The most powerful, influential and numerous of all the existing mainstreams, ahead of Buddhism and Islam, is Christianity. The essence of religion, which breaks up into the so-called churches (Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant and others), as well as many sects, is the veneration and worship of one divine being, in other words, the God-man, whose name is Jesus Christ. Christians believe that he is the true son of God, that he is the Messiah, that he was sent down to Earth for the salvation of the world and all mankind.

The religion of Christianity was born in distant Palestine in the first century AD. NS. Already in the first years of its existence, it had many adherents. The main reason for the emergence of Christianity, according to the ministers of the cult, was the preaching activity of a certain Jesus Christ, who, being essentially a demigod-half-man, came to us in a human form in order to bring people the truth, and even scientists do not deny his existence. Four holy books have been written about the first coming of Christ (the second Christian world is just awaiting), which are called the Gospels. Written by his apostles (Matthew, John, as well as Mark and Luke, disciples of two others and Peter), the scriptures tell of the miraculous birth of the boy Jesus in the glorious city of Bethlehem, how he grew up, how he began to preach.

The main ideas of his new religious teaching were the following: the belief that he, Jesus, really is the Messiah, that he is the son of God, that there will be his second coming, there will be the end of the world and the resurrection from the dead. Through his sermons, he called to love others and help those in need. His divine origin was proved by the miracles with which he accompanied his teachings. Many sick people were healed by his word or touch, three times he raised the dead, walked on water, turned it into wine and fed about five thousand people with only two fish and five cakes.

He expelled all merchants from the Jerusalem temple, thereby showing that dishonest people have no place in holy and noble deeds. Then there was the betrayal of Judas Iscariot, accusation of willful blasphemy and impudent encroachment on the royal throne and a death sentence. He died, being crucified on the cross, taking upon himself the torment for all the sins of man. Three days later, Jesus Christ was resurrected, and then ascended to heaven. About religion, Christianity says the following: there are two places, two special spaces that are inaccessible to people during earthly life. and paradise. Hell is a place of terrible torment, located somewhere in the bowels of the earth, and heaven is a place of universal bliss, and only God himself will decide who to direct.

The religion of Christianity is based on several dogmas. The first is that the second is that it is threefold (Father, Son and Holy Spirit). The birth of Jesus took place on the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, God was incarnated in the Virgin Mary. Jesus was crucified and then died, having atoned for human sins, after which he was resurrected. At the end of time, Christ will come to judge the world, and the dead will be resurrected. Divine and human nature is inextricably linked in the image of Jesus Christ.

All religions of the world have certain canons and commandments, while Christianity preaches to love God with all our heart, and also to love our neighbor as ourselves. If you do not love your neighbor, you cannot love God.

Religion Christianity has its adherents in almost every country, half of all Christians are concentrated in Europe, including Russia, one quarter - in North America, one sixth - in South, and significantly fewer believers in Africa, Australia and

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Introduction

One of the largest world religions today is Christianity. There are about 2.1 billion adherents of this religion. At the same time, representatives of the Christian community can be found in almost any country in the world.

According to Christian apologetics, this religion, unlike other religions of the world, was not created by people. It is given to a person from above in a ready-made form.

However, the comparative history of religious teachings shows that Christianity is not free from religious, philosophical, ethical and other influences.

As studies in the field of the history of religions show, Christianity has assimilated and rethought the previous ideological concepts of Judaism, Mithraism, ancient Eastern religions, many philosophical views of the thinkers of Ancient Greece. All this enriched the new religion, turned it into a powerful cultural and intellectual force capable of opposing itself to all national-ethnic cults and turning into a mass supranational movement.

Despite the fact that Christianity has united the religious and cultural heritage of the past, it has not at all become a conglomeration of disparate ideas. It has become a whole teaching that has received universal recognition.

The first Christians were Jewish by nationality. Their past religious beliefs were formed and developed in the mainstream of Judaism. But already in the second half of the 1st century, Christianity became an international religion.

In this work, we will consider a number of issues that will help to better understand the essence of Christianity as a world religion.

