The most powerful, influential and numerous of all the main ones existing today, ahead of Buddhism and Islam, is Christianity. The essence of religion, which breaks down into so-called churches (Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant and others), as well as many sects, lies in 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 to Earth for the salvation of the world and all humanity.

The religion of Christianity originated in distant Palestine in the first century AD. e. Already in the first years of its existence it had many adherents. The main reason for the emergence of Christianity, according to clergy, was the preaching activity of a certain Jesus Christ, who, being essentially a half-god, half-man, came to us in human form in order to bring people the truth, and even scientists do not deny his existence. There are four sacred books written about the first coming of Christ (the second of the Christian world is just awaiting) which are called the Gospels. The sacred writings written by his apostles (Matthew, John, as well as Mark and Luke, disciples of the other two and Peter) tell about the miraculous birth of the boy Jesus in the glorious city of Bethlehem, about 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. With his sermons, he called for loving one's neighbors and helping those in need. His Divine origin was proven by the miracles with which he accompanied his teachings. Many sick people were healed by his word or touch, he raised the dead three times, walked on water, turned it into wine and fed about five thousand people with just 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, accusations of deliberate blasphemy and brazen encroachment on the royal throne and a death sentence. He died, being crucified on the cross, having taken upon himself torment for all human sins. Three days later, Jesus Christ was resurrected and then ascended to heaven. About the 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 is sent where.

The religion of Christianity is based on several dogmas. The first is that the Second is that he is trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit). The birth of Jesus occurred by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit; God became incarnate in the Virgin Mary. Jesus was crucified and then died to atone for human sins, after which he was resurrected. At the end of time Christ will come to judge the world and the dead will rise. Divine and human natures are inextricably united in the image of Jesus Christ.

All religions of the world have certain canons and commandments, but Christianity preaches to love God with all your heart, and also to love your neighbor as yourself. Without loving your neighbor, you cannot love God.

The religion of 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 America, 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 state in the world.

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

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

As studies in the field of the history of religions show, Christianity adopted and rethought the previous ideological concepts of Judaism, Mithraism, ancient Eastern religions, and many philosophical views of the thinkers of Ancient Greece. All this enriched the new religion, turning 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 united the religious and cultural heritage of the past, it did not at all become a conglomerate of disparate ideas. It has become an integral teaching that has received universal recognition.

The first Christians were Jews by nationality. Their past religious ideas were formed and developed in line with 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 questions that will help to better understand the essence of Christianity as a world religion.

1.The emergence of Christianity

About 2000 years ago, in the small Jewish village of Bethlehem, a seemingly ordinary phenomenon 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 entire course of world history and became its center: it is not for nothing that our chronology is calculated 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. From 6 AD Judea (the region of Palestine with the capital Jerusalem) was ruled by a Roman procurator, the fifth of whom was the famous Pontius Pilate (his reign was 26 - 36 AD). The majority of the population of Palestine at that time were Jews (partly mixed with other tribes and nationalities), professing their national religion - Judaism. Religions 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 His chosen people - the Jews. The chosenness 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’s election of individuals for their faith and righteous life - Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, etc. - goes back to the very beginnings of humanity). The essence of this revelation of God was imprinted in the Law (Hebrew “Torah” - teaching), 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, first of all, their morality. This was manifested most clearly in the famous Ten Commandments (Ex. 20; 2-17; Deut. 5; 6-21).

Gradually, the Torah as the divine law of life acquired numerous interpretations and oral traditions. Later, in the first centuries AD, they were combined into a code called the “Talmud” (from Hebrew - study), which became normative for subsequent Judaism. From among the Jews, a special group of teachers of the Law emerged - scribes, who combined the functions of scientists, teachers, lawyers and judges and enjoyed great influence on the people. Closely adjacent to them were the Pharisees (from Hebrew - separated), who formed a special religious and political party, whose task was to support loyalty to 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 Arimphaeum and Saul - the future Apostle Paul) became followers of Christ. The Pharisees were opposed by the religious-political party of the Sadducees (its name comes from Zadok, who was a priest under David and Solomon; Kings 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, and did not believe in the Providence of God governing the world. The Sadducees were even more hostile to Christians than the Pharisees, and were furious persecutors of them Puchkov P.I., Kazmina O.E. Religions of the modern world. - M.: Art, 1997. .

