Week 1 Christianity’s Family Tree What Other Christians Believe and Why By Adam Hamilton Important Quick Facts: ● Orthodox= oldest baby in Christianity family tree ● Christianity sprang from Judaism ● As Christianity began to bring on more and more non-Jewish elements they became known as the Nazarenes, followers of Jesus of Nazareth, as followers of "the Way", or simply "Christians" followers of Jesus Christ Beginnings of Christianity During the first century of Christianity, denominations did not exist as we have them today. As time went on arguments over theology and practice started plaguing the church. This led to leaders calling together bishops from all over the world to work out the issues and figure out the essentials of the faith we share. This meeting took place in 325 AD in the city of Nicaea. The statement of faith that came from this meeting is called the Nicene Creed. Now the creed as we know it today includes major additions that were made at another council in 381 AD in Constantinople which is why it is sometimes called the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed. Despite the unity of belief with the Creed, differences kept rising between Christians in the Eastern and Western halves of the Roman Empire. The Empire was being torn apart by these clashes of culture, philosophy, and politics, not so much theology. Emperor Constantine, the man who had reunited the empire, appointed his sons to rule after his death. One ruled from the Latin-speaking traditional capital of Rome and was trying to ward off the continuing invasions of barbarians. While the other ruled in the Greek-speaking east from the capital Constantinople which was considered the new Rome. Now Christians in the West tended to view the gospel in concrete terms with juridical models of sin and justice as keys to its understanding. While Christians in the east tended to allow for more mystery in their view of the gospel. Through the centuries contact between the East and the West lessened and the Gulf between them widened. Questions arose regarding the relationship of the four major leaders of the Christian churches in the East who were known as the patriarchs and the prince among leaders in the West known as the pope. The patriarchs recognized the pope's status as first among equals but they did not believe he had authority over their churches. Things came to a head in the seventh century at a regional council in Toledo, Spain. Western Christians decided to add three simple words to the Nicene Creed without any consultation with Eastern Christians. These words called the "filioque" (Latin for "from the Son") stated that the Holy Spirit did not only proceed from the Father, which was agreed upon, but also from the Son. The Eastern Christians were appalled by this addition and conflicts continued for centuries between the two halves until 1054 when Pope Leo X and Patriarch Michael I excommunicated each other and ALL the other's followers from the church. This created a breach that has lasted until this very day. Can you guess what the East and Western halves turned into? This, leads us to the two denominations we will look into today Orthodoxy and Catholicism. Both these churches see the church's history in slightly different ways. Orthodox Christians believe they are the direct and continuous successors of the apostles. So since the Roman Catholic Church added to the creed, giving too much power to the pope, and changing liturgy they have departed from the right path. Orthodox Church The Eastern Christians claimed the title "Orthodox" which means "right worship" and "right doctrine". By claiming this name Eastern Christians took a strong stance in claiming to have the right forms of worship and doctrine while implicating that Western Christians do not. If Eastern Christians are the Orthodox church then all other Christians are not Orthodox. So what about the rest of us? Today it is more common for Orthodox Christians to believe that-What God chooses to do with non-Orthodox followers of Jesus is up to God-but they are still committed to their assertion that they are the true church. Currently, Eastern Christianity makes up the second largest body of Christians behind...Roman Catholics. Members continue to be largely located in the East with the largest number of Orthodox Christians being found in Russia. Within Eastern, Orthodoxy divisions are mostly ethnic with Russian Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, and Syrian Orthodox to name a few. This prince of the creeds is the same in the Roman Catholic and mainline Protestant churches with the exception of the statement on the Holy Spirit. Besides that, the essentials of the faith are agreed upon by the majority of Christians. Another difference that has come from the split is the Orthodox teaching that the human condition is not tied to the doctrine of original sin that Adam and Eve's sin is now passed to all humankind. They believe that what is passed on is death and all that it brings. As a result, humanity was placed in the grip of death and the devil until Jesus gave his life as a ransom for all humanity. Human beings, once they accept this gift, begin the lifelong journey toward becoming like God. The Orthodox Church believes that Christian life begins at baptism and until you are baptized you are outside the church. Baptism in the church is done by immersion with even infants being completely immersed in water. Then you are anointed with oil (chrismation) immediately following the baptism. This takes the place of confirmation in the church. An important part of understanding Orthodoxy is understanding the role of the Fathers in the church and scripture. The church believes that the Holy Spirit was guiding the early church and therefore the Christians of the first five centuries were very important interpreters of the Scriptures. These writings function in some ways like the Mishnah and Talmud function in Judaism. The Protestant idea of scripture alone or "sola scriptura" is unheard of in Orthodox tradition. To them, scripture is the primary basis of authority in the faith but it needs to be interpreted with the help of the holy spirit and the wisdom of the church through the ages. The first of these writings came from AD 96 with the First Letter of Clement and continued for centuries. These writings tell the stories of saints and icons through this period but it is important to note Orthodox Christians do not worship these figures but look to them for faithful inspiration. In the church, the real world is heaven and not here on Earth. Our lives here on Earth are not the real world but a place we spend a small amount of time on. This inspires an Orthodox church building whose purpose is to transport the worshipper to the heavenly realm. CATHOLIC CHURCH Catholics make up the largest group of Christians in the world with over 1 billion people. In the United States though Protestants outnumber Catholics two to one. The word catholic means “universal” and it was used to describe the church for a time. As mentioned above the Christian church officially split in 1054 because according to the Orthodox church it was believed to be the true church of the apostles. Now, this may surprise you but the Roman Catholic Church believes they are the true church of the apostles and Orthodox and Protestants have broken off from them. Similar to the Orthodox church though they believe the Holy Spirit did not cease to guide the church after the death of the apostles but continued through bishops, theologians, and church councils. This is where the relationship between Catholics and Protestants gets murky. With some of their practices and doctrines being difficult for Protestants to see in the scripture. Catholics argue that there are “seeds” of these doctrines in the scripture but the harder they are to find the less likely Protestants are to accept them. The life and resurrection of Jesus were passed down orally until the Council of Rome in 382 when the books of the New Testament were clearly defined. It was bishops of the church, guided by the Holy Spirit, that decided what would be the New Testament of the Bible. Without them, the Bible would look very different as we have it today. A major differing factor between Catholics and Protestants is the teaching of Mary. Protestants affirm that the New Testament is where we find the story of Mary and honor her as the mother of our Lord. Catholics start in the New Testament but also look at traditions and theological arguments that developed around Mary through the centuries. This led to doctrines Protestants do not accept which are; that she was immaculately conceived, was perpetually a virgin, and assumed into heaven at her death. Protestants do not find enough evidence to support these doctrines as the Catholics have. What we can learn from Catholic beliefs and rituals: Rosary The rosary is a tool to recount the stories of Jesus and Mary while offering spiritual words of affirmation and prayer. While Protestants may reject the couple portions of the rosary dedicated to extra-biblical stories and the repeating words of affirmation to Mary it’s such a fascinating idea of using this tool daily to worship, pray, and recount Gospel stories. It isn’t too different from what we do at any church event. The Eucharist At his last Passover meal with his disciples, Jesus broke bread and gave thanks for it which gave a new meaning to the Passover meal.