1200 words and three scholarly references

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254 C H A P T E R 1 1 E N C O U N T E R I N G C H R I S T I A N I T Y : T H E WAY O F S A LVAT I O N I N J E S U S C H R I S T

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CHAPTER 11

Learning Outcomes After studying this chapter, you will be able to do the following:

LO1 Explain the meaning of Christianity and related terms.

LO2 Trace how the main periods of Christianity’s history have shaped its present.

LO3 Outline in your own words essential Christian teachings as found in the Nicene Creed.

LO4 Describe the main features of Christian ethics. LO5 Summarize Christian worship and other rituals. LO6 Explain the variety of Christianity in North America

today.

Encountering Christianity:

The Way of Salvation in Jesus Christ

BONNIE VAN VOORST © CENGAGE LEARNING

Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

255

Your Visit to St. Peter’s

in Rome

A s a part of your visit to Italy, you spend a day in Vatican City, the world’s smallest nation, which serves as the headquar- ters of the Roman Catholic Church. The center of Vatican City is St. Peter’s

Basilica. You’ve seen pictures of this building, and you’ve seen snippets of religious services there on television, so you’re eager to see it for yourself.

Your tour guide gives you some advice the night before your visit: “You should expect the church to be full of visitors today, as it is almost every day. Not only is St. Peter’s the center of the Roman Catholic faith, it’s also a historical building and an important part of art history. Neither men nor women can wear anything that shows their shoulders, stomach, or any leg above the knees. There are guards at the church entrance, and they’re experts at spotting the tricks that some people use to enter without appropriate clothing.”

Stepping inside St. Peter’s Basilica, the grandness of the church itself is stunning. Seeing it from the out- side gives no indication of how large and impressive it really is. Like many of the world’s most important reli- gious sites, the grandeur of this place and what it means to believers—in this case Roman Catholic Christians—brings you a deep sense of respect. Many people pause after entering the front door to take it all in. On the right you see Michelangelo’s life- size sculpture of Mary the mother of Jesus holding the body of her dead son in her arms after his crucifi x- ion. So many people want to see it that it takes a few

minutes to work your way to the front of the group. It shows an artistic genius that can only be marveled at, but it also shows the profound Christian faith of Michelangelo.

The natural light coming from above illuminates the church and spreads a subdued radiance all around, especially under the dome. Looking up at the dome, you see the large Latin letters giving the words of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew 16:18–19, which the Catholic Church has always considered the foundation of its organization: “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.”

After you go up to the outside of the dome to take in the magnifi cent view of Rome, you take a guided tour of the tomb of St. Peter, led by a priest from the Vatican archaeology offi ce. It’s a few stories below the main altar of the church, what in the fi rst century C.E. was a cemetery on Vatican Hill, outside the city limits of Rome. You walk down an excavated street, past expensive mausoleums, toward the traditional grave of Peter. When you reach it,

your guide shows pictures of what it used to look like—very simple, even humble. You realize that, for all the grandeur of the building above, the founda- tion of it all is the grave of a humble fi sherman who was killed near this spot for his faith in Jesus Christ.

“I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” —Jesus Christ, in the Gospel of John

< Mosaic portrait in Hagia Sophia Church, Istanbul, Turkey, of Jesus Christ enthroned in heaven. His halo contains a cross, and the Greek lettering is an abbreviation of “Jesus Christ.”

Its universal spread shows that Christianity is the most culturally adaptable religion in the world.

Strongly Disagree Strongly Agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

What Do YOU Think?

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Front of St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome

256 C H A P T E R 1 1 E N C O U N T E R I N G C H R I S T I A N I T Y : T H E WAY O F S A LVAT I O N I N J E S U S C H R I S T

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the fi rst- century C.E. life, death, and res- urrection of Jesus of Nazareth in Galilee. Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God and the savior of the world, and his teaching shows how to live for God and others. Christianity began as a prophetic reform

movement within Judaism, led by Jesus, in the fi rst century C.E., but it quickly moved out into the wider world after Jesus’ departure. It has been from the fi rst a strongly missionary faith, eager to spread itself and make converts, and it has become the largest religion in the world. Geographically the most widely diffused of all faiths—the only religion to be found on all continents and in every nation, for example—it has about 2.2 billion adherents today. Christianity has been a major infl uence in the shaping of Western civilization, and since around 1500 it has increasingly shaped the rest of the world. Its three largest groups are the Roman Catholic Church (which is larger than the two other groups together), the Eastern Orthodox churches, and the Protestant churches. In your study of Christianity, you’ll encounter these unique features:

● Christianity is centered on a person, Jesus Christ. But it is also strongly concerned with teaching and doctrine—more than Judaism and Islam, the other Abrahamic monotheisms, have typically been.

● Because Christianity is centered on Jesus, it takes seriously his teachings as recorded in the New Testament. But Christianity is also shaped by the church’s later teaching about Jesus, which raises the question: What is the relationship of the teach- ing of Jesus to Christian teaching about Jesus?

● Christianity shares much with Judaism and Islam, but with some key differences. It teaches that the one God exists in three persons—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—a mystery and a paradox. However, modern scholars have located Christianity fi rmly among the monotheistic reli- gions of the world.

● When seen from the outside, Christianity appears to be quite unifi ed. However, when seen from the inside, it seems very diverse, even

fragmented, with an estimated nine thousand dif- ferent church groups. We’ll discuss the variety of Christianity throughout this chapter, but espe- cially in the last section, “Christianity in North America Today.”

LO1 Names

The name Christ originated in the ancient Greek word Christos (KRIHS-toss), literally “anointed one.” This word is in turn the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word messiah (meh-SIGH-uh), one anointed as a king or prophet. The earliest Christians came to believe that Jesus was the promised messiah who would bring God’s blessings to Israel. When the church moved into the Greek-speaking world, the term Christ was attached to the personal name Jesus to produce the longer name by which he is known to Christians, Jesus Christ. It’s a common misunderstanding that Jesus is his fi rst name and Christ is something of a last name, but that’s incorrect.

Christians was a name given by others, most likely as a derogatory term that

can be paraphrased “those Christ people.”

Christianity, the religion based on Jesus Christ’s life and teaching, is built from Christians, those who belong to the religious movement based on Christ. As related by the fi rst-century book of early church history, the Acts of the Apostles, the fi rst Christians themselves had called their movement within Judaism “the Way,” by which they probably meant the “Way of Jesus”; they called themselves “followers of the Way.” Christians was a name given to them by others, most likely as a derogatory term that can be paraphrased “those Christ people.” But they soon accepted Christians as accurate and meaningful. They transformed this put-down into an honorable name used by Christians in every time and place since then.

The term Christendom is sometimes used in con- nection with Christianity. Most often it refers today to those nations of the world in which Christianity is the recognized, predominant religion, whether it is the offi - cial religion of these nations or not. This term has now fallen into disuse, and in some circles even disfavor, so it will be seen mostly in older literature.

Christ Literally, “anointed one,” or prophet

Christianity The religion based on Jesus C hrist’s life and teaching

257T H E C H R I S T I A N P R E S E N T A S S H A P E D B Y I T S PA S T

LO2 The Christian Present As Shaped by Its Past

In New York City, a college student who wants to train for the priesthood in the Orthodox Church in North America visits his bishop, the regional leader of this church, to inquire about education and expectations for ordination. After a pleasant conversation about his background and intent, the bishop off ers the requirements. The student is surprised by the fi rst and last items mentioned: grow a beard, fi nish college, and get married—preferably in that order. With these things accomplished, the student can enter a theological seminary (graduate school) to prepare more fully for the priesthood. As the student will soon learn as he travels toward becoming a priest, these expectations are a part of the ancient tradition for almost all Eastern Orthodox clergy.

Today’s Christianity has been shaped by a long and sig- nifi cant history. Christianity is built on the foundation of Judaism and uses Jewish words and concepts, but over the fi rst few centuries C.E. it became a separate religion and started drawing on Greek vocabulary to

express its more complex teachings. From Jesus’ death and resurrection until today, his teachings have spread throughout the world. This section will tell the high points of this story and introduce the teachings, rituals, and diverse groups of Christianity along the way.

The Life,

Death, and

Resurrection

of Jesus

Christ (ca. 4

B.C.E.–30 C.E.)

The primary sources for knowledge of Jesus are the four canonical Gospels— Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—in the New Testament. A number of noncanonical sources written in the early 100s,

Symbols of Christianity

The fi sh was an early infor- mal symbol of Christianity. It was connected to one of Jesus’ miracles, multiply- ing bread and fi sh to feed a crowd. Later, the fi ve letters in the Greek word for fi sh, transliterated into English as ichthus (ick-THOOS), became an acronym for “Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior.” The fi sh is still popular today as a symbol of Christianity, especially among Protestants; one can often see it in jewelry and on bumper stickers.

The cross on which Jesus died is the predominant symbol of Christianity, but it didn’t appear as a symbol until sometime in the 300s. It was a fearsome image of death by torture for most people in the Roman Empire, which may have delayed its adoption as a symbol. Once it became possible to symbolize Christianity with the cross, it quickly became its universal symbol. The cross

symbolizes the whole of the faith, but it specifi cally repre- sents Jesus’ death, which most Christians have believed is the sacrifi cial basis of their salvation from sin. Many kinds of symbolic crosses have developed over time. Some have specifi c religious meaning, and others are culturally associ- ated with certain groups—the Celtic cross in Irish Roman Catholic Christianity, for example, or the Russian cross for Orthodox Christianity there.

The simplest and most-common Christian cross is the Latin cross with its extended vertical beam. The empty Latin cross, usually favored by most Protestants, suggests the resurrection of the crucifi ed Jesus, when his dead body was made eternally alive by the power of God. The crucifi x, a Latin cross with a representation of the body of Jesus on it, favored by Catholic and Orthodox churches and a few Protestants, is a reminder of Christ’s sacrifi ce. The Greek cross, with arms of equal length, is just as ancient as the Latin cross and is found particularly in Eastern Orthodox Christianity. The ritual action of making the sign of the cross on one’s head and torso in prayer and formal worship is one of the most common ritual acts for a majority of Christians.

A Closer Look:

resurrection Dead body made eternally alive by the power of God

crucifix Latin cross with a representation of the body of Jesus on it

Gospel (GAHS-puhl) “Good news” of salvation, the Christian message; early Christian book telling the story of Jesus

New Testament The Christian scriptural canon consisting of twenty- seven documents

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258 C H A P T E R 1 1 E N C O U N T E R I N G C H R I S T I A N I T Y : T H E WAY O F S A LVAT I O N I N J E S U S C H R I S T

notably the Gospel of Thomas, contain a few stories about him and many more sayings attributed to him. The material about Jesus in ancient non-Christian sources, both Jewish and Roman, does not add substan- tially to our knowledge of Jesus.

The chronology of the life of Jesus is slightly uncer- tain in its details. Matthew places the birth of Jesus at least two years before Herod the Great’s death late in 5 to 4 B.C.E. Luke connects Jesus’ birth with a Roman census that probably occurred in 6 to 7 C.E. Most his- torians incline to Matthew’s dating and place Jesus’ birth around 4 B.C.E. The church, following the Gospel of John, usually supposes that Jesus had a public minis- try of three years, but the other canonical Gospels may portray a one-year ministry. Jesus’ death during the rule

of Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judaea from 26 to 36 C.E., is most often placed around the years 29 to 30.

Jesus’ encounter with John the Baptizer, the fi ery Jewish prophet who preached repentance and bap- tism in view of God’s coming kingdom or kingly rule, marked the beginning of Jesus’ career. Jesus taught in vivid parables (short stories about some aspect of life in the rule of God) and performed miraculous heal- ings. He traveled through Galilee and became a popu- lar prophetic fi gure. He gathered twelve male Jewish followers whom he called disciples, or “students”; the church later called them apostles, those “sent out” by Christ to be missionary leaders in the church. Women, both married and unmarried, were also a prominent part of his movement, highly unusual for the time. Jesus’ attitude toward some aspects of the observance of Jewish law—especially as the strict law-keeping groups understood it—generated some confl ict with groups such as the Pharisees. The Pharisees believed in strict Sabbath rest and not associating closely with

“sinners” or with women not one’s wife. The ruling Jewish authorities also began to sus- pect Jesus, but he probably didn’t reach the attention of the Roman rulers.

A triumphal entry to Jerusalem at Passover time was the prelude to a fi nal crisis. After a last supper with his twelve closest disciples, he was betrayed by

one of them, Judas Iscariot. Jesus was arrested by the Jewish temple authorities and tried by the Sanhedrin (Jewish council) and then by Pilate, who condemned

him to death by crucifi xion, being nailed to a cross to die an agonizing death. Christians everywhere believe that three days after Jesus’ death, God raised him from the dead to live eternally. The earliest church believed that sometime after the resurrection—the Gospels dif- fer on the precise timing—the risen Jesus ascended to heaven, there to stay in power until his return at the end of time.