In addition to these indicated parties, there were a number of religious movements in Judaism during the era of Christ’s earthly life: the Essenes, Therapeutae, etc. A special group consisted of 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 mores of their environment, but remained faithful to the Jewish religion. This did not prevent them, while observing its rituals, from perceiving and combining 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 B.C. and the first centuries AD. was characterized by the intensity of messianic aspirations - the expectation of the Messiah (Greek “Christ”), i.e. The anointed one. The Jews imagined him as a king from the line of David, who would appear in all the splendor and splendor of earthly glory and conquer all the nations of the world to the Jews. But when Jesus Christ was actually born into the line of David, the overwhelming majority of Jews did not recognize Him as the Messiah, for the personality and teaching of Christ radically diverged from their ideas about the Messiah and his theocratic dominion over the world. Only a small part of the Israeli people followed Jesus Christ, forming the core of the future Church (New Israel). Like Christ himself, His first followers belonged mainly to the poor layers of the population of Palestine, although very early wealthy people began to appear among the members of the early Christian community.

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

Even before the middle of the 1st century AD. Christianity crossed the borders of Palestine. One of its new centers was Antioch, where the disciples of Christ first began to be called Christians. (Acts 11; 26). People converted from pagans began to play an increasingly important role in the Church. Many early Christians took part in the missionary work, of whom the most outstanding, undoubtedly, was Paul, the Apostle of the Gentiles, who spread the Good News to many corners of the Roman Empire. Fundamentals of Religious Studies / Ed. I.N. Yablokova.- M.: Higher. school, 1994, p. 74. .

With the penetration of Christianity into the sphere of Greco-Roman culture and civilization, the Church faced new problems. There was a need to convince the Hellenes that the preaching of Christianity is not madness, but represents the only true and highest Wisdom Ibid. P. 76. .

The Christian Church, during 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 accessible to pagans, but while maintaining the unchanged essence of Christian doctrine.

During the first few centuries of its existence, the Church successfully solved this problem: having avoided the danger of the Hellenization of Christianity, it managed to Christianize Hellenism. But there was an equally important task: to find flexible and adequate forms of coexistence with the Roman Empire.

2. 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 by the Church. The meaning of the existence of the earthly Church can be defined by the words of Jesus: “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21), i.e. its activities are separate from the activities of the state. Christianity 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 humanity, 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 humanity, the organized force of which was the state. From its first steps, Christianity immediately encountered this resistance, as evidenced by the conflict between the Church and the Roman Empire, which lasted about three centuries.

At first glance it seems unclear. The Roman state was distinguished by its tolerance towards the religious beliefs of the various nationalities that were part of it, 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). For the Romans, religion was an exclusively external rite, and it was this rite that was seen as the force that held 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. Christians were persecuted and their religion was declared illegal. Either fading, then flaring up again, they lasted for about three centuries. As a result, Christianity gradually conquered the Roman Empire.

The external expression of this victory was the so-called “Edict of Milan” of 313, which declared Christianity a permitted religion, i.e. equalizing its rights with other religions. Emperor Constantine the Great, the main initiator of this edict, throughout his subsequent reign provided all possible protection to the Church, although he himself was baptized only before his death. At the end of the 4th 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 (“the things that are Caesar’s to Caesar, and the things that are 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, such as bishops, are subject to the emperor, but in matters of faith and morals the emperor is as much a son of the Church as his subjects.

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

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, and the first was significantly distorted. This led to the theocracy of papism, which consisted in the dominance of the Church (or rather, in the desire for such dominance) over the state (more precisely, over many states).

As Christianity spread, the territorial organization of the Church took shape. Its basis was parikia (from Greek - to live next door, nearby), i.e. parishes headed initially by bishops. The increase in the number of Christians and the penetration of Christianity into rural areas (at first it spread mainly in cities) led to the fact that parishes began to be headed by presbyters, and a bishop living in a city united under his authority the management of many parishes located in any area.

By the beginning of the 4th century. metropolises arose - associations of a number of bishops (dioceses) around the main city of a particular province. Of these cities, Rome, Alexandria, Antioch and Constantinople took first place (later Jerusalem joined them). Their bishops from the second half of the 5th century. began to be called patriarchs (ancestors); the title “papa” (from Greek - father, father) was often applied to the Alexandrian and Roman bishops, and the latter retained it.

