CHRISTIANITY

COMPETENCY:
Examine the brief history, core
teachings, fundamental beliefs,
practices, and related issues of
Christianity.
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:
1. What is the core teaching of
Christianity?
2. Why is Jesus called the Messiah?
3. How should Christians live their
lives according to Christian
teachings?
ESSENTIAL UNDERSTANDING:
The core teaching and message
of Christianity is that loving
God sent His begotten Son to
redeem humanity from eternal
damnation.
 Most popular Developed out
religion of Judaism
Holy trinity

Christianity
Centers on the life, Cross – the most
teachings, death and common symbol
resurrection of Jesus Christ
BELIEF OF JUDAISM AND CHRISTIANITY
ON JESUS CHRIST:
Judaism – do not accept that Jesus was
the fulfillment of the promise which is
to redeem humanity from their sins.
Christianity – accepted that Jesus is the
fulfillment of God’s Promise.
Followers of
Christianity are called
Christians.
As of 2022, there are 2.38
billion people practice
some form of Christianity.
Source:https://
worldpopulationreview.com/country-
Countries with the highest total number of Christians:
1. United States
2. Brazil
3. Mexico
4. Nigeria
5. Philippines
6. Russia
7. Democratic Republic of Congo
8. Italy
9. Ethiopia
10. China
SYMBOLS
CROSS – serves as a
symbol of Jesus Christ’s
victory over sins when
He died on the cross for
humanity’s redemption
and salvation.
In Roman Catholic churches, the
crucifix is a regular feature, with
the image of Christ nailed on the
cross. This aims to emphasize
Christ’s sufferings for humanity.
In Protestant churches often
features only the cross without
the image of the body of Christ,
to emphasize Christ’s
resurrection and not His
suffering.
Fish – is as old as Christianity
itself, for it was used by
persecuted Christians as a
secret sign when meeting
other Christians.
The word “fish” also has a
secret meaning, for Christians
made an acrostic from the
Greek work for fish, which is
ichtys.
ICHTYS – Iseous Christos
Theou Yios Soter

Jesus Christ, Son of God,

Savior
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:
1. What is the core teaching of
Christianity?
2. Why is Jesus called the Messiah?
3. How should Christians live their
lives according to Christian
teachings?
 HISTORICAL
BACKGROUND
 Christianity developed in Palestine
around C.E.
 It was founded by Jesus considered
to be the Son of God and Messiah or
Savior.
Three Major Christian Sects:
1. Roman Catholics
2. Greek Orthodox Church
3. Protestantism
• Judea, the mountainous
part of Palestine, was
home of Christianity.
Palestine and other nearby places in
West Asia was conquered by:
• Assyrian Empire and Babylonian
Empire – enslaved the Jews
• Achaemenid or Persian Empire –
under Cyrus, who permitted the
Jews to return to their land.
Palestine and other nearby places in
West Asia was conquered by:
• Greeks conquered West Asia
(400B.C)
• Romans conquered Jerusalem (63
B.C.)
Thus, Christianity was born in an era
when Palestine was ruled by a foreign
power, the Romans.
Jesus as the Founder of Christianity:
• His ministry began when he was in
his early thirties.
• Preaching and Healing
• He criticized the uprightness and insincerity
of religious officials and emphasized that
God value service and love.
• He also taught about the new covenant that
God will bring to humanity.
• Jesus preached that he was sent by God to
fulfill this goal by dying on the cross, then
resurrecting to life after three days to prove
that God’s plan had succeeded.
Canon Law of the Catholic Church
Pope

