Christianity
Essay Preview: Christianity
Report this essay
Through-out history there has been a great need for religious guidance. However today with the knowledge gained through science and technology people seem to be lost like an infant in the wild. There is no real happiness, no lasting benefits, unless achievement pours from a soil in which the seed of the spirit has also been planted.
Men should be turning to the religion of Christianity, which over many years of testing it has stood the truth of time.
As the worlds largest and oldest religion Christianity was first introduced to people by Jesus Christ in Palestine. Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God and the Messiah, whose coming was told about in the Old Testament of the Bible.
Since Adam and Eve, Christians believe that the human kind was in a state of sin through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, they were saved and the sinful state was over.
Christians believe in one God, and they believe he exists in three forms, Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, which is called the Holy Trinity. They strongly believe in the praises of Jesus, which are love and forgiveness. All these and Jesus’ life are described in the opening books of the Bible’s New Testament.
Years later after Jesus died; Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire and the faith spread from Palestine to Europe, and other countries through teaching and preaching. Ever since, the great religion of Christianity keeps on spreading still all over the world. Followers of this religion today belong to three main groups which are: Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant and even though they share basic Christian beliefs, they all differ on some points of doctrine and ritual.
Beliefs and practices of Christianity were developed among the ancient Jews and some of them are:
Creation,
The book of Genesis describes the creation of the world in six days and talks about the first humans Adam and Eve.
Evil,
Christians believe that evil in the world is Satan, who works his bad and pain through the actions of ignorant and sinful people in the world.
Salvation,
According to Christian beliefs the human kind became sinful when they moved away from God, however God sent his son to forgive their sins and save themselves. As a result there would be eternal life with God for those who believe in Jesus and life correctly.
Crucifix,
The cross where Jesus died is the universal symbol of Christianity, with Jesus on the cross and an empty cross which symbolizes the Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus.
Worships and rituals are a very important part of the Christian religion. The name of the building that Christians believe in, pray and worship is called the Church.
In church, they gather in front of the priest, which conducts the particular prayers, ceremonies or sacraments. The Christians pray to the God and ask for divine help and/or favors. Therefore prayer is the central element of all Christian worships. It is very common for Christians during prayer to kneel, with eyes closed and hold hands.
Also another form of worship is the Sermon, which is often based on an extract from the Bible. When a person preaches a sermon, they are said to be preaching the “Word of God”. Because of this sermons are a very important part of the religion. The people who come in church for all these rituals and ceremonies are called congregation. They sit and listen to sermons, stand to sing and kneel to pray.
The singing of sacred songs or hymns by the congregation forms an important part of Christian worship. Hymns originally were only sand in Greek and Latin, however since the reformation they are being sung in the mother language of the congregation. Many churches will have choirs of trained singers who will sing in front of the congregation or along with them. .
The most solemn Christian ceremonies are called sacraments which are rituals that channel the grace of God towards a specific person or group. The Roman Catholic Churches recognize seven sacraments, covering major points in a person’s spiritual life.
Baptism,
People are formally admitted into the church through the rite of baptism. The ceremony usually involves water, like the ancient practice of baptism in