Councils were a unique form of organizing 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 a region or province (as well as a number of regions) to resolve pressing church issues. With the cessation of 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 resolve the most important dogmatic and canonical (ecclesiastical and legal) problems affecting the entire Christian world.

A specific form of the internal existence of the Christian Church is monasticism (Greek “monachos” - lonely, only). It goes back to the very origins of Christianity, which immediately set high the ideal of purity of life and virginity. But the emergence of monasticism itself dates back to the end of the 3rd and beginning of the 4th centuries. The widespread spread of Christianity during this period, covering all levels of society, gave rise to a negative process of secularization of the Church, its excessive adaptation to the skills and way of life of the “old humanity.” As a reaction to this process, the “great exodus” of ascetics into the desert took place.

3. Christian shrines. Divine service

The foundations of the Christian religion are set out in the Bible. The word “Bible” does not appear 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 in time of creation was called the “Old Testament”, in contrast to the “New Testament”. This part of the Bible is a collection of books written in Hebrew long before our era and selected as sacred from other literature by 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 century. n. e. and which have come down to us in ancient Greek. This part of the Bible is the most important for 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 to be divinely revealed in origin and universal in their moral significance

Christian morality finds its expression in peculiar ideas and concepts about moral and immoral, in the totality 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, humility, etc.), as well as in systems of moral theology or theological ethics. All of the above elements together constitute Christian moral consciousness.

It is also necessary to indicate two main dogmas of Christianity (the folding of the fingers during 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 connotations, but here it means a Person). The Trinity is God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. The Divine Persons differ from each other by their hypostatic properties: the Father is unborn and is the “Source” of the Son and the Spirit; The Son is born (but this His birth cannot be measured in terms 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 the same nature or essence (consubstantial). In this form, Christian monotheism differs from both Jewish and ancient (philosophical) monotheism.

Throughout 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 celebrated at the liturgy.

The all-night vigil and liturgy, which included several church services (midnight, matins, hours, etc.), together made up the daily liturgical circle. In addition to it, other circles were formed: the seventh (weekly) with a particularly solemn service on Sunday, the annual and Easter. The liturgical creativity of the Church was reflected and consolidated in a number of liturgical books: the “Service Book”, “Book of Hours”, “Menaea Monthly”, “Octoeche”, two “Triods” (“Lenten” and “Colored”), etc. Knowledge and the ability to navigate them are mandatory for every clergyman who studies liturgics as a subject of a special church-practical discipline.

Along with the Holy Scriptures, Christian doctrine found its most complete expression in the writings (creations) of the Fathers of the Church (patristic writing). The concept of “holy fathers of the Church” is inseparable from the concept of “Church Tradition,” which, together with the Holy Scriptures, is the “pillar and affirmation” of the Church. Therefore, such Christian teachers and writers are recognized as the fathers of the Church, in whom the Church, with its collective mind, unanimously recognized 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 the many Christian writers throughout history, the Church made a selection, according to the criteria of holiness of life and fidelity to the apostolic faith, of those authors whose works were included in the abundant treasury of patristic writing.

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

4. Orthodoxy and Catholicism. Adoption of Christianity in Rus'

Already in the initial period of its existence, Christianity was not an administratively unified church. The process of approving the Creed at the Ecumenical Councils demonstrated serious differences between Western Christianity (Catholicism) and Eastern Christianity (Orthodoxy). In the western part of the Roman Empire there was only one Roman Catholic Church, Owing its foundation to the activities of the Apostle Peter, who preached in Rome and found his martyrdom there.

Originating in the eastern part of the Roman Empire, Orthodoxy, unlike Catholicism, was not subject to strict centralization, but was a conglomerate (set) of several individual churches, headed by individual 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 was James, the brother of Jesus). 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 9th century), Bulgaria (865), Romania (4th-5th centuries), etc. Thus, we can say that not individual countries, but tribes were subjected to Orthodox baptism who lived on the territory of future sovereign (independent) states. Formally, these tribes were considered independent, but recognition of the ecclesiastical authority of one of the Orthodox churches (as a rule, it was the Patriarchate of Constantinople) made them subject, even in ecclesiastical matters, to Byzantium.

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

The Eastern Slavs were pagans who deified the forces of nature and dead ancestors. Among the forces of nature, the sun and fire occupied the main place. With the development of statehood, the complication of public life and the social structure of society, paganism as a religious system turned out to be unable to ideologically justify the changes taking place. There was a contradiction between the established state unity and the very heterogeneous pagan cults of individual East Slavic peoples. A single state had to correspond to a single cult. Historians note Vladimir’s desire 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 Rus'. Experience in researching social and political struggle. - M.: Higher school, 1995, p. 318.

