Christian Culture



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What do Christians believe? 

Christians believe that the Angel Gabriel was sent by the one God of the Jewish prophet Abraham to ask Mary, a young Jewish girl, to became the mother of his son. He was born to Mary in Bethlehem 2000 years ago and grew up to become carpenter and fisherman like his father. At age 30 he began to talk about the living word of God. Also they believe that God invited everyone to a common table to illustrate his peaceful kingdom of God based on forgiveness and salvation from human sinfulness. Jesus, the son of God, was executed by Roman officials who crucified him for declaring himself to be king of the Jews. After that happened women found his tomb empty and they spread the word that he had been raised from the  dead.  Christmas celebrate the birth of Christ and Easter celebrates the resurrection of Christ and they are the two most important Christian holidays.  Christianity is a missionary religion that seeks to convert others to its beliefs as a way of spreading God’s message of love, mercy and forgiveness.  Throughout history its missionaries have not always been loving and forgiving but instead used Christianity for their own power.

The following maps show the largest presence of Christianity in our world today.  The pink shows Christian population that is 10-50% and the purple shows majority Christian population.

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How did Christianity spread?

Christianity is a missionary religion because after Jesus’ death his apostles started to spread the message of the gospel and they talked about Jesus’s life. Peter and Paul were two missionaries who spread Christianity throughout Mediterranean area in Europe. Peter has more followers in Rome and he became the father of  the Roman Catholic church and he was known as the first pope. Paul spoke and taught more in the east as a convert to Christianity from one who used to kill Christians.  Today Christians in the East are known as Orthodox Christians.

In the earliest 16th century the explorers from Europe started to explore the world by sailing ships in the ocean and they transported people that were Christian. When they get into a new land , they tried to convert people who already lived there to Christianity.


What was the treaty of Tordesillas? 

In 1493 just after Christopher Columbus the Catholic Spain and Portugal went to the roman catholic pope who drew this line in the map telling them to bring Christianity around the world.

The Catholic church was the most powerful in  the world because it was spread for all the world changing people’s heart.  The Catholic Church also got power also got wealthy from the trade of Catholic kingdoms like France, Spain, and Portugal.

Where do most Christians live in the world today? 

In 2010 there were 246,790,000 Christians living in the U.S.A  that has more Christians than other country in the world.  Also there are Christians around the world but most Christian countries are located in Europe, Latin America, and North America.  Places in Asia such as the Philippines are Christian because of Spain and the United States.

Why did many Christian people adopt democracy as their government?

The Enlightenment in Europe and America led to something known as the Great Awakening in Christian culture.  The Great Awakening is a Christian way of seeing value for every individual.  Ideas of democracy came out of protestant  Christianity in Europe and America.  over a period of 250 years from 1500-1750.  Democracy was a new protestant Christian way of thinking about the city of God on earth.

When you watch the video below how would you say that Christianity is different from other world religions?  How is it similar?

Hinduism is a religion in India that believes in reincarnation and karma.  They believe the soul is eternal just like Christians do.  They believe in more than one form of the universal God which is a little like the Christian belief in the trinity of father, son and holy spirit.

Buddhism and Christianity are similar because they both were founded by great spiritual leader. And they are different because Buddhism does not talk of a God.  Instead Buddhism is a spiritual way to release yourself from suffering.

It is said that Jews believe in a conversation between their people and their God through a history of prophets.  Christians also believe in these same prophets and part of the Bible is Jewish.   Jews have rituals, prayers and ethical actions and so do Christians.  Christianity however believes in one person God who became human- Jesus Christ. They both are in agreement that the God of the old testament was the creator of the universe.

Islam and Christianity are similar because Muhammad was visited by a divine messenger the  Angel Gabriel just like Mary the mother of Jesus. They both believe in prophets of the one God but Muslims say that Jesus was not God – just a prophet.  They say that Muhammad is the final messenger prophet of the one God- Allah. They are different because they both use different scriptures.  Islam uses the Quran and Christianity uses the Bible.

Stained glass at St John the Baptist's Anglica...
