The Controversy Surrounding The Church Essay

In today’s Christian churches there has come about a very controversial subject, one that has been developing for many years, and is now at the fore front of controversial issues dealing with the church. The issue at hand is homosexuality and the Christian church. This controversy has caused there to be a split between the church into two different beliefs, liberal and evangelical, which one is right and which and which one is wrong? Issues such as should homosexuals be aloud in the church? If so how involved should they be? And most importantly what does God have to say about homosexuality? These are tough question brought about by a tough issue and the only way these questions can be

During the 16th century, Protestantism emerged as a new sect of Christianity. This process was not calm or peaceful in the slightest. Protestant leaders like Martin Luther and John Calvin fiercely attacked and denied traditional Catholic beliefs, causing much controversy and debate upon religion. Many regions of Europe as a whole were converted to Protestantism, and many more Protestants emerged in areas where Catholicism remained the state religion. The Catholic faith became less and less appealing to people as the abuses of the clergy were now publicly addressed by reformers and a new, personal approach to religion was offered in Protestantism. In addition, rulers favored Protestantism as a state religion because it meant that no power

The Protestant Reformation was a major 16th century European movement aimed initially at reforming the beliefs and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. The Reformation in western and central Europe officially began in 1517 with Martin Luther and his 95 Theses. This was a debate over the Christian religion. At the time there was a difference in power. Roman Catholicism stands with the Pope as central and appointed by God. Luther’s arguments referred to a direct relationship with God and using the local vernacular to speak to the people. Luther’s arguments remove the absolute power from the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church in general. The revenue from the taxes paid to the Church would be reduced with Luther’s ideas, in part because of

• Writes about James, brother of Jesus, who was called the Christ. Stoned to death in A.D. 62. Pg.78

The word “Christian” in Colorado Christian University is more than just a belief shared amongst the Faculty and Student Body. It is the foundation on which all aspects of the educational experience are built. Beginning with a strong Statement of Faith, which aligns with core beliefs of the National Association of Evangelicals, the University proclaims its belief “in the Bible as being the only authoritative Word of God, that God exists in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, as well as belief in the salvation and resurrection that is only found in Christ Jesus” (Statement of Faith at Colorado Christian University, n.d.).

St. Athanasius is a notable Bishop of Alexandria, who wrote an Orthodox classic work named On The Incarnation of the Word. This book’s purpose is to clarify the legitimacy of the Incarnation of Christ to non believers. He uses various scriptures, and teachings to further prove his argument. Essentially, this classic work proved to be recognized by many groups of people, because of its meticulous detail and explanations on the righteousness of Incarnation. St. Athanasius provides clarification about Incarnation, and creates a defense against critics of Incarnation.

By The Middle Ages, one understands a relatively long historical period extending from the end of the Roman Empire to the 1500's. The conquest of The Roman Empire by Germanic tribes, and synthesis of Germanic and Roman ways of life formed the civilization which we call medieval (medieval-from Latin words; medium (middle) and aevum (age)). Medieval civilization was greatly influenced by the Muslims in Spain and The Middle East, and by Byzantine Empire and Christians in Southeast Europe.

Over the past years of my life I have seen many changes, some for the good and others not as good. Change can be demanding and also crucial. The early believers would encounter this. One can see that significant change happened, when reading through the gospels and the book of acts it is obvious to the reader that the believers who followed Jesus would never be the same again.

By the late 1500s, Christian denominations had been popping up all over Europe. This was in response to the reports of indulgences (selling of freedom from purgatory), clerical immorality, abuse of money, along with many other bad actions that were rampant among the Church. It was these problems that Luther and others rebelled and created their own religions. With the rising of these Reformation movements, the Church needed to make some reforms itself. These reforms took the form of educating the clergy, opening monasteries, the Inquisition, and the organizing of councils. In fact, even though Protestant attacks brought these reforms, many of these reforms were needed anyway. The problems in the Church were so bad that the Church would not

To write about the role of the church can be quite controversial. Everyone seems to have their own thought of how the church should be ran and of course, their idea is the best. I personally felt as if Nyerere contradicted himself in his lecture. Nyerere believed “ men can only progress and grow in dignity by working for themselves, and working together for the common good”. My rebuttal to this statement would be, how can one work for the common good of the community yet working for themselves? Can’t working for yourself be thought of as selfish? He addresses brilliant points regarding what someone can do for the church and what the church can do for the person but I am still not sure if he was more for the individual’s dignity or the life

The intent of this paper is to evaluate the distinct character and quality of the expressions of the Protestant Reformation. This paper will discuss Lutheran Reformation, The Anabaptist, and The English Puritans as well as the Catholic Reformation also known as the Counter Reformation. It is the hope that after the reader has had the opportunity to view each of the characteristics and the expressions of each of the reformation the reader will have a better understanding of each and will be able to articulate the differences of each.

On June 325, at least 220 bishops were present at the council of Nicaea condemning Arius interpretation of Jesus Christ and the divine trinity. As a result, it “produced an anti-Arian creed, the Creed of Nicea.” Arius was a presbyter teaching a radical view of Jesus Christ and the trinity. Arius believed that the Son was a creature with a beginning, therefore, it was not “possible to have a hierarchy of divine beings.” His viewpoints, believes, faith, and passion is “found today in the Jehovah’s Witnesses.” This council divided the church in “two half-truths confronting one another – the full deity of Jesus Christ (Nicea) and his eternal distinctness from the Father (Origen).” In fact, the identity of Christ and the trinity completely changes the way that we live as Christians. Without a clear view, one cannot have a clear understanding of Christianity. This is a unique time in Christian history. However, it continues to compromise the absolute truth of Jesus Christ. In fact, due to this misunderstanding as early as the second century there were monks “who lived an especially ascetic life” Trying to earn God’s favor of salvation by keeping certain rituals and ceremonies.

The Middle Ages were a period in Europe dating from the collapse of the Roman Empire in the West, around the 5th century. However, the fixing of dates for the beginning and end of the Middle Ages is arbitrary. According to the Norton Anthology, "Medieval social theory held that society was made up of three 'estates': the nobility, composed of a small hereditary aristocracy,...,the church, whose duty was to look after the spiritual welfare of that body, and everyone else..."( Norton 76).

The Chinese Christian church in the United States often has ethnic characteristics, but different Chinese churches often have special concentration in the composition of the congregation, which reflects the tide of Chinese immigrants in different stages. For example, descendants of early immigrants from southern China usually have their fixed church. International students from the mainland of China have the church which they set up together. And other "informal immigrants" also formed Christian organizations. According to Aihui Lee, she divides American Chinese Christianity into four categories.

The four marks of our church are what we believe as Roman Catholics our church to be. We state these beliefs in the Nicene Creed and they are also shown in many other parts of our faith. Only the Roman Catholic Church reflects the fullness of these marks. It is through these marks that salvation can be achieved. These marks include One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostalic.