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To find a lot of info. about any type of religion, just go to… http://religionfacts.com/christianity/ The highlighted word/words are kinda like A Christian church in England. Photo: Sacred Destinations. "From the majestic pontifical High Mass in St. Peter's to the quiet simplicity of a Quaker meeting... from the intellectual sophistication of Saint Thomas Aquinas to the moving simplicity of spirituals such as "Lord, I want to be a Christian"... from St. Paul's in London to Mother Teresa in the slums of Calcutta... all this is Christianity." --Huston Smith, The World's Religions Christianity was founded in the early 1st century AD, with the teaching, miracles, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. Today it is the largest religion in the world, with around 2 billion followers. Especially dominant in the western world, today's Christianity has a wide variety of forms, beliefs and practices but all center around faith in Jesus Christ. Christianity Basics Overview, Fast Facts, Glossary, Timeline Christian Beliefs God, Trinity, Christ, Holy Spirit, Angels, Demons, Blessed Virgin Mary, Human Nature, Afterlife, Hell, Views of Other Religions Christian Books Christian Holidays Brief History of Holidays, Sunday, St. Andrew's Day, Advent, Christmas, Boxing Day, Mardi Gras, Ash Wednesday, Lent, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter Christian Library Apostles' Creed, Augsburg Confession, Augustine, Afterlife, Amish, Angels, Archaeology of the Bible, Augustine's Writings, Bible Maps, Cambridge Companions, Christian Ethics, Christian Travel, Church Fathers, Dummies & Idiots Books, Lewis, C.S., Papal Elections, Predestination, Tolkien, J.R.R., Trinity Christianity Charts Biblical Accounts of the Resurrection, Christianity vs. Judaism, Catholic vs. Protestant, Denominations: Stats, Denominations: Beliefs, Denominations: Practices, Denominations: Ethics, Church Fathers, Monks and Mystics, Protestant Reformers Christian Denominations Brief History of Denominations, Comparison Charts, Amish, Anglican/Episcopalian , Baptist, Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Protestant, Roman Catholic, Seventh- Enchiridion on Faith, Hope and Love, Boettner, The Reformed Faith, Clement of Alexandria, Stromata, Clement of Rome, Epistle to Corinthians Didache, Edwards, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, Gregory of Nyssa, Not Three Gods Humanae Vitae, Ignatius of Antioch, Epistle to Polycarp Marialus Cultus, Nicene Creed, Tertullian, Apology, Wesley, Plain Account of Christian Perfection, Westminster Confession of Faith Christian People Peter Abelard, Arius, Athanasius, Augustine, Marcus Aurelius, Venerable Bede, Bernard of Clairvaux, Clement of Rome, Constantine, Francis of Assisi, Ignatius of Loyola, Irenaeus of Lyons, Origen of Alexandria, Pope Benedict XVI, Pope John Paul II, C.S. Lewis, Martin Luther, Pelagius, John Wycliffe Christian Practices Baptism, Honoring the Saints, Praying the Rosary Christian Texts Fast Facts & Trivia, Doctrines of Scripture, Old Testament, Apocrypha, New Testament, Four Gospels, Gospel of Mark, Gnostic Scriptures Christian Symbols day Adventist Christianity Feature Articles Papal Elections, The Church Fathers, New Testament Manuscripts, The Da Vinci Code Christian History One-Page Overview, Historical Context, Life of Jesus, Lives of the Apostles, Persecution of the Church, Early Church Fathers, Constantine, Council of Nicea, Rise of Monasticism, Rise of the Papacy, Crusades Christian Symbols A to Z , Crosses, Number Symbols, Liturgical Colors, Denomination Symbols Christia n Things Baptistery, Cathedral, Holy Water , Icons, Paten, Pyx and Monstrance, Relics, Scapulars, Shroud of Turin, Vestments How Christianity originated copy and pasted from http://religionfacts.com/christianity/ Christian history begins with Jesus of Nazareth, a Jew who was born in a small corner of the Roman Empire. Little is known of his early life, but around the age of 30, Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist and had a vision in which he received the blessing of God. After this event, he began a ministry of teaching, healing, and miracle-working. He spoke of the "kingdom of God," condemned religious hypocrites and interpreted the Mosaic law in new ways. He spoke before crowds of people, but also chose 12 disciples whom he taught privately. They eagerly followed him, believing him to be the long-awaited Messiah who would usher in the kingdom of God on earth. After just a few years, however, opposition mounted against Jesus, and he was ultimately executed by crucifixion by the Romans. Most of Jesus' followers scattered, dismayed at such an unexpected outcome. But three days later, women who went to anoint his body reported that the tomb was empty and an angel told them Jesus had risen from the dead. The disciples were initially skeptical, but