Christianity - Religions of World | REL 1000, Study notes of Anthropology of religion

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Chapter 9 – Christianity 03/24/2010 Paul’s Letters (50-60)  Part of his influence  First writings of the New Testament  Gospels (written by people, attributed to named) “Good news”  Mark (60-70)  Matthew (70’s) o “Q” – common source  Luke (80’s) o “Q” – common source  John (95) o Written later o Actually calls Jesus the savior  Mark, Matthew, and Luke are synoptic o Talks as if the story is happening now  170-200  Greater Uniformity o Wide variety of Christianity is being practiced o Different accounts accepted by different communities  300  Canon of New Testament o First time books are put together o Allowed for continuity of faith  Life of Jesus  All accounts come from the Gospels  Different stories with different messages  Birth  Baptism  Ministry o Faith Healing o Apostles o Teachings  Love your neighbor and God  Strict ethics  Need God’s help with this  Repentance  Forgiveness  Need for God’s grace  Kingdom  Other worldly values  Apocalyptic  Intimacy with God Chapter 9 – Christianity 03/24/2010  Paul’s Influence  Missionary  Network of churches  Connects Jesus to the Old Testament o Makes him legitimate  Answered questions about traditions o Circumcision o Does much of this in letters  Moves Christianity beyond a Jewish sect  Justification by faith o Acceptance by God of people o Original sin  People start of bad and turn to God to become right o Jesus’ sacrifice forgives our sins  We must trust this has been accomplished in Christ  Focuses on Resurrected Christ more than the teachings of Jesus  Gnosticism  A different sect of Christianity o Considered heresy o Made Christianity exclusive  Only certain people could understand it  People could develop spirit to accomplish what Jesus did o Heaven was on Earth  Irenaeus o Leads fight against Gnosticism because it  Doesn’t ask people to rely on God and Christ  Doesn’t ask people to rely on the Church  Arianism Chapter 9 – Christianity 03/24/2010  100-300 Rapid growth, largely non-Jewish converts  Persecution  Martyrdom  Concern with theological uniformity o Irenaeus attacks Gnosticism as heresy  Reacts to his experience of persecution  Insists on rules and orders to establish what Christians believe and do  4th century (Need to know these dates)  313 – Edict of Milan (Christianity is officially tolerated religion)  325 – Council of Nicaea o Arianism rejected (Jesus created by God within time) o Christ is eternally begotten not made, God from God, Light from Light, one being with the Father o Trinity – God is One, Father, Son, Holy Spirit  381 – Official state religion of Roman Empire  451 – Council of Chalcedon o Jesus was fully human, fully divine and on substance with the Father  Video  Judaism, Islam and Christianity are monotheistic o In Christianity, God is characterized in three parts: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit  God reveals himself in Jesus and can be understood through the Holy Spirit  God’s promises in the Old Testament are confirmed and revealed in the New Testament  God is relational  OT: God is one  NT: Jesus is Lord and through the Holy Spirit  Emmanuel – God with us  Essay: What does Trinity reveal about God?  Chapter 9 – Christianity 03/24/2010  Christian Doctrines  Jewish prophetic idea of providential God (God has a plan) plus Greek logos and dualism of spirit being greater than matter leads to uniquely Christian idea of God who becomes enfleshed and redeems humanity  Incarnation o Unique, same substance, Logos, Immanuel o Christ = place of God’s reconciliation of humanity with God  Trinity o God is relational, personal, taking on human suffering, siding with humanity  Sin o Idolatry, rebellion, disobedience, alienation, fall, bondage, selfishness, ignorance o Original sin – inherited, requires divine grace  Augustinian doctrine  Salvation o Through work of Christ o Augustine: People are incapable of saving themselves  Bad news of sin with the good news of salvation o Fruits may be tasted in this life, but complete enjoyment after death  Grace o Undeserved, unearned free gift of reconciliation  Growing Distance between Western and Eastern Churches  451-1054 – Growing distance  Latin vs. Greek  Political separation of empire – 2 capitals o Rome struggles with Barbarian invasions o Roman church steps into political power vacuum and provides only measure of security o Constantinople  Peaceful and stable  Church under the authority of political emperor  Limited power of bishop, but bishop could use emperor’s legal power to bully “heresies” Chapter 9 – Christianity 03/24/2010  Reformation  Luther o 1517 – 95 Theses  Printed and sold many times  Criticizes: indulgences, masses for the dead, sale of relics  Sin – how can human actions atone for sin? o 1520 – Excommunicated o Law vs. Gospel  Law (Torah) and Gospel are both God’s word.  Law is concrete instruction on what we are supposed to do  Gospel – good news, Jesus died for us o Justification by faith o Anxiety about salvation o Sacraments  Zwingli o Practices aren’t valid unless they were done by the earliest Christians (New Testament) o Transubstantiation  Calvin o Predestination – God knows whether you will go the heaven or hell before you are born  Anxiety about salvation o Faith alone o Scripture alone  Sacraments  Priesthood of all believers o Excludes church authority Chapter 9 – Christianity 03/24/2010  Evangelicalism  Characteristics: o Teach the gospel, need for personal conversion, “born again” or “being saved,” activism (religion isn’t just one part of your life), centrality of scripture, stressing Jesus’ sacrifice o Rapture, political/social involvement  Charismatic Christianity  Emphasis on experience o Mystical experiences (speaking in tongues, healings)  Ecumenism  Not meant to unify church  Meant to unify for fellowship not communion  Working towards practical goals – peace, ending hunger  Great Reversal  Feminist Theology  Stresses women in the Bible and women’s role in the Bible  Comes from traditional subordination of women and how the Bible says otherwise  Liberation Theology