Two point two billion
(31.50%); that is how many Christians are in the world. All these people are
united under one belief system. Aren’t
they? Of course not; it would be impossible to convince that large amount of
people to agree on practically anything, much less something that cannot be
proven right or wrong. Catholicism, Orthodoxy, Protestantism,
Nontrinitarianism, New Thought, Esoteric Christianity, etc. are all denominations
of Christianity and even all those have segments that branch off and differ.
From the very beginning, changes have occurred due to politics, lack of
evidence, societal shifts, etc., and they have led to the various belief
systems that we can oftentimes still observe today.
In
order to talk about this evolution within the religion, we must start at the
beginning; the most obvious place to consider the beginning being 2CE—the birth
of Jesus Christ. According to Luke 2:8-20:
8 And there were
shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at
night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared
to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to
them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause
great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of
David a Savior has been born to you; he is the
Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find
a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
13 Suddenly a great
company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the
highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
15 When the angels had
left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to
Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us
about.”
16 So they hurried off
and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen
him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it
were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up
all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds
returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things
they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
And so the story of Christ began. The
story of The Lord Jesus spread as he spread his gospel and miracles. The biblical
story of Jesus continued with his baptism, his ministry, his miracles, and his
political assassination--known as the crucifixion-- followed by his
resurrection, where he returned for 40 days before his final ascension into
heaven.
Once Jesus was
gone, it became tough for anyone to say definitively what the correct direction
would be. But Paul carried them forward and in 33CE, Christianity began. This
continued on and, just like any other movement, changes occurred as people
died, new people came in, and new ideas were presented. There were many
standout events, like the death of Apostle James (62CE), the deaths of Peter
and Paul (64CE), the Siege of Jerusalem (70CE), the Fall of Masada (73CE), the Martyrdom
of Polycarp (156CE), and Origen’s Writing (203CE). The first standout event
that draws major attention was in 256CE when Pope Stephen I claimed Apostolic Authority
(Mann, 1913). This single event drastically changed what Christianity has
become. This single person, a man, now had the power to convince his followers
that his words are infallible and are the newest of God’s wishes. This
essentially gave a single person absolute power, and in today’s world,
potentially, power over a third of the world. Even if this man really could
speak to God and knew exactly what God wanted, history (as well as philosophy)
has taught us that absolute power corrupts absolutely and no human person is
perfect. Ecclesiastes 7:20 even tells us that: “Indeed,
there is no one on earth who is righteous, no one who does what is right and
never sins.” How could this corruptible man be trusted with so much power
without drastically transforming the religion into something corrupt as well?
The next change in the religion that
created an everlasting effect was the Nicene Creed in 325. This was a time
under Constantine, the first Christian leader of Rome, when Rome had a variety
of belief systems. The big question that was separating the people was: was
Jesus truly divine? There was dissent, riots, and propaganda spread surrounding
this one question (Nicene Creed, 2015).
In response, Constantine invited 318
bishops from across the empire in order to find common ground. This was the
first of Seven Ecumenical Councils. This is where Eastern Orthodox, Oriental
Orthodox, Nestorian, Roman Catholic, Anglican, and some Lutheran churches branches
can be traced. The big thing that came out
of these councils was the Arian controversy. Though the people showed
agreement in order to please Constantine, there were still a lot of
disagreements which resulted in the church splitting into two. The Trinity, the
idea that God, Jesus, and the Holy-Spirit are one-in-the-same, created the
great divide between these two sects, and it is still a huge difference today.
The Church of the East (Nestorian) accepts the first two of
these seven councils, but rejects the third, the Council of Ephesus (431), and subsequent councils. The
Quinisext Council (692), which attempted to establish the Pentarchy and which is not generally considered
one of the first seven ecumenical councils, is
not accepted by the Roman
Catholic Church; which also considers that there have been many more ecumenical
councils after the first seven (Quinisext Council, 2015). What this means is, Orthodoxy
believes the third person of the Trinity (the Spirit), proceeding from the
Father alone, as in the agreed upon original Nicene Creed. The Father sends the
Spirit at the request of the Son. The Son is therefore an agent only in the
procession of the Spirit. Roman Catholicism believes that The Holy Spirit
proceeds from both the Father and the Son. “Ambrose
of Milan (340-397) wrote: “When the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and
the Son, He is not separated from the Father, He is not separated from the
Son.” This is separation in beliefs is known as the Great Schism.
Again, man is
fallible. All these people came together for this potentially groundbreaking
event and they could not agree and unite all that power. It is understandable
though. People in power always take actions that create or retain the highest
degree of power. If the culture of their country would not accept something
they discuss at the councils, then they cannot accept it for fear of losing
followers. At the same time, if someone suggested something that gives the
followers too much freedom and power; it would be rejected as well, because it would
loosen the leash of power far too much. It is about getting to a position of
power and retaining it by all means necessary.
