CHRISTIANITY

Christianity is to do with the life of Jesus Christ. Born to a Virgin in a stable, Jesus was brought up a poor carpenter. Following his baptism, he began a three year mission preaching and doing miracles, accompanied by his 12 disciples. Eventually entering Jerusalem, he was betrayed and Crucified, but was Resurrected, appearing before the faithful before ascending to sit by the Father. His disciples were filled by the Holy Spirit and went on to preach the word of this new religion for the Gentiles, or non-Jews.
The above is briefly the life of Jesus Christ as written in the Four Gospels of the New Testament. Christianity is the on-going celebration of this life, modern history timed from his birth, and the year a western celebration of His life.
Jesus is the incarnate Son of God identified in the Trinity where God is three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. As Father He is God in Heaven, as Son he was made flesh and lived and suffered as a man. As Spirit he is immortal and with us always.
In his Crucifixion Jesus showed that humanity can be redeemed from its sinful condition, giving us hope for change. In his Resurrection He confirmed His Divinity and the existence of an Afterlife. In His life He taught us of Divine and neighbourly love.
To be Christian you must live a life of neighbourly love; you must be moral, living by the Ten Commandments; and you must worship regularly. Central to Christian worship is the Eucharist, imbibing bread and wine as symbolic of his body and blood as shown by Him at the Last Supper. And at death the Christian will face judgement for his life.
Following Christ’s Ascension, his Disciples and St Paul preached his message, Christianity forming into several sects. Gaining a foothold in the Roman Empire, Constantine the Great realised the importance of Christianity in keeping the Empire together. He granted toleration to Christians, and at the Council of Nicaea (325) the Nicene Creed defined what a Christian should be.
From this point, Christianity formulated into a Universal, or Catholic, Church. With the fall of Rome, missionaries began a slow conversion of pagan tribes. The Dark Ages came to an end when Charlemange created the Holy Roman Empire in 800AD. In the 11th century, Eastern Orthodoxy split from the west, with European Christendom settling down to hundreds of years of control by the pope in Rome.
The Reformation began as a revolt against Catholic corruption, with the Protestant Church forming. This eventually split into many denominations, such as Methodism. In response to the Reformation, Catholicism itself reformed, over centuries, to the Catholicism we see today.
Both Catholicism and Protestantism are now struggling to work in a more secular world. This has led to the Evangelical movement in Protestantism, where a more relaxed form of worship is attracting many followers.

(c) Anthony North, Jan 2007