later came to believe. They reported that Jesus appeared to them on several occasions and then ascended into heaven before their eyes. The remainder of the first century AD saw the number of Jesus' followers, who were soon called "Christians," grow rapidly. Instrumental in the spread of Christianity was a man named Paul, a zealous Jew who had persecuted Christians, then converted to the faith after experiencing a vision of the risen Jesus. Taking advantage of the extensive system of Roman roads and the time of peace, Paul went on numerous missionary journeys throughout the Roman Empire. He started churches, then wrote letters back to them to offer further counsel and encouragement. Many of these letters would become part of the Christian scriptures, the "New Testament." In the second and third centuries AD, Christians struggled with persecution from outside the church and doctrinal debates from within the church. Christian leaders, who are now called the "church fathers," wrote defenses of the false claims made against Christians (apologetics) as well as arguments against false teachings spreading within the church (polemics). Doctrines were explored, developed, and solidified, the canon of the New Testament was formed, and the notion of "apostolic succession" established a system of authority to guard against wrong interpretations of Christian teachings. A major turning point in Christian history came in the early 4th century AD, when the Roman emperor Constantine converted to Christianity. The Christian religion became legal, persecution ceased, and thousands of pagans now found it convenient to convert to the emperor's faith. Allied with the Roman Empire, Christianity gradually rose in power and hierarchy until it became the "Christendom" that would encompass the entire western world in the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Emperor Constantine hoped Christianity would be the uniting force of his empire, so he was distressed to hear of a dispute over Arianism, which held that Christ was more than a man but less than God himself. In 325 AD, Constantine called the Council of Nicea so that the bishops could work out their differences. They condemned Arius and Arianism and declared the Son (Christ) to be of "one substance" with the Father. After the council, St. Athanasius of Alexandria continued to battle the Arians, but the orthodox view eventually won out for good. The church then turned to issues about Christ's divine and human natures, which were essentially resolved at the Council of Chalcedon (451 AD). In the meantime, the considerable religious, cultural, and political differences between the Eastern and Western churches were becoming increasingly apparent. Religiously, the two parts of Christendom had different views on topics such as the use of icons, the nature of the Holy Spirit, and the date on which Easter should be celebrated. Culturally, the Greek East has always tended to be more philosophical and abstract in its thinking, while the Latin West tended toward a more pragmatic and legal-minded approach. As the old saying goes: "the Greeks built metaphysical systems; the Romans built roads." The political aspects of the split began with the Emperor Constantine, who moved the capital of the Roman Empire from Rome to Constantinople (in modern Turkey). Upon his death, the empire was divided between his two sons, one of whom ruled the western half of the empire from Rome while the other ruled the eastern region from Constantinople. These various factors finally came to a head in 1054 AD, when Pope Leo IX excommunicated the patriarch of Constantinople, the leader of the Eastern church. The Patriarch condemned the Pope in return, and the Christian church has been officially divided into West ("Roman Catholic") and East ("Greek Orthodox") ever since. In the 1400s, some western Christians began to publicly challenge aspects of the church. They spoke against the abuse of authority and corruption in Christian leadership. They called for a return to the gospel and a stripping off of traditions and customs like purgatory, the cult of the saints and relics, and the withholding of the communion wine from non- clergy. They began to translate the Bible - then available only in Latin - into the common languages of the people. However, these early reformers did not have widespread success, and most were executed for their teachings. Legend has it that when Jan Hus, a Czech reformer whose surname means "goose," was burned at the stake in 1415, he called out: "Today you roast a goose, but in 100 years, a swan will sing!" In 1517, a German monk named Martin Luther (who bore little resemblence to a swan) posted 97 complaints against the practice of selling indulgences on a church door. He had experienced a personal conversion to the doctrine of justification by faith alone, and also shared many of the ideas of those early reformers. Growing