Jesus preached the imminent coming of God’s king- dom (or full rule) to the earth and said that it has both a future and a present reality. His teachings and miracles pointed to and explained this kingdom. His disciples recognized him at some point in his ministry or shortly after it as the Messiah, although the Gospels indicate that Jesus did not often call himself that. He was mainly called “prophet” and “teacher.” Jesus characteristically used the term Son of Man (though mysteriously in the third person) when talking about his own suffering and death, and at other times his role as God’s agent of judgment at the end of time. This title is derived from Daniel 7:13 in the Jewish Bible, where “one like a son of man” represents the oppressed people of God, then ascends to heaven to be vindicated by God.

Jesus called social and religious

outcastes to repentance and faith, healed

their diseases, and restored them to

membership in the people of Israel.

Jesus’ teaching was critical of both Jewish and (implicitly) Greco-Roman society, saying that they fell far short of God’s rule. Jesus encouraged the poor and oppressed, but rejected violent revolution. To Jesus, the social and religious outcastes of society (lepers, crimi- nals, prostitutes, Jews who collected taxes for Rome, and others) were the special objects of God’s love. He called them to repentance and faith, healed their diseases of mind and body, and restored them to membership in the people of Israel. Jesus taught that God desires the salva- tion (divine forgiveness leading to restored relationship with God and the people of God) of the marginalized more than the righteousness of those who constantly obey God, a teaching that has proved a continual chal- lenge for the church. Jesus’ embrace of outsiders also seems to have included the Samaritans, whom most other Jews regarded as terrible people. (We’ll consider Jesus’ teaching more fully later, in “Christian Ethics.”)

apostles Those “sent out” by Christ to be missionary leaders in the church

259T H E C H R I S T I A N P R E S E N T A S S H A P E D B Y I T S PA S T

Modern scholarship has delved fully into the Gospel accounts. Christianity has attracted a good deal of scholarly analy- sis by a variety of academic methods, and scholars have made research into the his- torical Jesus the largest single enterprise in religious scholarship. What scholars call “the quest for the historical Jesus” has been going strong for more than two centuries and shows no sign of lessening. In general, scholars agree on the main lines of Jesus’ life and teaching. They are divided over other issues:

● Did Jesus intend to found a church? Jesus gathered a com- munity of followers around himself. This community continued after his time, regarding itself as the special gathering of God’s people. But many scholars doubt that Jesus intended to begin the organiza- tion that was later called the “church,” with its formal organization.

● Did Jesus intend his gospel to be addressed to Jews only? In the Gospels, Gentiles (the Jewish term for non-Jews) appear only occasionally, but often in a positive light. Jesus’ choice of twelve Jewish men as his closest disciples is an indication that his movement was mainly an inner-Jewish thing. Because welcoming Gentiles into the church caused such intense debate less than ten years after Jesus’ departure, it’s clear that Jesus didn’t speak about this matter.

● How did Jesus understand his relation to the coming of the kingdom of God? Scholars disagree about whether Jesus merely proclaimed the kingdom/rule of God, whether he embodied it, or something in between. To what extent did the events of his life, death, and resurrection make the kingdom/rule of God a reality for his followers?

The Earliest Church

(30 C.E.–100 C.E.)

The earliest church in Jerusalem was ini- tially composed of those Jews who had followed Jesus during his ministry, per- haps one hundred people in all. They saw

themselves as a continuing reform movement within Judaism. In a few days after Jesus’ departure from earth, the early church experienced on the Jewish feast of Pentecost an outpouring of the Spirit of God to empower it for its continued ministry.

Paul is criticized today by some

Christians for his socially conservative

statements, but in his own time he was

criticized for being too liberal.

Pilgrims at the Stone of Unction, the place where tradition says the body of Jesus was washed before his burial, in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (tomb) in Jerusalem

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“Garden Tomb” in Jerusalem, a favorite location believed by some Protestants to be the tomb of Jesus

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260 C H A P T E R 1 1 E N C O U N T E R I N G C H R I S T I A N I T Y : T H E WAY O F S A LVAT I O N I N J E S U S C H R I S T

Saul—or as he was known after his conversion, Paul—was a Pharisee who zealously and violently persecuted the earliest church. Born at Tarsus (TAR- suhs) in southern Asia Minor (present-day Turkey), he had come to Jerusalem as a student of the famous Rabbi Gamaliel and had tried to suppress a Christian group called by Luke the “Hellenists,” who were led by Stephen, the fi rst Christian to be killed for the faith. While on the road to Damascus to persecute the followers of Jesus, Paul was suddenly, dramati- cally converted to faith in Christ. In this conversion, or soon afterward, he came to a conviction that the Gospel must be spread among the Gentiles without a requirement that they become Jews as well. Paul was a controversial fi gure throughout his career. Although he is criticized today by some for his conservative statements about women and slaves, in his own time he was criticized for being far too inclusivist, even liberal. He gained recognition in the Jerusalem church for Gentile converts. He saw clearly that the universal mission of the church to all humanity, implicit in the coming of Christ, meant a radical break with many of the rabbinical traditions in which he had previously lived. Paul worked tire- lessly as a missionary, founded dozens of churches in strategically located cities, and became known as “the Apostle to the Gentiles.”

Because of the preservation of several of his let- ters to his churches, we know a good deal about Paul. He didn’t write so much about Jesus’ earthly life and teaching, but made the death and resurrec- tion of Jesus the center of his proclamation. The cru- cifi xion of Jesus was the supreme redemptive act, a self-sacrifi ce for the sin of humankind. Salvation is a gift of grace, and in baptism the Holy Spirit comes to transform the new Christian. Paul linked this doctrine of justifi cation with his strong view that the Gospel brings liberation from the Mosaic Law, especially for Gentiles. Justifi cation brings freedom, not from parts of the Mosaic Law such as the Ten Commandments as a whole, but from parts that particularly mark Jewish identity—for example, keeping Jewish food regulations, observing the last day of the week for mandatory rest, and especially by being circumcised.

This created diffi culties at Jerusalem, where many followers of Jesus wanted to see the heritage of Judaism continued. Once this struggle was settled, the radical character of

Paul’s doctrine of justifi ca- tion began to be forgotten in the church, where salvation became a matter of both faith and obedience to God’s law.

All the Gospels record a special commission of Jesus to Peter as the leader among the twelve disciples, but Peter’s life can only be partially reconstructed. He was a key leader in the earliest Jerusalem church until James, a close relative of Jesus, became its leader. We know from Paul’s letters that Peter did mission- ary work in the Gentile world. Two letters in the New Testament bear his name, but many scholars are doubtful about their authorship by Peter, especially the second letter. According to early tradition, Peter died in Nero’s persecution in 64 C.E., probably at the same time when Paul was killed. Later traditions say that he was crucifi ed, at his request, upside down, because he wasn’t worthy to die the same way that Jesus did. Peter was probably buried in a cemetery on the Vatican Hill across the Tiber River in the out- skirts of Rome; later, Constantine would build a large church on the site, a church that was replaced by the present St. Peter’s Basilica. Rome had gotten the bones of Peter and Paul, which helped to ensure its leading role in the Western church.

The Ancient Period

(100–500 C.E.)

Although Christian tradition focuses on Peter and Paul, it is certain that many other missionaries also contributed to the growth of Christianity by plant- ing churches. Some churches, most prominently that at Rome, seem to have begun without any formal mission effort. By 100 C.E., Christianity had estab- lished itself in every large and mid-sized city in the eastern half of the Roman Empire (see Map 11.1). In the next two centuries, Christian churches were founded throughout the whole Roman Empire and even beyond it. These were all house churches, groups of Christians who met in private homes (“church” here refers an association of people, not a building). Ancient Christianity experienced rapid growth for a variety of reasons:

● The struggle over whether to allow Gentiles to join the church without converting to Judaism was quickly settled for most members of the earliest churches.

justification Salvation as being made right with God, for Paul a gift of God

261T H E C H R I S T I A N P R E S E N T A S S H A P E D B Y I T S PA S T

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N T I CA T L A N T C E A NO C E

Converted to Christianity (341–381), followed by migration to Spain and Italy

Christianity introduced in Britain by Romans in 3rd century, nearly lost during Anglo-Saxon invasion

Converted to Islam, 7th century

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● Much of church life was dedicated to making converts and assimilating them into the close-knit social structure of the Christian community.

● Christianity offered things that many people in the ancient world were seeking: a meaning for life and purpose for living greater than what Roman religion and philosophy could provide, happiness in this world, the promise of eternal life, a higher religious standing for women and slaves, and a loving social-support network.

● Unlike other religions in the Roman world, Christianity made a broad appeal to people of all ethnicities, classes, and genders, which gave it a wide fi eld for conversion and growth.

As Christianity spread among Gentiles, it con- tinued to grow out of its early status as a Jewish group. By the end of the fi rst century, many Jewish leaders began to decree that Jews confessing Jesus to be Messiah should be expelled from synagogues. As Christians began to outnumber Jews in some cities, Christian pressure on Jews began, only to increase

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Map 11.1 The Spread of Christianity to about 800 C.E. Christianity arose in Palestine in the fi rst century C.E. and gradually gained footholds in parts of western Asia,

North Africa, and southern Europe by 300 C.E. Over the next fi ve centuries, Christianity became the dominant religion in much of Western and Central Europe, and expanded its infl uence in western Asia and North Africa. By about 750, Islam had conquered much of the Middle East and all of North Africa and Spain, and Christian populations in most of these areas were reduced.

262 C H A P T E R 1 1 E N C O U N T E R I N G C H R I S T I A N I T Y : T H E WAY O F S A LVAT I O N I N J E S U S C H R I S T

in 313 when the state perse- cution of Christianity ended. Thus began a bitter legacy of Christian anti- Semitism, prej- udice against the Jewish people

that has haunted the Western world through our own time. Christianity did not invent anti-Semitism—it was hundreds of years old by the time Christianity was born—but it added its own twist to it. The church understood itself, and was understood by most Jews, to be Gentile. By around 400 C.E., historians generally agree today, the separa- tion between Judaism and Christianity was complete. Judaism and Christianity are sister faiths, but like most family feuds, their confl ict has been intense and sad. However, Christianity remains built on the foundation of Judaism. They share much of the same Bible, mono- theism, a moral code, and similar patterns of worship.

Judaism and Christianity are sister faiths,

but like most family feuds, their ongoing

conflict has been intense and sad.

As Christianity grew, it also challenged the Roman Empire. During the fi rst century, this challenge was muted. But at the end of the fi rst century, with the out- break of imperial persecutions of Christians, Christianity challenged the legitimacy of the empire and the Roman religious ideology with which it was allied. Christians believed—and acted on the belief—that Jesus, not

Caesar, is the Lord of this world. This led to even more Roman persecutions and the martyrdom of Christians. Persecution was sporadic but often fi erce, especially in the late 200s, in an effort at times to kill off all Christians. Romans also countered Christianity in an informal, popular way by charging that Christians practiced secret cannibal- ism, were sexually immoral, and were intolerant of oth- ers, among other claims. However, Roman persecu- tion didn’t stem the rise of

Christianity. As one church leader at this time remarked, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.”

Some groups in the church were labeled

“heretical” because they were too

doctrinally conservative and morally

rigorous—almost too “Christian” for other

Christians.

The church was also challenged from within by heresy, the church’s characterization of organized inter- nal opposition. Like most new religions, it took time for diversity to arise and become controversial. Some alter- native churches arose in the second century, and in some areas they outnumbered what was becoming mainstream Christianity. The movement known as Gnosticism

anti-Semitism Prejudice against the Jewish people

martyrdom Death of Christians for the faith, especially as an act of witness to others

heresy The church’s characterization of organized internal opposition

Gnosticism Religious movement that believed this world is evil because it is material

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Graffi to of a Christian youth in Rome saluting a cruci- fi ed fi gure with a human body and an ass’s head. The Greek inscription reads, “Alexamenos worships God.” This anti-Christian drawing from about 200 C.E. may be the earliest depiction of the crucifi xion of Jesus.

