Christianity

OBJECTIVE

In this module, you are expected to:

Examine the brief history, core teachings, fundamental beliefs, practices,

and related issues of Christianity.
Vocabulary
What you already know
Please read the poem from the letter of Paul to the Philippians that gives an
idea about Christianity. After reading the poem, answer the questions following it.

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,

Who, though he was in the form of God,
Did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
Please read the poem from the letter of Paul to the Philippians that gives an
idea about Christianity. After reading the poem, answer the questions following it.

He humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death –
even death on a cross.
Therefore, God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name,
that is above every name
so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord
to the Glory of God, the Father.
 What is Christianity?

• Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. Its

adherents, known as Christians, believe that Jesus is the Christ, who’s coming as the messiah was

prophesied in the Hebrew Bible, called the Old Testament in Christianity, and chronicled in the New
Testament.

• It is a religion that was meant to be universal.

• Jesus Christ’s evangelical command, “Go and teach all nations” to His disciples shows that He intended His
teachings not just for the Jews, but for all the world (Brown 1991,8-10).
• Christianity is a religion that developed from Judaism; some of its first followers were originally Jews.

• What distinguishes Christians from Jews is that the former accepts Jesus Christ as the Messiah, or the
Savior, while the latter considers Jesus as just another prophet of God, and the real Messiah is yet to come.
What is Christianity?

• The essential Christian beliefs are recorded in creeds, and there are different versions of such
creeds.
• The common element, however, is the acknowledgement of the Holy Trinity – belief in God the
Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
• It was the Father who created the world, and Jesus often speaks about Him in the Gospels. Jesus is
the only Son of God, sent to save the world from sin. The Holy Spirit appeared in the Baptism of
Jesus and was also sent down to the disciples to guide them in spreading Christianity. The Spirit is
believed to guide all believers.
• While the God of Christianity is agreed to as having one entity, there are greater majority of
Christians who believe that this God is a Trinitarian one: Father, Son and Spirit (Molloy 2005,
361,363).
What is Christianity?

• The whole of Christian conviction could be summarized in Jesus’ two great commandments: “Love
the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and with all your mind” and “Love your
neighbor as you love yourself” (Matthew 22: 37- 40). The life of the Christian is centered on these
two things: praise and thanksgiving for God, and acts of love to humankind (Brown 1991,15).
• Christians also believe in the life after death. After death, the soul of a person will be judged
according to his/her deeds in his/her life in the world and will either go to Heaven, to dwell with God,
or to Hell and be separated permanently from Him.
• There is also a belief in Purgatory, where there is temporary punishment for those who do not yet
deserve to go to either Heaven or Hell.
• But there are also some Christian groups who believe in the establishment of the Kingdom of God
with the creation of the new heaven and the new earth where they would dwell. At the end of time,
there is agreement that all souls will be reunited with their bodies, just as Jesus resurrected from the
dead, and there will be final judgement (Molloy 2005, 364).
Who founded Christianity?

• Christianity originated with the ministry of Jesus in the 1st century Roman province of Judea.
• According to the Gospels, Jesus was a Jewish teacher and healer who proclaimed the imminent kingdom of God
and was crucified c. AD 30–33
• While the main tenets of Christianity originated with Jesus Christ, it was His 12 disciples, and eventually apostles
who institutionalized and established the bureaucratic structures of the religion.
• We see in the Book of Acts, the book after the Gospels, the accounts of His disciples after His ascension to
heaven. Fifty days after His resurrection, the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of God, came down upon the followers
of Jesus.
• The early Christian Church in Jerusalem was composed of many Jews.
• Both Judaism and Christianity were strong religions for about 40 years after Jesus’ death, but with the destruction
of the Second Temple of Jerusalem in 70 C.E., they disappeared.
• The non-Jewish early Christians were spread through the Roman Empire through the missionary, Paul (Molloy
2005, 352).
Jesus of Nazareth

• Much of what we know about Jesus Christ could be found in the Gospels. Even though he knew the
Hebrew Scripture well, he was not a scholar, nor a writer (Molloy 2005, 349).
• According to the accounts in the Gospels, he was born of a virgin named Mary, who was supposed to
wed Joseph of Nazareth, a carpenter.
• Joseph was a descendant of King David, and due to the Roman emperor’s decree of census, he and
Mary had to go to Bethlehem, David’s homeland. In that land, Jesus was born in a manger, because
there was no lodging available to them.
• We know little of His childhood, except perhaps when He was found by His parents speaking with the
teachers in the Temple of Jerusalem. He was 12 years old then.
• The next account of Jesus in the Gospel was during His baptism and His temptation in the desert for
40 days, which happened when he was “about 30”.
• From there, He began His public ministry, teaching the people of Israel.
Jesus of Nazareth

• Since He was raised as a Jew, Jesus obeyed the Laws and learned the Hebrew scriptures.
• Nonetheless, He still thought independently, questioning the people on strict adherence to the
teaching at the cost of injustice and lack of love.
• Perhaps His greatest emphasis was on universal, unconditional love.
• He taught that we must forgive people endlessly (Matthew 18:22).
• He even asked for forgiveness for those who crucified Him (Luke 23:34).
• He asks us to love everyone, even our enemies (Luke 6:27) (Molloy 2005 348).
• Jesus was condemned to death due to His unorthodox teachings, through the initiative of the chief
priests and Pharisees He was criticizing.
• His passion and death is commemorated during the Holy Week, which culminates at Easter, where
he supposedly rose from the dead.
Basic Teachings

• Jesus used parables – short stories with hidden messages – in his teachings.

• a usually short fictitious story that illustrates a moral attitude or a religious principle.

• The Lamp - Matthew 5:14-16

• The Speck and The Log - Matthew 7:1-5
• New Cloth on Old Garment - Matthew 9:16-17
• The Divided Kingdom - Matthew 12:24-30
• The Sower - Matthew 13:1-23
• The Weeds Among the Wheat - Matthew 13:24-30
• The Mustard Seed - Matthew 13:31-32
• The Leaven - Matthew 13:33-34
Basic Teachings

• Jesus used parables – short stories with hidden messages – in his teachings.
• Hidden Treasure - Matthew 13:44
• Pearl of Great Price - Matthew 13:45-46
• The Net - Matthew 13:47-50
• The Heart of Man - Matthew 15:10-20
• The Lost Sheep - Matthew 18:10-14
• The Unforgiving Servant - Matthew 18:23-35
• Laborers in the Vineyard - Matthew 20:1-16
• The Two Sons - Matthew 21:28-32
Basic Teachings

• Jesus used parables – short stories with hidden messages – in his teachings.
• The Tenant Farmers - Matthew 21:33-45
• Marriage Feast or Great Banquet - Matthew 22:1-14
• The Budding Fig Tree - Matthew 24:32-35
• The Faithful vs. The Wicked Servant - Matthew 24:45-51
• The Ten Virgins - Matthew 25:1-13
• Ten Talents or Gold Coins - Matthew 25:14-30
Basic Teachings

Some of the main themes that Jesus taught, which Christians later embraced,
include:

• Love God.
• Love your neighbor as yourself.
• Forgive others who have wronged you.
• Love your enemies.
• Ask God for forgiveness of your sins.
Basic Teachings

Some of the main themes that Jesus taught, which Christians later embraced, include:

• Jesus is the Messiah and was given the authority to forgive others.
• Repentance of sins is essential.
• Don’t be hypocritical.
• Don’t judge others.
• The Kingdom of God is near. It’s not the rich and powerful – but the weak and
poor–who will inherit this kingdom

In one of Jesus’s most famous speeches, which became known as the Sermon on the
Mount, he summarized many of his moral instructions for his followers.
How did Christianity begin?

• Christianity began in the 1st century AD after Jesus died, as a small

group of Jewish people in Judea, but quickly spread throughout the
Roman empire.
• Despite early persecution of Christians, it later became the state
religion. In the Middle Ages it spread into Northern Europe and
Russia.
Practices
• Although there have been different forms of Christianity, much of
their rituals are shared. The most important among them are believed
to be signs of God’s grace, called sacraments.

