REINCARNATIONRR
CHRISTIANITY
"Do to others whatever you would have them do to you"
Jesus, Matthew 7:12
For a long time it has seemed to me that life was about to begin; Real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be got through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life.
Father Albert D'Souza
OVERVIEW
Christianity is the largest religion in the world with approximately 3.3 billion Christians representing about 47% of the total population of the world. The largest Christian country is the United States which has about 150 million members. The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is, the largest Christian church, with more than 1.25 billion members worldwide; the Latin Catholic Church 1.15 billion members and Protestantism - 600–800 million. In the late 20th Century the membership in Catholicism was declining, but appears to have begun a climb back in the early 21st Century. The reigning Pope is Francis ,an extremely humble and compassionate man.
Protestantism is more a definition of the group of churches that broke off from the Roman Catholic Church during the sixteenth century rather than a religion in and of itself. All protestant churches can trace their roots back to the protestant reformation that was initiated by Martin Luther when he wrote his 95 thesis and nailed it to the door of the Wittenburg Church. Following his questioning of the Holy Roman Empire, others started to question their authority and beliefs as well. .
The term "protestant" was originally meant to denote someone who was "a witness" rather than someone "against" something. Most early protestant figures saw themselves as trying to correct problems within the Roman Catholic Church rather than trying to rebel against it. Today, the term protestant describes any sect or religion that had its basis originally in the Catholic Church but broke away to form their own organization. These protestant families include religious sects such as Lutheran, Presbyterian, Anglican, Episcopal, Baptist and Calvinists. In later centuries, there would be many splinter groups from these early protestant religions such as Methodists, Evangelical Churches and Pentecostals. Today there are hundreds of different denominations that originally derived from the reformation movement.
The followers of the Catholic Church believe that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was a virgin all through out her life and that the birth of Jesus Christ was a real miracle. On the other hand, the followers of Protestant Church do not consider Mary to have remained a virgin after the birth of Jesus.
Protestants are very religious and give as much importance to the church as they give to their homes. The Protestants place more emphasis on the bible when compared to the Catholics. Unlike the protestant church, the Catholic Churches tend to be more decorated.
Christianity is one of the three Abrahamic monotheistic religions like Judaism and Islam. Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God, fully divine and fully human, and the savior of humanity who’s coming as Christ the Messiah was prophesied in the Old Testament of the Bible.
Theoretically, Christianity began with the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, the “Christ”, in the year ZERO. The Anglican calendar measures the years from the birth of Christ. For example it is presently the year 2015 so that it has been that many years since the birth of Christ. In truth, no one knows the exact day, month or year of Christ’s birth.
Christianity is based on the life of Jesus Christ. His story, briefly is as follows:
Jesus was born in Israel more than 2000 years ago. His birth marks the end of the period B.C. (Before Christ) and the beginning of the A.D. period (Anno Domini, or the Year of Our Lord). Most of his life was told in the four Gospels of the New Testament of the Christian Bible, written by the Apostles- Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Because these stories were not actual biographies and all rather allegorical accounts with the purpose of telling the story of Christ and of spreading his religion, the actual historic data regarding the life of Jesus Christ is scarce.
Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Judea, a part of the present-day West Bank in the Palestinian Territories. He was born to Mary, who was a virgin engaged to a local carpenter by the name of Joseph. Since a virgin cannot become pregnant, Christians believe that the birth of Jesus was the result of Immaculate Conception. According to Matthew, Jesus was born during the reign of Herod the Great, who, upon hearing that a miraculous child was to be born, ordered all of the children in that area, under the age of two, to be killed. Fortunately, Joseph was warned about this by an angel so he took the newborn baby and his wife to Egypt, where they stayed until Herod died and it was safe for them to return. They settled in Nazareth, Galilee.
Not much is known about the early life of Jesus Christ. It is believed that since his teenage years he was working as a carpenter, continuing the family business. It is widely believed that his ministry began when he was 30. Jesus encountered John the Baptist, who saw him as the Son of God and baptized him in the River Jordan. After he was baptized, Jesus went into the desert to meditate and fast for 40 days and 40 nights in what is known as the Temptation of Christ.
After that, Jesus started traveling the land, teaching and performing miracles. This went on for three years before the Roman governors and Jewish leaders learned about him and immediately saw him as a danger to their interests. Because he claimed he was the Son of God, which was a violation of the Jewish law, Jewish leaders asked the Romans to execute him. The execution was authorized by Pilate, governor of the Southern province of Israel.