1 the rise of Christianity

About 2,000 years ago, in the small Jewish village of Bethlehem, a seemingly common occurrence occurred: in the poor family of the carpenter Joseph, his wife Mary had a son who was named Jesus. But this seemingly insignificant event turned the whole course of world history and became the center of it: it is not for nothing that our chronology starts from the Nativity of Christ. Palestine at this time was ruled by King Herod the Great, who was politically dependent on the Roman state. After the death of Herod, his kingdom was divided between his three sons and gradually came under the direct control of the Romans. Since 6 A.D. Judea (the region of Palestine with the capital Jerusalem) was ruled by a Roman procurator, the fifth of whom was the famous Pontius Pilate (years of his reign - 26 - 36 AD). Most of the population of Palestine at this time were Jews (partly mixed with other tribes and nationalities), professing their national religion - JudaismReligions of the World / Ed. Ya.N. Shchapova. - M .: Education, 1994, p. 46..

The essence of this religion was the belief in one God (monotheism), who entered into an alliance ("Covenant") with the people chosen by Him - the Jews. The chosen people of this people consisted in the fact that only to them, according to the Bible, God (Yahweh) revealed His Revelation through the highest of the prophets - Moses (although the experience of God choosing individual persons for their faith and righteous life - Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, etc. - goes back to the very origins of humanity). The essence of this Revelation of God was embodied in the Law (Hebrew "Torah" - teaching), which is contained in the so-called "Pentateuch of Moses" - it became the core of the Holy Scriptures of the Jews (Old Testament). The law regulated the entire life of the Israeli people and, above all, its morality. This is manifested most clearly in the known ten commandments (Ex. 20; 2-17; Deut. 5; 6-21).

Gradually, the Torah as the divine law of life was overgrown with numerous interpretations and oral traditions. Later, in the first centuries AD, they were combined into a collection called the Talmud (from Hebrew - study), which became normative for subsequent Judaism. From among the Jews, a special group of teachers of the Law stood out - scribes, who combine the functions of scientists, teachers, lawyers and judges and enjoy great influence over the people. They were closely associated with the Pharisees (from Hebrew - separated), who made up a special religious-political party, whose task was to support the faithfulness of the Law and religious zeal among the people. In general, the Pharisees were hostile to the preaching of Christianity, but some of them (Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimthea and Saul - the future Apostle Paul) became followers of Christ. The Pharisees were opposed by the religious-political party of the Sadducees (its name is derived from Zadok, who was a priest under David and Solomon; Tsar 1; 32-39) - a party of the priestly aristocracy, distinguished by liberal and cosmopolitan thinking. They recognized only the written Law, rejecting oral traditions; they denied, unlike the Pharisees, the existence of angels and demons, the resurrection of the dead and the afterlife; they did not believe in the Providence of God, governing the world. The Sadducees were even more hostile to the Christians than the Pharisees, and were furious persecutors of them PI Puchkov, OE Kazmina. Religions of the modern world. - M .: Art, 1997..

In addition to these indicated parties, a number of religious movements existed in Judaism during the earthly life of Christ: Essenes, therapists, etc. A special group consisted of the Jews living outside Palestine - the so-called Jews of the Diaspora (Greek "diaspora"). They, as a rule, forgot their native language, adopted the customs and customs of their environment, but remained faithful to the Jewish religion. This did not prevent them, observing her rites, to perceive and combine with Judaism the religious and philosophical ideas of the Greco-Roman world. This combination gave rise to the so-called Hellenistic Judaism, reflected in a number of literary monuments, primarily in the writings of Philo of Alexandria (a contemporary of Christ).

Finally, for Judaism of the last centuries BC. and the first centuries A.D. the tension of messianic aspirations was characteristic - the expectation of the Messiah (Greek "Christ"), i.e. The anointed one. The Jews imagined him as a king from the clan of David, who would appear in all the splendor and splendor of earthly glory and conquer all the peoples of the world to the Jews. But when Jesus Christ was indeed born in the lineage of David, the overwhelming majority of Jews did not recognize Him as the Messiah, for the personality and teaching of Christ were fundamentally at odds with their ideas about the Messiah and his theocratic dominion over the world. Only an insignificant part of the Israelite people followed Jesus Christ, making up the nucleus of the future Church (New Israel). Like Christ himself, the first followers of Him belonged mainly to the poor strata of the population of Palestine, although very early among the members of the early Christian community, wealthy people began to appear.

From among the early Christians, Jesus Christ chose and brought closer to him twelve disciples, who received the name of the Apostles (Greek "apostello" - to send). He sends them to proclaim the Good News on His behalf (Greek “Gospel”), that is, spread the Christian doctrine. After the death of Christ, the Apostles, by virtue of their authority, took a leading position in the early Christian community of Jerusalem and became the founders of new communities. Although in Palestine itself, the preaching of Christ found a response in very few hearts, but after His death and Resurrection, the number of Christians began to multiply rapidly.

