VOCABULARY
WORDS
Redemption - is the action of saving or being saved
from sin, error, or [Link]: "God's plans for the
redemption of his world“
Salvation - is the deliverance from sin and its
consequences, believed by Christians to be brought
about by faith in Christ.
Doctrine - a belief or set of beliefs held and taught by
a Church, political party, or other group.
Scripture - the sacred writings of Christianity
contained in the Bible.
Hierarchy - a system or organization in which people
or groups are ranked one above the other according
to status or authority.
CHRISTIANITY
Christianity is considered the most popular
religion in the world with the most number of
adherents among all religions. Starting around thr
1st century C.E., it developed out of Judaism
during the reign of the Roman Empire in West
Asia. It centers on the life, teachings, death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is considered the
Messiah or Savior of humanity.
The most common symbol for Christianity is the
cross, for Christian believe that Jesus died on the
cross to save humanity from their sin and to
restore people's relationship with God the
father. Christians also believe in the Holy Trinity,
which means God has three aspects---Father,
Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is believed that God
the Father sent His only Son, Jesus, to earth to
redeem humanity from their sins for them to
avoid the eternal flames of hell.
Although there has been a prophesy in Judaism
that God the Father will send His only Son to
redeem humanity from their sins and to restore
relationship with God, the Jews do not accept that
Jesus was the fulfillment of that promise. Instead,
the Jews are still waiting for the Messiah to be
sent by God the Father. Christians, on the other
hand, have accepted that Jesus is the fulfillment of
God's promise.
Nonetheless, Christianity is considered one of
the first monotheistic religion in the world and
shares many similarities Judaism in terms of
belief in prophets, angels, judgement day,
among others. Together with Judaism and Islam,
Christianity is considered one of the world
religions which traces its origins to the patriarch
Abraham.
SYMBOLS
Symbols
The symbols shown above are the most common symbols
associated with Chistianity. The cross serves as a symbols of
jesus Christ's victory over sins when He died on the cross for
humanity's redemption and salvation. Christ died on the cross
and the serves as a reminder of the sacrifices made by God in
order for humanity to live. 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. Meanwhile, Protestant churches often feature only
the cross without the image of the body of Christ to emphasize
Christ's resurrection and not His suffering.
Meanwhile,the fish symbol is as old Christianity itself, for
it was used by persecuted Christians as a secret sign when
meeting other Christians. Because Chistians were
threatened by the Romans during the time, they had to
make a secret code to avoid persecution. Thus when
meeting strangers on the way, aChistian would draw one
arc of the fish outline, and if the stranger drew the other
half it means they are both christians and therefore safe in
each other's company. The word "fish" also has secret
meaning for Christians made an acrostic from the Greek
word for fish,which is ichtys: Iseous Chistos Theou Yios
Soter, meaning Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Christianity developed in Palestine around 100 C.E. It was
founded by Jesus considered to be the Son of God and
Messiah or Savior. Regarded as offshoot of Judaism,
Christianity has survived and even surpassed Judaism and
other religions in terms of number of adherents. Today
Christians is divided into three major sects-----Roman
Catholicism, Greek Orthodox Church, and Protestantism.
These major Christians sects are further subdivided by
Christian denominations that differ in certain beliefs and
practice but are united in worshipping Jesus Christ as the
Son of God.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
Historical Context
Judea, the mountainous part of palestine, was the
home of christianity. during that time, judaism was
the dominant religion im palestine and it was
considered by the jews as land promised to them by
god.
JESUS AS THE
FOUNDER OF
CHRISTIANITY
Jesus as the Founder of Christianity
It was in this backdrop that jesus, founder of
Christianity, lived and preached teachings that served as
criticisms of Judaism, although he himself was jew. His
ministry began when he was in early thirties. Preaching
and healing in the villages, he started to preach
teachings which were considered revolutionary at that
time. Christianity started with prophecy in the Old
Testament: that God will send his only begotten Son to
save humanity frim eternal demnation. Jesus was seen
by his followers to be the Messiah they were waiting
for. Meanwhile, Jews did not accept this to be true;
instead, they are still waiting for the promisevto be
fulfilled.