Jesus was brutally tortured and hung on a cross. It is believed that he died in less than three hours. However, three days later, he came back to life in front of hundreds of witnesses. He traveled for another 40 days before going back to Jerusalem where he rose up into the sky.
After this miraculous event, the number of his followers and believers increased by thousands each day. The new religion was repressed during the first three centuries and it was only in 325 A.D. at the Counsel of Nicaea that it became the official religion in the Roman Empire, under the emperor Constantine , who himself was never a Christian.
CENTRAL ORGANIZATION
Because there are many denominations in Christianity we will focus on the largest, Catholicism. It’s headquarters is located in the Vatican in Rome, Italy.
The internal structure of the Catholic Church is as follows:
Pope
Cardinals
Archbishops
Bishops
Monsignors
Priests
Brothers
Nuns (women )
Lay Clergy
Lay persons
The Catholic Church is led by clergy who have received the sacrament of Holy Orders. There are three levels of clergy, the episcopate (bishops), whose members are usually given a geographical area to lead called a diocese or eparchy; the presbyterate (priests), who usually serve the bishops by leading local parishes; and the diaconate (deacons), who serve the bishops and priests in a variety of ministerial roles. Ultimately leading the entire Catholic Church is the Bishop of Rome, commonly called the Pope. In parallel to the diocesan structure are a variety of religious institutes that function autonomously, often subject only to the authority of the Pope, though sometimes subject to the local bishop. Most religious institutes only have male or female members but some have both. Additionally, lay members aid many liturgical functions during worship services
CREATIONIST BELIEF
God called into existence the heaven and earth. Within six days He shaped a world of order and beauty. The Christian Creationist story is found in the BOOK of GENESIS of the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. It is as follows:
The First Day-On the first day, God said, “Let there be Light” -- and there was Light.
The Second Day-On the second day God made the sky, and called it Heaven.
The Third Day-On the third day, God put the earth into good shape. At His command the waters of the earth gathered together at certain places. The waters formed seas and oceans, lakes and rivers, so that in other parts, the dry land became visible. At God’s further command, the earth was made to produce all kinds of plants, grass, and trees, shrubs and flowers. Each contained its own seed for further growth and reproduction.
The Fourth Day-On the fourth day, God made the Sun, the Moon, and the Stars, to shed light upon the earth. And so He set a time for day and a time for night, a time for the week, the month, and the year, and a time for each of the four seasons.
The Fifth Day-On the fifth day, God filled the seas with fishes and other water animals. In to the air above the earth He put many birds of all kinds and colors and sizes.
The Sixth Day-On the sixth day, were created all the other animals, large and small, those that walk and those that creep or crawl on the earth. And towards the end of the sixth day, God put a divine soul into a body which He made of earth and clay. This was the human. To the human God granted high mental ability that one could think and reach one’s own conclusions. Gd also gave the human the power of speech and He made humans superior to all other creatures of the earth. God placed all the creatures of the earth and the powers of nature in the control of the human
.
The Seventh Day-By the seventh day, everything was created and put into shape and order. And God rested on the seventh day and He glorified it as a day of rest. Therefore we should work for six days and rest on the Seventh day, Shabbat or Sabbath, which God blessed and sanctified for all time to come.
Christians generally accept the written story of the Bible and see the “days” of creation as literal “days”.
VISION OF GOD
Christians see God as an anthropomorphic Supreme Being. He has made man in his image, therefore he looks like man. He is generally pictured as an old man wearing a robe, with longhair and a long beard seated on a throne in a cloud in Heaven surrounded by angles and Saint Peter guards the Pearly Gates, the entrance to heaven.
God always was and always will be. He is the Creator of everything. He knows all, sees all and hears all. He answers prayers by granting or denying them. He judges the living and the dead. He is a daily and constant presence in every Christian’s life.
God is three persons in one. The Father, the Son (Jesus) and the Holy Spirit.
God is merciful, but can be cruel. He can grant one eternal happiness or sentence one to eternal suffering and damnation in Hell.
Denominations
Although the following is a very long list it is presented here to show diversity of Christianity.
NOTE: when looking at the below keep in mind that the entire Jewish Religion, Worldwide, has only about 12 million members total.
