canon comprises 39 books, the Catholic canon comprises 46 books, the 39 books in common to all the Christian canons corresponds to 24 books of the Tanakh, with some differences of order, and there are some differences in text. The additional number reflects the split of texts in the Christian Bibles into separate books, for example, Kings, Samuel and Chronicles, Ezra–Nehemiah, the books which are part of a Christian Old Testament but which are not part of the Hebrew canon are sometimes described as deuterocanonical. In general, Protestant bibles do not include books in its canon. The Old Testament consists of translations of many books by various authors produced over a period of centuries. The canon formed in stages, first the Pentateuch by around 400 BC, then the Prophets during the Hasmonean dynasty, and finally the remaining books. The Old Testament contains 39 or 46 or more books, divided, very broadly, into the Pentateuch, the books, the wisdom books. For the Orthodox canon, Septuagint titles are provided in parentheses when these differ from those editions, for the Catholic canon, the Douaic titles are provided in parentheses when these differ from those editions. Likewise, the King James Version references some of these books by the spelling when referring to them in the New Testament. The Talmud in Bava Batra 14b gives a different order for the books in Neviim and Ketuvim and this order is also cited in Mishneh Torah Hilchot Sefer Torah 7,15. The order of the books of the Torah is universal through all denominations of Judaism and they are present in a few historic Protestant versions, the German Luther Bible included such books, as did the English 1611 King James Version. Empty table cells indicate that a book is absent from that canon, several of the books in the Eastern Orthodox canon are also found in the appendix to the Latin Vulgate, formerly the official Bible of the Roman Catholic Church. The books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings follow, there is a broad consensus among scholars that these originated as a single work during the Babylonian exile of the 6th century BC. The two Books of Chronicles cover much the material as the Pentateuch and Deuteronomistic history and probably date from the 4th century BC. Chronicles, and Ezra–Nehemiah, were finished during the 3rd century BC. Catholic and Orthodox Old Testaments contain two to four Books of Maccabees, written in the 2nd and 1st centuries BC and these history books make up around half the total content of the Old Testament. God is consistently depicted as the one who created or put into order the world, the Old Testament stresses the special relationship between God and his chosen people, Israel, but includes instructions for proselytes as well
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New Testament
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The New Testament is the second major part of the Christian biblical canon, the first part being the Old Testament, based on the Hebrew Bible. The New Testament discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christianity, Christians regard both the Old and New Testaments together as sacred scripture. The New Testament has frequently accompanied the spread of Christianity around the world and it reflects and serves as a source for Christian theology and morality. Both extended readings and phrases directly from the New Testament are also incorporated into the various Christian liturgies, the New Testament has influenced religious, philosophical, and political movements in Christendom and left an indelible mark on literature, art, and music. In almost all Christian traditions today, the New Testament consists of 27 books, John A. T. Robinson, Dan Wallace, and William F. Albright dated all the books of the New Testament before 70 AD. Others give a date of 80 AD, or at 96 AD. Over time, some disputed books, such as the Book of Revelation, other works earlier held to be Scripture, such as 1 Clement, the Shepherd of Hermas, and the Diatessaron, were excluded from the New Testament. However, the canon of the New Testament, at least since Late Antiquity, has been almost universally recognized within Christianity. The term new testament, or new covenant first occurs in Jeremiah 31,31, the same Greek phrase for new covenant is found elsewhere in the New Testament. Modern English, like Latin, distinguishes testament and covenant as alternative translations, John Wycliffes 1395 version is a translation of the Latin Vulgate and so follows different terms in Jeremiah and Hebrews, Lo. Days shall come, saith the Lord, and I shall make a new covenant with the house of Israel, for he reproving him saith, Lo. Days come, saith the Lord, when I shall establish a new testament on the house of Israel, use of the term New Testament to describe a collection of first and second-century Christian Greek Scriptures can be traced back to Tertullian. In Against Marcion, written circa 208 AD, he writes of the Divine Word, by the 4th century, the existence—even if not the exact contents—of both an Old and New Testament had been established. Lactantius, a 3rd–4th century Christian author wrote in his early-4th-century Latin Institutiones Divinae and that which preceded the advent and passion of Christ—that is, the law and the prophets—is called the Old, but those things which were written after His resurrection are named the New Testament. The canon of the New Testament is the collection of books that most Christians regard as divinely inspired, several of these writings sought to extend, interpret, and apply apostolic teaching to meet the needs of Christians in a given locality. The book order is the same in the Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, the Slavonic, Armenian and Ethiopian traditions have different New Testament book orders. Each of the four gospels in the New Testament narrates the life, death, the word gospel derives from the Old English gōd-spell, meaning good news or glad tidings. The gospel was considered the good news of the coming Kingdom of Messiah, and the redemption through the life and death of Jesus, Gospel is a calque of the Greek word εὐαγγέλιον, euangelion