Even before the middle of the 1st century AD. Christianity crossed the borders of Palestine. Antioch became one of its new centers, where the disciples of Christ first began to be called Christians. (Acts 11; 26). Gentile converts began to play an increasing role in the Church. Many early Christians participated in the missionary work, of which the most outstanding was undoubtedly Paul - the Apostle of the Gentiles, who spread the Good News to many parts of the Roman Empire Fundamentals of Religious Studies / Ed. I.N. Yablokova. - M .: Higher. shk., 1994, p. 74.

With the penetration of Christianity into the sphere of Greco-Roman culture and civilization, the Church faced new problems. It became necessary to convince the Hellenes that the preaching of Christianity is not madness, but is the only true and highest Wisdom in the same place. P. 76.

The Christian Church, in its penetration into the Greco-Roman world, faced many problems, the main of which was the problem of preaching the Good News in concepts and images available to pagans, but while maintaining the unchanging essence of the Christian doctrine.

During the first few centuries of its existence, the Church successfully solved this problem: avoiding the danger of the Hellenization of Christianity, she succeeded in Christianizing Hellenism. But there was still an equally important task: to find flexible and adequate forms of their coexistence with the Roman Empire.

2. The spread of Christianity

The problem of their relationship between the Christian Church and the state has been resolved throughout the history of the Church and not always unambiguously. However, this ambiguity was determined more by the position of the state than of the Church. The meaning of the existence of the earthly Church can be defined by the words of Jesus: “Give what is Caesar's to Caesar, but God's things to God” (Matthew 22; 21), ie its activity is separate from the activity of the state. Christianity has never acted as a kind of revolutionary movement (if this happened, then Christianity ceased to be Christianity). Its main goal is the spiritual transformation of both an individual and all mankind, as a result of which changes in socio-economic relations could occur. However, the implementation of this goal ran into powerful resistance and inertia of mankind, the organized force of which was the state. From its first steps, Christianity immediately met with this resistance, as evidenced by the conflict between the Church and the Roman Empire, which lasted for about three centuries.

At first glance, it seems obscure. The Roman state was distinguished by its tolerance for the religious beliefs of various nationalities that make up its composition, prohibiting only those cults that were anti-moral in nature. Even the Jews, with their exceptional monotheism, were given complete freedom of worship (only the propaganda of Judaism among Roman citizens was not allowed). Religion for the Romans was exclusively an external rite, and it was this rite that was considered as a force that binds society together. Other national cults could exist if they obeyed the gods of Rome.

Christians preached faith in one God, which was contrary to the interests of the Roman state. Persecution of Christians began, and their religion was declared illegal. Either dying out, then flaring up again, they lasted for about three centuries. As a result, Christianity gradually conquered the Roman Empire.

The outward expression of this victory was the so-called "Edict of Milan" in 313, which declared Christianity a permissible religion, ie. who made him equal in rights with other religions. Emperor Constantine the Great, the main initiator of this edict, throughout his subsequent reign provided all kinds of patronage to the Church, although he himself was baptized only before his death. At the end of the IV century. Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire.

The resulting union of church and state was based on two main ideas. The first was the idea reflected in the Gospel parable ("what is Caesar's to Caesar, but God's to God"): it assumed the separation of the functions of the state and the Church. In other words, in civil matters, all Christians, including the supreme clergy, for example, bishops, obey the emperor, but in matters of faith and morality, the emperor is the same son of the Church as his subjects.

The second idea followed from the first. This is the idea of ​​an internal agreement between two authorities (secular and ecclesiastical). It becomes normative for the entire Orthodox East, primarily for Byzantium and Russia.

The relationship between Church and state developed differently in the Middle Ages in the Latin West. The second idea here practically remained inactive and did not work, while the first was significantly distorted. This led to the theocracy of papism, which consists in the domination of the Church (or rather, in the desire for such domination) over the state (more precisely, over many states).

As Christianity spread, the territorial organization of the Church took shape. It was based on wigs (from Greek - to live in the neighborhood, next to it), i.e. parishes initially headed by bishops. The increase in the number of Christians and the penetration of Christianity into rural areas (it first spread mainly in cities) led to the fact that the parishes began to be headed by elders, and the bishop living in the city united under his authority the management of many parishes located in any locality.