German nationalism and the invention of the printing press ensured that Luther would have greater protection than his predecessors and his teachings would be spread quickly. He was excommunicated and barely escaped with his life on more than one occasion, but Luther lived out his life spreading the Reformation, and died a natural death. His ideas had already spread throughout Germany, and similar reforming movements sprung up in England and Switzerland. Soon much of Europe was embroiled in a civil war, with Protestant nationalists fighting Catholic imperialists for religious and political freedom. In the 17th century, Christians of many ideologies embarked on the hazardous journey across the Atlantic, to the promise of religious freedom and economic prosperity in the New World. Quakers came to Pennsylvania, Catholics to Maryland, and Dutch Reformed to New York. Later came Swedish Lutherans and French Huguenots, English Baptists and Scottish Presbyterians. With the exception of some Puritan communities, there was no attempt to impose religious uniformity in America. The period from about 1648 to 1800 was an age in which reason (as opposed to revelation and dogma) became increasingly important, but so did religious revival. Benjamin Franklin exemplified his time's general attitude towards religious matters when he remarked, a few weeks before his death: As to Jesus of Nazareth...I have...some doubts as to his Divinity, tho' it is a question I do not dogmatize upon, having never studied it.... I see no harm, however, it its being believed, if that belief has the good consequence...of making his doctrines more respected and better observed. At the same time that religious skepticism and toleration were growing in the west, so too were revival movements that sought to return to masses to genuine faith in Christ and the gospel of salvation. George Whitefield arrived in the colonies from England in 1739, and experienced wide success with his revival sermons. Jonathan Edwards was famous for his fiery sermons in which he described in detail the torments of those who do not have personal faith in Jesus Christ. John Wesley was revivalist preacher and a personal friend of Whitefield, but he differed strongly from his Presbyterian friend on the doctrine of predestination. Wesley founded a small group of preachers and bible students, who focused on holy living and came to be called the "Methodists." Today, Christianity is the largest world religion, with about 2 billion adherents. It is the majority religion of Europe and the Americas, and there are churches in almost every nation in the world. There are perhaps thousands of Christian denominations, all of whom believe in the basic doctrines established at the Council of Nicea but differ in other matters of doctrine and practice. In recent years, there has been a growing movement among these denominations to work together in unity for the good of the world. In 1948, the World Council of Churches was founded to that end. Early Christian art and architecture From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search The Good Shepherd: Early Christian catacomb art Early Christian art and architecture is the art produced by Christians or under Christian patronage from about the year 100 to about the year 500. Prior to 100 there is no surviving art that can be called Christian with absolute certainty. After about 500 Christian art shows the beginnings of Byzantine artistic style. Prior to 200 Christians may have been constrained by their position as a persecuted group from producing durable works of art. Since Christianity was largely a religion of lower classes in this period, the lack of surviving art may reflect a lack of funds for patronage. The Old Testament restrictions against the production of graven (an idol or fetish carved in wood or stone) images, see also Idolatry and Christianity, may also have constrained Christians from producing art. It is also possible that Christians purchased art using pagan iconography, but gave it Christian meanings. If this happened, "Christian" art would not be immediately recognizable as such. Early Christians used the same artistic media as the surrounding pagan culture. These media included fresco, mosaics, sculpture, and manuscript illumination. Early Christian art not only used Roman forms, it also used Roman styles. Late classical style included a proportional portrayal of the human body and impressionistic presentation of space. Late classical style is seen in early Christian frescos, such as those in the catacombs of Rome. Early Christians adapted Roman motifs and gave new meanings to what had been pagan symbols. Among the motifs adopted were the peacock, grapevines, and the good shepherd. Early Christians also developed their own iconography, for example such symbols as the fish (ikhthus), were not borrowed from pagan iconography. After about the year 