By the Medieval Ages, Christianity had spread rapidly across many cultural boundaries affecting not only the way religion is practiced, but also beliefs people had about Christianity as a whole. Another aspect incorporated into people’s beliefs are ideas of salvation, supernatural beings, and saints. Each played a significant role on the lives of people from the Medieval Ages as well as shaped the life that they lived. Before diving into the beliefs people held about Christianity, it is important to understand the differences between the Eastern and Western churches. Some of the major reasons for the difference is the fact that people spoke different languages, had different church rules, and the debate between leavened versus unleavened …show more content…
That meant that a pope was seen as the head of the church, influencing the lives of Christians and at times mandating various rules put in place. While these factors influenced Christian live depending on where a person lived, they did not necessarily provide or explain the beliefs or understandings of Christianity within a person’s life.
Joseph Lynch, in his book The Medieval Church: A Brief History, he discusses what he essentially calls the framework of Christian life. To understand this framework, it is important to look at the medieval understandings of the creation, the Fall, Satan, the Incarnation, and Purgatory, which will be discussed later in the paper. To the people of the Medieval Ages, they interpreted the creation as literally true and that they were born with original sin stemming from Adam and Eve eating from the tree of knowledge (Notes, October 28). This idea of being born with original sin, influenced the idea of baptism and that a person was wiped clean of original sin following the baptism. The next important idea that influenced people’s lives is the Fall.
The Fall was the idea that beings in Heaven fell from there and entered Hell. This occurred as a consequence of disobedience and they belief is that the fallen were kicked out of the Garden of Eden (notes, October 28). One such fallen being is Satan. Satan is a central figure in the “Christian understanding of the moral universe” (Lynch, pages 260-261). They believed
Over the centuries, Christianity has organised its beliefs into a systematic theology that draws from its sacred writing and tradition. While the main beliefs of Christianity are shared by all Christian variants, there are degrees of different in the interpretation of these beliefs and how they are lived out in everyday life. This can be seen in the important of sacred text, principle belief of the concept of salvation in John 3:16, principle belief of divine and humanity in ‘John 1:14’, principle belief of resurrection in ‘Mark 16:1-8’, principle belief of revelation in ‘1 corinthians14:6’, and beliefs through the Trinity in ‘2 Corinthians 13:14’. This essay will explain the important of the sacred text and the principal beliefs of Christianity.
Christianity is a faith based religious tradition, of which the follower is considered to be a Christian adherent. Thus, being a living tradition, Christianity is continually subject to change in accordance to the needs of the adherent and reaffirming the Christian tradition within a contemporary context. The aspects, which attribute the present existence of Christianity and its dynamism therein, include sacred texts and writings, ritual and ceremonies, beliefs and believers, and ethics. Ultimately, the aforementioned characteristics strive to form and continually validate answers to the enduring questions of life through a process of change, which simultaneously highlights Christianity as a living tradition.
Christianity experienced notable change during the Byzantine Era as a result of the fact that new ideas were introduced into the religion and because more and more cultural values from across the world started to pervade it. The religion was very different in Byzantium from how it was in the West principally because a series of Eastern ideas were adopted by Christian leaders. Christianity experienced a different development in the East when compared to the evolution that it experienced in the West. In the centuries lasting between the beginning of the Eastern half of the Roman Empire and the end of a small medieval state Christianity has practically been bombarded with Eastern ideas and with ideas that generally differed from the ones promoted in the West, eventually making it possible for "a distinct system of religious practice and devotion" (Krueger, 1) to emerge.
Hagner, D., Hengel, M. & Barrett, C. (1999). Conflicts and challenges in early Christianity. Harrisburg, Pa: Trinity Press International.
The eastern religions that we have discussed in class are Hinduism, Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism. The western religions that we have discussed in class are Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. The Eastern Religions have originated in countries such as China, India, and Japan. The western religions originated in Europe and the Americas. There are few similarities between eastern religions and western religions, but many differences. The biggest difference between the two religions is that eastern religions believe in more than one god, whereas western religions believe in one God.
