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CHRISTIANITY
Chart of “Irreligion” (non-religious people)
Roman Catholic – 1.2 billion
Protestant – 670 million
- All “historical Protestants” =350 million: Baptist – 100 million, Lutheran – 75 million, Methodist – 75 million, Calvinist – 75 million (includes
Presbyterian, Reformed, Congregationalist), Anabaptist – 5 million.
- All “modern Protestants” = 275 million: Pentecostalism – 130 million, Non-denominational Evangelicalism – 80 million, African Initiated – 40 million,
Seventh-Day Adventist – 17 million.
Eastern Orthodox = 230 million (Russian Orthodox highest at 125 million)
Anglican (includes Episcopalian) = 82 million
Other Branches: Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) – 14.5 million, New Apostolic Church – 11 million, Jehovah’s Witness – 7.5 million
*Today, about 33% of the world’s population considers themselves a type of Christian. The next highest population is Islam with about 23%.
- Simplified Version…notice the “big 3” branches
The Romans Control Judaea
Around 1 A.D., there were 4 competing Jewish sects in the Judaea, Roman Empire:
Sadducees: wealthy, educated, compromising with Romans, Rabbi had power in religious council/laws,
common people usually did not associate with this group
Pharisees: middles class, strict followers, believed in life after death if the Torah was studied well
Essenes: very pious, believed that a Messiah would come to defeat the Romans, the end of the world is
coming soon…possibly 4,000 in 1 A.D., some say these would become the first Christians
Zealots: action-oriented, a future Messiah will be a great military leader, heated Romans, liked Jesus at first
but later discounted him when he did not live up to their violent rebellion beliefs
- By 6 B.C., the Romans applied tighter rule in Judaea, there was lots of social unrest. The Sadducees and
Pharisees wanted to cooperate, the Essenes waited for a Messiah, and the Zealots wanted violent rebellion.
- Herod was the unpopular Roman-backed ruler there. When rumors circulated that a Messiah was born, it
is claimed that he killed thousands of Jewish infants.
- Jesus Christ, a Jew, was born
around 4 B.C. (virgin birth?) in
Bethlehem, Judaea, Roman Empire
- He was a carpenter. At about
30, he was baptized by John the
Baptist. Jesus claimed that the
Holy Spirit spoke to him, and he
began to preach for about 3
years.
- Jesus preached: all people are
children of God, repent sins, love
God, accept God’s forgiveness,
forgive others, care for the poor,
New Age coming with a Messiah
(unclear if he was talking about
himself.
- Jesus never mentioned anything
about starting a new religion.
Jesus Christ
Fate of Jesus
- Most Jews were not won over to Jesus.
Sadducees = Jesus caused unrest;
Pharisees = not following Jewish law;
Zealots = not warlike enough.
- Jesus went to Jerusalem and took 12
Apostles with him. When he arrived he
was treated like a Messiah or a king.
- Authorities arrested Jesus (Kiss of Judas)
for causing social unrest. Pontius Pilate,
the Roman procurator of the area,
ordered Jesus to be crucified.
- Jesus was beaten and crucified. Many
followers soon believed that he rose from
his tomb after 3 days (Resurrection =
Easter). For 40 days Jesus’ soul was said
to appear before people, and then he
went to Heaven.
Earliest Christians
- Simon Peter, an uneducated Jew, (a.k.a. “the Rock”
of Christianity) was the spokesman for the earliest
Christian community, which was in Jerusalem. He was
the first bishop of Rome, and some consider him the
first pope although the term was not in use yet.
- This early community did not want to part with
the Jewish community. In 70 A.D. the Jewish Council
in Jamnia formally declared Christians to be separate.
- In 67, Peter was crucified upside down (did not
want to suffer same fate as Jesus) by the Romans.
Paul
- Saul of Tarsus (Paul), an educated Roman citizen, at first despised Christianity,
but later became one of its greatest champions after changing his mind.
- Paul was talented at talking to lots of different types of people and working
hard. He built lots of new churches, and said that you did not have to be Jewish
to be Christian, and a conference in 49 A.D. said this too.
- Paul also did not think kosher eating and circumcision were necessary, which
distanced the new Christians with the Jewish community. Also there were disputes
over God’s true law.
- After being imprisoned for 5 years (yet still working), Paul died in 67, like
Peter. He was beheaded by the Romans.