By the beginning of the IV century. metropolises arose - the unification of a number of bishops (dioceses) around the main city of a particular province. Of these cities, Rome, Alexandria, Antioch and Constantinople received the leading place (later they were also joined by Jerusalem). Their bishops from the second half of the 5th century. began to be called patriarchs (ancestors); the name “pope” (from the Greek - father, father) was often applied to the Alexandrian and Roman bishops, and it has survived for the latter.

Councils were a peculiar form of organization of the internal life of the Church. The origins of this form go back to the so-called Apostolic Council (held in Jerusalem around 49 AD). Later, starting from the second half of the 2nd century AD, local councils came into practice, which brought together representatives of the clergy and laity of any region or province (as well as a number of regions) to resolve urgent church issues. With the end of the persecution of Christians, the conciliar form of resolving these issues reaches its full development.

The reign of Constantine the Great marked the beginning of ecumenical councils convened to solve the most important dogmatic and canonical (church-legal) problems concerning the entire Christian world.

A specific form of the inner being of the Christian Church is monasticism (Greek "monachos" - lonely, unique). It goes back to the very origins of Christianity, which immediately placed high on the ideal of purity of life and virginity. But the emergence of proper monasticism falls on the end of the III-beginning of the IV century. The wide spread of Christianity during this period, which embraced all strata of society, gave rise to a negative process of secularization of the Church, its excessive adaptation to the skills and way of life of "old mankind". As a reaction to this process, the “great exodus” to the desert of ascetics took place.

3. Christian shrines. Divine service

The basics of the Christian religion are set out in the Bible. The word "Bible" is not found in the sacred books themselves, and was first used in relation to the collection of sacred books in the east in the 4th century by John Chrysostom and Epiphanius of Cyprus.

The first part of the Bible at the time of its creation was called the "Old Testament", in contrast to the "New Testament". This part of the Bible is a collection of books written in the Hebrew language long before our era and selected as sacred from other literature by the Hebrew teachers of the law.

The second part of the Christian Bible is the New Testament, a collection of 27 Christian books (including the 4 Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, the Epistles of the Apostles and the book of Revelation of John the Theologian (Apocalypse)), written in the 1st c. n. NS. and that have come down to us in ancient Greek. This part of the Bible is most important to Christianity.

The New Testament consists of books belonging to eight inspired writers: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Peter, Paul, James, and Jude.

Christian theologians consider the biblical commandments divinely revealed in origin and universal in their moral meaning

Christian morality finds its expression in peculiar ideas and concepts about moral and immoral, in the aggregate of certain moral norms (for example, commandments), in specific religious and moral feelings (Christian love, conscience, etc.) and some volitional qualities of a believer ( patience, obedience, etc.), as well as in systems of moral theology or theological ethics. All of these elements together make up the Christian moral consciousness.

It is necessary to indicate two basic dogmas of Christianity (the folding of the fingers of the hand at the sign of the cross symbolically indicates them): the doctrine of the Holy Trinity and the doctrine of the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ (or Christology).

The first dogma can be briefly formulated as follows: God is one in three Persons or Hypostases (the Greek word “hypostasis” has many meanings and semantic shades, but here the Person is meant). The Trinity is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Divine Persons differ from each other in their hypostatic properties: the Father is unborn and is the "Source" of the Son and Spirit; The Son is born (but this His birth cannot be compared with the categories of time or space), and the Spirit “proceeds” from the Father. At the same time, the three Hypostases of the Trinity are not three gods, since they are one God, since they have one nature or essence (consubstantial). In this form, Christian monotheism differs from both Jewish and ancient (philosophical) monotheism.

In the course of history, Christian worship has undergone significant evolution. The first Eucharist was the famous "Last Supper" of Jesus Christ with His disciples, which is narrated in the Gospels. Then the morning service (Greek "liturgy" - service, service) was separated from the evening service and the sacrament of the Eucharist began to be performed at the liturgy.

All-night vigil and liturgy, which includes several church services (midnight, matins, hours, etc.), together formed a daily liturgical circle. In addition to him, there were other circles: weekly (weekly) with a particularly solemn service on Sunday, annual and Easter. The liturgical creativity of the Church was reflected and entrenched in a number of liturgical books: The Service Book, The Book of Hours, Minea of ​​the Month, Octoikha, two Triodes (Lenten and Tsvetnoy), etc. Knowledge and the ability to navigate them are obligatory for every clergyman who studies liturgy as a subject of a special churchly practical discipline.

