[Disclaimer: I am NOT a Christian and do not favor one particular any one form of Christianity over another. This is a secular view of Christianity in general and not meant as a praise nor a criticism of this religion, merely an overview of the history and belief. I realize there is no one real definition of what makes one a Christian as that definition is varied from group to group. Therefore, do not write me angry e-mail telling me I am getting it wrong because I do not address the particulars of your faith. You must understand that although you believe in those particulars with all your heart, other Christians do not share your beliefs and would find it offensive. In other words, don't tell me that such and such a group is not a Christian because they do or don't believe in X/Y/Z. ]
Christianity is one of the top 3 major religions in the world with a worldwide following of 2,015,000,000 people in over 34,000 distinctly different Christian religions. Within the US and Canada, about 75-88% of the population calls themselves Christian and of that only 35% are of the Fundamental/Born Again variety.
Granted, of the over 2 billion Christians in the world, a good percentage of these people are so in name and tradition only. In other words, they may not hold strongly to the core beliefs of the groups to which they belong, but only associate because it is expected of them by family, friends or community.
Many who are in one form of Christian religion were born into the Christian culture, but there are quite a few who have converted from other religions or non-belief. Some of these groups of Christian believe in proselytization, or actively going out to convert non-Believers, which is how these groups gain many followers.
To most in the United States who are Christian, they have core basic beliefs which defines one as a Christian. After these core basics, the doctorines in each group dicatate the membership in that particular faith.
In general, the majority of Christians believe:
- In the Holy Trinity of God the Father, God the Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit
- The Bible is the Word of God
- All mankind was born in sin because of Adam and Eve
- Jesus is the only person born perfect and free from sin
- Jesus was born to save the world from eternal death
- Those who believe in Jesus will be "saved"
- Baptism is one of the most important steps to prove your belief in Jesus
- Participation in the emblems of the Last Supper is another important step
- Satan and his demonic force roam the earth to make life hard and trick Christians away from God
- Satan has a limited time before God comes to wipe out all evil
Granted there are some Christians who do not believe in the Trinity, or the Bible is to be taken literally as the Word of God, or the exact "sin" of Adam and Eve, and so forth, but they still believe in many of the general topics.
Even those who believe in all the above differ in the exact nature of such things. And out of all the believers, there are many variations of other beliefs which makes each Christian religion unique. There are Christians who believe they must go out and preach while others keep it to themselves. Some who believe the earth will be destroyed while others believe the earth will last forever. Some Christians take the Bible at its whole word as exactly from God while others believe the Bible is merely "inspired" by men of God and not to be taken literally.
The roots of Christianity come from the Hebrew faith as does Islam. Christianity is acredited to a man called Jesus who was a Jew. Around the time of Jesus, many Jewish people were waiting for a Messiah to save them from the impending danger of the Roman Empire which was invading and taking over many areas in the Middle East. It was foretold in Hebrew prophecy that a Messiah would rise up and rebuild the nation of Israel against all its enemies. Most of the Jewish people were actually looking for a powerful person to rise up and crush the opposition in the tradition of other leaders who have taken the land before.
Jesus came along in this era born to common people. To the outside world, there was nothing really noble or spectacular about his birth as he was reportedly born in a manger (one of the variations of his birth listed in the Bible.) According to the Bible, this otherwise unnoticed birth was noticed by 3 "wise men" (or astrologers) who spotted the star which would point them to the new king. Word came by King Herod who did not welcome competition to his throne and he sent the men on a mission to find the new king so he could killl him. Angels warned the family to flee after the men left and an angry Herod order all babies under age 2 killed. Jesus survived and grew up to be skilled as a carpenter and had a deep need to find out more about His Father at the temple where He witnessed hypocrisy and pointless debating on issues instead of caring for and sheparding God's people.
Around age 30, Jesus felt his calling and started to speak out. As he walked around the areas in his land, he developed a following. There were 12 who were His closest confidants who would later be known as His disciples or apostles.
As He went town to town spreading His message and decrying the Pharisees and Sadducee, He made quite a few enemies from those who felt He was a threat to not only their faith, but the very heart of keeping their land free from the Romans.
The Bible speaks of many miracles Jesus performed during His ministry on earth and His confrontations with the Hebrew people. People either really loved or really hated His message. Whether or not you believe the Bible version of His life or not, you would have to assume under these circumstances Jesus knew His days on earth were numbered.
Jesus spoke of "last days" which many Christians believe mean the literal coming last days of the earth being under control of Satan and God would rise up and take over. Others, especially non-Christians, believe he would have be talking literally about His last days on earth.
Jesus foretold many signs of the coming of the end and to look for God and have trust in Him. He encourage his followers to go forth and spread the message before it was too late. He said His followers should baptize the new believers and they should come together for fellowship.
Near the end, the Hebrew leaders were fed up. The Romans were about ready to overtake them and here was this Jesus person filling up the heads of followers with ideas that would not save their existence. If something wasn't done soon, their land would belong to Rome where they could completely destroy their way of life. They knew they couldn't directly kill Jesus as it would make him a martyr and they would instantly lose any support.