263T H E C H R I S T I A N P R E S E N T A S S H A P E D B Y I T S PA S T

or Gnostic Christianity believed that this material world is evil and hostile to the good. As Christianity defi ned itself in the second century against Judaism, Roman imperial religion, Gnosticism, and other movements, orthodoxy gradually arose, with its emphasis on correct teaching of the essentials of the faith and (to a lesser extent) correct moral practice. This effort to achieve and preserve correct teaching has characterized much of Christianity ever since. Gnosticism and other dissent- ing groups within ancient Christianity used to be viewed and studied as corruptions of divine truths, but today historians study them more objectively as alternative forms of Christianity. Some “heretics” were given this label because they were more doctrinally con- servative and morally rigorous than the mainstream church—almost too “Christian” for other Christians. The most able oppo- nent of heresy was Irenaeus, the second-century bishop of Lyon, in modern-day France. Irenaeus defi ned heresy

as a signifi cant departure from the Bible and the rule of faith, a move away from the center of the faith in Jesus Christ.

Emperor Constantine’s tolera- tion of Christianity in 312 ushered in a new era in the faith, one that many historians view as lasting until the twentieth century. This era featured the close associa- tion of church and state, often called Constantinianism. Constantine and later emper- ors saw religious unity and peace as important for their rule; there was one God, one Church, and one Emperor. By moving his capital to Constantinople in north- ern Asia Minor, Emperor Constantine created a new culture that attempted to preserve the best of ancient Greece and Rome and yet transform it through the

Christian faith. The Eastern Orthodox

branch of C h r i s t i a n i t y, and the many nations it has shaped, is the continuation of this effort.

F i n a l l y , this period saw the beginnings of Christian monasticism in the 200s. It was

modeled on s c r i p t u r a l e x a m p l e s and ideals, including the life of Jesus, but monas- ticism isn’t mentioned in the Bible or

based on a direct Jewish precedent. Those living the monastic life are known by the

generic terms monks and nuns. Monks began by liv- ing alone, at fi rst in the Egyptian desert. As more peo- ple took on the lives of monks, they started to come together and form communities, usually living by the threefold vow of poverty, chastity, and obedience. When the great persecutions ceased with Constantine,

the rigorous self-denials of monasti- cism, such as celibacy (no sexual activity), were seen as a substitute for martyrdom. Monastics gener- ally dwell in a monastery (monks) or a convent (nuns). Monks became the bearers of civiliza- tion in the Western church. They preserved the Christian Bible and the literary and some of the sci- entifi c heritage of Rome, which would have perished for lack of manuscript copying and study. Unlike the fi rst Christian monks, they worked in their monasteries and convents as a part of their monastic calling to support them- selves. By the Middle Ages, many Catholic monasteries enjoyed vast properties, w e a l t h , and social power.

orthodoxy Emphasis on correct teaching of the essentials of the faith and (to a lesser extent) moral practice

Constantinianism (CON-stan-TIN-ee-uhn-iz- uhm) Close association of church and state, named after Constantine, for the promotion of religious and civil unity

monasticism Christian monks and nuns living in community

The head of a statue of Constantine, more than four feet tall, suggests his importance in Roman history.

Nun in traditional clothing, praying the rosary

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264 C H A P T E R 1 1 E N C O U N T E R I N G C H R I S T I A N I T Y : T H E WAY O F S A LVAT I O N I N J E S U S C H R I S T

Byzantine,

Medieval, and

Renaissance

Christianity

(500–1500)

The Eastern Roman Empire, also called the Byzantine Empire, with its capital of Constantinople, lasted for more than a thousand years from its creation by Constantine in 330 to the Turkish Muslim con- quest in 1453. The traditional power of Byzantine emper- ors over the church was cur- tailed after the Iconoclastic Controversy that began in 726. This controversy was caused by the attempt of some emperors to remove the two-dimensional pic- tures of Jesus and the saints from churches, ending the veneration of these icons during worship. The emperors’ iconoclasm was in part an effort to cope with Islam’s attack on Christianity for what it called idolatrous use of images. In both Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Christianity, worship is offered only to God, with vener- ation for the saints. Muslims did not agree with this dis- tinction. Leading monks and several empresses resisted the emperors and their allies in the church, and icons were eventually restored. The controversy over images cemented their place as an essential element of the Eastern

Orthodox identity. Today, every Orthodox church has an iconostasis, a screen or wall of icons, between the people and the altar. To the Orthodox, icons rep- resent the reality of God’s presence in the person of Jesus Christ and the impor- tance for the church of the saints in heaven. When the controversy ended in 843, the power of the church to direct its own doctrine and worship was strength- ened. The controversy also strengthened the tendency of Eastern Orthodoxy to defi ne itself by its worship

and devotion rather than, as in Western Christianity (both Roman Catholicism and the Protestantism to arise later), by institution and doctrine.

Eastern Orthodox missionaries preserved

indigenous cultures to a degree that

Roman Catholic missionaries didn’t.

Byzantine Christianity also carried out missionary activity, especially to its north. The peoples of what are now Bulgaria, Russia, and Moravia were converted to Christianity in the 800s, Hungary in the 900s, and Poland in the 900s to the 1100s. Orthodox missions tried to preserve indigenous cultures. Missionaries translated the Bible and the rituals of the church into the language of the peoples. In the Catholic West, Latin was the main language of the church and the only lan- guage of the Bible. Slavic Orthodoxy, particularly in Russia, which thought of itself as “the third Rome,” was to carry on the Christian heritage of Byzantium when the eastern Roman Empire fi nally fell to Muslim forces in 1453.

In the Latin West, the bishop of Rome, the pope, set the tone for the continuing development of Christianity. By the end of the ancient period of Christianity, the popes had already asserted their leadership over much

Iconoclastic Controversy (eye-con- oh-CLASS-tick) Struggle in Eastern Orthodoxy over removing pictures of Jesus and the saints from churches

iconostasis (eye-con- oh-STAH-sis) Screen or wall of icons at the front of Eastern Orthodox churches, between the people and the altar

pope Bishop of Rome, the head of the Roman Catholic Church

Russian icon depicting Mary and the child Jesus. The abbreviations are “Mother of God” above and “Jesus Christ” below.

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265T H E C H R I S T I A N P R E S E N T A S S H A P E D B Y I T S PA S T

of Christianity. When the western Roman Empire fell in the fi fth century, the pope came to be the main embodi- ment of faith and cultural unity for Western Europe. Over time the pope extended his spiritual and even polit- ical power over many of the European states. Gradually, the infl uence of Rome spread across the entire western half of the European continent. At the same time, the Western church’s relations with the Eastern Orthodox churches worsened, until the two formally split in 1054 over doctrinal, cultural, and political issues. This divi- sion still endures today. Many Christians suppose that the Catholic-Protestant split in Western Christianity is

the most problematic, but the split between East and West is earlier and in many ways more diffi cult to overcome.

Medieval Christianity in the West expressed itself not only through the pope, bishop, and priest, but also through the monk and friar. Medieval reformers within the Catholic Church, such as Bernard of Clairvaux and Pope Gregory VII, were friars (members of the new monastic orders that arose in the twelfth century, as opposed to the monks in the older monastic orders). Most of the theologians who systematized and devel- oped Christian doctrine in the high Middle Ages, such as Anselm of Canterbury, England, and Thomas Aquinas (ah-QUIGH-nahs), were monastics. In his major work from 1265 to 1273, Aquinas made a comprehensive overview of Christian theology from the vantage point of the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle’s newly rediscovered thinking and became the most infl uential theologian in Roman Catholicism from that point on. Some of the new movements preached the Gospel to the people in churches and outdoors. Through this reform,

the life of the whole Catholic Church was enriched and renewed. Another feature of the later Middle Ages was the building of cathedrals, usually one in each large city throughout Europe, in the new Gothic style that seemed to soar to heaven.

Both Eastern and Western Christianity were forced during this period to come to grips with the rising power of Islam. From its beginning in 622, Islam spread rapidly in the Middle East (see pages 295- 299). Soon, almost all the Middle East and North Africa was Islamic. Christian minorities lived somewhat peaceably under Islamic rule, protected by Islamic law, but they dwindled in number. Islam continued to press on the Byzantine Empire until, in 1453, Constantinople

itself became a Muslim city and its cathedral, the Church of Holy Wisdom (Greek: Hagia Sophia), became a mosque. The main confrontation of Western Christianity with Islam was to be in the long period of the Crusades (1095–1350), when Christian forces from all over Europe retook Palestine from the Muslims, an effort that eventually failed and dam- aged Muslim-Christian rela- tions through today.

At the end of the Middle Ages, beginning around 1400, life in Western Christianity began to be renewed in the Renaissance, the “rebirth” of classical Greco- Roman cultural ideals in art, architecture, philoso- phy, and literature. Some Renaissance scholars called the church back “to the foundations” in the New Testament and the ancient church. The Renaissance examined received institutions and teachings, not trusting in tradition for tradition’s sake or author- ity for authority’s sake, as had largely been the case in the Middle Ages. It promoted a more human- centered view of life—usually a Christian humanism, but sometimes not—in place of the medieval heaven- centered view. Renaissance art, for example, more realistically portrayed saints and ordinary people on earth. The Christian humanism of Desiderius Erasmus (DEH-sih-DAIR-ee-uhs er-ASS-muhs) of Rotterdam (1466–1536), the lead- ing fi gure of the Northern Renaissance, prodded the church (both Protestant and Catholic) into self- examination and even- tual reform. But not every

The 2008 inauguration of Dmitry Medvedev (in background with his wife) as president of Russia included a ceremony at a Russian Orthodox Church.

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friar Member of the new monastic orders that arose in the twelfth century, as opposed to the monks in the older monastic orders

266 C H A P T E R 1 1 E N C O U N T E R I N G C H R I S T I A N I T Y : T H E WAY O F S A LVAT I O N I N J E S U S C H R I S T

aspect of the Renaissance would prove to be positive. For example, it hastened the rise of nationalism and ended the medieval Catholic ideal of a Europe united by a common faith.

Reformation in the Western

Church (1500–1600)

Movements for the reform of church teaching and practice were prevalent in the later Middle Ages. This reform usually expressed itself through the other tra- ditional structures of the Catholic Church. Where occasionally reform expressed itself outside of or even against the Catholic Church, as for example in the cases of John Wycliffe (WIHK-liff; 1329–1384) and his movement in England and John Hus (1373–1415) in Bohemia, it was declared heretical and stamped out by force.

The Magisterial Reformation, or mainstream reform, began with Martin Luther (LOO-thur). He led an effective reform movement against the structure of the traditional church. Luther (1483–1546) was an Augustinian friar, a priest, and a professor at Wittenberg University in east-central Germany. Like all would-be reformers before him, Luther initially saw himself as a loyal son of the Church. In 1517, he called for a public debate over reform issues by posting his Ninety-Five Theses (propositions) on the door of the castle church in Wittenberg. The immediate complaint Luther had was the selling of indulgences, certifi cates securing the forgiveness of punishment in the next world, to raise funds for the present St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. He found the idea of buying and selling salvation unbibli- cal, corrupt, and even ludicrous.

Luther soon found himself so at odds with the Roman Catholic Church that he moved to create an alternative church that he called the Evangelical (charac- terized by the Gospel of Christ) Church; after his death,

others began to call it the Lutheran Church. Popes, bishops, monks, and nuns were done away with in this church. He envisioned Germany, and probably other nations as well, as having its own more indig- enous forms of Christianity. He translated the Bible into German, put hymns and worship into the language of the people, and reformed the Mass. Evangelical

Christians were urged to receive Holy Communion every week, in contrast to the once-a-year Catholic practice in the Middle Ages. Luther and his followers moved to put the Gospel, the essential religious message of Jesus Christ, at the center of Christianity. Luther saw the center of the Gospel in the doctrine of salvation by faith alone. He also stressed the central role of God’s love and grace; the sole authority of the Bible over the Church; and the role of the individual Christian’s con- science. Over time, faith took precedence over moral activity in Protestantism and still has precedence today. Reformers devalued the role of the saints and their power to intercede with God for Christians on earth. When Luther and his movement were protected and then promoted by the rulers of several German states, Protestantism gained a foothold that would enable it to endure and spread to other parts of Germany. By 1600, the Lutheran reform had taken over much of Germany and all of Scandinavia (see Map 11.2).

What historians call the Radical Reformation arose in tandem with the Magisterial Reformation, during the 1520s in Zurich, Switzerland. Conrad Grebel (GRAY-buhl) and the Swiss Brethren move- ment insisted that the mainstream reform of Luther

Magisterial Reformation Mainstream Protestant reform that began with Martin Luther

Radical Reformation Branch of the Protestant Reformation that wanted radical reforms to restore “New Testament Christianity”

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267T H E C H R I S T I A N P R E S E N T A S S H A P E D B Y I T S PA S T

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268 C H A P T E R 1 1 E N C O U N T E R I N G C H R I S T I A N I T Y : T H E WAY O F S A LVAT I O N I N J E S U S C H R I S T

and others was inconsistent and halfhearted. They argued for what they saw as pure “New Testament Christianity,” including:

● Baptism of adult believers only, after a conversion experience

● Complete separation of the church from the civil government

● Pacifi sm, with refusal to be drafted for warfare

● Common ownership of some property

● Strict church enforcement of Christian morality among church members

They soon became known as Anabaptists, “rebaptiz- ers,” but over time the name was simplifi ed to Baptists. In the 1520s, the movement spread through Switzerland and later found a home in many Protestant lands. Eventually, the Baptists became the most widespread Protestant church, even spreading to lands such as Russia, where other Protestant churches could not pen- etrate. Anabaptists and later Baptists kept their leading emphasis on the baptism of believing adults only, but other Anabaptist groups such as the Mennonites and Amish preserved pacifi sm and detachment from civil authority until today.

