Christianity

Most Christians think of their history as a special plan from God that reached its apex in the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus as Christ. All prior world events were thought of as preparation for his coming; all events after him are a realization of God’s plan that was revealed.

The general theme of Jesus’ teachings was the kingdom of God. He announced standards of human conduct that would exist in the lives of people who lived according to the will of God. Jesus established God’s perfection as the only standard by which personal conduct could be measured. Jesus taught that the kingdom of God had come and is coming when God chooses. Jesus emphasized the personal side of religion, referring to God as “our Father.” He supported Mosaic Law, which says humans must not kill another human being, but he went beyond it, saying humans must not even be angry with their brothers. He agreed with Mosaic Law that denounced adultery, but he disagreed with easy divorce, which in his eyes contributed to adultery. Jesus’ teachings were memorable. Ordinary people called him rabbi, “teacher.”

My thoughts are that Jesus was a very good human being who taught people to love each other and to live a good life. I think he was like the Buddha and Mohammad because he was a person who was close to god and wanted others to be the same way.

The question about the source of Jesus’ authority was of utmost importance to Jewish officials in his day. He did not quote authoritative rabbis or try to prove points by pointing to scriptures. The disciples who accompanied Jesus, both men and women, recognized his authority as coming from God. He trained twelve of these disciples to convey his teachings and healings to villages he could not immediately visit. Although Christians have selected four gospels to present their official views of Jesus as the Christ, John, the fourth gospel, offers a perspective that is somewhat different from the first three gospels. The Gospel of John presents the teachings and authority of Jesus in impressive accounts, such as those that feature the “I am” sayings, or teachings, of Jesus.

I think that Jesus was a teacher who was a threat to the Jewish religion because he taught in a way that was different from Judaism.

Judaism was a recognized, legal religion in the Roman Empire. Jews informed the Romans that Christianity was not Judaism and not legally included within Judaism. After Rome burned in 64 C.E., Nero accused Christians of starting the fire and labeled them enemies of the state. Christians accepted persecution for a period of time as an inevitable testing. Because Jesus had been tortured and crucified, how could they, who were but servants, expect to escape to the martyrdom of their master? They did not interpret persecutions to mean they were wrong, their cause was lost, or God had abandoned them. They believed that God was always in charge of history and that after a period of testing them, he would deliver them.

My thoughts are that the followers of Jesus were very strong people who valued their faith of Christianity more than they valued their lives. That period in history was extremely violent and people in the government thought there was only one way to do things – their way. Anyone who did not think like them was put to death because there was no value for human life. 

The churches in countries near the Mediterranean Sea developed a Christian canon of writings known as the New Testament, which they understood as a new covenant to amend the old covenant God made with Moses. These were the scriptures of a new people of God, called by him to believe in his Son, whom he had sent to save the world. The four gospels, or accounts of the life Jesus, overlap and supplement one another so as to give a whole picture of the various churches’ views of Jesus. The New Testament scriptures were written by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The New Testament became the special, later word of God for Christians, although they continued t read and receive guidance from the Old Testament. The Old Testament spoke of God’s covenant people, the suffering servant, and the anointed one.

I think that the new testament written by the four disciples of Jesus are their interpretation of the life of Jesus.

Two major traditions were at work within the Roman Empire. The churches at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea were basically Greek speaking. Churches at the western end of the Mediterranean Sea adopted Latin as the official language. Greek and Roman traditions were different-colored strands that knit together Christianity’s main testimony. Ethic diversity among Christians was reflected in the major traditions of the Greek and Roman churches.

The Greek orthodox and Roman Catholic traditions formalized their split in the year 1054. A controversy over doctrine and practice led a legate of Pope Leo IX to excommunicate Patriarch Cerularius. The patriarch with his council in turn excommunicated the legate. Agreement on doctrine in the two traditions ended after the seventh ecumenical council; they went their separate ways. Some attempt at cooperation was made during the Muslim threat to Constantinople, but the crusaders – mostly Catholic – did more to the Orthodox center in 1204 than did the Muslins. The sack of Constantinople left Christendom with two separate traditions.

My thoughts about this are that it was all right for the Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholic traditions to split. Each group had a right to think how they wanted to think. But since the times were so violent they couldn’t split peacefully. They had to split with violence. I don’t believe that is what Jesus taught.

The object of the crusades was to place the Holy Land with its sacred places under Christians control so that pilgrims could freely visit them and carry out Christian devotion. Pope Urban II proclaimed the first crusade at a synod, an assembly of church officials, in Clermont in 1095. Several crusades were led by nobles of Europe.

The crusades generated many tales of heroism that circulated in Western Christendom, but in the process, they deepened divisions among Christians, Muslim, and Jews.

My thoughts about this are that again we have people fighting and killing each other in the name of god and religion. It doesn’t make any sense.

Another major division in Christianity, the Protestant, became distinct in the sixteenth century. The division occurred in Germany, France, and Switzerland; soon most countries of Europe had participants. England and Scotland were also deeply involved.

Forces that produced the Protestant and Reformed churches also inspired reform within the Catholic church. Because the Catholic Reformation was contemporaneous with the Protestant Reformation, it is less often discussed. The Roman Catholic church, however, reformed as it responded to challenges from individuals with exemplary holy lives. Both women and men became role models for higher Christian spirituality and morality. Although the lines between Protestants and Catholics were drawn and reinforced, Christianity had undergone a renewal of faith and morals. Members of the divided churches debated vigorously who was the real church and who had departed from it.

My thoughts about this are that it is unfortunate that the Catholics and Protestants had to argue about which one was the real church. I wish they could have just agreed to disagree and to honor their own beliefs and the beliefs of the others. Honoring the beliefs of others would have prevented all the bloodshed that happened after the crucifixion of Jesus.