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Running Head: THE CULTURE OF CHRISTIANITY

The culture of Christianity

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THE CULTURE OF CHRISTIANITY

The Culture of Christianity

Introduction

Culture refers to a people’s way of life. It describes their symbols, beliefs, customs,

behaviours, and their values. The culture of a people is always passed from a generation to

the next either through communication or through imitation. Culture has become part of

people and it cannot be separated from their daily lives. This paper exploits Christianity as a

culture, trying to establish its origin and how the culture has developed over the years.

Christianity

Christianity refers to a religion that is founded on the life of Jesus and his teachings. It

is arguably the largest religion in the world ahead of Islamic, Hinduism, paganism, and

others. Believers in this religion are referred to as Christians. All Christians share the belief

that Jesus Christ was the son of God as conceived by the Virgin Mary, that he is came to save

humanity and that prophets foretold his coming. Christians believe that Jesus Christ came for

the sins of humankind; he suffered, underwent death, and was buried on earth. He then

resurrected and went to heaven. That his suffering and death was meant to cleanse the sins of

humanity so that all could enjoy eternal life. They further believe that Christ will return to

judge both the living and the dead upon which, his faithful followers will be granted eternal

life.

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Branches of Christianity

Across the world, Christianity has three main branches, which are spread in all

countries of the world. These are; Protestantism –which is made up of several different

denominations, the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church. Each one of

these denominations has their own different values and practices. However, all these

denominations agree on certain major doctrines including the superiority of the Bible and that

Jesus Christ is divine.

The Roman Catholic Church is a representation of an early Western European

development of the organized church. The Pope heads this denomination. The distinguishing

beliefs of the Catholic Church include the doctrines of;

 Transubstantiation – This doctrine teaches that the bread and wine that were used in

the Eucharist sacrament change and become the actual body and blood of Jesus

Christ.

 Purgatory – This doctrine encourages the practise of offering prayers for the dead and

taking proper care of the same. This practise aims at ensuring their purification in the

afterlife state.

The Eastern Orthodox Church encompasses both the orthodox churches of Greece and

Russia. This denomination on the other hand represents the church as was earlier developed

in the Eastern European part of the world. The Orthodox Church differs from the Catholic

Church on three accounts.

 They do not recognise the Pope.

 The orthodox church stresses the application of icons during worship

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 There are also differences in the dates during which the two denominations celebrate

Easter holiday.

In the 16

century, a reformation took place in such European countries as Britain,

Germany, and Switzerland, which gave rise to Protestantism. Their major differences with

the other denominations are;

 They do not recognize the power of the pope.

 Protestantism rejects most of the traditions and beliefs that are held by the Catholic

Church.

 Protestantism also stresses the significance of reading from the Holly book, the Bible.

 The denomination also believes that salvation only comes through faith.

History of the Christianity

Christianity first started in the 1

century after the death of Christ in Jerusalem. From

here, it spread to other parts of the world across the Near East. In 451 AD, Christianity had

spread to the Council of Chalcedon, which further broke Christianity to give rise to Oriental

Orthodoxy on one side and Chalcedonian Christianity on the other. It was when

Chalcedonian Christianity was divided into two when Roman Catholic Church and the

Eastern Orthodox Church came into existence.

In the 1500s, the protestant reformation began. From this reformation, fresh Christian

communities broke from the Roman Catholic Church. These communities have grown to

become the many separate denominations of Protestantism we see today.

In the middle Ages, Catholicism and orthodoxy had spread to the whole of Europe.

Christianity then expanded throughout the world and became the largest religion of the

world. Today, more than a third of the human population in the world are Christians.

THE CULTURE OF CHRISTIANITY

From its emergence in the 1

century among the Jews, Christianity grew to become a

religion that was practised all over the world. Christianity can as well be divided into two

phases from its early conception; apostolic phase and the post-apostolic phase. The apostolic

phase refers to the period when the apostles were still alive and they took leadership of the

church while the post-apostolic phase refers to the period when persecutions became more

intense.

Reasons behind the Spread of Christianity

Despite the early persecution of Christian apostles, Christianity still managed to spread

successfully across the world. The swift expansion of Christianity in the early periods has

always been a source of wonder. Many people have wondered how a small messianic group

would displace classical paganism and emerge as the dominant faith. The following are some

of the factors that facilitated the rapid spread of Christianity:

1) Social connections

Religious conversions have been shown to occur because of social connections. These

follow intimate attachments between individuals. The friendships between individuals and

interactions between people have provided the cutting edge for Christianity. Through these

interpersonal connections, friends were able to convince their friends to join Christianity

hence the spread of the religion.

