What is Christianity?

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There are several world religions: Christianity, Buddhism, Islam. Christianity is the most common of them. Consider what Christianity is, how this doctrine arose and what are its features.

Christianity is a world religion that is basedon the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, described in the New Testament of the Bible. Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God and the Savior of men. Christianity is divided into three main branches: Catholicism, Orthodoxy and Protestantism. The adherents of this faith are called Christians - in the world there are about 2, 3 billion.

Christianity: the emergence and spreading

This religion appeared in Palestine in the 1st century. n. e. the Jews during the reign of the Old Testament. Then this religion appeared as a doctrine, addressed to all humiliated people, who want justice.

The story of Jesus Christ

The basis of religion was messianism - hope forthe savior of the world from everything bad in the world. It was believed that he had to be chosen and sent down to earth by God. Jesus Christ became such a savior. The appearance of Jesus Christ is associated with the legends of the Old Testament about the coming to Israel of the Messiah, which releases people from all bad things and establishes a new righteous order of life.

There are different data about the genealogy of JesusChrist, there are various disputes about its existence. Believers of Christians hold the following position: Jesus was born the Virgin Mary of the Holy Spirit in the city of Bethlehem. On the day of his birth, Jesus was worshiped by three sorcerers as the future king of the Jews. Then the parents took Jesus to Egypt, and after Herod's death the family moved back to Nazareth. At the age of 12, during Easter, he lived in the temple for three days, talking with the scribes. At the age of 30 he was baptized in the Jordan. Before starting the service to the community, Jesus fasted for 40 days.

The service itself began with the choice of the Apostles. Then Jesus began to work miracles, the first of which is the transformation of water into wine at a wedding feast. Further, he was engaged in preaching activities in Israel for a long time, during which he created many miracles, among them - the healing of many sick people. Jesus Christ practiced preaching for three years, while Judas Iscariot, one of the disciples, did not betray him for thirty pieces of silver, after surrendering the Jewish authorities.

The Sanhedrin condemned Jesus as a punishmentchoosing a crucifix. Jesus died and was buried in Jerusalem. However, after his death on the third day he rose again, and when 40 days passed, he ascended to heaven. On Earth, after himself, Jesus left his disciples who spread Christianity around the world.

The development of Christianity

Initially, Christianity spread in Palestine and the Mediterranean, but from the first decades, thanks to the activities of the Apostle Paul, it began to be popularized in the provinces of different nations.

As the state religion Christianity was first adopted by Great Armenia in 301, in the Roman Empire it happened in 313.

Until the fifth century, Christianity spread tothe following states: the Roman Empire, Armenia, Ethiopia, Syria. In the second half of the first millennium, Christianity began to spread among the Slavic and Germanic peoples, in the 13th-14th centuries. - for Finnish and Baltic. Later popularization of Christianity involved missionaries and colonial expansion.

Features of Christianity

In order to better understand what Christianity is, it is necessary to consider in more detail certain aspects related to it.

Understanding God

Christians honor the one God who created people and the universe. Christianity is a monotheistic religion, but God combines the three (holy Trinity): the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Trinity is one.

The Christian God is the perfect Spirit, intelligence, love and goodness.

Understanding a person in Christianity

The soul of man is immortal, he himself is created in the image and likeness of God. The goal of human life is spiritual perfection, life according to God's commandments.

The first people - Adam and Eve - were sinless, butThe devil seduced Eve, and she ate an apple from the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil. Thus, a man fell, and after that, men worked tirelessly, and women gave birth to children in torment. People began to die, and after death their souls were sent to Hell. Then God sacrificed his son - Jesus Christ - to save the righteous people. Since then, their souls after death are sent not to Hell, but to Paradise.

For God, all people are equal. Depending on how a person lives his life, he ends up in Paradise (for the righteous), in Hell (for sinners) or in Purgatory, where sinful souls are purified.

Spirit dominates over matter. A person lives in the material world, achieving an ideal destination. It is important to strive for a harmony of the material and spiritual.

The Bible and the Sacraments

The main book for Christians is the Bible. It consists of the Old Testament, inherited from the Jews, and the New Testament, created by the Christians themselves. Believers must live according to what the Bible teaches.

Christianity also uses sacraments. These include baptism - the initiation, as a result of which the human soul connects with God. Another sacrament is the communion, when a person needs to eat bread and wine, which embody the body and blood of Jesus Christ. This is necessary for Jesus to "live" in man. In Orthodoxy and Catholicism, five other sacraments are used: anointing, ordination, church marriage and soborhood.

Sins in Christianity

The whole Christian faith is based on 10commandments. Breaking them, a person commits mortal sins, than he ruins himself. A mortal sin is one who hardens a person, moves away from God, does not cause a desire to repent. In the Orthodox tradition, the first type of mortal sins are those that lead to others. These are the known 7 deadly sins: fornication, covetousness, gluttony, pride, anger, despondency, envy. Also to this group of sins is spiritual laziness.

The second type is sins against the Holy Spirit. These are sins committed in spite of God. For example, the hope for the kindness of God in the unwillingness to follow a righteous life, the absence of repentance, the struggle with God, anger, envy of the spirituality of others, etc. This also refers to blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.

The third group is sins, "crying to heaven". This is "Sodom sin", murder, insult of parents, oppression of beggars, widows and orphans, etc.

It is believed that you can be saved by repentance, sobelieving people go to church, where they confess their sins and promise not to repeat them. The method of purification, for example, is confession. Also, prayers are used. What is prayer in Christianity? It is a way of communicating with God. There are many prayers for different occasions, each of which is suitable for a particular situation. You can say prayers in an arbitrary form, asking God for something intimate. Before uttering a prayer, one must repent of one's sins.

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