Christians

This article is about the religious people known as Christians. For other uses, see Christian (disambiguation).

A Christian is a follower of Jesus Christ's commandments and is one who faithfully upholds his teachings. In his time, the term was meant to be derogatory. The Christians in the first century were a small group who holds belief that is different from the majority. Because of this, they were subjected to persecution.

For many this also means to be an adherent of one of the religious denominations of Christianity. The term may also describe an object associated with Christianity. The term Christian means "belonging to Christ" and is derived from the Greek noun Χριστός Khristós which means "anointed one," which is itself a translation of the Hebrew word Moshiach (Hebrew: משיח, also written "Messiah"), (and in Arabic it is pronounced Maseeh مسيح). According to the New Testament, those who followed Jesus as his disciples were first called Christians by those who did not share their faith, in the city of Antioch. - (Acts 11:26)

The Biblical definition of a Christian is someone who has been baptized as a repenting adult “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” – (Matthew 28:19). Adult baptism is the transition from non-Christian to Christian and is how all conversions were done in the New Testament. The Church of Christ, United Church of Christ, International Church of Christ, Christian Church, and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) teach this doctrine. Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and other Protestant denominations occasionally teach the doctrine of adult baptism.

History

Early times

“Church” while sins through his sacrifice, and the resurrection of the body. These teachings were acted out in worship, taking the form of Baptism and The Holy Eucharist Service later taking the name of Holy Communion in the unbloody sacrifice of the mass. They were passed down though catechisms of The Christian church based on creeds such as the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed. It was the bishop of Rome, Ignatius, who first coined the term Catholic to the Christian church by saying "Where the Bishop is, let the multitude of believers be; even as where Jesus is, there is the Catholic church." 1st century A.D.

Some minority traditions of Christianity have maintained that the word translated "church" in scripture most often properly refers to local bodies or assemblies. Since the early days of the church, history shows that there was only one shepherd and one flock. "Church" is a transliteration of the Greek word "κυριακον", meaning Lord's house, which in English translations is substituted for the word ἐκκλησία, meaning assembly or congregation, which is the word that actually appears in the Greek texts. Before Christ's appropriation of the term, it was used to describe purposeful gatherings, including the assemblies of Greek democracy. Christians of this stripe maintain that a centralizing impulse in the church, present from the early days of the church through the rise of Constantine, represented a departure from true Christianity. They therefore reject the authority of the Nicene Creed, and often question the Apostles' Creed as well, which were solidified doctrines of the church even up to times of the reformation.

Christian spirituality blossomed in the Roman Empire between A.D. 100 and 300 in spite of official efforts to suppress it. Sometime around A.D. 200, one leader, Tertullian, is quoted as saying, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed [of the Church]” to account for this phenomenon. In A.D. 313, the "Edict of Milan" ended official persecution, and under the Emperor Constantine, Christians acquired powerful political influence which allowed them to spread the Catholic faith universally throughout the empire and then the world.

Medieval times

In Medieval Europe, the Roman Catholic Church was at its peak of Apostolic flourishment and spirituality. Not only was the church and its organizations extremely devoted to Christianity, piously spreading the word of God through missionaries and established monastaries in many countries but through its dominant spiritual influence that eventually rivalled the political power of most Monarchs for support of the population. The majority of people of this age devoted their lives to God and it showed by the donations of land, money, and possesions to the church. In time, this made the Pope an important figure in the life of the continent.

This wealth often expressed itself in the building of beautiful cathedrals which showed their great devotion and adoration to God. The church's monasteries were seats of learning and study which evolved into modern universities. They also provided the first hospitals for the care of the sick.

Modern times

The history of the Christian faith in modern times must be studied movement by movement, such is its diversity. In the West The Protestant Reformation led to a separation of faith from science and profoundly conditioned the relationship between church and state. Thus, bringing to the Christianity the idea of self interperatation and the denouncement of the church of God. Intellectual pressure from the Enlightenment led to a religious reaction in the North American colonies — called the Great Awakening to which Protestant North American Christians owe much of their pattern of practice.

Widespread Christian missions by Protestants, Catholics and Orthodox created today's situation in which Christians are to be found in almost every part of the world.

Today many modern Christians live their lives in relation to a community of faith, usually a local church. These churches, with the exception of the Roman Catholic church, stand in a variety of man-made traditions as a result of history. Renewal is a process that restores an organization to its original purposes or values, unless during this process self interperataion is evident which would enull and void the renewal process in its form. New Christian denominations and other organizations are usually the result of these self interperated renewal movements that seek to bring back some aspect of the Christian faith but lack in the fullness through misguidance of freethought.

Some Christians try to follow only God and reject any power such as the church or state, believing this to be the true teaching of Jesus. These people also believe in nonviolence and are known as Christian anarchists. Leo Tolstoy who wrote The Kingdom of God is Within You [1] in 1894 was a notable Christian anarchist.

The life of a Christian is still characterized by faith in the figure of Jesus as represented in the New Testament. Sacraments aside, the concept of grace is still uniquely Christian: the idea, or as some call it a mystery, that spiritual wholeness comes only as a result of a gift.

Christian people

Some famous Christian teachers include Paul of Tarsus, Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, Augustine of Hippo, Athanasius of Alexandria, Saint Patrick, Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Knox, Jonathan Edwards, John Wesley, Charles Spurgeon, Charles Taze Russell and C.S. Lewis.

Many famous people, ancient and modern have professed Christianity. One of the most prominent Christians of recent times was the late Pope John Paul II, leader of the Catholic Church. Modern professed Christians include Former U. S. President Jimmy Carter, Former U. S. President Bill Clinton, U. S. President George W. Bush, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela. Many American and western politicians publicly profess to be Christians, as do many popular sports, media and music figures.

External links

What is a Christian? (This refers only to the evangelical view of Christianity and may be interpreted by some as being anti-catholic.)
Christian Resources - The real teachings of Jesus
Christian authors
Christianity, as defined by the Roman Catholic Church
Christianity in French World