The Reformed (Calvinist) branch of Protestantism was, like the Anabaptists, born in the political world of the Swiss city-republics. (All Protestant churches were “reformed” from Roman Catholicism, and the movement is called the Reformation, but the churches born of the Calvinist branch of the Reformation have called themselves in particular the “Reformed Church.”) Huldreich Zwingli (HUHLD-righk TSVING-lee) began the Reformed move- ment in Zurich, but in the next three decades it shifted to Berne, Basel, and especially French-speaking Geneva. There, the Frenchman John Calvin (1509–1564), who had studied law and theology at the University of Paris, reformed the city to Protestant ideals. He stressed (in addi- tion to Luther’s main ideas) such teachings as the sover-

eignty of God over all life and human responsibility to live out one’s Christian call- ing in everyday life. Calvin carried out social reforms that became common in the Western world, such as levying a tax to support free compulsory public educa- tion for all children. Geneva became a haven for perse- cuted Protestants from many places in Europe.

Like Luther, Calvin wrote prolifi cally, and soon his ideas for reform spread widely. He was known espe- cially as a systematizer and promoter of Protestant Christianity. His book The Institutes [Foundations] of the Christian Religion soon became the most infl u- ential book of Protestantism. Calvin’s infl uence in the Reformed movement was so great that it also became known in later centuries as Calvinism. Calvinist churches were found by the end of the century not only in Switzerland, but also in France (where Calvinists were called Huguenots [HYOO-guh-nots]), the Netherlands, Germany, Hungary, and Scotland.

The name Puritan has come to mean “killjoy” or even “self-righteous,” but

Puritanism wasn’t like this.

Reformation came to England by way of poli- tics. In the 1520s, King Henry VIII opposed the pope over the king’s right to divorce and remarry. In 1529, Henry began forming a Church of England under his control, which was to become a “middle way” between Catholics and Protestants, especially in worship and organization. Its doctrine eventually was closer to the teaching of the Reformers than to that of Rome. Henry’s daughter Mary tried to bring England back to the Roman Church by a variety of means, some so vio- lent that they earned her the name “Bloody Mary,” but by the reign of Henry’s younger daughter Elizabeth I, one of the most important monarchs ever to sit on the English throne, the Church of England was fi rmly established. English monarchs were made the head of the Church of England and “Defender of the Faith,” which explains why in 2011 the wedding of Prince William (the presumptive eventual heir to the throne) and Katherine Middleton was held in formal Anglican style, offi ciated by the head of the Anglican Church.

In 1620, the Reformed movement came to America via the English Protestants called Puritans, because they wanted to purify the Church of England from its continuing Roman Catholic elements. The name Puritan has come to mean “killjoy” or even “self- righteous,” but Puritanism wasn’t like this. Of all religious groups, the Puritans were to have the largest infl uence on the development of American government. As David Hall says in his 2011 book, A Reforming People, Puritanism was the most daring and successful reform

Anabaptists “Rebaptizers,” members of the Radical Reformation group that accepted only adult baptism

Puritans English Protestants who wanted to purify the Church of England from its continuing Roman Catholic elements

269T H E C H R I S T I A N P R E S E N T A S S H A P E D B Y I T S PA S T

movement in the English- speaking world during early modern times.1

The Catholic Reform was in the past called the Counter- Reformation, and that term is still used by some. When his initial measures against Protestants didn’t prove effective, the pope fi nally called a council of bishops and theo- logians in 1545 at Trent, Italy, to consider church reform. Widespread reforms of Catholic Church life emerged from Trent, and many of the more-glaring abuses were removed. With the help of the new Jesuit order, these reforms were carried out in nations and regions that were still predominantly Roman Catholic. Even there the reforms of Trent were subject to national policy; for example, France rejected them as too conservative and intrusive, and Spain—which often viewed itself as more Catholic than the pope—resisted them as too liberal. For areas that had already become mostly Protestant, about half of Europe above the Alps, the reforms of Trent were “too little, too late.” Once nations became Protestant, they didn’t return to Rome. Other parts of the Catholic Reformation were a revival of mysticism, especially in Spain, and a new focus on the system of Thomas Aquinas as a mighty fortress against Protestant thought. In all, the Roman Church emerged from the 1500s severely chastened in numbers and polit- ical infl uence, but strengthened in spirit.

Meanwhile, events in the New World were proving a bright spot in the fortunes of Roman Catholicism. When Spain and later Portugal explored and then colonized the New World in the Western Hemisphere, Roman Catholic missionaries accom- panied them. They conquered

1 David D. Hall, A Reforming People: Puritanism and the Transformation of Public Life in New England (New York: Knopf, 2011).

together “for God and for gold.” The indig- enous peoples of Central and South America

were quickly brought into the Christian faith. Spanish cultural, military, and

religious outposts called missions were constructed; then thousands

of churches were built for the indigenous peoples; and even- tually monasteries and nun-

neries were established for them. A few priests and bishops protested the high cost of coloniza- tion to the indigenous peoples, even founding a “Jesuit state” in what is now Peru (a story told in the acclaimed 1985 fi lm The Mission),

but to no avail. Although the Roman Church lost

many lands in Europe in the 1500s, it gained much in the Americas, where Roman Catholicism is still strong.

The Early Modern Period

(1600–1900)

Because of the settled and more tolerant situation after the “wars of religion” ended around 1648, each Protestant church and the Roman Catholic Church occu- pied its own parts of Europe, and Protestant teachings were articulated more fully. Confessionalism, named for the doctrinal statements called “confessions” issued by the various Reformation churches, brought a drive for doctrinal correctness as the most important aspect of church life. Scholasticism stressed the rational explana- tion and defense of the various Protestant belief systems.

The reaction against arid confessionalism and scho- lasticism wasn’t slow in coming. When the several dimensions of religion that we saw in Chapter 1 are reduced to just a few, reaction will set in. Pietism arose in the last half of the seventeenth century, born with Philip Jakob Spener’s (SPAY- ner) Pious Considerations in 1675. Spener rebelled against the Protestant

Catholic Reform Movement that was in the past called the Counter- Reformation, spurred on by the 1545 Council of Trent

Pietism (PIGH-uh-tiz- um) Protestant movement stressing individual piety, in knowledge and emotion

Spanish mission in Santa Barbara, California. Today, an active parish church meets in its chapel (right), and the mission is one of the largest tourist attractions in Santa Barbara.

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orthodoxy of his day, which he viewed as sterile and lifeless. He proposed a continuing Reformation to bring the goals of Luther to fulfi llment: personal Bible study, mutual correction and encouragement in Christian liv- ing, spiritual growth for all laity, and stress on emotional dimensions of faith. Pietists formed separate churches in many Lutheran and Reformed nations. The leader- ship of the Lutheran churches tried to suppress Pietism, but it soon became a major movement. Like Anabaptist churches before them, Pietism lead to gathered churches, not state churches to which all citizens belonged. English Puritanism also had its Pietist aspects, and the Methodist movement that emerged from the Church of England was Pietist as well. Even in the Roman Catholic Church, the Jansenist movement in France and then in North America promoted personal piety and holy living among the laity.

In the 1700s, Pietism took on the major goal of counteracting the infl uence on Christianity of the Enlightenment, the period of secularization of culture led by reason and not faith. The Enlightenment’s ratio- nalism and “free thinking” were easier for the church to deal with when they were aggressively atheistic, as in the French Revolution. But when the Enlightenment led to more-subtle changes in the church itself, such as the introduction of modern historical sciences and their application to the Bible and theology, the effect on Christianity was more profound. Especially in Protestant faculties of German universities, the accep- tance of these new methods of scholarship led some to question the Christian faith. The concurrent discovery of other religions, especially the ancient religions of Asia, led to a questioning of the uniqueness and absoluteness of Christianity, a questioning that continues today. The Enlightenment’s effort to separate church and state, and the ideas of religious toleration and the freedom asso- ciated with it, would succeed throughout Western and Northern Europe, but most fully in the United States. Constantinianism was rapidly losing ground.

The nineteenth century saw the challenge of secu- lar reason continue. Historical scholarship, particu-

larly the historical study of the Bible, continued to chip away at some of the old certainties of the Christian faith. Even more challenging to traditional belief were discoveries in natural science. The work of the evolutionary biolo- gist Charles Darwin called into question the ancient

Christian beliefs in the special creation of humanity in the image of God. Although Protestant churches were more directly and immediately affected by the Enlightenment and its heirs, which produced both secu- larism outside the church and doctrinal change inside, Roman Catholicism later saw its effects in the Catholic Modernist movement. Not until the twentieth century would Catholic, Protestant, and (to a lesser extent) Eastern Orthodox churches come to grips with the challenges of modern knowledge.

Despite these challenges, nineteenth-century Chris- tianity was broadly optimistic about the prospects of the Christian religion. The largest cause for optimism was the powerful missionary movement that fl ourished in the 1800s and continues somewhat lessened today. Most of the churches of the West set out to evangelize the entire world, or at least the large parts of it not yet exposed to the gospel. (The Orthodox churches didn’t participate signifi cantly in this missionary movement.) In 1800, fewer than one in four people in the world were Christian; by 1900, one in three were Christian. Although the missionary and the colonial/ commercial agents marched together, as they had often done in the past, especially in the New World, the nineteenth century saw the beginning of their separation. Christianity fi nally became the global reli- gion that “catholic” implies.

Modern Christianity

(1900–present)

The optimistic hope present in Western culture and the church at the end of the 1800s went largely unfulfi lled. The new era was one of severe crisis and challenge. The carnage of World War I (1914–1918), the worldwide pan- demic of infl uenza, and then global economic depression began the movement away from cultural optimism. Then the rise of aggressive, totalitarian regimes, fi rst in Russia and then in Italy and Germany, led to the horrors of World War II (1939–1945), with its massive civilian casu- alties and the Holocaust. Even the end of the war brought with it the new uncertainties of nuclear weapons and the Cold War. All these events were to shake to its roots Christian optimism in much of Protestantism and in parts of Catholicism. The result for some was a loss of faith, but for most a rethinking of the essence of Christianity. In the United States, fundamentalism arose to oppose

fundamentalism Movement in reaction to Protestant liberalism featuring strictly literal interpretation of the Bible and an insistence on the truth of certain “fundamental” Christian teachings

271T H E C H R I S T I A N P R E S E N T A S S H A P E D B Y I T S PA S T

liberalization of church doctrine. Fundamentalism fea- tures a strictly literal interpretation of the Bible, an insis- tence on the truth of certain key Christian teachings (the “fundamentals” from which the movement takes its name), and an aggressive attitude toward Christian liber- alism specifi cally and toward unbelief generally.

This impulse against liberalism in the 1900s was shared by others who were in no way fundamentalist. The Swiss theologian Karl Barth (bart), who was to become the most infl uential Christian theologian of the century, turned away from liberal, optimistic Protestantism to reassert the transcendent power of a faith that cannot be shaped by human culture. The movement that Barth (1886–1968) sparked came to be called “neoorthodoxy,” a new assertion in modern times of traditional Christian theology, especially in its Protestant form. (It has no formal relationship with Eastern Orthodoxy, however.) After World War II, this movement came to the English- speaking world and had a direct effect on its theology and life, as it still has today. Liberal, progressive theology has continued in some parts of Protestantism, especially in the mainstream denominations (Protestant churches united in a single name and organization, such as the Episcopal Church or the United Methodist Church), although reduced in size and chastened in spirit from its heyday around 1900.

While the theological reassessment occurred, a move- ment for greater unity among the churches came into prominence. Ecumenism, a movement for greater under- standing and cooperation among Christian churches, had been planted and nurtured in the mission fi elds of the various Protestant churches, where missionaries learned to minimize their denominational differences and coop- erate together in the face of a non-Christian environ- ment. In the twentieth century, the National Council of Churches in the United States and a World Council of Churches would be the institutional bearers of this move- ment. Ecumenism has changed how theologians concep- tualize the faith, how the different Christian churches relate to each other, and how grassroots Christians live out their faith in worship and daily life. This spirit of ecumen- ism also affected the Eastern Orthodox churches through- out the world; they’ve partici- pated fully in the ecumenical movement from the start.