The Jewish leaders presented a case to the Romans who only loosely had control over the land at the time. They said Jesus was calling Himself a king and implied He was a direct threat to the Romans. The Romans interviewed Him and did not see such a threat and wanted to let Him go, but the Jewish leaders were making such a big issue out of this that they consented to brand Him as a traitor so He could be executed by the order of the Hebrews (The Roman Govenor of this region, Pilate, did not want to be seen as merciless by killing what he thought was just a lunatic and passed this death back on to the Hebrews, even if the Romans had to carry out the punishment.)
The methods of death around this era and in this region included hanging, beheading, poisoning, stoning and the cruxifiction. Deaths of beheading and poisoning were only for the upper class people. All other death penalties were reserved for those on the lower end of the social order. To be cruxified meant you were considered the among lowest of the low. Those who died by this method included those who were poor as well as traitors. This form of death was slow, torturous and meant to cause embarassment. Their bodies were often left to rot, eaten by animals, or, if allowed, taken away by family or friends for burial.
As the Romans didn't really consider Jesus a real threat, His body was allowed to be taken for proper disposal. This is where the miracle was stated to cement the religion based on Jesus' life.
Yes, there are many different accounts as to what exactly happened and unless you are a true believer it would raise questions of credibility. However, to a believer, the main thing is after three days of being dead, Jesus was no longer in the tomb and rose back to life. After proving He was alive to his apostles and showing them this miracle, He went back to heaven and left them with the miracle of Pentacost and other powers to help people.
That is the basic birth of the group to be known as Christian, however, it is from that precise point that Christianity would be forever segmented. Out of all these apostles, the traitor, Judas killed himself out of guilt for his role in Jesus' death and with 12 being a number of perfection in Jewish tradition, someone would rise up to take that spot - Saul aka Paul.
As Saul, he was anti-Christian and did all he could to kill or destroy anyone associated with the newly formed sect of Jesus followers. Even at that point, the remaining apostles differed in beliefs as to how exactly Jesus meant for them to live, but they tried to remain a solid unit. However, when the miracle happened to Saul, that would be further divided and splinter the group.
Saul reportedly said he was on his way to Damascus with some men to root out followers of "The Way." While on the road, they were stopped as Saul saw a very bright light. His men only heard, but did not see what was going on. Saul said Jesus was asking him, "Why were you persecuting me?" For three days, Saul was blind and did not eat. His men were told to take him to see a disciple named Ananias. Ananias was told Saul was not a threat and ordered to heal him with his gift of the Holy Spirit. Ananias laid his hands on Saul who regained his sight and was baptised as he became filled with the Spirit. Immediately, Saul started to preach the message of Jesus and was known as Paul. [Acts 9]
Saul of Tarsus was of course not trusted by the original apostles or the other followers due to his history of trying to kill them. But who exactly was this man?
Saul was a member of an ancient Jewish sect that emphasized strict interpretation and observance of the Mosaic law in both its oral and written form known as the Pharasees. He was sincere in his beliefs and thought he was doing the right thing by getting rid of a threat to his faith.
Saul came from Tarsus which is a city in southern Turkey near the Mediterranean Sea. Tarsus was one of the most important cities in the Asia Minor region under Roman rule due to its central location for trade.
He was brought up with a strong Hebrew belief system and witnessed the Roman occupation in his land which was a threat to his faith and life as he knew it which is probably what prompted his fanatic behavior. Upon conversion to Christianity, his fanatic behavior and upbringing which included precise rules brought about the organized structure for the religion.
The new Paul used his miracles and visions in the name of Jesus to win over a lot of converts. He was seen as a threat to the core apostles who still mistrusted his motives, but eventually they thought it prudent to come in line and accepted him as a follower.
The Revelation given to John points to the division of churches that was already taking place during his time. Out of this division came some basic groups known as Pauline Christians (Catholics), Gnostic Christians, and Jewish Christians. As these groups were split up on some fundamental beliefs or were forced apart due to local politics, they became other groups such as the Eastern Orthodox Church and Protestants which further broke down into the many splinter groups that exist today from the Baptists and Methodists to the Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons.
While one could argue for centuries why these groups are or are not Christian, the point is these groups which hold the teachings in the Bible as their main source of proof for their faith and Jesus is the link between them and God is what makes them Christian.
Among the Christians there are varied and heated debates of what should and should not be accepted. Many of these points of conflict are on these subjects:
- Homosexuality acceptance or total rejection
- The role of women
- War versus pacificism
- Pro-Choice versus Right To Life
- Pro or anti-Semitic
- The Last Days
- What is meant by Armegeddon
- Works of the Holy Spirit
- Tolerance versus non-tolerance
- Works versus faith
- The nature of the Trinity
- The "Virgin Birth"
- The "sin" of Adam and Eve
- Hell/Heaven/Death
There are a lot more topics, but these few topics give you an idea of how varied each group of Christians can be. The more fundamental groups are so set in their beliefs that anyone who disagrees is considered a non-Christian doomed to hell, eternal damnation, or destruction. The more liberal Christians are tolerant of other beliefs and think they all lead to the same God. And then there is everyone in between the two points.
And please note, much like in other religious group, the Christians have their fair share of hypocrites who claim to believe something and practice just the opposite and others who just plain give Christians a bad name. Don't make the mistake and group all Christians in the same boat. You may not totally agree with what they believe, but don't insult the lot of them by lumping them in groups with which they don't wish to be associated.
