CHRISTIANITY

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

CHRISTIANITY DEVELOPED IN PALESTINE AROUND 100 CE IT WAS

FOUNDED BY JESUS, CONSIDERED AS THE SON OF GOD AND THE
MESSIAH OR THE SAVIOR. REGARDED AS AN OFFSHOOT OF
JUDAISM, CHRISTIANITY HAS SURVIVED AND EVEN SURPASSED
JUDAISM AND OTHER RELIGIONS IN TERMS OF ADHERENTS. TODAY
CHRISTIANITY IS DIVIDED INTO THREE MAJOR SECTS – ROMAN
CATHOLICISM, GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH, AND PROTESTANTISM
SYMBOLS

•The cross serves as a symbol of Jesus

Christ’s victory over sins when he died
on the cross for humanity’s redemption
and salvation. Christ died on the cross
serves as reminder of the sacrifices made
by God in order for humanity to live.
JESUS AS THE FOUNDER OF CHRISTIANITY

•Jesus as founder of Christianity, lived and preached teaching

that serves as criticisms of Judaism, although he himself was a
Jew. His ministry began when he was in his early thirties.
Preaching and healing in the villages, he started to preach
teaching which were considered revolutionary at that time.
 RELIGIOUS
LEADERS
•The Catholic Church follows a
certain hierarchy based on the Canon
Law of the Catholic Church. At the
top of the hierarchy is the pope,
considered as the Peters successor
according to the Catholics. The
hierarchy also includes the Cardinals,
Archbishops, Bishops, Priests, and
Deacons.
 DEITY/ GOD
•Christians believe in one God therefore; Christianity is a
monotheistic religion. God is seen as the creator and maintainer of
the universe, and is believed to be omnipotent (all-powerful),
omniscient (all-knowing), omnipresent ( all-present)and
omnibenevolent (all-good). God is also sacred, moral, unchangeable,
compassionate, graceful, and timeless.
HOLY TRINITY

•Christians believe in the Holy Trinity,

which means that God is composed of three
persons: God the Father, the Son (Jesus
Christ), and the Holy Spirit. This doctrine
of the holy trinity was affirmed at the
council of Nicea in 25 CE where it was
agreed upon that the Son has the same
substance with the Father, therefore they
are both eternal.
THE OLD TESTAMENT

• The Old Testament, also called the Hebrew Bible, is composed of 39 books
which are arranged in three parts: the first five books( Genesis-
Deuteromony) which are considered as” The Law” or Torah which may refer
to guidance or instruction. The second part of the Old Testament is called “The
Prophets” which is divided into two parts, the earlier prophets and the latter
prophets. The book of the former prophets is considered historical while the
book of the latter prophets contains sayings and stories of the prophets. The
third part is called “ The Writings” which is includes Psalms (songs, prayers,
and worship liturgies), Proverbs (wise sayings), Job( a drama that explores
the nature of suffering), and the five scrolls (Megiloth) which were grouped
together for their associations with aparticular religious festival.
THE NEW TESTAMENT

• The New Testament is composed of 27 books written around 50 to 100 CE

and is composed of two sections: The Gospel which tells the story of Jesus
Christ ( Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John); and the letters (or Epistles),
written by various Christian leaders to serve as guide to the early Christian
communities. They were written to tell the life and teachings of Jesus. The
acts of Apostles and Luke tell how Christianity developed from small
group of Jewish believers to becoming one of the world’s major religions.
Revelations is the last books of the New Testament, traditionally attributed
to the apostle John, which is considered an epistle and an apocalypse.
BELIEFS AND DOCTRINES

• Christianity has certain beliefs and doctrines that serves as

moral guideline for its followers. Christians should follow these
teachings strictly if they want to redeems God’s promise of
eternal life. These teachings are more essential to their belief
system as Christian and not following them would lessen their
chance of being called true Christians. One of the basic beliefs
of Christianity is the holy trinity and the creed. They also refer
Jesus as the Messiah or the savior of this world.
 EIGHT BEATITUDES
THE BEATITUDES COMPRISE WHAT IS KNOWN AS THE “ SERMON ON THE MOUNT
“ RECORDED IN MATTHEW 5-7. THE BEATITUDES REFER TO THE EIGHT SAYINGS
OF JESUS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. HERE ARE THE
EIGHT BEATITUDES MENTIONED IN MATTHEW 5-7:

• Blessed are the poor in spirit: for their kingdom
of heaven
• Blessed are they that mourn:for they shall be
consulted
• Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the
earth.
• Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst
after righteousness: for they shall be filled
• Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain
mercy
• Blessed are the pure in the heart: for they shall see God.
• Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called
the children of God.
• Blessed are they which are persecuted for
righteousness’ sake; for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven.
• Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and
persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against
you falsely, for my sake.
• Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your
reward in the heaven: for so persecuted they the
prophets which were before you.
WORSHIP AND OBSERVANCES

• Christians have certain religious observances in

which they commemorate particular events in the
history of Christianity. Some of the most
important Christian observances are the advent,
lent, and the Pentecost.
ADVENT

• Advent refers to the season of waiting for

the birth of the Messiah, hence its
celebration last for four weeks, beginning
four sundays before Christmas and the
ending of the Christmas Eve.
LENT

• Lent refers to the season observed by Christians in

preparation for Easter, a celebration of the resurrection
of Christ. Some Christians during holy week undergo
the process of “penitensiya” where in they emulate the
resurrection of Jesus through hurting their body and
nailing themselves on the cross
PENTECOST

• Pentecost is celebrated as a holiday to

commemorate the coming of the Holy
Spirit to the early Christians
SUBDIVISIONS

• Prior to the reign of Emperor Constantine who declared

himself a Christian in 312 BCE Christians were persecuted
under Roman Emperors. Christianity was only legalized in
313 Ce upon Constantine’s declaration of the Edict of the
Milan, which is to separate Roman Catholicism from
Greek.
SELECTED ISSUES

• ECUMENISM – refers to the effort of the catholic of Roman Catholic

Church to unite all Christians sectors and other Major Religions to form
a One World Unified Religion.
• CHRISTIAN LEADERS BEING INVOLVED IN CRIMES AND
SEXUAL MISCONDUCT – There are countless cases of priests and
other head of the church involved in rape, corruption, and adultery. This
dates back hundreds years ago.
SELECTED ISSUES

• PEOPLE CONSTANTLY CREATING NEW DIVISIONS FOR THE

CHRISTIAN RELIGION- There are a lot of religious all over the world
forming new Christian cults and organizations. They try to create their
own version Christianity that only benefits their personal interests and not
the true gospel of God.
• MANY THEOLOGIANS AND AUTHORS ALTERING THE BIBLE-
There are people over the centuries who altered the original gospel of God
and his Apostles. And that leads to massive confusion to the Christians and
thus we ended up having several versions of the bible which is not
originally present in gospel of Jesus and his Disciplines.