Jesus- Messiah promised in Old Testament
Mary as his mother has a very important role in Christianity
She is a role model for mothers
Original Sin: sin is a condition, not something that people do: It's the normal spiritual and psychological condition of human beings, not their bad thoughts and actions. Even a newborn baby who hasn't done anything at all is damaged by original sin. (BBC)
John the Baptist In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”…Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him…and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. (Novak)
Canonical Gospels are accepted as the only authentic ones by the great majority of Christians
The first three are effectively different editions of the same materials, and for that reason are known as the 'synoptic gospels'.
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Mystical Gospel:St. John's Gospel is a mystical reflection on the Word Made Flesh, Jesus Christ. This theologically profound Gospel is composed by the beloved disciple John, who dined next to Jesus at the Last Supper. John's Gospel gives a fresh depiction of the life, passion, death, and Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. The "hour" of his Passion expresses his Kingship and His triumphant road to glory. For example, the three predictions of his passion (3:14-15, 8:28, 12:31-33) are expressed by the verb ὑψóω - to exalt or lift up. Remember that John was the only Apostle at the foot of the Cross with Mary. Jesus, when dying on the Cross, gave his Mother Mary to John (19:25-27).
biblescripture.net
The Gospel of Thomas surfaced in the archaeological discovery of the Nag Hammadi Library around 1945. Unlike the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, it does not narrate Jesus’ life but is solely a collection of one hundred and fourteen of his sayings. Many echo the canonical Gospels, but some do not. With the exception of number f below, I have chosen those that are largely unique to the Gospel of Thomas and that have a mystical flavor. My selections are not meant to be representative of the Gospel of Thomas as a whole. (Novak)
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In the Gospel of Mary, she is the one in charge, telling the disciples about Jesus' teachings. At this point Peter asks Mary to tell them some things that she might have heard, but which the other disciples haven't. She says "Yes, I will tell you what has been hidden from you". She talks about a vision she had of Jesus and a conversation that she had with him. As the Gospel tells it, Mary then relates the details of this conversation, which is to do with spiritual development and the soul's lifelong battle with evil.
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The Gospel of Judas is a non-canonical Gnostic gospel. The content consists of conversations between Jesus and Judas Iscariot. Given that it includes late 2nd century theology, it is widely thought to have been composed in the 2nd century by Gnostic Christians, rather than the historic Judas himself.
Gnostic writings flourished among certain Christian groups in the Mediterranean world until about the second century, when the Fathers of the early Church denounced them as heresy.
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The great schism The doctrine of the Christian Church was established over the centuries at Councils dating from as early as 325CE where the leaders from all the Christian communities were represented. The Eastern Church recognizes the authority of the Councils of Nicea 325 CE, Constantinople : : I (381), Ephesus (431) Chalcedon (451) Constantinople II (553), Constantinople III (680) and Nicaea II (787).
Paul of Tarsus was a Pharisee, one of a group of Jews who policed the boundary of the law and made sure that they and others were faithful to the law of Moses. Paul was an extremely passionate Jew and he often uses the word 'zeal' of himself. One of the most fascinating stories about Paul is his incredible transformation on the Damascus road but one thing that doesn't change in this transformation is his passion. He just becomes passionate for a different cause.
Trinity:There is One God, who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were to liberate Jerusalem and its surrounding area from Islamic rule.
Marcion of Sinope (/ˈmɑːrʃən, -ʃiən, -siən/; Greek: Μαρκίων[1][note 1] Σινώπης; c. 85 – c. 160) was an early Christian theologian,[2] an evangelist,[2] and an important figure in early Christianity.[
Early Church Fathers such as Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, and Tertullian denounced Marcion as a heretic, and he was excommunicated by the church of Rome around 144.
Although initially the Eastern and Western Christians shared the same faith, the two traditions began to divide after the seventh Ecumenical Council in 787 CE and is commonly believed to have finally split over the conflict with Rome in the so called Great Schism in 1054.
The Orthodox Church is one of the three main Christian groups (the others being Roman Catholic and Protestant). Around 200 million people follow the Orthodox tradition.
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Reform movements on the Continent were successfully influencing their governments to bring about change. In England reformers were a tiny minority: people who wanted changes in the medieval Catholicism that had dominated for centuries. Reformation really took off under Henry's Protestant educated son, Edward VI.
Luter
"This is the meaning of the Protestant rallying cry, "Justification by faith alone." It does not mean that the Creeds or the Sacraments are unimportant. It means that unless these are accompanied by the experience of God's love and a returning love for God, they are insufficient."(Smith 358)
In response to these divergences, particularly with regard to beliefs as to whether Jesus was purely divine, purely human, or somehow both, the emperor Constantine called the first great Christian Council at Nicaea in 325 C.E. Out of that council came the Nicene Creed, a nuanced and doctrinally precise statement of Christian orthodoxy.
John Calvin is known for his influential Institutes of the Christian Religion (1536), which was the first systematic theological treatise of the reform movement. He stressed the doctrine of predestination, and his interpretations of Christian teachings, known as Calvinism, are characteristic of Reformed churches.