Christianity is a very unique religion. It, unlike many of the world's major religions, places a great emphasis on having the correct beliefs and interpretations of religious doctrines. Being a much more societal religion than many others, Christianity in its early years found that it was important to have every follower have the same understanding of the cardinal beliefs that it preaches. The story of the bible is a very complex one, as compared to other religions. The statement of beliefs of the other Abrahamic religions are all relatively short. They do not rely so heavily on scripture as Christianity does, and therefore there s no need for a comprehensive statement of belief that covers all major events and definitions (Johnson 9). …show more content…
One of the major heresies that was put to rest by the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD was Sebellianism, or more commonly known as Moadalism. The movement of Sebellianism was brought on by Sabellius, a theologian and priest from the third century. Sabellius most likely taught in Rome around the time he first started writing about Moadalism, and little did he know, his questioning of the true nature, or "mode," of God would be one of the most common forms of theological errors in the entire Christian faith. In a very basic sense, Moadalism is a denial of the Holy Trinity. Moadalism states that God is a single person, who has revealed himself in three different forms throughout early Christian history. During the time of the Old Testament, God revealed himself as the Father, and was the subject of most of the Old Testament stories. God revealed himself as the Son at the time of the incarnation, and as the Holy Spirit after the ascension of Jesus. The Moadalistic belief continues to state that none of these forms can exist at the same time. They occurred continuously and seamlessly without overlap (Lang 60). Moadalism denies a major pillar of Christianity by completely rejecting the Trinitarian belief that God is one being that is the Father, the Son, and the Holy
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Get AccessEven during numerous exiles, Athanasius continued to be a vigorous defender of Nicene Christianity against Arianism. Athanasius then famously said "Athanasius against the world". The Cappadocian Fathers also took up the torch; their Trinitarian discourse was influential in the council at Constantinople.Up until about 360, theological debates mainly dealt with the Divinity of Jesus, the 2nd person of the Trinity. However, because the Council of Nicaea had not clarified the divinity of the Holy Spirit, the 3rd person of the Trinity, it became a topic of debate.
The important sacred text of Christianity is the Bible. The Bible is primary sacred text of Christianity. The Christian Bible is made of two parts: the Old Testament, which is almost identical to the Jewish Bible; and the New Testament, a collection of Christian writings that includes biographies of Jesus and the apostles, letters to new churches, and an apocalyptic work. The Christian Bible is a collection of writings that Christians believe is of divine and human origin. The Bible is accepted by Christians as trustworthy for belief and practice. As well sometimes referred to as 'Scripture ' and 'Holy Scripture '. Christianity views the Bible as the basic source of belief and practice. The Bible is the central sacred text for
Many beliefs of Christianity come from religions other than Judaism. The Jews were the earliest believers of Christ, and had fought over whether to let non-Jews convert. They ultimately decided to spread their beliefs to everyone, and the non-Jews had brought in many ideas from their past religions, therefore, Christianity has many ideas that are based off of other religions, other than Judaism. For instance, some common ideas in Christianity and other religions are resurrection, life after death, and images or metaphors. Another reason one may be led to believe that Christianity rejects the core beliefs of Judaism is that the creation of the Bible, specifically the Old Testament, was greatly based off of the Quran. This is because the original followers invited non-Jews to convert which lead to a greater influence from other religions.
Taking a look at book two we can tackle the idea of what Christians believe. Christianity can be viewed as being something that is complex. At first it may seem simple, but C.S. Lewis puts it
The origins of Christianity can be originated in Judaism and for that reason it is no surprise that both religions have many beliefs in common. During the earliest beginnings, Christianity was a part of Judaism, but currently they are two distinct communities. However, they are bound together by their belief in one God and to worship any other is to deny Him. The separation between both religions did not happen fast or easy. The entire division took some hundred years and the very complex separation didn’t happen all at once.
We as Christians believe that the Bible is the one truth, while the popular stance in the world today is that there cannot be one truth because all are equal. It is important to understand what it is we believe. Is the old testament just a collection of fairy tales, or is it the definitive truth of the history of the world? Bartholomew and Goheen state that “Only this one story unlocks the meaning of human history – and thus the meaning of your life and mine (Bartholomew & Goheen, 2009, p. 13).
The context of this will be showing how Judaism and Christianity more similar than most people think. Three ways these two religions are the same are, both are monotheistic, how both share same holy city, and their beliefs to the “Good Life.”
"Christianity started out in Palestine as a fellowship; it moved to Greece and became a philosophy; it moved to Italy and became an institution; it moved to Europe and became a culture; it came to America and became an enterprise" as stated by theological scholar Sam Pascoe. Throughout Christianity’s journey they have come across ties with the religions Judaism and Islam. There are few similarities between the three major religions. One similarity is that Abraham is viewed the same between all three religions. The only other similarity is that all 3 religions believe in a God, just in different ways. There are much more similar theological aspects of the religions when Christianity is compared to
There are many situations where I felt myself and others were treated unfairly; However, I’m going to share the one that struck out to me the most. Growing up, I was raised in a Christian background, specifically Methodist. Even though I respect the views of those who are not Christian, unfortunately not all Christians do that. Some Christians use their Christianity to judge those who are not living up to their expectations or those who are not righteous in their eyes. I experienced it myself because I was in a situation where other Christians were castigating me.
Being of Greek and Bulgarian descent, Orthodox Christianity has played a tremendous and positive role in my life. We, as Greeks, are a proud and religious people; and are firm believers in God, the Son of God, and the Virgin Mary and the Orthodox Saints. Through my theological education, knowledge of history and personal experience, I have learned to conceptualize that Orthodox Christians promote peace, harmony and unity among all mankind, condemning violence.
Sabellianism was the nontrinitarian principle that God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Spirit were three separate aspects of God. Later declared heretical, Sabellianism and similar theologies established out of the earlier teaching known as Modalistic Monarchianism, with which it was often recognized with. Sabellianism contrasted from classical trinitarianism by that it insisted that the three persons of the Holy Trinity did not form enduring differences, but alternatively performed as means of God's being and activity. More specifically, Sebellians were people who believed that God the Father was active in the principle of creation, God the Son in the act of redemption, and God the Holy Spirit in process of beatification. One of Sabellianism’s
Christianity has been around for many centuries, and has varies groups that exist. Here I will discuss three major divisions within Christianity, which are Catholicism, Protestantism and Eastern Orthodox. These groups have similar beliefs in one God, that there is a Heaven and Hell, among other things. Although these groups have similar beliefs they also have many differences. Catholicism and Eastern Orthodox are both organized in a pyramid structure that is lead from top to bottom. The difference between the two is that the pope has leadership within Catholicism, and the Patriarchs system governs the Eastern Orthodox. Catholics are headed by one single person. Protestantism has no hierarchy, or a democratic government. All three have a difference
The Christian Bible is a long standing text dating back to the first century CE. The Book of Matthew in the New Testament contains The Sermon on the Mount. The Sermon on the Mount has “eight Beatitudes” and also contains the main points of the Christian faith (Labatt 4.11). The Christian Bible has Jesus, who in the Sermon on the Mount, spoke and taught his disciples. While Christianity has the Bible, Confucianism has the
Christians try to put God at the centre of all that they do in their
Christians believe that Jesus is both God and man, incarnation of God, and man -gives man two natures, physical and divined that they are united in one person. Thus the mystery of God becoming a human being, Jesus, and suffered and died, and Mary (Jesus' mother) was the mother of God. God resolved himself to mankind in 3 ways, as God the father, God the sun and the Holy Spirit. From this we can see that Christianity is based on the