Christianity: 101
Dale Hathaway
Week of April 12, 2020
Created: 2020-04-07 Tue 14:21
Distinctive aspects of Christianity
- Circle graph of world religions
- Proselytizing: Built on premise of expansion of Judaism (evangelize)
- A religion that appropriated another's sacred text
- Prophetic, Sacramental, and Mystical
- Sacred text not essentially in original language (translations)
- Anchored in history i.e. linear history that is fulfilled, brought to perfection,
- progress is built into the foundation of the religion
- 4 gospels ,and many other issues, leads to a critical reading of scripture
From Judaism to Roman Empire
- Jesus was not the first Christian. He was a Jew.
- Paul's writing were the earliest testimony to the emerging Jewish sect
- Paul established the pattern of evangelism
- Only after the destruction of the temple by the Romans and dispersion (Diaspora) of the Jews did synagogue and church (ecclesia) separate
From Old Testament to "Holy Bible"
- All of the writers of the NT understood the Bible to be what we would call the Old Testament
- consensus on what was in the New Testament was not reached until 4th-5th c.
- while the Rabbis pruned their Hebrew Bible, Christians continued to use the Jewish Bible from 300 BCE
- Reformation (16th c. and following) brought new standards for what was in the Bible
Sacred Quest ch. 3: Appearance of the Sacred
Christianity displays each of the 3 patterns from Sacred Quest:
- Prophetic
- Sacramental
- Mystical
Overlap of 2 religions
- From the beginning of Christianity there has been conflict and division with Judaism
- in teaching the Old Testament I came to realize that that text is the only one I am aware of that is sacred to two different religions
- interplay of how Jews interpret the text and how Christians approach it differently
Anchored in history
- eschatological
- fulfillment of linear history (progress)
- controversies over historical data are somehow peculiar to a
particular brand of Christianity
- importance of rise of historical / critical
From Jesus to Christ
Origins
- Paul established much of groundwork of early Christianity, but he's not the only one
- Bishops, presbyters, deacons and growth of Orthodox Church
- reputation as pacifist, care for widows and orphans, unwillingness to worship idols
- in the 4th c. CE persecution pivoted to status quo after Emperor Constantine
- need for uniformity led to creeds and orthodoxy, establishing canon of NT, theology, liturgical practice, etc.
Theology to Creeds
- Orthodox vs. Orthopraxis
- Heresy repressed, censorship, persecution
- Creed: "I believe …"
History overview
- "Dark Ages": slow recovery of classical thought, science, literature
- Rise of Islam: spreading advanced knowledge from engineering, medicine, and more
- Dissolution of Roman Empire
- Competition with local expressions of Christianity (Celtic)
- splintering of Protestantism
- religious wars
- from pacifism to blessing battleships
- current struggle for place of Christianity in a world of diversity
Christianity: 101Dale HathawayWeek of April 12, 2020Created: 2020-04-07 Tue 14:21
Created by Dale Hathaway.