Along with the Holy Scripture, the Christian doctrine found its fullest expression in the writings (creations) of the Church Fathers (patristic writing). The concept of "holy fathers of the Church" is inseparable from the concept of "Church Tradition", which together with Holy Scripture is the "pillar and confirmation" of the Church. Therefore, such Christian teachers and writers are recognized as the Fathers of the Church, in whom the Church, with her conciliar reason, unanimously recognized the authoritative witnesses of the Divinely Revealed Truth, who correctly interpreted and understood this Truth Mikhailovsky V.S. History of religion. - Saratov, 2006, p. 41..

From a multitude of Christian writers in the course of history, the Church has made a selection according to the criteria of the sanctity of life and fidelity to the apostolic faith of those authors whose works have entered the abundant treasury of patristic writing.

In time, the creations of the Church Fathers are directly adjacent to the books of the New Testament. The first of these creations are considered to be the writings of the so-called apostolic men.

They are followed by works by apologists. They are not recognized as the Fathers of the Church, and some of the views of the latter two were even condemned at the fifth ecumenical council. Nevertheless, these writers gave a strong impetus to the development of Christian theology, cutting off their errors. The Church has accepted into its reading circle ("churched") some of the works of these writers.

4. Orthodoxy and Catholicism. Adoption of Christianity in Russia

Already in the initial period of its existence, Christianity did not represent a single administratively church. The process of approving the Symbol of Faith at the Ecumenical Councils demonstrated serious differences between Western Christianity (Catholicism) and Eastern Christianity (Orthodoxy). On the territory of the western part of the Roman Empire, there was the only Roman Catholic Church, owing its foundation to the activities of the Apostle Peter, who preached in Rome and found his martyrdom there.

Having originated in the eastern part of the Roman Empire, Orthodoxy, in contrast to Catholicism, did not undergo rigid centralization, but was a conglomerate (aggregate) of several separate churches headed by separate patriarchs. The most respected and oldest of these churches were four: Constantinople (its patriarch formally continued to be considered the head of the entire Eastern Church), Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem (which was the most ancient patriarchate on the basis that the first bishop of the Jerusalem community would be James, Jesus' brother). But the educational activities of these churches led to the fact that Christianity penetrated into many countries of Eastern Europe precisely in its Orthodox interpretation.

These countries included Serbia (late IX century), Bulgaria (865), Romania (IV-V centuries), etc. Thus, we can say that not individual countries, but tribes were subjected to Orthodox baptism living on the territory of future sovereign (independent) states. Formally, these tribes were considered independent, but the recognition of the ecclesiastical authority of one of the Orthodox churches (as a rule, it was about the Patriarchate of Constantinople) made them subject, even in the church question, to Byzantium.

As a result of the Reformation (XIV-XVII centuries), along with Catholicism and Orthodoxy, a third major trend in Christianity arises - Protestantism, which is represented in the form of numerous confessions.

The Eastern Slavs were pagans, deifying the forces of nature and deceased ancestors. Among the forces of nature, the sun and fire occupied the main place. With the development of statehood, the complication of social life and the social structure of society, paganism as a religious system turned out to be incapable of ideologically substantiating the ongoing changes. There was a contradiction between the established state unity and the very heterogeneous pagan cults of individual East Slavic peoples. A single cult had to correspond to a single state. Historians note the desire of Vladimir to strengthen the state and its territorial unity. Only monotheism could unite the country and illuminate the authority of the sole princely power. Froyanov I. Ya. Ancient Russia. Experience in the study of social and political struggle. - M .: Higher school, 1995, p. 318.

The adoption of Christianity introduced Russia into the family of European nations, and paganism doomed it to isolation and hostility from Christianized neighbors who treated pagans as non-humans. It should be borne in mind that the final split of Christianity into Catholic and Orthodox branches occurred only in 1054.

In the social thought of Russia, there are also ideological interpretations of the reasons for the adoption of Christianity by Vladimir. Some researchers, following Metropolitan Hilarion (mid-11th century), explained his conversion by God's revelation, i.e. by the fact that God enlightened his soul.

Soviet historians believed that Christianity met the class interests of the feudal lords, because, preaching humility and obedience, it became an effective ideological weapon that helped to exploit the working masses.

It is important that the adoption of Christianity had a significant impact on the development of Russian statehood.