From the beginning of time of the early development of each religion, there were various differences between the Christian and
The Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic, are two variations of the same religion, that due to some disagreements over certain ideas and religious teachings leads to the great Schism in 1054 AD. The great schism of 1054 refers to the final separation of the Eastern Orthodox church, led by the patriarch in Constantinople and the western church, led by Pope Leo IX. The estrangement between the Orthodox and Roman church, happened gradually over the course of the 5th and much of the 11th century. The reasons of the Schism are attributed to several differences between the two churches. The religious and doctrinal studies of the East, had roots in Greek philosophy, while the Western studies closely followed Roman law. Misunderstandings between the two churches then led to two separate ways of defining one doctrine, which would initiate the split. The doctrine in question, procession of the Holy Spirit, where without consulting the East the Roman churches added “and from the Son” to the Nicene Creed. This was not the only thing the two churches clashed on. The eastern church resented the forced clerical celibacy, political jealousies and interests only intensified the disputes. There had been schisms before but not ones that were permanent. While there may have been hopes for a reconciliation, the eastern Greeks were infuriated by the Latin capture of Constantinople in 1204 A.D. After this, any pleas from the west concerning reunion were rejected. (“Schism of 1054”)
The purpose of this book is meant to create a foundation for Christian lifestyles. It addresses the origin of Christian values, and portrays the evolution of Christian worldviews throughout history. It briefly explains the biblical narrative and develops ideas in which Christians are able to live out their faith and deal with other worldviews existing in our world today.
Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Catholics once included a solitary Christian church with two focuses of force, Rome and Constantinople. Known as the Great Schism, was the official split between Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Church. The Church split along doctrinal, religious, phonetic, political, and geographic lines, and the central break as never been mended. Though the Church split because of their differences, they still had some things that were similar.
There are many different components that make up the Christian religion and ideology. The chapters and stories that made it into the Bible are what people see as the foundation of the different denominations of Christianity. However, what a lot of people do not realize is that there are several stories that did not make it into the Bible as well as a few denominations that have become “forgotten.” Those lost stories and denominations are the focus of Bart Ehrman’s book, Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew. The book was split into three parts and then each part had between three and five chapters. Part one discussed different discoveries that were made throughout Christian history. The second part covered the different types of Christianity that were fighting for power and competing against each other to be the successful form of Christianity. Lastly, the third section shows which texts and beliefs gained popularity and formed the Christian religion that is practiced today.
New scientific discoveries not only enhanced man’s comfort in life but also his appreciation of human potential and reason. It was becoming increasingly evident that it was to man’s benefit to reason and understand. With this realization came the need to determine the proper place of human reasoning in man’s life. The philosophies of the early post-Reformation period dealt with this issue—how to relate and balance faith and reason. Gone was the blind, unquestioning faith of the medieval period. Men were now free to doubt and deny. Those who believed in Christ and His claims found themselves increasingly shifting to a defensive stance and trying to accommodate human reason.
Religion has existed for countless centuries. Christianity is one of the major religions in this world, which had people be criticized, battle in wars, and killed for, but it still survived to this day. The purpose of this paper is to study the source of the religion, recognize the teachings, observe its spread throughout the world, and to identify how it stands among people today. Approaching this paper by a factual report I will explain these major points and why we need to know about this religion and other religions that existed before our generation.
Throughout history, Christianity always had a reputation, or a “name” following it. Different perspectives approached the reputation that was attached to Christianity in different manners. Justin Martyr and Porphyry had objectives when defining whether this “name” really defined Christianity and the past. They wondered whether the past really represented Christianity. Additionally they honed in on the question of was the past that people represented as Christianity really the roots of Christianity? All around Porphyry and Justin was perceptions of what Christianity rooted from and stood for.
Religion in the Middle Ages takes on a character all of its own as it is lived out differently in the lives of medieval men and women spanning from ordinary laity to vehement devotees. Though it is difficult to identify what the average faith consists of in the Middle Ages, the life told of a radical devotee in The Book of Margery Kempe provides insight to the highly intense version of medieval paths of approaching Christ. Another medieval religious text, The Cloud of Unknowing, provides a record of approaching the same Christ. I will explore the consistencies and inconsistencies of both ways to approach Christ and religious fulfillment during the Middle Ages combined with the motivations to do so on the basis of both texts.
As different as they may seem, all religions are pretty similar. Even just the small things that are just here and there can connect many religions together. That is not to say that there are also differences between them like their stances on many beliefs, gods, and followers of their religion. However the eastern and western religions are so similar and yet so different that I have decide to label the similarities and differences. That being said, I believe that the western are so similar and yet so different that they must be analyzed. After all they believe in a higher power, pray, and do other such things that are similar but still every reason they are similar is also how they're different. For example, in the religions Hinduism and