Forty
years after the divide, the Roman Catholics began the Crusades. War, poverty,
disease, and famine were everywhere after Rome fell and this continued for 700
years. This was known the Dark Ages in Europe. During the same period, the
Golden Age of Islam was occurring. Islam was spreading, their economy was
booming, and Europe was in downfall. Pope Urban II was a very political Pope.
After getting elected Pope, he immediately began trying to weaken the support
for rivals. During this same period, the Seljuk Turks barred Christians from
their pilgrimages to Jerusalem, the Holy City. Urban took advantage of this
moment and made a very compelling speech summoning the people to end their
internal fighting and take on “God’s will” and start the righteous war to take
back Jerusalem (History.com, 2009). He promised these men that, by following
God’s will, they would be forgiven of all sins. This was a brutal and bloody
war and the Europeans were initially losing. Their numbers were the deciding
factor and they were able to conquer Jerusalem at this time.
This
event could only have occurred because of the previous changes in the church
that occurred. The fact that Pope Stephen I declared that the Pope has such power,
Pope Urban II was able to use his position to march a country into a religious
war. This conflict continued back and forth for 200 years and the effects are
still felt today.
Aside from 1095’s schism that split
Roman Catholics and The Orthodox Church apart, the biggest split off from religious
tradition was in 1517. At this time there was a monk named Martin Luther who
believed that there were inconsistencies with scripture and the practices of
the Church. This led him to send a hand-written copy of his “95 Theses” to
Archbishop Albert of Mainz and Magdeburg and to the bishop of Brandenburg as a
challenge to the practices of the Roman Catholic Church (Martin Luther, 2004).
This document had two main beliefs: the Bible is the central religious
authority and humans can only reach salvation through faith and not by deeds. Lutheranism spread quickly in northern Europe. It was
the perfect time to make the move to separate because:
The corruption of the Catholic Church in Germany:
Indulgences,
relics, and priests who did not fulfill their duties greatly angered many
people who simply felt that they were being conned. At one time there had been two
popes simultaneously. Vast sums of money were flowing out of Germany towards
Rome, which could have been put to very good use in the states that formed
Germany. If the money could have been kept in Germany, society would be
more stable. The state leaders could continue to tax their people, who would
have more money as they would not have to pay their dues to the Catholic
Church. To the common people, the curtain had been pulled and they could see
the power grabbing that was happening before their eyes.
The Appeal of Luther’s Philosophy
The philosophy of Luther effectively took away the power of the
priest. Justification by faith alone was an individual belief. This removed
much of the turmoil in the region.
The peasants were initially pro-Luther as they suffered the most
from the abuses of the Catholic Church. The work done by Luther greatly
benefited them.
Many princes found it beneficial to align themselves against
the Pope and Emperor; especially since joining the reform movement made it
possible to "secularize" church property and seize it for the good of
the people, as administered by the state (Vial, 2008).
People converted quickly to the new views on the church.
What is now known as the Protestant faith is currently about 800 million
strong. This Reformation Movement led the way to the branching off of Lutheranism,
Anglicanism, Calvinism, Anabaptism, and Restoration Movement; all under the
name of Protestantism. This change affects us dramatically to this day. Not
just in the religion itself, but also the belief that sin does not exist and
the very common belief that it really does not matter what you do, as long as
you accept Christ into your heart. It is a very scary thing to think about.
One of the biggest issues with the evolution of
Christianity is language. The bible has been translated into 531 different
languages and partial translations into 2,883 languages (Wycliff, 2014). Of
course this would lead to different interpretations of scripture, but it also
has led to completely different denominations. A common example of this is the
Jehovah’s Witnesses. There are currently 8.5 million members of this religion.
This group is directed by the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses, a group of
people in New York, which establishes all doctrines. Though they base their
interpretations on the Bible, they use their own translation called The New
World Translation of the Holy Scriptures. Their big belief is that Armageddon
is imminent and that they must establish God’s kingdom throughout Earth to
solve all of humanity’s problems. The way that they try to accomplish this is
through their most notable door-to-door preaching and distribution of their literature.
This group does not shy away from admitting their strong political stances.
They are known for refusing military service, refusing to salute flags, and are
very against secular societies, and oftentimes limit their interaction with non-Witnesses.
They take a strong stand for mixing Church and State. They are also well known
for ostracizing people who leave the church. This method is totally opposite of
making their religion easy like the Protestants did. They want to scare you and
indoctrinate you into their religion.
A different route was taken for one
of the newest forms of Christianity. Instead of modifying the already written
pieces of scripture, they came up with a brand new one. The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter Day Saints is based on the idea that everything in the Bible
is true, but a new book was found that takes the religion in a different
direction—The Book of Mormon. As the story is told, this new book was found on
golden tablets in New York in Joseph Smith’s back yard and translated into
English. In this new book, the locations of the Holy Lands are drastically
changed. According to the Book of Mormon, the Garden of Eden was in Missouri
and the Exodus was led into Utah (Book of Mormon). This idea is so brilliant.