- After Paul’s death, institutionalization was needed. By 135, after another revolt,
all Jews and Christians were barred from Jerusalem; the community in Jerusalem
ended. Rome was the clear center for Christians now.
Christian Beliefs
- Monotheistic. Trinity (325, also “official” in 381 A.D.) = God is three parts (father, son
holy spirit). Father = Father God, Son = Jesus, Holy Ghost/Spirit = God is all around us)
- Jesus suffered on the Cross for all of humanity’s sins
- Afterlife: Heaven, Purgatory, Hell
- Last Judgment (a.k.a. Second Coming, End of Days) = return of Jesus Christ. Living and
dead will be judged and a new era will begin.
- Bible = Holy Book. Old Testament = Jewish part, New Testament = Christian
part…Christians believe both.
- 10 Commandments, 7 Sins
- No one, including leaders (i.e. Roman Emperor) were not gods or divine
Theories of the Rise of Christianity
- Instability of Roman era
- Promise of Heaven in afterlife
- Love your neighbor, golden
rule, lots of positive teachings
- Equality in the eyes of God
for all (women, races, economic
classes)
- Instant communication with
all-powerful, all-knowing,
benevolent, forgiving God
through prayer
- You can be a Christian
anywhere;
- Sense of community
- Later Roman Emperors
encouraged it to unify the
Empire
Debates in Early Christianity
- Many early Christians believed that Jesus would come back at any moment. When he did not
come so soon, the End of Days theories became more important.
Divisions of Christianity developed. Some include:
Arianism (started in late 200s): God existed before Jesus, so Jesus was less powerful than God
Donatism (300s-400s): strict North African sect believed that no laws other than Canon laws
(Christian laws) were to be followed, killing false Christians okay, freed slaves, some were
martyrs by suicide and jumping off cliffs
Gnosticsm (peaked late 200s): androgynous God, Christ escaped the Cross, different gospels
Trinitarianism (started in 100s): in response to Arians, they believed that God had three equal
parts: Father, Son, Holy Ghost (became widely accepted belief)
Christians Become Targeted
- The Romans had toleration of other religions, but the Christians
were a different sort. Christians were considered “atheists” (did not
believe in the Greco-Roman gods), and haters of humanity (did not
take part in Roman festivals). This led to suspicion and even
persecution of Christians.
- For the first 250 years in Christianity, some emperors were harsher
on Christians than others – persecutions were normally limited and
sporadic.
- The first persecution was In 64, when a great fire burned for 9
days and decimated 1/3 of Rome. Some suspected Emperor Nero for
purposely starting it (he seized the burnt land and built an
enormous palace on the ashes), but Nero blamed Christian arsonists.
- The worst persecution of all was under Diocletian in 303 – over
20,000 died in a failed attempt to rid the religion from the Roman
Empire.
- Despite all of this, Christianity continued to grow, even secretly
and underground…it is a very unlikely story!
Constantine Legalizes
Christianity
Constantine (r. 306-337) had a “vision” that if his
army made a Christian Cross they would win the
current civil war for the Roman Empire…they
won, and Constantine supported Christianity
throughout his reign (but was only himself
baptized before death).
Edict of Milan (313): Constantine proclaimed
religious freedom for Christians and returned
confiscated Church property. Finally, Christians were
allowed to be public. Nicknamed ‘the Great.’
- Historians debate whether a) Constantine wanted
to unify a broken empire with faith, or b) he
really was a devout Christian who did what was
best for the religion. He also made the Sabbath
Sunday, not Saturday, which many attribute to his
Apollo (sun) worship.
The Romans Become Christians
Council of Nicaea (325): considered the birth of the
Catholic Church (a.k.a. The Roman Catholic Church), this
was a council of religious leaders from across the Roman
Empire about what the “official” type of Christianity
should be. The Nicene Creed (a formal telling of what it
means to be a Christian) resulted, and the Church became
much more closely related to the state.
- Arianism was the biggest competing version, and it
failed. Arius was deemed a heretic (false Christian) and
exiled.
- Theodosius (r. 379-395) required all Romans to be
Christians in 380. The traditional Greek/Roman gods were
no longer worshipped by law! Persecutions of heretics
happened. Nicknamed ‘the Great.”