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The gospel
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In Christianity, the Gospel, or the Good News, is the news of the coming of the Kingdom of God, and of Jesuss death on the cross and resurrection to restore peoples relationship with God. It may also include the descent of the Holy Spirit upon believers, the message of good news is described as a narrative in the four canonical gospels. The message of good news is described as theology in many of the New Testament letters and it relates to the saving acts of God due to the work of Jesus on the cross and Jesus resurrection from the dead which bring reconciliation between people and God. It is called Proto-Evangelion or Proto-Gospel, Good News is the English translation of the Koine Greek εὐαγγέλιον euangélion. The Greek term was Latinized as evangelium in the Vulgate, in Old English, it was translated as gōdspel. The Old English term was retained as gospel in Middle English Bible translations, the written accounts of the life and teaching of Jesus are also generally known as Gospels. The good news can be summarized in many ways, reflecting various emphases, Acts 3, 18-26 This has taken place through the birth, life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Acts 2, 22-31 By virtue of the resurrection, Jesus has been exalted at the hand of God as Messianic head of the new Israel. Acts 2, 32-36 The Holy Spirit in the church is the sign of Christs present power, Acts 10, 44-48 The Messianic Age will reach its consummation in the return of Christ. Acts 3, 20-21 An appeal is made for repentance with the offer of forgiveness, the Holy Spirit, Christian writers and teachers often present the Good News set within the context of the storyline of the whole Bible. This discipline, of understanding the Christian message in terms of Biblical salvation history, is known as Biblical Theology and this attempts to posit a connection between Old Testament and the Christian teachings of the good news about the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. For example, the Roman Catholic Church promotes the teaching of the news in the context of biblical salvation history as a fundamental part of the content of its instruction. There are numerous exponents of the Biblical Theology approach to understanding the Good News, many Bible scholars and Christian groups have placed similar descriptions on the internet. Because the good news is multifaceted, there is a degree of variation in perspective between such descriptions. A brief summary of the teachings of the Bible writers, might read as follows, The Book of Genesis describes humanity, male and female, humanity was given a perfect place in which to live in perfect relationship with God, dependent upon God for all his needs. This resulted in the breaking of mankinds fellowship with God, leading to spiritual death, Genesis describes how God scattered mankind over the face of the earth, forming the different nations and ethnic groups. Beginning with the prophet and patriarch Abram, God chose specific people to live in obedience and fellowship with him, and blessed them, their land and this was so that the different peoples of the world would receive Gods blessing. This person would be called the Messiah, Gods son, the prophet Isaiah described a servant-like figure, who would suffer because of the offences of mankind against God
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Biblical canon
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A biblical canon or canon of scripture is a list of texts which a particular religious community regards as authoritative scripture. The word canon comes from the Greek κανών, meaning rule or measuring stick, Christians became the first to use the term in reference to scripture, but Eugene Ulrich regards the idea as Jewish. In contrast, a canon, which permits the addition of books through the process of continuous revelation. These canons have developed through debate and agreement by the authorities of their respective faiths. Believers consider canonical books as inspired by God or as expressive of the history of the relationship between God and his people. Differences exist between the Jewish Tanakh and Christian biblical canons, and between the canons of different Christian denominations, the differing criteria and processes of canonization dictate what the various communities regard as inspired scripture. In some cases where varying strata of scriptural inspiration have accumulated, Rabbinic Judaism recognizes the twenty-four books of the Masoretic Text, commonly called the Tanakh or Hebrew Bible. According to Marc Zvi Brettler, the Jewish scriptures outside the Torah, the book of Deuteronomy includes a prohibition against adding or subtracting which might apply to the book itself or to the instruction received by Moses on Mt. Sinai. The Book of Nehemiah suggests that the priest-scribe Ezra brought the Torah back from Babylon to Jerusalem, both I and II Maccabees