Academic Master

Religion

How the Death of Jesus has Impacted the Christianity

Religion is defined as an organized system of faith and worship revolving around a single or multiple sacred entities depending upon the beliefs. There are several religions around the globe that people believe in and of all Christianity is the one that is widely practiced and has followers of billions. To correctly understand the Christian religion itself there are many resources conceived as evidence like the gospels and the old and new testaments preaching the story of Christ’s life, his teachings, and the way it all started.

According to 2015 data, Christianity is one of the largest religions in the world which has 2.2 billion followers making up 31 percent of the total population on earth (Hackett & McClendon, 2017). Christians believe that there is only one God and recognize Jesus as His only son, who was sent upon them to save them from the sinful life they were living by His teachings. According to the conventional story, it all began about 2000 years ago in Judaea with Jesus Christ and a small group of people who had faith in him (Carus, 2007). At that time Judaea was being ruled by a Roman emperor Pontius Pilate and the province was subjected to Roman oppression, a situation hated by every Jew living in those terrible circumstances. In that time span ministry of Jesus began, He traveled between different villages to preach the message of God with little support from the people. However, Jesus was considered a religious agitator by the Roman Empire and was crucified for his actions with His ministry only lasting for three years from 30 to 33 C.E (Carus, 2007). These papers aim to explore how the death of Jesus has impacted Christianity. It will explore different branches of Christianity after the death of Jesus and how Protestants have reformed modern Christianity.

It was Jesus’s crucifixion that revolutionized the faith in His follower, and they claimed to see Jesus alive after the incident and believed that Jesus was resurrected, which laid the foundation for the religion and it started to grow afterward. Even the believers were taken by surprise by the death of their religious teacher, but soon they became united by placing all their faith in the concept that Jesus did not just die but only be raised from the dead to be taken away into the heavens. Thus, the resurrection became the focal point of the whole Christian religion stirring the hearts of many people along the way. The majority of the Jews did not acknowledge as Jesus being their messiah following his death until the preaching was resumed by Paul of the Tarsus, who became a great Christian missionary (“Birth of Christianity,” n.d.). Merely surviving centuries, Christianity finally became the public religion of the Roman Empire in 395 CE. All the oral teachings which Paul used on the new converts were later saved in the written form in the shape of the Gospels (“Birth of Christianity,” n.d.).

More than 7 billion people live on the planet earth, and of them, over 2.2 billion people embrace Christianity as their religion. However, not all these people following the Christian faith are just a single big unit, they are further divided into multiple groups by their beliefs, race, sect, and all other religious conflicts which fail to provide a rational explanation of their religion’s history. Thousands of forms of Christianity exist today of which the three main branches are Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic Church, and the Protestants. All Christian believe in the binding belief of Jesus as being the son of God. However, they do disagree on other things like the concept of Trinity, who is the governing authority of the church, and several other worshiping practices and divide themselves accordingly.

In the year 313, the Christian church was legally recognized in Constantine I (Fairchild, 2017). Previously there were no dominations in Christianity as there is today. However, in the year 1054, the first ever division of Christianity occur, and they were noted as Western Church and Eastern Church. Western Church later was known as Catholic Church, and Eastern Church became the Orthodox Church (Fairchild, 2017). The separation between two sects was not an impulsive decision, but there have been major differences in the belief system which involves cultural, religious, and political beliefs (“Christian Denominations,” 2017). After these two divisions, in the year 1517 was the Protestant Reformation.

The fourth major branch of Christianity was formed in the year 1534 when the king of England Henry VII had issues with the authority of the pope, and later he broke from that authority (Fairchild, 2017). This new branch was referred to as midway between Catholicism and Protestantism, but some Christianity followers categorize it as Protestant. All these formations and dominations happened after Jesus has passed away. The difference in different formations or dominations is based on individual freedom, religious freedom, and interpretation of the scriptures (“Christian Denominations,” 2017). According to the data, 50 percent of all the Christian population is Catholic adherent and the second largest population of Christianity is protestant which is 40 percent of the total christens (Hackett & McClendon, 2017). However, the relationship between these dominations is based on respect for others’ opinions and choices as well as mutual cooperation. The sect might be different, but they have the same root which is the teaching and belief in Jesus Christ.

Protestants’ followers have increased over the years and in the 19th-century missionaries in the areas, and the United States were spreading the faith across the world. Also, protectionism cannot be separated from the history of North America where this branch of Christianity is firmly established, and churches play the same role still as they used you play in the earlier times (Miller, 2018). This branch significantly influenced the concept of modern nationalism as it started the campaign for the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire. The Holy Roman Empire collapsed later in the year 1806 (Fairchild, 2017). The world has been changing rapidly, and more people try to connect their social life to religious teachings so if the connection is missing then it will disturb their belief as well as the practicality of the religion.

The old Christian society could not survive in the presence of the Protestants because the concept of the protestant can be linked with the modern world. The main aim of the protestant was to cultivate literacy and provide self-consciousness to each state. For example, some parts of the modern world are derived from the Protestant Reformation such as free inquiry (Miller, 2018). It is not exactly free speech, but it is about the concept that no one can compel others to think in any way they want. No human being can interfere with the relationship between one human being and God. The second concept of modernism which has been derived from protestant is a democracy. Protestants were not democratic, but they believed that everyone has the right and in some instances responsibility to stand up against the tyrannical leader or anti-Christian authority (Miller, 2018). The third concept of the protestant which is applicable in the modern world is limited government in which it is believed that the ruler or the authority has power over practical and other jurisdictions but not on the soul of the people (Miller, 2018). All these elements are present in the democratic modern and liberal world.

However, most Protestants are not in favor of art which has widely used in the modern. The reason cited is that the believers are uneasy about the art because they have the fear that it will change the symbol and people will start idolizing the symbol while forgetting the reality (Fairchild, 2017). Protestants have faced several since the formation of the sect. For example, there was a sectarian dispute in the 17th century, the challenge of the reason in the 18th century, and industrialization as well as urbanization in the 19th century. The 19th-century changes were not aligning with the traditional practices and beliefs of the Protestants (Fairchild, 2017).

However, in the 20th century, the concept of secularization and modernism has impacted religion overall as more and more people now dealt with religion as a secular element. But the deep integration of the protestant in the western culture had maintained its influence which has also become the revival of this branch. The number of Protestant followers is increasing, and the main domination is increasing in Sub-Saharan Africa, some parts of Asia, and Latin America. The churches have some aspects of traditional beliefs while incorporating modern concepts as well.

Christianity is dominating religion in some of the most powerful countries in the world, for example, 75 percent of the American Population is Christian. There have been many developments in religion over the years, and the main development was the formation of the different sects or dominations after the death of Jesus. The difference between these dominations can be easily seen in the churches, biblical understanding, and interpretations. Catholics and Protestants are one of the main domination which is influencing Christianity as a whole around the globe. The rapid change in the world has led to many religious population declines. For example, because of urbanization and the trend of secularism more and more people are becoming non-religious. The notion of the modern world is also changing, but if you are following Christianity, then Protestants are the ones who have the modern world concept such as free inquiry, democracy, and the role of the government in the individuals’ life. Everyone is trying to maintain a balance between social and religious life so people tend to find aspects of religion that can be integrated into the social world. Christianity specifically the protestant sect help people build their faith based on individual preference and without the interpretation of a third party.

References

Birth of Christianity. (n.d.). Retrieved April 19, 2018, from http://www.ushistory.org/civ/4h.asp

Carus, P. (2007). The Pleroma: An Essay on the Origin of Christianity. Cosimo, Inc. Retrieved from https://books.google.com.pk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=2_qudkii2Y4C&oi=fnd&pg=PR5&dq=origin+or+christianity+&ots=PRrtasjrGa&sig=z7HTBxSA2b_I3ez7taWX70bTOgc#v=onepage&q=origin%20or%20christianity&f=false

Christian Denominations. (2017, March 22). Retrieved April 20, 2018, from http://www.religionfacts.com/christianity/branches

Fairchild, M. (2017, March 17). Introduction to the History of Christian Denominations. Retrieved April 20, 2018, from https://www.thoughtco.com/christian-denominations-700530

Hackett, C., & McClendon, D. (2017, April 5). Christians remain world’s largest religious group, but they are declining in Europe. Retrieved April 20, 2018, from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/04/05/christians-remain-worlds-largest-religious-group-but-they-are-declining-in-europe/

Miller, E. C. (2018, February 20). How Protestants Made the Modern World. Retrieved April 20, 2018, from http://religionandpolitics.org/2018/02/20/how-protestants-made-the-modern-world/

SEARCH

Top-right-side-AD-min
WHY US?

Calculate Your Order




Standard price

$310

SAVE ON YOUR FIRST ORDER!

$263.5

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

Pop-up Message