Cardinals

Bishops

Priests

Deacons
Pope
• Serve as the head of the Catholic Church, the
inheritor of Peter.
• Responsible for the general supervision of
the church.
• Head of the catholic Church and head of the
Vatican.
• Has the authority to appoint administrative
and religious officials in the Vatican.
Cardinals
• Appointed by the Pope.
• Represents the Pope and the Roman Catholic
Church in different of the world.
• Advisers to the Pope and elect a new pope as
the need arises, thus they have the power to
choose the successor of the outgoing pope.
• The body comprising the cardinals is called
the College of Cardinals.
Bishops
• Teachers of the doctrine, priests of sacred
worship, and ministers of church
government.
• Provide pastoral supervision for a diocese
and serve as representatives of the church.
• A bishop is ordained to his station, just like
priests.
Priests
• Who are ordained ministers responsible for
the administering of the sacraments, such as
the Eucharist, Marriage, Baptism, and
Confirmation.
• They may belong to particular religious order
such as Jesuits, Dominicans, Augustinians,
among others, or they may be committed to
serve a certain congregation.
Deacons
Classified into two types:
• The transitional deacon is seminarian
who is studying for the priesthood
• Permanent deacon, who can get married
and serve as a priest’s assistant in
administering some of the sacraments.
Deity/God
• Christians believe in one God.
• God is seen as the creator and
maintainer of the universe, and is
believed to be omnipotent (all-powerful),
omniscient (all-knowing), omnipresent
(all-present), and omnibenevolent (all-
god).
HOLY TRINITY
• God is composed of three persons: God
the father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the
Holy Trinity.
SACRED SCRIPTURES
• The Bible is considered the sacred
sacrament of Christianity.
• Composed of two books:
• Old Testament
• New Testament
Old Testament
• Also called the Hebrew Bible
• Composed of 39 books with three parts:
The Law or Torah, The Prophets, and The
Writings.
New Testament
• It is composed of 26 books written
around 50 to 100 C.E.
• Composed of two sections: The Gospels
which tell the story of Jesus, and the
Letters (or Epistles) which serve as guide
to the early Christians communities.
BELIEF/DOCTRINES
• Christians should strictly follow the
teachings of Christianity if they want to
redeem God’s Promise of Eternal Life.
• Not following them would lessen their
chances of being called true Christians
and reduces their chances of salvation in
the afterlife.
TEN COMMANDMENTS
• Also called the Decalogue are set of laws
given by God to the people of Israel at Mt.
Sinai through Moses.
• These can be found twice in the Bible:
Exodus 20:1-17 and Deuteronomy 5:-21
• They are meant to guide Christians on how
to behave within the family, society, and
most especially with respect to God.
SEVEN SACRAMENTS
• These are sign of the inner kindness given by
God for Christians to live a genuine human
life.
1. Baptism 5. Matrimony
2. Confirmation 6. Holy Orders
3. Holy Communion 7. Anointing of the
4. Confession sick
EIGHT BEATITUDES
• The Beatitudes comprise what is known as
the “Sermon on the Mount” recorded in
Matthew 5-7
APOSTLES CREED
• Is also believed to have developed in the 100
or 200 C.E. and was influenced later by the
Nicene Creed.
STORY OF CREATION
• The Story of Creation, which narrates
how God created the universe in six days,
is found in Genesis 1 of the Old
Testament.
WORSHIP AND OBSERVANCES
• Advent refers to the season of waiting for
the birth of the Messiah, hence its
celebration lasts for four weeks, beginning
four Sundays before Christmas and ending
on Christmas eve. The word advent comes
from the Latin word adventus, which
means “coming” or “visit”.
WORSHIP AND OBSERVANCES
• Lent refers to the season observed by
Christians in preparation for Easter, a
celebration of the resurrection of Christ.
WORSHIP AND OBSERVANCES
• Pentecost is celebrated as a holiday to
commemorate the coming of the Holy
Spirit to the early Christians. Thus, it is
also celebrated as the birthday of the
Church.
SUBDIVISIONS
• Christianity was only legalized in 313 C.E.
upon Constantine’s declaration of the
Edict of Milan, which declared equality
among all religions.
 SUBDIVISIONS
• After defeating the opponents of
Emperor Constantine and becoming the
sole leader of the Roman Empire in 324
C.E., he made Christianity the official
religion of the empire and sought to end
all doctrinal arguments on Christianity.
 SUBDIVISIONS
• Conflicts between the Roman Empire
and the Byzantium Empire, resulting in
the inevitable split between the Roman
Catholic Church and the Greek
Orthodox Church.
 SUBDIVISIONS
• Abuses and corruption in the church led another
sect to be formed around the 16th century.
• Martin Luther, a teacher and a monk, posted his
list of ninety five propositions to the door of the
church at Wittenberg in Saxony in 1517, which
signaled the beginnings of another Christians
sect called Protestantism.
 SELECTED ISSUES
• Ecumenism
• Sexuality
• Family and Divorce
• Capital Punishment and Euthanasia