Wikipedia list the Christian denominations as follows
:
*****
Catholic Church - 1,166 million ( 1.166 billion)
Latin Church - 1,149 million (1.149 billion)
Eastern Catholic Churches - 17 million
Alexandrian Rite
Ethiopian Catholic Church - 0.2 million
Coptic Catholic Church - 0.2 million
Antiochene Rite
Maronite Catholic Church - 3.1 million
Syro-Malankara Catholic Church - 0.4 million
Syriac Catholic Church - 0.1 million
Armenian Rite
Armenian Catholic Church - 0.4 million
Chaldean Rite
Syro-Malabar Catholic Church - 3.8 million
Chaldean Catholic Church - 0.4 million
Byzantine Rite
Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church - 4.3 million
Melkite Greek Catholic Church - 1.3 million
Romanian Catholic Church - 0.7 million
Ruthenian Catholic Church - 0.5 million
Hungarian Greek Catholic Church - 0.3 million
Slovak Greek Catholic Church - 0.2 million
Italo-Albanian Catholic Church - 0.1 million
Belarusian Greek Catholic Church - 0.1 million
Georgian Byzantine Catholic Church - 0.01 million
Albanian Byzantine Catholic Church - 0.01 million
Bulgarian Greek Catholic Church - 0.01 million
Croatian Greek Catholic Church - 0.01 million
Greek Byzantine Catholic Church - 0.01 million
Macedonian Greek Catholic Church - 0.01 million
Russian Greek Catholic Church - 0.01 million
Breakaway Catholic Churches - 25 million
Philippine Independent Church - 6 million
Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association - 5 million
Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church - 5 million
Old Catholic Church - 0.6 million
Society of St. Pius X - 0.5 million
Polish National Catholic Church - 0.025 million
Protestantism - 600–800 million
A map of Protestantism (including Anglicanism) by population percentage.
Estimates of the total number of Protestants are very uncertain, partly because of the difficulty in determining which denominations should be placed in the category. It seems however clear that Protestantism is the second largest major group of Christians after Catholicism by number of followers. Often that number is put at 800 million. Some sources, which put the number at 800 million, include also Anglicanism within Protestantism. However, the 33,000 Protestant denominations in the world differ vastly to slightly theologically and do not form a single communion.
Historical Protestantism - 500 million
Baptist churches - 100 million
Southern Baptist Convention - 16.3 million
National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. - 8.5 million
National Baptist Convention of America, Inc. - 3.1 million
Nigerian Baptist Convention - 2.5 million
Progressive National Baptist Convention - 2.5 million
Baptist General Convention of Texas - 2.3 million
Baptist Union of Uganda - 1.5 million
American Baptist Churches USA - 1.4 million
Brazilian Baptist Convention - 1.3 million
Baptist Bible Fellowship International - 1.2 million
Baptist Community of the Congo River - 1 million
National Primitive Baptist Convention of the U.S.A. - 1 million
National Missionary Baptist Convention of America - 1 million
Association of Reformed Baptists churches in America - 1 million
Independent Calvinistic Baptists - 5 million
Myanmar Baptist Convention - 0.9 million
Samavesam of Telugu Baptist Churches - 0.8 million
Korea Baptist Convention - 0.8 million
Baptist Convention of Kenya - 0.8 million
Council of Baptist Churches in Northeast India - 0.6 million
Cooperative Baptist Fellowship - 0.5 million
Nagaland Baptist Church Council - 0.5 million
Baptist Convention in Tanzania - 0.5 million
Orissa Evangelical Baptist Crusade - 0.5 million
Baptist General Association of Virginia - 0.5 million
National Baptist Convention (Brazil) - 0.4 million
Church of Christ in Congo–Baptist Community of Congo - 0.4 million
Convention of Philippine Baptist Churches - 0.3
American Baptist Association - 0.3 million
Union of Baptist Churches in Rwanda - 0.3 million
Association of Baptist Churches in Rwanda - 0.3 million
Garo Baptist Convention - 0.2 million
Baptist Community of Western Congo - 0.2 million
Baptist Missionary Association of America - 0.2 million
Conservative Baptist Association of America - 0.2 million
National Association of Free Will Baptists - 0.2 million
Canadian Baptist Ministries - 0.2 million
National Baptist Convention of Mexico - 0.2 million
Manipur Baptist Convention - 0.2 million
Convention of Baptist Churches of the Northern Circars - 0.2 million
Baptist Community in Central Africa - 0.2 million
Baptist Convention of Malawi - 0.2 million
Lutheranism - 75 million[21]
Evangelical Church in Germany - 24.5 million
Church of Sweden - 6.7 million
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania - 5.6 million
Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus - 5.3 million
United Evangelical Lutheran Churches in India - 4.5 million
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America - 4.5 million
Church of Denmark - 4.5 million
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland - 4.4 million
Batak Christian Protestant Church - 4.2 million
