Rise Of Christianity Research Paper

There are approximately a dozen major religions throughout the world, Christianity being the highest with two million followers. Christianity is a diverse religion that is intertwined with different beliefs; however, they all relate back to the same central belief. The branches that link off of the main root of Christianity include Catholicism, Protestantism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, Anglicanism, Restorationism and Nontrinitarianism. Inside each of these denominations include the groups such as Baptist or Roman Catholic. The complexity of the various denominations may seem overwhelming since they practice worship differently, but it is all intertwined into the religion of Christianity (ProCon.org). Between each of the different denominations of churches within the beliefs of Christians, they all come together to form similar beliefs (Koester). Christian beliefs include: God created all that is seen and unseen,
Jesus is the Son of God and is one with God, Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, Jesus suffered through crucifixion, Jesus died and was buried where he then was resurrected. They also believe that after Jesus was resurrected, he ascended to Heaven and that he will someday return to judge the living and dead. In order for Christian’s to be saved and have salvation with Jesus, they have to repent of their sins. In turn, Jesus provides forgiveness and salvation (Christian).
Catholicism currently holds the highest membership size with approximately 50,873,000 people who practice this belief. In the Roman Catholic church, it is taught that there is only one holy catholic and apostolic Church founded by Jesus Christ (Koester). The Roman Catholic church is led by the Pope located in the Vatican City. Pope Francis is the current ‘Bishop of Rome’ who was originally from Argentina. In the Catholic church, the followers believe that it gives sacramental world views by recognizing the unity of body and soul within each human being (ProCon.org). Catholics worship Jesus “the Son of God” just as the other denominates do; however, they do worship the virgin Mary also. They also have a method known as the Sacrament of Penance where an individual confesses their sins to the priest. After a person confesses, the priest tells them how to be forgiven through prayer.
In the Christian faith, the second most practiced denomination is Baptist coming in at about 33,830,000 (Koester). “The Baptists comprise one of the largest and most diverse groupings of Christians in the United States… Baptist have insisted on freedom of thought and expression in pulpit and pew” (ProCon.org). The main differences of Baptists apart from the various other denominated include the way they celebrate and perform baptism. Baptists are submerged under water by a preacher who proclaims it in front of the church. Whenever a person becomes “saved”, this is the realization that they need salvation with Jesus Christ in order to live in Heaven forever.
Another Christian denomination that consists of 150 million followers is Protestantism.
This religion was based off of Catholicism and separated during the Protestant Reform. This was set to happen in the 1555’s, challenging the belief that the Bible should be the source of spiritual authority (History.com). This action was made possible through the invention of the printing press, making the bible accessible to all. This changed everything for the Catholic Church in a way that they could no longer make up their own beliefs about God. Priest were able to say what they wanted because of the fact that people did not have access to Bibles. Once the people of the 15th century knew what was happening, they branched out, creating the Protestant Religion (Koester). Though, the Protestant Church is not much different to the Catholic Church today, they do have their differences. Such as, Catholics believe that during mass, the bread actually becomes the body of Christ. Protestants see it as a symbol of the body of Christ and the same for the
wine.
The reason that I find Christianity to be the most interesting religion is because of one thing. That is how, although all Christians believe in the same thing, that God created all and his son came down for us, but yet they all believe something different. That consist of either in the way that they worship God or who they worship with God. Finding out how all of these Christian denominations came to be and how they are different will always seize to amaze me. These religions will continue to change over time, as they have been in the past thousands of years.