Never before had any church changed

itself so quickly and so deeply as the

Roman Catholic Church did after Vatican II.

At the same time, a new movement for reform was gathering in the Roman Catholic Church that would prove to be the most important Christian event of the twentieth century. Catholicism had been insulated from dealing with modern challenges (science, secularism, religious toleration, and so on) by its sheer size and its church structure. But when Pope John XXIII convened the Second Vatican Council from 1962 to 1966, fresh, strong winds of reform blew through the church. In Vatican II, the Catholic Church:

● Recognized the status and role of the laity as essential to the church.

● Reformed worship by putting masses in national languages and increasing lay participation.

● Moved the altar from the front wall of the church and had the priest face the people as the Mass was said.

● Opened ecumeni- cal dialogue with SA

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Assertive, even confrontational, eff orts to spread the faith are typical of fundamentalism, as shown by this street preacher outside a football game at

Michigan State University.

ecumenism (eh-KYOO- men-iz-uhm) Movement for greater understanding and cooperation among Christian churches

272 C H A P T E R 1 1 E N C O U N T E R I N G C H R I S T I A N I T Y : T H E WAY O F S A LVAT I O N I N J E S U S C H R I S T

Protestants and the Orthodox, affi rming that they were in some way legitimate Christians.

● Affi rmed for the fi rst time religious lib- erty and toleration for all people.

● Took a new, more balanced view of non-Christian faiths.

Never before had any church changed itself so quickly and so deeply as the Roman Catholic Church did after Vatican II. Most Roman Catholics today don’t remember the way the Church was before Vatican II, and it’s hard for them to imag- ine a form of Catholic Church life that had existed since the Council of Trent in the 1500s.

Two liberation movements in North American Christianity have become increasingly impor- tant in the modern period. (We’ll deal with the charismatic move- ment, the “Global South” phenom- enon, and evangelicalism on pages 285–288.) First, feminism has stressed the full emancipa- tion of women. It recognizes that the church by its teach- ing and practice has held women down and tried to make second-class Christians of them. Some feminists have urged rejection of Christianity, arguing that it is hope- lessly patriarchal. Most feminists in Christianity take a more moderate approach, trying to recover the biblical

roots of feminism, stressing the (admittedly few) women who have played signifi cant roles in Christian tradition, and working toward full liberation of women within the various Christian churches. This latter approach is still the mainstream of Christian feminism, and it will continue to be a potent force for years

to come, in culture in gen- eral and in the church spe- cifi cally. As the movement progresses, it is loosening its European-North American orientation and will likely make more of an impact in the churches of Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

A second current movement is liberation theology. The heart of liberation theology is not theology but practice. This movement stresses the active Christian mission of delivering the oppressed from evil social structures and situ-

ations. Using a combination of Marxist social analysis and the Christian

Gospel, this movement was born in Roman Catholic theological circles in Latin America. Some trace its roots all the way back to the “Jesuit state” in Peru, mentioned earlier on page 269. But it has spread widely and been applied to several different situations: women’s liberation, black liberation, Hispanic liberation, and now gay liberation. The latter has

been particularly problematic in mainline Protestant churches and in the worldwide Anglican communion, which many

observers think may be breaking apart over it. (The African American

civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s came before black liberation theology, but much of the Christian aspect of this continuing move- ment is now related to liberation theology.) These new applications of liberation theology are still powerful infl uences in much of world Christianity, especially in the West, but the original form of political-social lib- eration theology in South America is waning.

LO3 Christian Teachings as Refl ected in the Nicene Creed

Christian believers in Seoul, South Korea, gather at the Yoido Full Gospel Church, at 1 million members the larg- est single Christian congregation in the world. This church, which belongs to the Assemblies of God denomination, has back-to-back services held from dawn to dusk to accommo- date the numbers. Protestant Christianity—both mainstream and independent—has grown so strong in South Korea that the church has begun to send Korean missionaries to other parts of the world. The congregation’s size is emblematic of the world-wide growth and power of Pentecostal, Holy Spirit- centered Christianity.

Pope Benedict XVI, on a trip to Brazil in 2007

FABIO POZZEBOM/AGÊNCIA BRASIL

liberation theology Movement that stresses the active Christian mission of delivering the oppressed from evil social structures and situations

273C H R I S T I A N T E A C H I N G S A S R E F L E C T E D I N T H E N I C E N E C R E E D

Christian teaching is founded on the doctrine of the Trinity, one God in three Persons, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Christians believe that Jesus was the incar- nation of the eternal Son of God. He suffered, died, was buried, and was resurrected from the dead to open heaven to those who believe in him. Jesus founded a community of his followers; after his bodily ascension to heaven, the church carried on the organized, human dimensions of Jesus’ work by the power and direc- tion of the Holy Spirit. Jesus rules and reigns with God the Father until he will return to defeat evil, judge all humans (living and dead), and grant eternal life to his followers.

The Nicene Creed, known by its revised form completed in 381, is the most infl uential of all Christian statements of belief. Creeds (from the Latin credo, “I believe”) are formal statements of belief meant to be binding on the church. All Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox

doctrine is formally rooted in creeds, as well as that of most churches origi- nating in the Protestant

Reformation. Even m o r e - i n d e p e n d e n t

and fundamen- tal Protestant

d e n o m i - n a t i o n s t h a t

reject the idea of creeds believe the doctrines taught in the Nicene Creed. Moreover, changes in

Christian teaching in the history of the church are changes from the Nicene Creed. In what fol- lows, we’ll discuss Christian teaching in terms of this creed, under the main head- ings of Father, Son, and

Holy Spirit. In this discus- sion, we’ll also deal briefl y with later Christian for- mulation and use of these teachings.

The Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, 381 C.E.

Several English versions of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed have been used in the last fi fty years or so. He is the “Ecumenical Version” of 1975, the form used by most Protestant churches and the Roman Catholic Church.

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man. For our sake he was crucifi ed under Pontius Pilate; he suff ered death and was buried.

On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorifi ed. He has spoken through the Prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

A Closer Look:

Trinity Christian teaching of one God in three equal persons, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

creed Formal statement of belief meant to be binding on the church

The Trinity Knot, of Celtic Christian origin, symbolizes the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as one. The crown of thorns tied into it is a symbol of the suff ering of Christ.

274 C H A P T E R 1 1 E N C O U N T E R I N G C H R I S T I A N I T Y : T H E WAY O F S A LVAT I O N I N J E S U S C H R I S T

God the Father

Christianity’s teaching about God the Father is unprob- lematic, and the Christian tradition has rarely had to debate it. Most of the fi rst article of the Nicene Creed is drawn directly from Jewish belief about God that was settled long before Jesus. God is all powerful (“Almighty”) in heaven and on earth. God is the creator (“maker”) of heaven and earth, not only of “all things seen” on the earth, but also all things “unseen” to humans (in heaven). Nothing is outside of God’s power. That God is the creator of all physical and spiritual reality— and that God would become human in Jesus—strongly implies that the world is a good, or at least a redeem- able, place. Behind this teaching about God lie other key Jewish ideas. God is a living being, the “I am who I am” in Exodus 3:14, not a force or a principle. Christians believe that God the Father is a personal being just as fully as Jesus is a person. The decisive aspect of creation is that God fashioned humans in God’s own image. This special position of humans in the creation makes them coworkers with God in the continuation and care of cre- ation. The incarnation of God in the human being Jesus is the ultimate validation of the worth of human life.

What’s new in the Christian teaching about God lies in the fi rst thing the Nicene Creed says about God: that God is the Father. God was known metaphorically as a father to Israel in Judaism, but this wasn’t a main understanding of God. In Christianity, God is fi rst and foremost the Christian’s Father, but this relationship derives from and is built on Jesus’ special relationship to God. Jesus regularly calls God “Father,” especially in the prayer that he taught his dis- ciples, known variously as the “Our Father” or the “Lord’s Prayer.” Jesus used the Aramaic word abba (AH-bah) for God; it was usually employed by children for their earthly father and expresses childlike trust in, and intimacy with, one’s father. This father-son relation- ship that Jesus had with God became a model for the rela- tionship of Christians to God.

According to the account of Jesus’ baptism, Jesus understood his sonship when a voice from heaven said: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17). In the

Gospel of John, this sonship constitutes the basis for the self-awareness of Jesus: “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30). Although scholars disagree on whether Jesus actually said things like this, Christians believe it is an authentic insight into who Jesus really is. In Jesus Christ, God the Father was revealed more fully to humans, and worked in and through Jesus for the salvation of the world. Some Christians today dislike the term Father for its apparent gender reference and its use of human fathers—who are often fl awed and sometimes abusive—to explain God. However, the fact that Christian teaching understands the human relationship with God to be based on Jesus’ relation- ship with God helps to ameliorate the weakness of this metaphor.

God the Son

The fullest section of the Nicene Creed, as with most Christian statements of belief, is the center section that deals with Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Teachings about Jesus Christ go back to the faith experiences of the fi rst disciples. The early church experienced and recognized the incarnated Son of God in the person of Jesus, although the Gospels are clear that his disciples didn’t fully recognize this, much less spread this mes- sage on their own, until after Jesus’ resurrection. Jesus is the crucifi ed and exalted Lord, and the Son of God. He sits at the right hand of the Father and will return in glory to bring in the Father’s rule. Jesus has become the center of belief and devotion for most Christians. However, as we saw above, Jesus is an enigmatic fi gure,

Piety toward the death of Jesus: kissing his hand wounded by crucifi xion

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and the church’s teaching about him can’t easily be reduced to a series of simple sentences.

From the beginning of the church, different inter- pretations of Jesus have existed, and it took several centuries for the church to fully articulate its under- standing of Jesus. The author of the Gospel of Mark, for example, seems to understand Jesus as the man upon whom the Holy Spirit descends when he is bap- tized in the Jordan River and about whom the voice of God declares from the heavens, “You are my beloved son” (Mark 1:11). In Matthew and Luke, Jesus’ special identity begins at his conception in the womb of the Virgin Mary. The teaching in Mark’s Gospel, and to a lesser extent in Matthew and Luke, provided the foun- dation for one of two early schools of thought concern- ing the person of Christ.

Two “schools,” or types of theology, dominated the ancient church’s teaching on Jesus Christ. Approaches to that derived from the theological school of Antioch in Syria start from the humanity of Jesus and view his divinity as joined to him by God through the Holy Spirit. In other words, Jesus’ status as God’s Son is founded on his humanity. This view is common among many modern Christians—both Protestants and Roman Catholics—in the Western world, who stress Jesus’ humanity while also affi rming that God was in him in a special way. Another view, adopted by the school of Alexandria, is a leading theme of the Gospel of John. This Gospel regards Jesus Christ primarily as the eternal Son of God become human. Here, his divinity is fi rst and foundational, and the humanity of Jesus is joined to it. The divinity of Jesus is understood as the result of the descent of the divine Logos—a preexistent heavenly being who is the Son of God—into the world. This view is common today among traditional Roman Catholics, doctrinally con- servative Protestants, and most Eastern Orthodox. Both the Antiochene and Alexandrian schools had a wide sphere of infl uence in the ancient church, not only among the clergy, but also among the monks and the laity. They were a factor in the Christological con- troversies of the 300s and 400s.

The Nicene Creed affi rms that Jesus Christ is “the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father.” In other words, the divine nature in Jesus is God’s eternal Son. The Creed stresses this divine nature in Jesus by poetic repetitions: Jesus Christ is “God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God.” In his divine being, he is “of one Being with the Father,” not a differ- ent, lesser kind of god “made” (created) by the Father. The Creed then ties the Son of God to God the Father by stating the Son’s role in creation—“Through him all

things were made”—just as it affi rmed earlier that the Father made all things. Then the Creed talks at more length about the incarnation: “For us men [humans] and for our salvation, he came down from heaven, by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man.” Eastern Orthodoxy has stressed more than Western Christianity the mean- ing of the incarnation for the salvation of humankind; Western Christians stress the meaning of the death and resurrection of Jesus for salvation.

Then the Creed skips to the end of Jesus’ life and emphasizes the reality of his redemptive suffering: “For our sake he was crucifi ed under Pontius Pilate; He suffered death and was buried. On the third day He rose again in accordance with the Scriptures.” Exactly how Jesus’ death saves humans is often debated: Is it a sacrifi ce, a defeat of evil (Christ as victor), a moral example, or all of these and more? Without belief that Jesus “rose again” in resurrection, it is clear from the New Testament accounts, his movement would have ended and Jesus would soon have disappeared into the mists of time. The fi nal part of the Creed’s sec- tion on Jesus speaks about his present and future: “He ascended into heaven and is seated on the right hand of the Father; He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.” That Jesus sits on the Father’s “right hand” refers to his present reign with God the Father. The rest of this section affi rms the standard Christian expectation that Jesus will return “in glory” at the end of human history to bring God’s eternal reign to earth.