Conclusion

Christianity Catholicism Orthodoxy

Christianity is the world's largest religion in terms of the number of followers. It originated in Palestine. Its founder was Jesus Christ, after whom this religion was later named. The time of the emergence of Christianity is usually attributed to the 33rd year of the Christian era - the year of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, and the Nativity of Christ is considered in the Christian world to be the beginning of chronology.

Immediately after its emergence, Christianity began to spread rapidly across different countries.

The Holy Book of the overwhelming majority of Christians (with the exception of some marginalized groups) is the Bible, which consists of two parts: the Old and New Testaments.

at present, Christianity is not a single whole, breaking up into a large number of separate directions, trends and denominations. There are five main directions: Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Protestantism, Monophysitism and Nestorianism.

Because of this fragmentation, it is very difficult to give a general description of the doctrine, ritual and organization of Christianity as a whole. Nevertheless, there are a number of features inherent in most of its directions and trends. In dogma, such common features include the belief of the overwhelming majority of Christians in one God, acting in three persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, which make up the Divine Trinity.

Most Christians recognize the need to perform the sacraments - special sacred actions designed to give believers the grace of God. However, on the question of the number of sacraments, their understanding, form and time of performance, different directions of Christianity differ greatly.

The topic "Christianity" is very broad and cannot be fully considered in this work.

Bibliography

1. Mikhailovsky V.S. History of religion. - Saratov, 2006.

2. Fundamentals of Religious Studies / Ed. I.N. Yablokova. - M .: Higher. shk., 1994.

3. Puchkov P.I., Kazmina O.E. Religions of the modern world. - M .: Art, 1997.

4. Religions of the World / Ed. Ya.N. Shchapova. - M .: Education, 1994.

5. Froyanov I.Ya. Ancient Russia. Experience in the study of social and political struggle. - M .: Higher school, 1995.

6. Khachaturyan V.M. History of world civilizations from ancient times to the end of the XX century / Ed. IN AND. Injection. - M .: Bustard, 1999.

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Stands on a par with Islam and Buddhism, allow the scale of its spread and influence on the course of history. If we talk about other currents, then they absolutely do not consider what force is driving the development of mankind. Thus, it turns out that history is completely out of the scope of their attention. But Christianity as a world religion, perhaps the only one, considers it as a non-repeating process, directed in one direction and controlled by God from the beginning (from the moment of creation) to the end, that is, until the Last Judgment.

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At the end of the 20th century, Oxford University published interesting data. According to them, at that time almost one and a half billion people on Earth, that is, a third of its population, called themselves Christians. For comparison, 720 million professed Islam at that time, and 270 million people professed Buddhism.

Today, Christianity as a world religion is a collective term, which includes three areas: Protestantism, Orthodoxy and Catholicism. Within their framework, many religious associations have emerged over more than two thousand years of history. All followers of this trend believe in Jesus Christ. For them, he is both man and God at the same time. They fully accept his teachings and try to comply with his behavior in life.

As in any other religion, this one also has its own cult book - the Christian Bible. It consists of two, considered sacred by the followers of Judaism, and the New, written after the death of Jesus and telling about his life and teachings. The latter consists of four Gospels left by the followers of Christ to the communities existing in the world, the Acts of the Apostles and the Apocalypse, or Revelation. All these parts are recognized as sacred, since they were written by people not from themselves, but by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Christians believe that Jesus by his resurrection conquered death itself and gave all people hope for a new, eternal life. In this way, the reconciliation of the human race with the Lord God takes place.

Christianity arose when the Roman Empire, a civilization based on slavery, was already on the verge of decline. In the end, condemnation of the rich and ruling ripened in the lower classes, and a desire to transform life appeared. In such conditions, Christianity with its convictions appeared at an opportune moment. The first followers of Jesus undoubtedly believed that God would very soon and personally intervene in the affairs of the earth, destroy the existing world and establish his own. Also, Christianity was attracted by the promise of salvation. Moreover, hope appeared in all the suffering, including the poor.

At that time, there were several communities at once, within which several sects and heresies were distinguished. Each of them was headed by a presbyter, and new positions appeared: deacon, bishop.

At the end of the 4th century, the Roman Empire, after centuries of enmity based on religious and political differences, split into eastern and western parts. At the same time, the division of the churches took place. The eastern was headed by the patriarchs, and the western - by the Roman bishop (pope). From that time on, Christianity forgot about the period of persecution and, on the contrary, became the state religion. And even a complete break (in the middle of the 11th century) between the two branches did not contribute to its destruction. It's just that in Southeast and Eastern Europe, Orthodoxy, originating from Byzantium, was predominantly established, and Catholicism in Western Europe.