200 Christian art must be broken into two periods: before and after the First Council of Nicea in 325, before being the Ante-Nicene Period and after being the period of the First seven Ecumenical Councils. Contents [hide] 1 Early Christian Iconography 2 Christian Art prior to 313 3 Christian architecture after 313 4 Christian art after 313 5 Notes 6 References Early Christian Iconography During the persecution of Christians under the Roman Empire, Christian art was necessarily and deliberately furtive and ambiguous, using imagery that was shared with pagan culture but had a special meaning for Christians. The earliest surviving Christian art comes from the late 2nd to early 4th centuries on the walls of Christian tombs in the catacombs of Rome, although from literary evidence there may well have been panel icons which, like almost all classical painting, have disappeared. Initially Jesus was represented indirectly by pictogram symbols such as the Ichthys (fish), peacock, Lamb of God, or an anchor (the Labarum or Chi-Rho was a later development). Later personified symbols were used, including Jonah, whose three days in the belly of the whale pre-figured the interval between Christ's death and Resurrection, Daniel in the lion's den, or Orpheus charming the animals. The image of "The Good Shepherd", a beardless youth in pastoral scenes collecting sheep, was the commonest of these images, and was probably not understood as a portrait of the historical Jesus.[1] These images bear some resemblance to depictions of korus figures in Greco-Roman art. The dove is a symbol of peace and purity. It can be found with a halo or celestial light. In one of the earliest known Trinitarian images, 'the Throne of God as a Trinitarian image' (a marble relief carved c. 400 CE in the collection of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation), the dove represents the Spirit. It is flying above an empty throne representing God the Father, in the throne are a chlamys (cloak) and diadem representing the Son. The fish is used as a symbol for Jesus Christ. It represents Jesus' last supper as well as water used to baptize Christians. In Greek, the word 'fish' provides the initials of the title "Jesus Christ Son of God Saviour" and was used as a rebus for Christ's name. The lamb symbolizes Jesus' sacrifice or Christians when there are several. The figure of the Good Shepherd resembles earlier shepherd figures in pagan Classical art that represent benevolence and philanthropy. Additional meaning would have been ascribed to the figure by early Christian viewers in the context of Christ's phrase "I am the shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep," and St John the Baptist's description of Christ as "the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world." The Chi-Rho monogram, XP, apparently first used by Constantine I, consists of the first two characters of the name 'Christos' in Greek. It was popular in the period after Christianity emerged into the open. The Cross symbolizes Jesus' crucifixion on a cross which was not represented explicitly for several centuries, possibly because crucifixion was a punishment meted out to common criminals. Christian Art prior to 313 Depiction of Jesus Funerary art o Catacomb Frescos o Sarcophagi Cleveland Statuettes of Jonah and the Whale House Church - Dura-Europos [edit] Christian architecture after 313 Santa Sabina, Rome, interior (5th century) Main article: Christianising the basilica in Basilica In the 4th century, Christians were prepared to build larger and more handsome edifices for worship than the furtive meeting places they had been using. Architectural formulas for temples were unsuitable, not simply for their pagan associations, but because pagan cult and sacrifices occurred outdoors under the open sky in the sight of the gods, with the temple, housing the cult figures and the treasury, as a backdrop. The usable model at hand, when Emperor Constantine I wanted to memorialize his imperial piety, was the familiar conventional architecture of the basilicas. These had a center nave with one aisle at each side and an apse at one end: on this raised platform sat the bishop and priests. Constantinian Basilicas: o St. John Lateran o St Mary Major o Old Saint Peter's Basilica o Church of the Holy Sepulchre o Church of the Nativity Centralized Plan Churches o Santa Constanza See also: Early Christendom in Church architecture [edit] Christian art after 313 Sculpture o Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus o Dogmatic sarcophagus Manuscripts o Vienna Genesis o Rossano Gospels o Cotton Genesis Mosaics Where is mostly practiced? Christianity is mostly in Europe! Also it can be found anywhere in the world, but North America and Europe are the most popular! Population: It is around between/around 1.5 and 2.2 BILLION! Other sourses reference 25 to 33 precent of Earth’s population being Christian!