suggest that Judas Maccabeus likewise collected sacred books, indeed some scholars argue that the Jewish canon was fixed by the Hasmonean dynasty. However, these sources do not suggest that the canon was at that time closed, moreover. They lived in a period of two centuries ending c.70 AD. In addition to the Tanakh, mainstream Rabbinic Judaism considers the Talmud to be another central and it takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs, and history. There are numerous citations of Sirach within the Talmud, even though the book was not ultimately accepted into the Hebrew canon, the Talmud is the basis for all codes of rabbinic law and is often quoted in other rabbinic literature. Certain groups of Jews, such as the Karaites, do not accept the oral Law as it is codified in the Talmud, Ethiopian Jews—also known as Beta Israel —possess a canon of scripture that is distinct from Rabbinic Judaism. Mäṣḥafä Kedus is the name for the literature of these Jews. Their holiest book, the Orit, consists of the Pentateuch, as well as Joshua, Judges, the rest of the Ethiopian Jewish canon is considered to be of secondary importance. It consists of the remainder of the Hebrew canon—with the possible exception of the Book of Lamentations—and various deuterocanonical books. These include Sirach, Judith, Tobit,1 and 2 Esdras,1 and 4 Baruch, the three books of Meqabyan, Jubilees, Enoch, the Testament of Abraham, the Testament of Isaac, the latter three patriarchal testaments are distinct to this scriptural tradition
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Books of the Bible
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Different religious groups include different books in their Biblical canons, in varying orders, and sometimes divide or combine books. Christian Bibles range from the 66 books of the Protestant canon to the 81 books of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church canon, the Tanakh contains 24 books divided into three parts, the five books of the Torah, the Neviim, and the Ketuvim. The first part of Christian Bibles is called the Old Testament, which contains, at minimum, the Catholic Church and Eastern Christian churches also hold that certain deuterocanonical books and passages are part of the Old Testament canon. The second part is the New Testament, containing 27 books, the four Canonical gospels, Acts of the Apostles,21 Epistles or letters, the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Assyrian Christian churches may have minor differences in their lists of accepted books. The list given here for these churches is the most inclusive, rabbinic Judaism recognizes the 24 books of the Masoretic Text, commonly called the Tanakh or Hebrew Bible, as authoritative. Most conservative scholars believe that the Torah was canonized c.400 BCE, the Prophets c.200 BCE, the Council of Jamnia theory is increasingly rejected by most liberal scholars. Most of the quotations of the Old Testament in the New Testament, while differing more or less from the version presented by the Masoretic text, align with that of the Septuagint. These are works recognized by the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox Churches as being part of scripture, Orthodox differentiate scriptural books by omitting these from corporate worship and from use as a sole basis for doctrine. Many recognize them as good, but not on the level of the books of the Bible. Anglicanism considers the apocrypha worthy of being read for example of life, Luther made a parallel statement in calling them, not considered equal to the Holy Scriptures, but. useful and good to read. The difference in canons derives from the difference in the Masoretic Text, Books found in both the Hebrew and the Greek are accepted by all denominations, and by Jews, these are the protocanonical books. Most quotations of the Old Testament in the New Testament, differing by varying degrees from the Masoretic Text, are taken from the Septuagint, the unanimous consensus of modern scholars consider several other books, including 1 Maccabees and Judith, to have been composed in Hebrew or Aramaic. Opinion is divided on the book of Baruch, while it is acknowledged that the Epistle of Jeremiah, the Wisdom of Solomon and it accepts the 39 protocanonical books along with the following books, called the narrow canon. The enumeration of books in the Ethiopic Bible varies greatly between different authorities and printings, for the Orthodox canon, Septuagint titles are provided in parentheses when these differ from those editions. For the Catholic canon, the Douaic titles are provided in parentheses when these differ from those editions, likewise, the King James Version references some of these books by the traditional spelling when referring to them in the New Testament, such as Esaias. In the spirit of more recent Catholic translations use the same standardized spellings. The Talmud in Bava Batra 14b gives a different order for the books in Neviim and Ketuvim and this order is also quoted in Mishneh Torah Hilchot Sefer Torah 7,15. The order of the books of the Torah are universal through all denominations of Judaism and they are present in a few historic Protestant versions, the German Luther Bible included such books, as did the English 1611 King James Version
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Creed