The adoption of Christianity introduced Rus' 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 taken into account 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 Vladimir’s adoption of Christianity. Some researchers, following Metropolitan Hilarion (mid-11th century), explained his conversion by God's revelation, i.e. because 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 exploit the working masses.

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

Conclusion

Christianity Catholicism Orthodoxy

Christianity is the largest world religion in terms of 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 quickly spread across different countries.

The holy book of the vast majority of Christians (with the exception of some marginal groups) is the Bible, consisting of two parts: the Old and New Testaments.

At present, Christianity does not represent a single whole, breaking up into a large number of separate directions, movements 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, rituals and organization of Christianity as a whole. Nevertheless, there are a number of features inherent in most of its directions and trends. In dogmatics, such general features include the belief of the overwhelming majority of Christians in one God, appearing in three persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, constituting the Divine Trinity.

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

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

References

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

2. Fundamentals of Religious Studies/Ed. I.N. Yablokova.- M.: Higher. school, 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 Rus'. Experience in researching social and political struggle. - M.: Higher school, 1995.

6. Khachaturyan V.M. History of world civilizations from ancient times to the end of the 20th century / Ed. V.I. Ukolova. - M.: Bustard, 1999.

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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 powerful has matured in the lower classes, and a desire to transform life has appeared. In such conditions, Christianity with its beliefs came in handy. The first followers of Jesus believed without a doubt that God would very soon and personally intervene in the affairs taking place on Earth, destroy the existing world and establish his own. Christianity also attracted people with its promise of salvation. Moreover, hope appeared for all those suffering, including the poor.

At that time, there were several communities at once, within which several sects and heresies stood out. 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 hostility based on religious and political differences, split into eastern and western parts. Along with this, a division of churches also occurred. The eastern one was headed by the patriarchs, and the western one - by the bishop of Rome (pope). From then 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 Orthodoxy, originating from Byzantium, was predominantly established in South-Eastern and Eastern Europe, and Catholicism was established 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 geographical distribution. After all, there is practically no country that does not have 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 with faith in eternal life, helps to find moral and sometimes material support for the sufferer. Christianity, if we talk 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 certainly mention the key points.

Origin of Christianity

Oddly enough, Christianity, like Islam, is rooted in Judaism, or rather in its sacred 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. This is the only way Christians were persecuted. These persecutions played an important role in the sacralization of Christian martyrs, and Jesus himself.

Once upon a time, when I was studying history at the university, I asked the teacher of Antiquity during recess, what was Jesus really like or not? The answer I received was that all sources indicate that there was such a person. Well, questions about the miracles that are described in the New Testament, everyone decides for themselves whether to believe them or not.

Speaking abstractly from faith and miracles, 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 particular religion become a world religion? Most likely, it’s a matter of the sacralization of the martyrs, in the teaching itself, and, of course, in the policy of the Roman authorities. So it 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 for peace on all Christian movements, of which there were many at that time. Just look at 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 the state religion. There are also persistent rumors that, before his death, he himself expressed a desire to be baptized... All the same, they were smart rulers: they would do something random while the pagans - and then bam - and before their death they would convert to Christianity. Why not?!

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

Basic provisions of Christian teaching

• 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, and even more so life, appeared in the course of evolution, but any Christian will tell you that God created the world. And if you are particularly knowledgeable, you can even name the year - 5508 BC.
• The second position is that 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 unclouded. But Eve picked an apple from the tree of knowledge, ate it herself and treated it to Adam, during which man’s original sin arose. The question arises, why did this tree of knowledge grow in Eden at all?.. But I ask this, because ultimately from the race of Adam)))
• The third point is that this original sin was atoned for by Jesus Christ. So all the sins that exist 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 yourself a place in heaven.
• 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 and arrange Armageddon. And God will separate the righteous from the sinners.

So how? Scary? There is, of course, some truth in this. You need to lead a normal life, respect your neighbors and not commit evil acts. But, as we see, many people call themselves Christians, but behave exactly the opposite. For example, according to surveys by the Levada Center, in Russia 80% of the population considers themselves Orthodox.

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

Best regards, Andrey Puchkov