CHRISTIANITY

CHRISTIANITY
 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY
ORIGIN OF CHRISTIANITY
Jesus of Nazareth
• The
Jesus name Jesus means “Adonai is
of Nazareth
Salvation.”
The name Jesus its current
means form“Adonai
came fromis Salvation.” its
the latin lesus that is a transliteration
current form came from the latin lesus that is a
from lēsous, which is the Greek
transliteration from lēsous,
rendering of the hebrew name yehoshua which is the Greek
rendering
or joshua.ofThe thefull
hebrew
name of name
Jesusyehoshua
of or joshua.
The full name
Nazareth wouldofhave Jesus
beenof“Jesus
Nazareth
son of would have
been “Jesus son of
Joseph”[Hebrew Joseph”[Hebrew
Yehoshua ben Yosef ] Yehoshua
or ben
Yosef ] or bar
Yeshu(a) Yeshu(a)
Yosef in bar Yosefwhich
Aramic, in Aramic,
was which was
the local
the locallanguage
languagein in palestine inJesus
palestine in Jesus time.
time.
 • Jesus of Nazareth was born in a
turbelent period of history in an
Jesusexplosive
of Nazareth
place,was
filledborn
within a turbelent period
poverty,in
of history exploitation,
an explosivegreed, place, filled with
class division,
poverty, repeatedgreed, class division,
exploitation,
bloodshed, and massive unrest.
repeated bloodshed, and massive unrest.
• Christianity began initially as Jewish sect, since Jesus
of Nazareth apparently did not intend to found a new
Jesus of Nazareth was born in a turbelent period
religion separate from the ancient practice of what is
of now
history
knowninasan explosive
Judaism. Rabbinic place, filled
Judaism beganwith
to
poverty, exploitation,
distinguish greed,
itself from what class a heretical
it considered division,
repeated bloodshed,
Jewish sect and massiveasunrest.
that was proclaiming, the long awaited
Messiah, a man crucified as an insurgent by the
Romans and its claims that this man was raised from
the dead by Adonai.
• The followers of this Jesus of Nazareth were
persecuted for such unusual beliefs by the other
Jews- including Paul of Tarus, who was then
converted
Jesus and became
of Nazareth a staunch
was born in a advocate
turbelentand later
period
of by the Roman
history in Empire.
an explosive place, filled with
• Those who gathered around Jesus during public
poverty, exploitation, greed, class division,
ministry were known Simply as his followers. A little
repeated bloodshed,
later, they came to beand massive
known unrest.
as followers of “the
way”. By about 45 C.E., Jesus’ Followers in Antioch
were being referred to as Christians Which comes
from Christos, a Greek word meaning “Anointed” or
Messiah.
 MAJOR DIVISION OF CHRISTIANITY
Over the last two millennia, Christianity as the world’s
most widely professed religious tradition, with about
one third of the human population has produced a
variety of denominations and sects. Two Major
schisms [Greek “split/division”] in Christian history –
one during the “Great Schism” in 1054 between
Western and Eastern Christianity, and other in
Western Europe during the Protestant Reformation
beginning in the sixteenth century – would result in
the three major families of Christian confessional
traditions.
Roman Catholicism

The English word catholic has its root from

the Greek adjective katholikos, meaning
“universal”. Initially, the term used to
emphasize the universal scope of the
christian community.
• According to Canon 205 of the 1983
Code of Canon Law. Roman Catholic
Christians are “those baptized [who
are fully in the communion of the
Catholic Church on this earth [and]
who are joined with Christ in its
visible and ecclesiastical governance.