Jesus as the Good Shepherd is a common image of salvation and spiritual direction in Christ.

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The Doctrine of the Virgin Mary

The teaching that the Virgin Mary is the “mother/bearer of God,” or Theotokos, is closely connected to the incarna- tion. As the church wrestled with articulating its belief in the identity of Jesus, the mother of the Son of God gained a special place within the church. To a signifi cant degree, this was in an eff ort to understand the nature of Jesus, not to “promote” his mother.

The expansion of the veneration of the Virgin Mary as the “Mother of God” and the formation of doctrines explain- ing this are known to historians as one of the most remark- able occurrences in the ancient church after about 100 C.E. The New Testament off ers only scanty points of departure for this development. Although she has a prominent place in the narratives of the Nativity, Mary soon disappears behind the fi gure of Jesus. Jesus’ ministry was opposed by his family, including his mother, who thought he was men- tally disturbed (Mark 3:21). All the Gospels stress the fact that Jesus separated himself from his family, and only the Gospels of Matthew and Luke mention the virginal concep- tion. The Gospel of John mentions the “mother of Jesus” in a positive light, but not by name. Both Roman Catholics and the Orthodox believe that Mary was a life-long virgin; this serves as example of dedication to God, even of celibacy. Most Protestants believe that she was virginal only until the birth of Jesus, and then had other children with Joseph by natural means.

Despite her earlier doubts, Mary was present as a believer in the earliest Church, and in the early 200s the doctrine of the virginal conception of Jesus spread widely in the church, where it was put together with the doctrine of the incarnation. The doctrine of the virginal conception found its way into all Christian creeds, as did mention of the Virgin Mary herself. Veneration of Mary (not worship) spread widely in the West and the East, and by medieval times many churches had special chapels dedicated to the Virgin Mary. (In England they can still be found in many Anglican churches, where they are known as the “Lady Chapel.”) Mary became the chief intercessor for the church on earth and the Queen of Heaven. She received increasing prayer (the “Hail Mary”) and devotion, especially in times

of great distress such as the Black Plague in the 1400s. Devotion to Mary was “throttled back” somewhat after the Catholic Reform, and it was never as strong in the Orthodox churches as in Roman Catholicism. In recent times, venera- tion of Mary has been promoted by certain popes, espe- cially John Paul II (pope from 1978 to 2005).

In sum, Christian devotion to Mary has been steady and persistent for most Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christians, and many Anglicans as well. For most Protestants, however, this devotion to the Virgin ended at Reformation times, and many liberal Protestants today no longer believe in the virginal conception of Jesus.

A Closer Look:

Modern painting in Byzantine style of Mary and the child Jesus. This Mother and Child artistic theme speaks deeply to Christians about the humanity of Jesus Christ, whatever they may believe about Mary.

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begin with, the name “Holy Spirit” doesn’t evoke mean- ings such as “Father” and “Son” do. It has been harder for Christians to conceive of the Holy Spirit as a divine person in the same way as they think of the Father and the Son. (Feminists, however, hold that this is a good thing and point to the feminine aspects of the Spirit.) The

Theotokos (thee-AH- toh-koss) Virgin Mary as the “mother/bearer of God”

God the Holy

Spirit

The Holy Spirit is one of the most challenging top- ics in Christian teaching. To

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foundational view of the Holy Spirit is sketched in the next section of the Nicene Creed: “We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glo- rifi ed. He has spoken through the Prophets.” (Historians are divided about whether the wording that follows this— about the church, baptism, and the rest—is a part of the section on the Holy Spirit.)

The Creed ties the Spirit to God the Father and God the Son in a variety of ways. The Spirit is called “Lord,” the term Christians regularly use for the Father and the Son. Next, the Spirit is called “the giver of Life,” which refers not only to a role at creation, but especially to giving life to believers now and eternally. The next phrase has been problematic between the Eastern and Western churches. Originally, the Creed said that the Spirit “proceeds from the Father,” just as Jesus (in parallel) is “begotten” by the Father, but in the Middle Ages the Catholic Church added “and the Son,” which most Protestant churches then shared. This was a huge point of contention between the East and the West, and one of the causes for their formal split in 1054. Some Western churches omit it today, or put it in brack- ets. Next, the Creed says that the Spirit is “worshipped and glorifi ed,” a sign of certain divine status.

The last thing said about the Holy Spirit, that the Spirit “has spoken through the prophets,” is the most powerful and problematic of the Nicene Creed’s state- ments about the Spirit. Although the Holy Spirit is said in the New Testament to mediate the presence of Jesus to the church and explain his words, essentially a con- serving task, the Spirit also is powerful, uncontrollable, and unpredictable. Prophetic speech in the Spirit is chal- lenging to the church. Every movement for change in church history has appealed to the authority and lead- ing of the Holy Spirit. Opposition to the mainstream church—through appeal to the Holy Spirit—was found in Montanism (MAHN-tuh-NIHZ-um) around 150 C.E. This movement saw itself as the fulfi llment of the prom- ise of the coming of the Spirit on the fi rst church. In the 1200s, a movement against the institutional church was begun by Joachim of Fiore in Italy. He promised

the beginning of the period of the Holy Spirit, in which the institutional papal church would be replaced by a community of charismatic fi gures, all fi lled with the Spirit. This was put down, but it stimulated a number of revolutionary movements in the medieval church. The sixteenth-century reformer, Thomas Müntzer (MOONT-zer), defended his revolution against the princes and church offi cials with a new coming of the Spirit. In the twentieth century through today, the widespread charismatic movement has centered on the recovery of the experience of the Holy Spirit.

The Conclusion of the

Nicene Creed: Church,

Baptism, and Christian Hope

Finally, the Nicene Creed affi rms, “We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.” Belief “in the Church” affi rms that the Church, which is holy, catholic (universal), and apostolic, is a divine part of God’s plan for human salvation. Ancient Christians believed that it is the continuing body founded by Jesus. The Creed then mentions the importance of “one baptism” for salvation but makes no mention of the Eucharist or any other church ritual. Baptism has from the fi rst Christian generation been

God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the St. Nicholas Church, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

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the ritual of initiation into the Christian faith; the experience of baptism and the instruction that sur- rounds it gives guidance for the moral and spiri- tual life of the Christian. The Creed closes with an

affi rmation of “the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.” Although the Creed doesn’t mention him explicitly at this point, Jesus is the center of resurrection and life, just as he was the fi rst to rise from the dead. He will return in glory to fully bring in God’s reign, and the “world to come” will be pres- ent with its full life. This traditional Christian teaching about the end of the world—the return of Christ, resur- rection, and judgment with eternal reward and eternal punishment—has been widely believed in the history of Christianity, but in modern times many Protestants and some Roman Catholics have called it into doubt, pre- ferring to think of an open human future.

Getting back now to the continuing controversy over Christ’s nature that the Nicene Council did not fully settle, a new council at Chalcedon (451) fi nally ended the dispute between Antioch and Alexandria by drawing from each. It declared: “We all unanimously teach . . . one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, perfect in deity and perfect in humanity . . . in two natures, with- out being mixed, transmuted, divided, or separated. . . . The identity of each nature is preserved and concurs into one person and being.” At Nicea and Chalcedon, the church affi rmed a paradox, and continues today to affi rm it: Jesus is fully human and fully divine, God and humanity perfectly present in one person. Second, Jesus Christ is completely human, not only in his historical life, but after his resurrection and through all eternity. As Paul wrote, “The whole fullness of deity dwells bodily” in him (Colossians 2:9). The genius of the Nicene and Chalcedonian Creeds is that they hold that the mystery of the person of Jesus Christ could be grasped in a deci- sive, authoritative formula: two natures in one person.

LO4 Christian Ethics: Following the Way of Jesus Christ

A new translation of the New Testament published by the American branch of Oxford University Press causes a stir around the world. Titled the Inclusive Bible, it features

“thoroughly non-sexist” wording. Some critics deride it as the “politically correct version” and a dangerous innovation. However, students of Christianity recognize that this type of translation has a rich pedigree in America. It can trace its roots to the infl uential, and even more controversial, Women’s Bible of 1898, a seminal work in the foundation of the femi- nist movement. The publication of the Inclusive Bible touches an important contemporary moral theme in Christianity: the place of women in the faith.

As an “ethical monotheism,” Christianity’s moral teach- ing is based on its view of God. God’s self-revelation shows God to be both radically good and radically lov- ing. Christians must worship God but also must live their entire lives according to God’s will. Being God’s people means following God’s law, which in turn means walking in the way of God’s truth (Psalms 25:4–5) and obeying it (Romans 2:8; 1 Peter 1:22). Jesus affi rmed that the main point of this obedience is to love God and to love one’s neighbor (Matthew 22:37–39).

Foundations in the Ten

Commandments, the Sermon

on the Mount, and the

Letters of Paul

Christian ethical teaching has two main biblical foun- dations: the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1–17; Deuteronomy 5:6–21) and the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7). The Ten Commandments (see above, page 245) remain valid for Christians, although God’s laws have been broadened by Jesus Christ. The “fi rst table” of the Law calls on Christians to worship only God, not to worship images, and keep the Sabbath day holy. This Sabbath was changed to Sunday, the day of the Lord’s resurrection, when Christians around the world gather in the morning for worship. The “second table” of the Law tells Christians to honor parents and abstain from murder, adultery, theft, false witness, and coveting.

The Sermon on the Mount opens with the Beatitudes (or statements of blessings), which con- tain implicit moral directions (Matthew 5:1–12). Jesus declared that the powers of the imminent Kingdom of God would enable his followers to witness to this kingdom before the world, even to be the “light of the world” (5:14–16). Jesus upheld the value of the Law of Moses for his followers, but radicalized it in a vari- ety of ways. He pointed to the necessity of controlling one’s thoughts and emotions, not just one’s actions; Jesus called anger murderous and lust adulterous

Chalcedon (KAL-seh- don) Council in 451 that defined the relationship of the human and divine natures of Christ

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(5:21–22, 27–28). Doing what is right proceeds from the inner person, and thus is not a sham or hypocritical action. The repeated warnings against hypocrisy in the Sermon on the Mount are primarily warnings to Jesus’ followers, not attacks on others. Jesus commanded his followers to “be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (5:48). Human per- fection is expressed in what Christian tradition calls the “Golden Rule,” a summary of the ethics of the whole Jewish Bible: “In everything do to others as you would have them do to you.” Christians have believed that taking the “hard way” (7:13–14) is possible by virtue of the divine gift of the Holy Spirit. Jesus knew that this “hard way” would not be easy for his followers, and that they would fail in parts of it every day, as indicated in the daily prayer that he

taught them in the Sermon on the Mount, which contains a request for divine forgiveness for one’s sins (6:12).

Jesus affi rmed the summary of God’s will given in Judaism, to “love the Lord your God” with all your being and to “love your neighbor as yourself.” This love is possible because of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrec- tion. When the Christian commandment of love was connected to Christ’s person and work, the demand of love for the neighbor becomes a “new commandment”: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another” (John 13:34). The followers of Jesus are to have this love: “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). All this might imply that Christian love is given only or mostly to other Christians, but the Christian commandment of love has never been limited to fellow Christians. On the contrary, the Christian ethic crossed social and religious barriers and saw a neighbor in every suffering human being, especially the innocent and help- less. This is why, for example, Christians in the ancient world rescued infants left in remote places or garbage dumps to die. Jesus himself explicated his understand- ing of the commandment of love in the parable of the Good Samaritan, who followed the commandment of

love and helped a person in need whom a priest and a Levite had chosen to ignore (Luke 10:29–37).

The Apostle Paul often drew on the Ten Commandments to shape the moral life of Christians. Because his churches were made up mostly of Gentiles, they needed basic instruction in the Jewish basis of morality. Paul's letters also stress the moral virtues of the Christian life: trust in God, hope in the future God will bring, peace in one’s heart and in the church, and especially love for all people. More than any other New Testament author, Paul grounds the ethical life of the Christian in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. For Paul, the indicative (who Christians are by virtue of God’s action) serves to ground the impera- tives of moral attitude and behavior. The believer has “died with Christ” in baptism and will be “raised with Christ” at the end of time, and in the meantime must “walk in newness of life.” The moral dimension of the Christian faith is a struggle; in an image drawn from clothing, one must constantly “put on Christ” and “put off” sin and self-centeredness. The presence of the Spirit in the individual and in the church gives both direction and empowerment for spiritual living. Summing up his ethic, Paul says, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God to present your bod- ies as a living sacrifi ce, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good, and acceptable, and perfect” (Romans 12:1–2).