It takes everything about Christianity and makes it American. America is
already so nationalistic that the idea of having a religion that began in
America is amazing to so many. Imagine this: You are a person raised as a Christian
but never really learned much about it. You know you love Christ but you just
never were taught about him. Then one day, ‘Ding, Dong!” You answer the door
and two young men in nice white shirts tell you about how this God that you
love is actually an American! How exciting that could be. And so, this 200 year
old religion has grown to 15.5 million members and is increasing around the
world.
“We
require baptisms to newborns!” says the Catholic. “Well we believe that only
knowledgeable, consenting adults should be baptized, not our infants!” says the
Baptist. “Well, I guess we better start our own church.” “Well we think that
Jesus died for our sins, abolishing sin,” Says the Protestant. “Better start
our own church.” “Well the new prophet just found the newest book of the bible
and we think it supersedes the previous books, so we’re going to start our own
church,” Says the Mormon.
The
truth is, whether or not all the books of the Bible are true is irrelevant. It
is very clear that there is an overarching theme throughout history and that
theme is power. We saw the original movement by Jesus and it was very strong,
but it was political. We saw numerous changes throughout time, but it was
always to address a power struggle.
Constantine
brought everyone together in an attempt to unite the people under his rule, not
some divine intervention; Pope Stephen I declaring that he has authority was
about the power of him and the church, not right and wrong; Henry VIII wanted
to get an annulment and made religion about him. Even Joseph Smith and Brigham
Young took advantage of their Cult-like beginning by taking on many wives and
ostracizing many of the other males in their groups. That is a move of power
and pleasure that you see in lions in a conquest to be king, not something you
see in the noble.
The breakdown of Christianity by denomination shows
the astounding number of different beliefs systems underneath the name “Christianity.”
Catholicism -
1.2 billion
·
Catholic Church – 1.17 billion
·
Breakaway Catholic Churches - 28 million
Protestantism -
800 million
·
Historical Protestantism - 300-400 million
·
Modern Protestantism- 400-500 million
Eastern Orthodoxy 225-300
million
·
Autocephalous churches in communion -240
million
·
Autonomous churches in communion- 12 million
·
Non-universally recognized Churches- 25
million
·
Other separated Orthodox Groups-10
million
Oriental
Orthodoxy - 86 million
·
Autocephalous churches in communion-85
million
·
Autonomous churches in communion- 0.78
million
·
Churches not in communion- 1.7 million
Anglicanism - 85
million
·
Anglican Communion- 80 million
·
Continuing Anglican movement and independent
Anglican Churches- 1.5 million
Restorationism and Non-Trinitarianism-41 million
·
Latter Day Saint Movement -15.5 million
·
Iglesia ni Cristo 10 million
·
Jehovah’s Witnesses-8.2 million
·
Oneness Pentecostalism-6 million
·
La Luz del Mundo- 1-7 million
·
Unitarian Universalism-0.6 million
·
Church of Christ, Scientist- 0.4 million
·
Friends of Man-0.07 million
·
Christadelphians 0.06 million
Church
of the East- 0.6 million
·
Assyrian Church of the East-0.5 million
·
Ancient Church of the East- 0.1 million
To
elaborate further, given all of these denominations there are dozens more of
other belief branches (List of Christian denominations by number of members,
2015). It proves one simple thing: People will always believe what is easiest
and history just shows that religious leaders will always take advantage of
this in their quest for more power.
·
Works Cited
Mann,
Horace. (1913). Pope St. Stephen I.
Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 14.
Stone, Michael E., "The
Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha," American-Israeli Cooperative
Enterprise, 2011. Web. 22 Jun. 2011.
Vial, Ted (2008). Religion Library: Lutheran. Patheos
Library. Patheos Press. Retreived
on August 22, 2015 from
The Apocrypha. (2015) Internet Sacred Text Archive.
John Bruno Hare, 2010. Friday
August 21, 2015. http://sacred-texts.com/chr/apo/index.htm.
Bible. (2011) Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia
Britannica Online. Encyclopedia
Britannica. Friday
August 21, 2015. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/64396/Bible.
Biblical Literature. (2015). Encyclopædia
Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
Encyclopædia Britannica. Friday
August 21, 2015.
List
of Christian Denominations by Number of Members (2015). Wikipedia. Retrieved
August 22, 2015 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christian_denominations_by_number_of_members
Martin Luther. (2004) Encyclopedia
of World Biography. Retrieved August 22, 2015
Nicene Creed. (2015). In Encyclopædia
Britannica. Retrieved Friday August 21, 2015
Pope
Urban II Orders First Crusade (2009). History.com.
A+E Networks. Retrieved
August 22, 2015 from
Quinisext
Council. (2015). In Encyclopedia Britannica.
Retrieved August 21, 2015 from
Scripture & Langauge
Statistics (2014). Wycliffe Gobal
Alliance. Retrieved August 22,
2015
from http://www.wycliffe.net/statistics
A
Timeline of Church History. (2015) St.
Igatius Orthodox Church. Midison, Wisconsin.
Retrieved Friday August 21, 2015 from http://saintignatiuschurch.org/timeline/