• In the early Church, local Christian

communities were often led by
bishops, who were often called papa
[Latin “father”].
 Eastern Orthodoxy
• While its official name is the orthodox catholic church, to
avoid confusion, it is simply referred to as the Eastern
Orthodox Church. While affirming the catholicity or
universality of the church, it developed an equally firm
understanding of the pure And unchanging nature of
Christian doctrine, Thus calling itself Orthodox. The term
orthodox originate from the Greek words meaning “right
belief.” conforming to the Christian tradition of belief and
practices as presented in the creeds of the primitive
Church.
• Eastern Orthodox Christianity descends directly
from Greek-Speaking Christian communities in
what was formerly the eastern half of the Roman
empire. Orthodox Christianity officially broke
communion with its Latin-speaking counterparts
in the west- what is now Roman Catholic
Christianity in the year 1054.Political, Cultural,
and Doctrinal difference between East and West
eventually led to a complete break.
• Among these is the nature of the relation of the
person in the Triune God. The Nicene Creed
adopted by the west that says that the Holy Spirit
proceeds “from the Father and the Son,” But the
Eastern Church insist that the Holy Spirit Proceeds
only from the Father.
• The church in the West discourage
bishop and priests from getting
married after ordination. While the
Eastern church allows it.
• Like Roman Catholic Christians,
Orthodox believe the following: the
divine and human nature of Jesus;
the sinless life of the virgin Mary,
and the respect due to his mother
of Jesus; the ministry of deacons,
presbyters, and bishops whose
originate from the apostle;
• The acceptance of the seven
sacraments, including confession
and the Eucharist, veneration and
invocation of saints and use of
icons.
• However Orthodox Christianity
rejects the following Roman
Catholic Doctrines: the cleansing of
the dead in purgatory; the universal
jurisdiction and doctrinal
infallibility of the bishop of Rome
and the declaration of Mary’s
immaculate conception.
 Protestantism
• In the sixteenth century, political struggles and
corruption in the church in the West led to the
upheaval known as the Protestant Reformation,
which initiated the founding of several new streams
of Christian tradition. Whereas Western Christianity
used to perceive itself as a united Christendom or
Christian kingdom. Now it found it self further divided
into numerous denominations.
• The word “protestant” is often popularly
understood as one protesting against the errors of
the Roman Catholic Church. Nonetheless, the Latin
word from which it originates primarily means to
declare something formally in public, to testify, to
make a solemn declaration
• Since Protestant Christianity is a
very varied phenomenon, each of
its communications or
denominations usually has its own
statement of belief, whether
Lutheran, Anglican, Methodist,
Presbyterian, or Baptist. Virtually all
accept the fundamental dogmas of
the first four ecumenical councils.
They agree with Roman catholic
and Orthodox Christians on the
essential doctrines of the trinity
and of Jesus Christ as fully divine
and fully human.
• What unites Protestant statements
of faith is the claim to represents
the original and undiluted
teachings of the bible, and the
insistence that wellbeing depends
on God’s grace and is obtained by
faith without reference to any
human merit.
These were stated briefly in specific solae representing key
beliefs upheld by Protestant reformers against certain
Roman Catholic doctrines: sola Scriptura [“only by
scripture”]; sola fide [“only by faith”]; and sola gratia [“only
by grace”].
Sola Scriptura means that the Bible, as God’s divinely inspired
Word, is the means by which one is saved through faith in
Jesus. Consequently, all Christian teaching, belief, and
practices must not contradict and be in accordance with what
is explicitly written in the Bible. Sola fide means that good
works on the part of individuals are not necessary to be
declared by God as righteous; holiness is a gift of God, and
not the result of one’s action. Similarly, sola gratia insists that
God grants grace independently, even without any human
cooperation whatsoever.
SACRED TEXTS
The early Christian Community recognized the
Hebrew Scriptures as sacred and containing
The Word of God, referring to these sacred
texts as the old testament. Christian writings
quoted from the
Torah and the Nevi’im, which the Jewish
followers of Jesus of Nazareth believed,
foreshadowed and authenticated
his work as the awaited messiah. In addition
to the old testament, there were other
specifically Christian sacred documents
Contained in what was called the New
Testament.
Old Testament (46)
Genesis 2 Chronicles Daniel
Exodus Ezra Hosea
Leviticus Nehemiah Joel
Numbers Esther Amos
Deuteronomy Job Obadiah
Joshua Psalms Jonah
Judges Proverbs Micah
Ruth Ecclesiastes Nahum
1 Samuel Song of Solomon Habakkuk
2 Samuel Isaiah Zephaniah
1 Kings Jeremiah Haggai
2 Kings Lamentations Zechariah
1 Chronicles Ezekiel Malachi
Tobit
Judith
Ester
Wisdom of Solomon
Sirach
Baruch
Letter of Jeremiah
Song of the Three
Young men
Susanna
Bel and the Dragon
1 Maccabees
2 Maccabees
New Testament (27)
Matthew 2 Thessalonians
Mark 1 Timothy
Luke 2 Timothy
John Titus
Acts Philemon
Romans Hebrews
1 Corinthians James
2 Corinthians 1 Peter
Galatians 2 Peter
Ephesians 1 John
Philippians 2 John
Colossians Jude
1 Thessalonians Revelation
CREED
The early Christian community used
creeds to provide a concise basis for
teaching
, safeguard correct doctrine and create
a focus for church fellowship. Two of
the oldest,
most common, and wisely accepted
creeds among Christians are the
Apostle Creed and the symbol
of Nicᴂa- Contantinople.
ONE GOD, THREE DIVINE PERSONS
The concept of the Trinity expresses
the Christian belief that
The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit
are three persons in one GOD
Which is nonetheless considered a
mystery ultimately beyond human
comprehension.
The English word trinity derives from
the Latin Trinitas, ”triad”.