In a scene from the 2003 fi lm The Passion of the Christ, the dead Jesus is lowered from the cross. Identifi cation with the death of Jesus is foundational in Christian ethics.

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The Enactment

of Moral Life

in the Church

Christian social ethics are foun- dational for the community of the faithful. As the church took in all sorts of people, certain occupations were deemed incompatible with a Christian life of love toward others. Thieves, brothel-keepers and pros- titutes, workers in pagan temples, actors, charioteers, gladiators, soldiers, magicians, astrologers, and fortune- tellers could not keep their trades when they became Christians. (Slave owning, however, was still mostly tolerated, and the church often allowed slaves who were forced to engage in these forbid- den trades to be church members.) Moral instruction for catechumens, those preparing for baptism, and many ancient sermons reveal that preachers regularly explained Christian morality and urged their audiences to keep it. In the Middle Ages and Byzantine times, moral instruction centered on the Ten Commandments, the Beatitudes, and the lists of virtues and vices drawn from the New Testament. The ritual act of reconcilia- tion (as it is now called), in which individuals confessed their sins in the “confessional” to a priest in order to receive direction and assurance of forgiveness, helped

to shape individual character and conduct. At least in the West, people leaving church in the Middle Ages would typi- cally see a painting of the Last

Judgment over the doors, to remind them of the rewards of doing good and the penalty for evil.

Beside this inner-church sphere of morality the “conversion of the empire” in the 300s permitted bishops to begin infl uencing the personal and political

affairs of government and the wider life of society. Soon canon law, the legal system that codifi es ethical and other matters in the Roman Catholic Church, arose to guide the overall moral life of the church. Canon law is still today an important foundation of moral refl ection and deci- sion making by priests and

bishops in the Church of Rome. In the Protestant churches, dif-

ferent patterns of social ethics emerged based more directly on the Bible. One of the most powerful and controversial

explanations of Protestant ethics is Max Weber’s book

The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, which

argued for a strong relationship between Protestant (specifi cally,

C a l v i n i s t ) morality and

the development of capitalism in

the West. Modern times have seen a decline in the direct

institutional role of the churches in society, as church leaders can no longer directly infl uence rulers with whom they share authority. Instead, church leaders advise the shaping of public laws and policies, seek- ing to guide not only the members of their churches but also the whole common life of nations. In Roman Catholicism, this has occurred at the global level through the so-called social encyclicals of popes, from Leo XIII in 1891 to today. These teaching docu- ments deal with a variety of topics in social ethics, and almost every pope has issued them. At times, these encyclicals have been highly controversial, as when Pope Paul VI in 1968 used one (Humanae Vitae, “On Human Life”) to forbid the use of all artifi cial birth control among Roman Catholics. In Eastern Orthodoxy, the fall of communist rule has presented particular problems and opportunities to help guide public life. Protestant denominations have typically made pronouncements and initiated programs on their own and through ecumenical agencies to which they belong.

The World Council of Churches, a fellowship of Christian churches founded in 1948, has created “mid- dle axioms” (the notion of a “just society,” for exam- ple, or “the care of creation”), which were intended as common ground on which Christian churches and governments could meet for thought and action. Now, they are common ground for cooperating with people of other religions, especially today on environmental issues. The rise of Christian social organizations such as Church World Service, Catholic Relief Services, Bread for the World, World Vision, Habitat for Humanity, and many others is particularly notable. In the developing world, Christian organizations are among the largest

catechumen (KAT- uh-kyoo-men) Individual preparing for baptism in a period of doctrinal and moral instruction

canon law Legal system that codifies ethical, organizational, and other matters in the Roman Catholic Church

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nongovernmental organizations working for human and social development. Individual Chris- tians have also had an impact here—for example, the lead singer of the rock band U2, Bono, advocates tirelessly for justice for Africa. He has become known almost as much for his advocacy of justice as his music.

LO5 Christian Worship and Ritual

In Rome, the Congregation for Divine Worship, the Roman Catholic department responsible for guiding the Church’s religious services, presents to Pope John Paul II a report entitled “Authentic Liturgy.” It states that language used in the Mass is to avoid many of the features of inclusive language, because they obscure the meaning of the text. For example, where the original language of Scripture or the Mass book says “brothers,” expressions such as “broth- ers and sisters” or “friends” may not be used. This document stirs up a controversy in European and North American Catholic churches, which have gotten used to more- inclusive language. This controversy shows how issues of inclusive/exclusive language have become an impor-

tant issue in the contemporary churches, both Roman Catholic and Protestant.

In this section, we’ll discuss the rise of Christian worship in history. Christian worship emerged from, and then gradu- ally separated from, the wor- ship practices of Judaism. The Acts of the Apostles relates that the fi rst Christian believ- ers worshiped in the Jerusalem Temple, as Jesus had. They wor- shiped in synagogues as well. But the church also had from the fi rst its own meetings for worship that drew on Jewish precedents, especially the kind of worship in the synagogue. After Constantine, worship and the church buildings in which it was held became more formal. The Roman Catholic Church

built itself around seven sacraments, rituals believed to be a special means of grace, and the Eastern Orthodox Churches made its worship in its various branches more unifi ed. In the Protestant Reformation and Catholic Reform, and again in Vatican II, worship was reformed by being made more the work of the people, the liturgy. Since around 1950, the ecumenical movement has brought a consensus of worship style and content.

Christian Worship before

Constantine

Christian worship and ritual varies widely throughout the world, but its common foundation can be traced to the fi rst centuries of the church and before this to the Jewish synagogues. As in the worship of the synagogue, public prayer and praise to God are a constant in the church. So too are the reading and explanation of a por- tion of Scripture. Christian churches, especially in the eastern half of the Roman Empire, adapted the lectionary system of the Jewish synagogues and added readings from the New Testament. Changes from synagogue worship were introduced as well. The weekly day for wor- ship went from the Jewish Sabbath on the last day of the week to Sunday.

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sacrament Ritual believed to be a special means of grace

liturgy Literally, “work of the people” in worship; pattern of worship in Christian churches

lectionary Systemic schedule of reading the Bible in worship

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An Ancient Christian Service

As a part of his defense of Christianity in sections 65–66 of his Apology, Justin briefl y describes a Christian service from about 150. This is the earliest description of Christian worship that we have. It has the same basic elements and almost exactly the same order as almost all Christian wor- ship since: gathering as a community, reading of scripture, prayer, sermon, Holy Communion, and dismissal. Singing hymns isn’t mentioned here, but we know from other sources that it was common.

After thus washing [baptizing] the one who has been convinced and signifi ed his assent, we lead him to those who are called brothers, where they are assembled. The memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the apostles are read, as long as time permits. When the reader has ceased, the presiding leader instructs and exhorts us to imitate these good things. Then we rise together

and pray. We pray that we may be made worthy, having learned the truth, to be found good citizens and keepers of what is commanded, so that we may be saved with eternal salvation. On fi nishing the prayers we greet each other with a kiss.

Then bread and a cup of wine mixed with water are brought to the one presiding. Taking them, he gives praise and glory to the Father of the universe through the name of the Son and the Holy Spirit, and off ers thanksgiving at some length that we have been deemed worthy to receive these things from him. When he has fi nished the prayers and the thanksgiving, the whole congre- gation assents by saying, “Amen.” Those whom we call deacons [assistants] then give a portion of the consecrated bread and wine to all those present, and they take it to the absent.

A Closer Look:

The basilica type of building was used by

Christians for the first church buildings,

and has been the most common pattern

of churches since.

Baptism replaced circumcision as the main rite of initiation into the faith, and it was preceded by instruc- tion and fasting. Persons about to be baptized renounced evil, and after they declared their faith, they went into the water. They then received by anointing with oil and by the laying on of hands the gift of the Holy Spirit, just as the Spirit had descended on Jesus at his baptism. Only the baptized were admitted to the Eucharist, and weekly participation is this ritual meal took the place of both the Passover meal and Jewish sacrifi ces. Baptism has been the rite of entry, but the Eucharist is the regu- lar ritual of food for the body and soul.

Worship after Constantine

After Christianity became permitted and then offi cial in the 300s, almost every element of worship became more elaborate. Formal church buildings were erected,

and church offi cials dressed for worship in special vest ments modeled after Roman government garb. The church developed a liturgical calendar with sea- sons of self-denial, such as Advent and Lent, and sea- sons of celebration, such as Christmas and Easter.

Before about 350 C.E, almost all worship was in private homes. (A religion almost constantly persecuted by the government isn’t able to put up its own build- ings.) The service was held in the largest room of the house, usually the central atrium in a middle- or upper- class house. When church buildings became common around 350, they were designed for the community. The rectangular basilica with a long nave (main area for the congregation) and an apse (semicircular area at the front), which had been used for Roman law courts, was particularly suitable for Christian worship. This architectural layout of the church building has been the most common pattern of church buildings ever since. Many Byzantine churches had mosaic pictures on their fl oors. Old Testament/Jewish heroes of faith also appear in the earliest Christian art in both the East and West. The artists adapted conventional pagan forms: the shepherd carrying a sheep, the praying person with

basilica Building with a long rectangular area for the congregation and a semicircular area at the front for clergy, adapted by early Christians from Roman courts for Christian church architecture

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hands uplifted, various birds and animals. Symbols of the Eucharist and baptism were especially common. The exteriors of these churches were simple, but inside they were often richly ornamented with marble and mosaic. The decoration was designed to represent the angels and saints in heaven with whom the church on earth was joining for worship, saints whose presence was suggested by icons in the East and statues, paint- ings, and then stained glass in the West. The oldest church buildings to survive largely intact are from early medieval and early Byzantine times: Hagia Sophia at Constantinople (which became a mosque and is now a museum) and San Vitale at Ravenna in Italy. Worship in churches became more impressive and formal for a greatly enlarged and now offi cial religion, but much of the earlier intimacy that was a part of house churches was necessarily lost.

In the early Middle Ages, Catholic worship became centered on the sacraments and has stayed centered on them ever since. These are, the Catholic Catechism says, “effi cacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed.” The sacraments are necessary for salvation, because they were instituted by Christ as the means through which God communicates grace. Christ bestows a particular grace through each sacrament, such as

baptism’s joining one to Christ and the Church, confes- sion/reconciliation’s forgiveness of sins and amendment of life, and the Eucharist’s feeding body and soul with the mystical food of Jesus’ body and blood. A sacrament works ex opere operato (ehks OH-puh-reh OH-puh- RAH-toh), Latin for “by the working of the work.” In other words, they are effective just by being admin- istered, regardless of the personal holiness of the one administering them. However, the holiness of the recipi- ent does make a difference; lack of a proper spiritual attitude can thwart the effectiveness of the sacrament. These seven sacraments are known today as baptism, confi rmation, the Eucharist, reconciliation, anointing of the sick, ordination (to holy orders), and marriage. The Eastern Orthodox Church also has seven sacraments but hasn’t organized its worship so fully around them.

Other worship practices also began in post- Constantinian times. One of the more signifi cant was the cult of the saints, the veneration of saints in shrines, churches, and other places (This “cult” has no connection with the more modern use of the word to designate some new religious move- ments.) Shrines were erected in honor of local

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Iconostasis inside a Greek Orthodox church

cult of the saints Veneration of saints in shrines, churches, and other places

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holy men and women, especially those Christians who had worked miracles and those who had suffered for the faith. Usually shrines were found in churches and contained a relic or the entire body of the saint. Until modern times, most Christian saints weren’t recognized by the whole church but were known and venerated regionally. The saints were recognized as intercessors with God for the faithful on earth and were thought to be vehicles for God’s miraculous power. The shrines became the focus of religious pilgrimage. Some of the most popular shrines today are dedicated to the Virgin Mary, particularly the places where she is believed to have appeared: Lourdes, France; Medjugorje in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Guadalupe, Mexico.

The pattern of the Eucharistic liturgy was basi- cally set by the year 400, but different forms existed in dif- ferent areas. Especially varied was the main, long prayer of Holy Communion, which the Orthodox called anaphora (uh-NAH-fohr-uh), or “offer- ing,” and the Romans called canon, “prescribed form.” The canon of the Latin Mass in the 500s was basically similar to the form it has kept through today. (Most Protestant forms for Holy Communion were adapted

from the Roman Catholic ver- sion.) Earlier beliefs that Jesus Christ was somehow pres- ent in the celebration of Holy Communion, especially in the bread and wine, were greatly developed in the Middle Ages. The Roman church offi cially adopted the teaching of tran- substantiation, that the bread and wine were changed in all but appearance into the sub- stance of Christ’s body. Music also became elaborate after Constantine, with chanting in Gregorian style of Psalms, hymns, and service music, and plainsong with several voices unaccompanied by instru- ments. Eastern Orthodox

chanting, like the liturgy in general, was richer, more sonorous and soaring than Gregorian plainsong.