2) Care for the less fortunate in the society (the sick, orphans and

widows).

The cities inhabited were frequently stricken by calamities that included wars, fires,

and natural disasters. However, the response of the Christians in these cities was

commendable. They chose not to flee the cities they had called home. Instead, they chose to

THE CULTURE OF CHRISTIANITY

stand by each other. They were able to provide the affected individuals with necessities such

as food, water, and shelter. These services were crucial and improved the chances of survival

for those hit by diseases. In doing this, the Christians were sounding a message of

togetherness to the pagans who received a helping hand since the help was not restricted to

Christians only. As a result, more people shifted to join the Christian crusade, a crusade that

was dedicated in serving humanity.

3) Strong opposition against adultery and abortion.

In the olden Roman world, women and children received harsh treatments. Men would

always have children out of their marriages with either slaves or prostitutes. The offspring

that resulted were always aborted or just left to die. Christianity denounced these acts. The

followers of Christ were advised to be faithful to their partners in marriage. Christianity

considers babies as the most vulnerable members of our society and therefore people are

asked to care for them. Christians even took care of abandoned babies and took care of them

until they grew to maturity. This changed the attitude of many and as a result, most people

were converted to Christianity.

4) Love

All the Christian actions as described above show some of the principles of

Christianity. The message that cuts across in all Christian teachings is God’s love for the

world that He created and God’s desire that the people He created should love their fellows.

Today, the most spread message of Jesus is love. Christians and all men are asked to love

others just as they love themselves. Christianity believes that by loving others, we will not do

THE CULTURE OF CHRISTIANITY

anything to hurt them. Instead, we will care for them. Therefore, the idea of love is all

encompassing.

5) Existence of the Roman Empire

Perhaps the mere fact that the Roman Empire existed and tied individuals from several

regions covering Turkey-Egypt all the way to Northern Europe. The free travel and trading

within the empire made it easy to spread the idea of Christianity in the Empire. Had the

Empire been split into respective countries, the spread of the idea of Christianity would have

been much harder.

Christian beliefs and teachings

The culture of Christianity is founded on the person and lessons of Jesus Christ of

Nazareth. It is also cantered on the Biblical records that can be traced back to 1500 BC.

Currently about 33% of the world’s population are Christians. While Europe has lately

witnessed a decline in Christianity, a rapid rate of growth in churches is witnessed in Asia.

The apostles creed which is a statement shared by all Christians sets out the belief of

Christians. From the creed, the following can be drawn:

 There is an invisible divine dominion. This involves the domain of God and spirits

(angels)

 There is only one God who is the God of Israel. The Bible says that God exists as

spirit in three, best known as the Holy trinity consisting of God the Father, God the Son

and God the Holy Spirit and that all the three were present at creation.

 That God created and sustains everything both the visible and the invisible.

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 Holy, of no sin, righteous, merciful, loving, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, just

and other good attributes are used to refer to God.

 We can only get to the Father through the Son, Jesus Christ.

 That Jesus was sent to earth to save humanity from sin. Jesus is considered as God in

the form of human and therefore deserves the same honour as accorded to God the Father.

 The love of God to humanity is shown by Jesus’ teaching about the kingdom of God,

suffering and dying for humankind and later rising to heaven. This shows that God loves

man so much that He could agree to suffer and die for the sake of man.

 That Jesus is alive and He is the only true way to the Father.

 Jesus will return to earth soon. He will return to defeat the kingdom of Satan and take

the righteous to heaven where they are expected to enjoy eternal life. His coming is

expected to bring a time when peace will reign on earth.

 The Holy Spirit is a manifestation of God and dwells in the followers of Christ. It

enables the followers to exercise a close relationship with the Father and the Son.

 The Holy Spirit also makes it possible for believers to see the power of God through

supernatural experiences through the power of words that contain knowledge and through

the power of physical healing.

 Christianity also teaches that every human nature is considered sinful in the eyes of

God. It is therefore a requirement that all be born again. God expects us to only believe in

Christ and accept the forgiveness of our past wrong doings. God accomplishes the rest.

 To believers, a promise is made, a promise of forgiveness and reconciliation with the

Father. The greatest promise being that of eternal life. Followers are spared from

judgment.

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References

Ekstrand, D. W. (2008). Christianity: The Pursuit of Divine Truth. Xulon Press: Longwood .

Stefon, M. (2012). CHRISTIANITY: History, Belief and Practice. New York: Britannica

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