- The Roman Empire had split into briefly four and then
two halves under Diocletian in the late 200s. Constantine
and Theodosius reunited the empire temporarily, but after
Theodosius it would remain split. A rivalry between Rome
and Constantinople would grow.
St. Augustine
Augustine of Hippo (354-430) from present-day Algeria, is
known for being a sinner as a young man (i.e. lust
became habit became necessity), and then later converted
into a “model Christian. His mom was a Christian while
his dad was not, and he struggled as a young man with
this.
Augustine Made three arguments that would become
accepted parts of Catholicism:
- The Church’s authority should be absolute, because evil
is caused when people act how they want.
- Violence is okay against heretics (led to the justification
of forced conversions, inquisitions, Holy wars (Donatist
controversy)
- Original Sin (every human is born from the sinful act
of sex/lust, and is destined to Hell unless baptized, etc.).
Sexual pleasure = sinful (this is was never accepted in
the Eastern Empire/Orthodox branch).
- Augustine eloquently defended Christianity in writing
when Rome was sacked in 410.
The Papacy Begins
- Rome had a bishop system since Paul, but no official pope.
- In the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire), the Emperor was the
head of the Church, and he would meet councils of religious leaders for
advice. To them, the bishop of Rome was only the first amongst equals for
popes.
- First real “pope” was Leo I (r. 440-461). He was praised for “talking
down” Attila the Hun (although Rome was sacked 4 years later, even though
he convinced them to not kill people)
- Constantine originally left the Rome bishop the Lateran palace and St.
Peter’s cathedral, but soon forgeries would be key: the Donation of
Constantine (forgery) “said” that all of Rome and all of Western Europe was
for the pope as Constantine intended!
- Latin would be the official language of the Catholic Church until the mid
1900s. This put the clergy in a very privileged position as most people
could not read the Bible and depended on priests.
Fall of the Roman Empire
- The Western Roman Empire fell to Germanic
barbarians (Arian Christians) in 476, and Christianity
became more Germanic, yet the German speaking world
became more Christian.
- Pope Gregory the Great (590-604), a monk, was
considered the first Medieval pope. He emphasized
miracles, visions, demons, angels, good works for Heaven
entry, and fearing God an eternal judge. He also did
not trust the Byzantines to protect Rome militarily; he
wanted to ally with the Franks, but the Franks would
not ally with the Church at this time.
- Other changes: infant baptisms normal, Latin =
language (most people could not understand it), private
confession (later to priests only) instead of public
penance, veneration for saints and relics (not martyrs),
emphasis on celibacy (eventually priests could not marry,
have sex).
St. Patrick
- Patrick (d. 460) is known for spreading Christianity
to Ireland. Ireland remains very Catholic today.
- From Britain, at 16 he was captured and sold to
Ireland. After 6 years he escaped, and since then had
become a Christian. He went back to Ireland and
successfully spread the faith.
- Many monasteries developed, far more than in
most of Europe. These monks emphasized scholarship,
and copied valuable Christian texts (many of which
would have been lost if not for them).
- Irish priests began what the Catholic Church would
later adopt: penance coming after private confession.
This became the norm by the 800s.
- St. Anthony from Egypt (250-355) pioneered the monastery movement. It
began as a hermit-like community of monks who lived ascetically and
grew. Anthony spend around 10 years in cemeteries and claimed to be
attacked by demons.
- St. Benedict (480-550) “father of Western monasticism.” Monk’s life: little
sleep, no sex, little food, thank God constantly, no laughing, no gossip, own
nothing, never talk about world outside monastery. Became dominant by
1000 (yet more lax rules in many cases).
- Monasteries became centers for forgiveness. Example: kill a man in battle
= 40 days of penance or pay a monk in money and/or land to do it.
Monasteries became wealthy and powerful. England had 1,000 monks in
1066 and 13,000 in 1215.
- Cluniac Order: sang most of the day, very respected, from Cluny, France.
Pope had direct supervision.
- Cistercian Order: originated in France, it was a franchise model…it grew
to 343 abbeys in Western Europe.
- Dominican Order: intellectual, gnostic, against heresy. Began in Rome but
popular in Spain. along with Franciscans they would be the most popular
- Franciscan Order: from St. Francis of Assisi in Italy, not confined within
the monastery, along with Dominicans they were the most popular
- In the early Middle Ages, monasteries and the Church had a monopoly
on education.
Rise of Monasteries