The Protestant Reforma- tion carried out an immedi- ate reform of worship along with theology. In general, the Lutheran churches kept some distinctly Roman Catholic features such as crucifi xes and altars, the Calvinist churches kept a few (kneel- ing in services, baptismal fonts), and the Anabaptist churches discarded everything they didn’t fi nd in the Bible. In general, the worship of churches in the Baptist tradition is non-liturgical, not bound to a set form of

Roman Catholic pilgrims stream into the pilgrimage site in Lourdes, France, dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

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Hands of priests celebrating the Roman Catholic Mass, a formally dignifi ed service of Holy Communion.

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worship or rituals—embracing spontaneous, informal prayer rather than written prayer, for example—but other Protestant churches tend to be liturgical, with set forms. Worship in the Church of England remained the most Catholic of all the breakaway churches.

All Protestant churches shared a few important new features of worship. First, the Bible was restored to what the Reformers considered a more central place. Preaching the Bible in sermons was emphasized, as was private reading of the Bible in homes. Second, the sac- raments were generally reduced to the two that had been founded by Jesus: baptism and Holy Communion. Most Reformers made frequent communion the rule for all laity, and denied the Roman Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation in favor of other understandings of the spiritual meaning of com- munion. Third, all services were put completely into the lan- guage of the people, and the

liturgy became literally the “work of the people” again. Music, especially hymn singing, was done by the peo- ple as well as trained musi- cians. The Catholic Reform in the 1500s and Vatican II in the

1960s brought the Roman church into line with many of these changes, but its theology remained the same.

Some observers have estimated that

between one-fourth and one-third of all

Christians today “speak in tongues.”

In the years since the Reformation, Christian worship has become more diverse. The stron- gest impact on worship has been the charismatic movement stressing supernatural “gifts of the Holy Spirit,” a movement also known as Pentecostalism. These two names are a bit tricky—charismatic usu- ally refers to groups inside the Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and mainline Protestant churches. Pentecostal usually refers to Protestant churches such as the Assemblies of God where these practices

are the norm, whether these churches have “Pentecostal” in their formal name or not.

“Gifts of the Holy Spirit” are called in Greek charismata. These gifts are used primarily in worship. The Pentecostal

movement began in 1906 in an African American church in Los Angeles. Over time it has moved into mainstream Protestantism and Roman Catholicism as well. Today, the charismatic movement has spread throughout the Christian world. “Speaking in tongues,” an emotional outpouring of prayer in human sounds but in no human language, is its pri- mary activity, but others are often seen as well: interpre- tation of tongues, prophecy, healing, and so forth. The charismatic movement has often been divisive and con- troversial when it appears in

non-Pentecostalist denomina- tions, but it has brought new life and an emphasis on spiri- tuality. Some observers have estimated that between one- fourth and one-third of all Christians—about 600 million people—are charismatics.

LO6 Christianity in North America Today

A group of Old Order Amish has met in a home for worship in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. As their horses and buggies wait outside, they conduct a two-hour ser- vice of hymns, prayers, scrip- ture readings, and sermon, all in their own “Pennsylvania Dutch” language, which is actually a Swiss dialect of German. No cleric conducts

Reading the Bible regularly is a distinctive practice for many Christians.

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charismatic movement (Pentecostalism) Modern Christian movement stressing use of supernatural “gifts of the Holy Spirit,” a movement also known as Pentecostalism

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the service, for in their religious life the men are all equal. Their worship and lifestyle continues the same pattern of “coming out from the world and being separate” that their Anabaptist ancestors practiced at the dawn of the Reformation. The Amish have been oppressed in many parts of the world, but they’ve found a happy haven in the United States and Canada, where they are widely respected for their consistent witness for peace.

Christianity is the largest and most popular religion in the United States, with 78 percent of those polled identifying themselves as Christian in 2009. About 62 percent of those polled reported that they were members of a church congregation. With around 240 million Christians, the United States has the largest Christian population on earth. In Canada, the church has slightly less of a presence, but more than 60 percent of Canadians identify themselves as Christians. As a result of immigration, widespread importation of European (and now African and Asian) churches, and new denominations springing up in the United States, Christianity is more internally diverse—for better and for worse—in North America than anywhere else in the world. This poses a challenge and an opportunity for the study of Christianity.

Overview

Protestant denominations account for about 50 per- cent of North Americans, Roman Catholicism about 25 percent, and Eastern Orthodox less than 1 per- cent. Roman Catholics are by far the largest single church group, and the Roman Catholic Church in the United States is growing in size with Hispanic immigration. The Eastern Orthodox population is relatively tiny, making up only about 0.04 percent of North Americans, due largely to smaller immi-

gration from most Orthodox nations, recent diffi culties in “Americanization,” and the persistence of twenty-six dif- ferent ethnic-based denomina- tions within Orthodoxy.

Christianity came to the Americas when it was fi rst colonized by Europeans beginning in the 1500s. The vast majority of colonists were Christians, and over time a majority of Native Americans became Christians as well. Today, most Christian denominations and congre- gations are mainline Protestant, evangelical Protestant, or Roman Catholic, or the various denominations of Eastern Orthodoxy. Sociologists of religion distinguish the mainline Protestant churches from the evangelical Protestant churches. The authoritative Association of

Religion Data Archives (ARDA) estimates 26 million members of mainline churches versus about 40 million members of evangelical Protestant churches. Good evidence suggests a sizeable shift in membership from mainline denominations to evangelical churches since about 1950. Then, most Protestant Christians belonged to mainline churches, and evangelical churches were comparatively smaller.

The Different Churches:

Roman Catholic

and Protestant

At the time the United States was founded, only a small fraction of the U.S. population were Catholics, mostly in Maryland. As we saw above, the number of Roman Catholics has grown dramatically in recent years. The United States now has the fourth-largest Catholic pop- ulation in the world. The Church’s main national body is the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, made up of all bishops and archbishops of the United States, although each bishop has independent power in his own diocese, responsible only to the pope. Although many other nations have a Roman Catholic primate, or lead bishop, there is no primate for the United States.

Although Protestantism is divided into mainline and evangelical groups, as we saw above, the distinc- tion between them is not easy to maintain. Mainline Protestant denominations are those brought to North America by its historic immigrant groups. The largest are the Episcopal (English, from the Anglican Church), Presbyterian (Scottish), Methodist (English and Welsh), and Lutheran (Scandinavian and German) denomina- tions. They are generally more open to new ideas and social changes than are evangelical Protestants and Roman Catholics. For example, they’ve been increas- ingly open to the ordination of women and equal- ity in church and society for gay and lesbian persons. Mainline churches belong to organizations such as the National Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches. Mainline Protestant groups were domi- nant in North America for more than two centuries, up until the 1960s.

The experience of conversion that

most evangelicals see as necessary for

salvation is called being “born again.”

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Evangelicalism is the modern movement that seeks to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ, giving people an opportunity to convert. The experience of conversion that most evangelicals see as necessary for salvation is called being “born again.” Although it became strong in the past two centuries, it has roots that reach into the earliest decades of the Reformation. It arose with the Anabaptist movement in the 1500s, moved into the mainstream Reformation with Pietism in the 1700s, and became stronger in the late 1800s, especially as a result of the world mission movement of the time. The most famous evangelical of the twentieth century was the Southern Baptist (U.S.) evangelist Billy Graham, who held mass meetings that ended with a call to come forward to “accept Christ as your personal Lord and Savior” and be “born again.” There is a good deal of variety in evangelicalism. Most evangelicals tend to be politically conservative, but an increasing number today—especially younger evangelicals—are politically moderate or liberal. Probably the most infl uential mod- ern voice in the evangelical movement was C. S. Lewis (1898–1963), the University of Oxford professor of medieval literature and a traditionalist Anglican who ironically did not call himself an “evangelical.” Lewis wrote popular religious works such as Mere Christianity and The Screwtape Letters, which are still best sellers for their clear, creative presentation of the faith. He also wrote the popular children’s novels The Chronicles of

Narnia, which are full of traditional Christian themes but not overtly Christian.

The black church—or, more commonly today, African American church—in North America are those churches that are mainly African American in membership. Most African American congregations belong to African American denominations such as the National Baptist Convention or a variety of other Baptist or Methodist groups, although many black con- gregations belong to predominantly white denomina- tions. The fi rst black congregations and churches were formed before 1800 by freed slaves in the South and especially in the North. After slavery ended, African Americans continued in separate congregations and denominations, creating communities and styles of worship that were culturally distinct from those of their white counterparts. They continued a unique, power- ful form of Christianity that adapted African religious practices in preaching, music, and congregational life. For example, matriarchal traditions from Africa have led to some women having a much higher status, even authority, in African American churches than in white churches. Many African American congregations have “mother boards” composed of older women who are real power-brokers in their churches. Segregation of the races discouraged and, especially in the South, prevented African Americans from belonging to the same churches as whites, thus helping to preserve the

distinctive patterns of African American Christianity.

African Americans con- tinued to form separate con- gregations and denominations during the 1900s. This separa- tion continues today despite the decline of segregation and the rising occurrence of integrated worship. African American churches are usu- ally the centers of their com- munities, opening schools in the early years after the Civil War, and pursuing other social welfare efforts. As a result, they have founded strong com- munity organizations and pro- vided spiritual and political leadership, especially during the civil rights movement, seen most clearly in its leadership by the African American Baptist pastor Martin Luther King Jr.RIC

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The Eagle and Child Pub in Oxford, England, where C. S. Lewis and other Oxford-based Christian writers such as J. R. R. Tolkien and Charles

Williams met regularly to discuss their writings

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Another broad trend in North American Protes- tantism is Restorationism. This refers to the belief held by various religious groups in that the Christianity of the fi rst century C.E. is the purest form of the faith; it can and should be restored. (It was a strong impulse in the United States in the 1800s.) Such groups typically claim that their group is that restoration. They teach that restoration is necessary because other Christians before them introduced defects into Christian faith or lost a vital element of genuine Christianity. Restorationist denominations include the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the Churches of Christ.

Several groups that emerged in the Restorationist impulse from American Protestant denominations eventually became new religious move- ments. The Latter-day Saints

Church founded by Joseph Smith, more commonly called the Mormons, is the most notable. Visitors to the Mormon headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah, can view the hour-long movie Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration. Another major Restorationist religion is that of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. It’s estimated that in the United States, 1.9 million adults identify themselves as Jehovah’s Witnesses. Like the L.D.S. Church, the Jehovah’s Witnesses reject many teachings of the Nicene Creed and view themselves as the only true church.

Finally, perhaps the single most important fac- tor in the present and future of Christianity in North America comes from outside North America. For most of its history, Christianity has been strongest in the Northern Hemisphere, especially in Europe and North America. Now, Christianity is shifting to the Southern Hemisphere, where most Christians live and where Christianity is growing quickly as the number of Christians in the Northern Hemisphere declines. These “Global South” Christians with their more traditional interpretations of the Bible and the creeds sometimes present a challenge to older churches. For example, the African Independent Churches, a dynamic adaptation of Christianity by European mission churches in Africa, is now spreading to North America. To cite another example, the Anglican churches in Africa, where more people in Uganda or Nigeria attend Anglican religious services on a typical Sunday than in all of Great Britain, strongly oppose efforts in the Church of England and the Episcopal Church in the United States to approve of same-sex relationships and ordain gay and lesbian clergy. Mark Noll has written in his 2009 book, The New Shape of World Christianity: How American Experience Refl ects Global Faith, that Global South Christians are less concerned about historic patterns of church government and doctrine, things impor- tant in the North, as they are about spiritual war- fare between good and evil today and the continuing gulf between the wealthy North and the “Majority World.”2 The future of Christianity in North America may well be shaped by Christianity from outside it.

2 Mark Noll, The New Shape of World Christianity (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2009).

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Choir singing is an important part of worship in African American churches, as here in

Jacksonville, Florida.

"With the aesthetics of the textbook, like that of a magazine, it was very easy to focus on what I was reading and abstain from distractions. Opposed to many standard textbooks that are filled cover to cover with black and white, this textbook offers colorful pictures on almost every page. The text itself is written in an easy-to-read format. A person reading from this is engaged with the text and lesson. It almost does not even feel like something that would fall under the classification of 'work.'"

– Crystal Wells, student, University of West Florida

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