• People who want to be converted to Christianity will have to undergo

baptism. The person is cleansed with water, to signify repentance and
cleansing. Catholics and Orthodox baptize babies, while some
Protestants baptize only those who are willing (Molloy 2005, 403-4).
Practices
• During the Last Supper, Jesus broke the bread and shared the wine to
represent His Body and Blood, and the Apostles were sharing His
sufferings. This is commemorated through the sacrament of the
Eucharist, where Christians gather in the church, and share the Body
and Blood of Christ. Some churches use literal bread and wine, while
others interpret it symbolically (Molloy 2005 404-405).
Practices
• Others include confirmation which is a blessing of initiation after baptism;
• reconciliation, where someone confesses his/her sins and gets absolution;
• matrimony, where two people commit themselves with each other for life
with God as the center;
• ordination, where someone commits himself to priesthood;
• and anointing of the sick, which is usually taken by a sick person (Molloy
2005, 405-406).
Varieties or types of Christianity

For about 300 years since the death of Peter and Paul, the Romans
persecuted Christians. “Christianity was declared illegal, and many
Christians died for their faith.” But when Constantine became the first
Christian emperor of the Empire (East and West), Christianity was more
and more accepted, until it became the religion of the Roman Empire at
380 CE (Brown 1991,36). Constantine ruled as an emperor of both
Western and Eastern until his death in 337 CE. He transferred the capital
from Rome to Byzantine, which he renamed Constantinople (Higgins
2007,76).
Eastern Orthodox
• With the capital in Constantinople, the Eastern Roman Empire flourished, but
at the cost of the political and military power of the Western Empire (Higgins
2007,76).
• When the Latin-speaking Western Roman Empire fell in the 5th century BCE,
Western Christianity developed independently.
• The Greek-speaking Eastern empire developed its own form of Christianity
until 1453.
• This Eastern Church is called Orthodox Church because they settled on
traditional beliefs throughout its reign (Molloy 2005, 374).
Protestant Reformation
• With the successful spread and development of the Western Roman Church, they
earned financial and political support from the people. At one point, during the
construction of Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome, the papacy was asking for
contributions, in return for “indulgence,” which shortens the time that a soul
would spend in purgatory.
• Martin Luther, a German priest, “opposed the idea that anything spiritual can be
sold” (Molloy 2005, 386-388). As such, he posted on the door of the Castle church
of Wittenberg his proposed changed and reforms, in the form of 95 theses.
• Luther was asked to retract his statements, but he refused to do so. He “affirmed
the supreme authority of the scripture and rejected both the papal authority and the
binding force of decisions rendered by ecumenical councils” (Higgins 2007, 88).
Protestant Reformation
• Luther pushed for “the right of every individual to radically question
and reinterpret Christian belief and practice, “which was called the
Protestant Principle (Molloy 2005, 388).
• The Protestants seek to find what is essential to the Christian
experience. It places great emphasis on the individual’s own ability to
establish a personal relationship with God summarized terms of return
to simple Christianity, the centrality of Jesus, the guidance of the
Bible, the importance of faith, direct relationship with God, and the
value of individual judgement.
Roman Catholics
• As a response to several Protestants, the Roman Catholic Church started what we call the
Catholic Reformation or Counter Reformation, which began with the Council of Trent in
1545.
• They had to reform some of their own rigid doctrines to respond to the reforms of the
Protestants.
• They affirmed Luther’s conviction that the scripture has binding authority, but the
interpretations is entrusted to the Church officials, and not to individuals.
• Salvation is decided to require faith, hope, and love, as well as good deeds (Higgins 2007,
93)
• As a result of the Protestant Reformation, Catholicism defends the following beliefs and
practices: the importance of good works, the value of tradition, a guided interpretation of the
Bible, hierarchical authority, veneration of Mary and the saints, and the seven Sacrament.
 Read the following parable
and write your interpretation
below.