Nowadays, Christianity as a world religion has become even larger, its positions are stronger than ever. Now the number of his followers exceeds 2 billion people. This religion is the largest in the world in terms of geographic distribution. After all, there is practically no country in which there would not be at least one Christian church.

The emergence of Christianity as a world religion

Religion plays a huge role in the life of society and the state. It compensates for the fear of death by believing in eternal life, helps to find moral and sometimes material support for the suffering person. Christianity, speaking briefly about religion, is one of the world's religious teachings, which has been relevant for more than two thousand years. In this introductory article, I do not pretend to be complete, but I will definitely name the key points.

Origin of Christianity

Oddly enough, Christianity, like Islam, is rooted in Judaism, or rather in its holy book - the Old Testament. However, the immediate impetus for its development was given by only one person - Jesus of Nazareth. Hence the name (from Jesus Christ). This religion was originally another monotheistic heresy in the Roman Empire. The only way Christians were driven. These persecutions played an important role in the sacralization of Christian martyrs, and of Jesus himself.

Once upon a time, when I was studying at the University of History, I asked a teacher of Antiquity at recess, and they say, Jesus was like in reality or not? The answer was such that all sources indicate that such a person was. Well, the questions about the miracles that are described in the New Testament, everyone decides for himself whether to believe them or not.

If we speak, abstracting from faith and miracles, then the first Christians lived in the form of religious communities on the territory of the Roman Empire. The original symbolism was extremely simple: crosses, fish, etc. Why did this religion become a world religion? Most likely, the matter is both the sacralization of the martyrs, in the doctrine itself, well, of course, in the policy of the Roman authorities. So she received state recognition only 300 years after the death of Jesus - in 325 at the Council of Nicaea. The Roman emperor Constantine the Great (himself a pagan) called to the world all Christian sects, of which there were many at that time. What is only the Arian heresy, according to which God the father is higher than God the son.

Be that as it may, Constantine understood the unifying potential of Christianity and made this religion a state religion. There are also persistent rumors that he himself, before his death, expressed a desire to be baptized ... All the same, the rulers were smart: the pagans will do something for now - and then bam - and convert to Christianity before death. Why not?!

Since then, Christianity has become the religion of the whole of Europe, and then of a large part of this world. By the way, I recommend the post about that.

The main provisions of Christian doctrine

• The world was created by God. This is the first position of this religion. It doesn't matter what you think, maybe the Universe and the Earth, let alone life, appeared in the course of evolution, but any Christian will tell you that God created the world. And if he is especially knowledgeable, he can even name the year - 5,508 BC.
• The second position - a person has a spark of God - a soul that is eternal and does not die after the death of the body. This soul was originally given to people (Adam and Eve) pure and uncomplicated. But Eve plucked an apple from the tree of knowledge, ate it herself and treated Adam, during which the original sin of man arose. The question arises, why did this tree of knowledge even grow in Eden? .. But I ask this, because ultimately from the clan of Adam)))
• The third point is that this original sin was atoned for by Jesus Christ. So all the sins that are now are the result of your sinful life: gluttony, pride, etc.
• Fourth, in order to atone for sins, one must repent, observe church regulations, and lead a righteous life. Then, perhaps, you will earn a place for yourself in paradise.
• Fifth, if you lead an unrighteous life, you will perish in hell after death.
• Sixth, God is merciful and forgives all sins if repentance is sincere.
• Seventh - there will be a terrible judgment, the Son of man will come, arrange Armageddon. And God will separate the righteous from the sinners.

How is it? Scary? Of course, there is some truth in this. You need to lead a normal life, respect your neighbors and not commit evil deeds. But, as we can see, a lot of people call themselves Christians, and behave exactly the opposite. For example, according to polls by the Levada Center, 80% of the population in Russia considers themselves Orthodox.

But how I do not go out into the street: everyone eats shawarma in fasting, and do all sorts of sinful things. What can you say here? Double standarts? Perhaps people who consider themselves Christians are a little hypocritical. It would be better to say that they are believers, not Christians. Because if you call yourself that, it is assumed that you behave accordingly. How do you think? Write in the comments!

Best regards, Andrey Puchkov