RELIGIOUS LEADERS
Religious Leaders
The catholic church follows a certain hierarchy
based on the canon law of the catholic church. at
the top of the hierarchy is the pope considered as
peter's successor. the hierarchy also includes the
cardinals, archbishops, bishops, priests and deacon
each member of the hierarchy has his own
function for the efficiency of the church.
DIETY/GOD
Diety/god
Christians believe in one god, therefore
christianity is a monotheistic religion. god is seen
as the creator and maintrainer of the universe,
and is believed to be omnipotent(all powerful),
omniscient (all knowing), omnipresent (all
present), and omnibenevolent (all good). god is
also sacred, moral, unchangeable,
compassionate, graceful and timeless.
HOLY TRINITY
HOLY TRINITY
Christians believe in the Holy Trinity, which means that
God is composed of three person: God thr Father, the
Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit. This doctrine of
the Holy Trinity was was affirmed at thr Council of Nicea
in 25 C.E. where it was agreed upon that the Son has the
same substance with the Father, therefore they are both
eternal. The doctrine of the Holy Trinity was Christianity's
way to end the controversy generated by Arianism, a
teaching by Arius which claimed that Jesus Christ was not
actually a God.
The concept of the Holy Trinity was never
mentioned in the Old Testament. The New
Testament, although it never implicity mentioned
the term, gives some references to it. In Matthew
28:19, it is stated that:"Therefore go and make
disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit."In 2 Corinthians 13:1 "The grace of the Lord
Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship
of the Holy Spirit be with you all."
For some Christians, the concept of the Holy
Trinity is not easy to understand. Although it is
central to most Christians denominations, some
Christian churches rejected it, such as The Church
of the Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint's, Jehova
Witnesses, Christian Scientist, Unitarians, the
Unification Church, the Christadelphians, and
Oneness Pentecostals, among others.
SACRED SCRIPTURES
SACRED SCRIPTURES
The Bible is considered the sacred scripture of
Chistianity. It is a collection of songs, stories,
poetry, letter, history, as well as literature. It is
composed of two books, the Old Testament and
the New Testament. The Old Testament is
considered the original Hebrew Bible, written
between 1200 and 165 B.C. E. the New Testament
was written by Christians around 100 C.E
THE OLD TESTAMENT
The Old Testaments
The Old Testaments, also called the Hebrew Bibke, is
composed of 39 books which are arranged in three parts:
The first five books are considered "The Law" or Torah
which may refer to guidance or instruction. They are
called as such because they serve as guidelines on how
people should live their everyday lives, as well as other
legal necessities. Later this books were called the
"Pentateauch" which were attributed to Moses.
Meanwhile, the second part of the Old Testaments
is called "The Prophets" The book of former
prophets is considered historical while the book of
latter prophets contain sayings and stories of the
prophets. The third part is called "The Writings,"
which include Psalms (songs, prayers, and worship
liturgies), Proverbs (wise sayings), Job (a drama
that explores the bature of suffering), and the five
scrolls (Megiloth) which were grouped together for
their associations with a particular religious
festival.
THE NEW TESTAMENT
The New Testaments
The New Testaments is composed of 27 books written
around 50 to 100 C.E. and is composed of twi
sections: The Gospels which tell the story of Jesus
(Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John); and the Letters (or
Epistles), written by various Christian leaders to serve
as guide to the early Christian communities.
They were written to tell the life and teachings of
Jesus. The Acts of Apostles and Luke tell how
Christianity developed from a small group of Jewish
believers to becoming one of the world's major
religions. Revelations is the last book of the New
Testaments, traditionally attributed to the apostle
John, which is considered an epistle and an
apocalypse.
BELIEFS/DOCTRINES
BELIEFS/DOCTRINES
Christianity has certain beliefs and doctrines that
serve as moral guideliness for its followers. As
much as possible, Christians should follow these
teaching strictly if they want to redeem God's
promise of eternal life. These teachinga are
essential to their belief system as Christians and
not following them would lessen their chances of
being called true Christians and reduces their
chances of salvation in the afterlife.
THE END
