Christianity

Christianity:

• "Christianity Christ," literally means "anionted one." Is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament.
• Christians believe Jesus is the son of God having become man and the saviour of humanity. Christian, therefore, commonly refer to Jesus as Christ or Messiah.

Christian Beliefs:

• There is one God
• The belief in the trinty (there is one god but in 3 forms)
• God created the world and is good
• Man is created in the image of God
• Jesus is the son of God, was sent to save mankind
• Belief in God brings salvation
• The holy spirit directs the Church
• Man has free will

Denominations/Varients:
Christianity contains 3 main branches which are:

• Roman Catholicism
• Orthodox Church
• Protestantism

Catholic Church:
The catholic church comprises those Particular churches, headed by bishops, in communion with the Pope, the Bishops of Rome, as it's the highest authority in matters of faith.

Orthodox Church
Comprises those churches in communion with the Patriachal Sees of the East, such as the Ecumenical Patriach of Constantinople. In the 11th Century the Catholic Church in Rome split with the Eastern Church in Constantinople (known as Turkey today). This split is called the great Schism, as a result the Orthodox Church is formed.

Protestantism:
In the 16th Century, Martin Luther, Huldrych Zwingli and John Calvin inaugurated what has come to be called Protestantism. There are mant different forms of protestant religions.
Protestantism is a branch within christianity, containing many denominations with some differing practices and doctrines, that principally originated in the 16th Century Protestant Reformation.

Task: Choose and name 2 varients and answer the following questions.

1. How many worldwide followers does the varient have?Protestant: 370 million.
   Orthodox: 300 million.
2. What are the key central beliefs?
   Protestant: Doctrine should not be based upon church tradition. Protestants base religious authority solely on the 66 books of the Old and New Testament. Also “Justification by faith alone” which asserts that salvation is achieved individually through the merit of faith, and not faith plus the efforts of oneself and others. This means that Protestant Churches do not create saints and saints are not considered capable of interceding with God on behalf of believers. They also believe that Baptism and eucharist are the central sacraments.
   Orthodox: Holy Tradition is very important which includes the bible church and sacraments, and mary is the mother of God.
   
3. What is the logo of the church? Protestantism: the cup with the cross and the bread.
   Orthodox: the trinity.
4. When was the church formed?Prodestantism: 16th Century.
   Orthodox: 33AD in Jerusalem.
5. Who is the head of the church?Protestant: the Spirit of Christ.
   Orthodox: Jesus