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A creed is a statement of the shared beliefs of a religious community in the form of a fixed formula summarizing core tenets. One of the most widely used creeds in Christianity is the Nicene Creed and it was based on Christian understanding of the Canonical Gospels, the letters of the New Testament and to a lesser extent the Old Testament. Affirmation of this creed, which describes the Trinity, is taken as a fundamental test of orthodoxy for most Christian denominations. The Apostles Creed is also broadly accepted, Some Christian denominations and other groups have rejected the authority of those creeds. Muslims declare the shahada, or testimony, I bear witness there is no god but God. Whether Judaism is creedal has been a point of some controversy, although some say Judaism is noncreedal in nature, others say it recognizes a single creed, the Shema Yisrael, which begins, Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. The word creed is particularly used for a statement which is recited as part of liturgy. The term is anglicized from Latin credo I believe, the incipit of the Latin texts of the Apostles Creed, within Evangelicalism, the terms doctrinal statement or doctrinal basis tend to be preferred. Doctrinal statements may include positions on lectionary and translations of the Bible, the term creed is sometimes extended to comparable concepts in non-Christian theologies, thus the Islamic concept of ʿaqīdah is often rendered as creed. Several creeds have originated in Christianity,1 Corinthians 15, 3–7 includes an early creed about Jesus death and resurrection which was probably received by Paul. The antiquity of the creed has been located by most biblical scholars to no more than five years after Jesus death, the Old Roman Creed is an earlier and shorter version of the Apostles Creed. The Apostles Creed is widely used by most Christian denominations for both liturgical and catechetical purposes, the Nicene Creed reflects the concerns of the First Council of Nicaea in 325 which had as their chief purpose to establish what Christians believed. The Chalcedonian Creed was adopted at the Council of Chalcedon in 451 in Asia Minor and it defines that Christ is acknowledged in two natures, which come together into one person and hypostasis. The Athanasian Creed is a Christian statement of belief focusing on Trinitarian doctrine, the Tridentine Creed was initially contained in the papal bull Iniunctum Nobis, issued by Pope Pius IV on November 13,1565. The creed was intended to summarize the teaching of the Council of Trent, the Maasai Creed is a creed composed in 1960 by the Maasai people of East Africa in collaboration with missionaries from the Congregation of the Holy Ghost. The creed attempts to express the essentials of the Christian faith within the Maasai culture, the Credo of the People of God is a profession of faith that Pope Paul VI published with the motu proprio Solemni hac liturgia of 30 June 1968. Pope Paul VI spoke of it as a profession of faith, Protestant denominations are usually associated with confessions of faith, which are similar to creeds but usually longer. By the martyr French Huguenots Jean du Bourdel, Matthieu Verneuil, Pierre Bourdon and André la Fon at the site of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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New Covenant
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The New Covenant is a biblical interpretation originally derived from a phrase in the Book of Jeremiah, in the Hebrew Bible. It is often thought of as an eschatological Messianic Age or world to come and is related to the concept of the Kingdom of God. Generally, Christians believe that the promised New Covenant was instituted at the Last Supper as part of the Eucharist, based on the Bible teaching that, For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. The commentary to the Roman Catholic New American Bible also affirms that Christ is the testator whose death puts his will into effect. Christians thus believe that Jesus is the mediator of the New Covenant, there are several Christian eschatologies that further define the New Covenant. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have no occasion to look for a second. For they did not continue in my covenant, and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord. 11 And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they all know me. 12 For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more,13 In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord, I will put my law within them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord, ’ for they all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more, some Christians claim that there are many other passages that speak about the same New Covenant without using this exact wording. The occurrence of the new covenant varies in English translations of the Greek New Testament. Six forms of the text have been identified, for example, the Daniel 9,27 commentary found in the 1599 Geneva Bible connects the verse with the NKJV translation of Matthew 26,28. 29 In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a sour grape,30 But every one shall die for his own iniquity, every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge. See types of Supersessionism for details, the Apostle Paul says that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise. 6 Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect, for they are not all Israel, which are of Israel,7 Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children, but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called
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Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Ecclesiastical Music". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "
