Chapter 2 Christianity

• Jesus Christ was born in Israel

  2000 years ago
• Marks Jesus' birth


  B.C. (before Christ) and A.D. (Anno Domini, or the year of our Lord)
• Jesus' first thirty years


  • Lived a traditional Jewish life, working as a carpenter
• All of Israel was under Caesar's Roman dictatorship, including Bethlehem, where Jesus was born, Nazareth, where he was raised
• Jesus


  • Began his public teaching and display of recorded miracles, yet still never travelled more than 200 miles from his birthplace
• Jesus' reputation spread nationwide
• Rulers of Israel


  • The Roman governors and rulers of Israel's provinces
  • The leaders of the Jewish people
• Jesus' most controversial act

  He repeatedly claimed to be God, which was a direct violation of the Jewish law
• Religious leaders asked the Roman government to execute Jesus
• Jewish leaders recognised that other than Jesus' claim to be God, Jesus followed the Jewish law perfectly
• Execution of Jesus


  1. Persuaded Pilate, a Roman Governor of the Southern province of Israel, to authorise an execution

  2. Jesus was brutally tortured and then hung by his hands, which were nailed to a horizontal wooden beam (Cross)

  3. The execution restricted the airflow to his lungs, killing him in three hours
• Jesus returned from the dead three days later, and over the next 40 days journeyed in both the southern and northern provinces of Israel
• This was conclusive proof that Jesus' claims to be God were real
• Jesus' ascension


  Returned to Jerusalem, the city where he was recently executed, and according to witnesses, he left the earth alive by rising up into the sky
• Jesus' followers increased dramatically
• The religious leaders responded by trying to stomp out Jesus' followers
• Jesus' followers chose to die rather than deny their belief that Jesus was truly God
• People throughout the Roman Empire became followers of Jesus


  Within 100 years
• The following of Jesus, Christianity, became the official religion of the Roman Emperor Constantine


  In 325 AD
• Lent


  40 days before Easter<|>Observance: Self-examination and preparation for Easter<|>Observed in the fourth century as the 40-day period between Ash Wednesday and Easter, focusing on self-examination and self-denial
• Lent observances


  • Only Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and all Fridays during Lent are considered fasting days
  • Catholics over the age of 14 are to refrain from eating meat
  • On Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, those between the ages of 18 and 59 are to eat only one full meal and two smaller meals and aren't to eat between meals
  • Orthodox Christians, more rigorous in their observance, refrain from meat, dairy products, and effs. They can only eat fish on the feasts of the Annunciation and Palm Sunday
  • Some Protestant denominations observe Lent, but many Protestant churches attach less significance to the season of Lent than to the individual holy days leading up to Easter
• Palm Sunday


  Sunday before Easter<|>Observance: Jesus' entry into Jerusalem<|>Celebrate Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem<|>Large crowd of people in the city spread palm branches on the ground before him as a sign of his kinship<|>He downplayed his role as Messiah and sometimes even told people whom he healed not to say anything about the miracle to others<|>Palm Sunday is the one exception in which his followers loudly proclaimed his glory to all<|>Often celebrate Palm Sunday in a joyous, triumphant manner during worship services, emphasising the glory of Jesus Christ
• Maundy Thursday


  Thursday before Easter<|>Observance: The Last Supper of Jesus<|>Night before Jesus was crucified, he had a Passover supper with his disciples<|>Knew that this would be his final opportunity to instruct his disciples before the crucifixion<|>Talked at length about his purposes, what his followers should do in response, and the promise of the holy spirit to come<|>Washer his disciplines feet in an incredible demonstration of humility and servanthood<|>Gave bread and wine to his disciples and asked them to partake of it in remembrance of him<|>The act of partaking bread and wine called Communion or the Eucharist or the Mass<|>Maundy comes from the Latin word mandatum, which means "command"<|>Refers to the one Jesus gave to his disciples during the Last supper
• Good Friday


  Friday before Easter<|>Observance: Crucifixion of Jesus on the cross<|>Marks the day on which Jesus Christ was crucified on the cross for the sins of the world<|>In Germany, Christians call it quiet Friday<|>Other parts of Europe call it Great Friday or Holy Friday<|>A day of mourning and sorrow over the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ and a reminder that the sins of all people made it necessary for him to die in the first place<|>Also a day of gratitude for the supreme sacrifice that he made
• Easter


  First Sunday after the first full moon<|>Observance: Resurrection of Jesus Christ<|>The most important holy days of the Christian Church<|>Celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the central event in Christianity<|>The resurrection backs up Jesus' claim that he had the authority to die for the sins of the world and the power to come back to life again<|>Also gives hope to Chirstians that why too will experience a resurrected life in heaven
• Advent


  Period marked four Sundays before Christmas<|>Observance: Preparation for Christmas and Chirst's Second Coming<|>The lighting of the Advent wreath is the most popular tradition<|>An advent wreath is a circle of evergreens with four candles, three of which are usually coloured violet purple and the fourth coloured rose red or pink<|>Some include white candle in the centre<|>St. Francis of Assisi is credited as displaying the first Christmas nativity scene, a recreation of the merger scene or the crib, in 1223
• Christmas


  December 25<|>Observance: Birth of Jesus Christ<|>Humble birth to a virgin in a stable in Bethlehem<|>Also celebrates the events surrounding his birth, such as an angel's appearance to shepherds, telling them to visit the newborn king
• The Ten Commandments


  • I am The Lord thy God: Thou Shalt not have Strange Gods before Me
  • Thou Shalt not take the name of God in vain
  • Remember thou keep holy the Sabbath Day
  • Honour thy father and mother
  • Thou shalt not kill
  • Thou Shalt not commit Adultery
  • Thou Shalt not Steal
  • Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour
  • Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife
  • Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods
• Different Branches of Christianity

  • Catholic Church
  • Eastern Catholic Churches
  • Eastern Orthodoxy
  • Oriental Orthodoxy
  • Church of the East
  • Protestantism
• Catholic Church


  Composed of 23 Churches<|>Western or Latin Church and the 22 Eastern Catholic Churches<|>The Latin Church is the largest and most widely known of the 23 sui iuris Churches that together make up the Catholic Church<|>All in communion with the Bishop of Rome, and acknowledge his claim of universal jurisdiction and authority<|>Have some minor distinct theological emphases and expressions<|>Eastern Catholic Churches and the Latin Church share the same doctrine and sacraments, and thus the same faith<|>Considers itself the Only Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church that Christ founded<|>Considers itself pre denominational, the original Church of Christ
• Non-Catholic Church


  • Eastern Catholic Churches
  • Eastern Orthodoxy
  • Oriental Orthodoxy
  • Church of the East
  • Protestantism