Church of Norway - 4.0 million
Christian Protestant Church in Indonesia - 3.6 million
Malagasy Lutheran Church - 3.0 million
Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod - 2.5 million
The Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria - 1.9 million
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea - 0.9 million
Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession in Brazil - 0.7 million
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia - 0.7 million
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa - 0.6 million
Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Namibia - 0.4 million
Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod - 0.4 million
Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Slovakia - 0.4 million
The Indonesian Protestant Church - 0.4 million
The Protestant Christian Church - 0.4 million
Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Austria - 0.3 million
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Cameroon - 0.2 million
Church of Iceland - 0.2 million
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Brazil - 0.2 million
Simalungun Protestant Christian Church - 0.2 million
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Zimbabwe - 0.2 million
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia - 0.2 million
Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Hungary - 0.2 million
Protestant Church of Augsburg Confession of Alsace and Lorraine - 0.2 million
The Lutheran Council of Great Britain - 0.2 million
Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church - 0.2 million
Methodism - 75 million
United Methodist Church - 12 million
African Methodist Episcopal Church - 2.5 million
Methodist Church Nigeria - 2 million
Church of the Nazarene - 2 million
Methodist Church of Southern Africa - 1.7 million
Korean Methodist Church - 1.5 million
African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church - 1.5 million
The Salvation Army - 1.4 million [35]
United Methodist Church of Ivory Coast - 1 million
Free Methodist Church - 0.9 million
Christian Methodist Episcopal Church - 0.9 million
Methodist Church Ghana - 0.8 million
Methodist Church in India - 0.6 million
Methodist Church in Kenya - 0.5 million
Wesleyan Church - 0.4 million
Evangelical Free Church of America - 0.4 million
Methodist Church of Great Britain - 0.3 million
Methodist Church in Brazil - 0.2 million
Reformed churches - 85 million-100 million
Presbyterianism - 55 million
Presbyterian Church of East Africa - 4.0 million
Presbyterian Church of Africa - 3.4 million
United Church of Canada - 2.8 million
Church of Christ in Congo–Presbyterian Community of Congo - 2.5 million
Presbyterian Church of Korea - 2.4 million
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) - 1.8 million
Presbyterian Church of Cameroon - 1.8 million
Church of Central Africa, Presbyterian - 1.3 million
Church of Scotland - 1.1 million
Presbyterian Church of the Sudan - 1.0 million
Presbyterian Church in Cameroon - 0.7 million
Presbyterian Church of Brazil - 0.7 million
Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana - 0.6 million
United Church of Christ in the Philippines - 0.5 million
Presbyterian Church of Nigeria - 0.5 million
Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa - 0.5 million
Presbyterian Church of Pakistan - 0.4 million
Presbyterian Church in Ireland - 0.3 million
Uniting Church in Australia - 0.3 million
Presbyterian Church in America - 0.3 million
Presbyterian Church of Korea - 0.3 million
Presbyterian Church in Rwanda - 0.3 million
Presbyterian Church in Taiwan - 0.3 million
Continental Reformed churches - 35-40 million
Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar - 3.5 million
United Church of Zambia - 3.0 million
Protestant Church in the Netherlands - 2.5 million
Swiss Reformed Church - 2.4 million
Evangelical Church of Cameroon - 2.0 million
Protestant Evangelical Church in Timor - 2.0 million
Dutch Reformed Church - 1.1 million
Christian Evangelical Church in Minahasa - 0.7 million
United Church in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands - 0.6 million
Protestant Church in Western Indonesia - 0.6 million
Evangelical Christian Church in Tanah Papua - 0.6 million
Protestant Church in the Moluccas - 0.6 million
Reformed Church in Hungary - 0.6 million
Reformed Church in Romania - 0.6 million
Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa - 0.5 million
Toraja Church - 0.4 million
Reformed Church of France - 0.4 million
Lesotho Evangelical Church - 0.3 million
Evangelical Christian Church in Halmahera - 0.3 million
Christian Church of Sumba - 0.3 million
Karo Batak Protestant Church - 0.3 million
Reformed Church in America - 0.3 million
Christian Reformed Church in North America - 0.3 million
Christian Reformed Church of Nigeria - 0.3 million
Reformed Church in Zambia - 0.3 million
Kalimantan Evangelical Church - 0.2 million
Javanese Christian Churches - 0.2 million
Indonesia Christian Church - 0.2 million
Church of Christ in the Sudan Among the Tiv - 0.2 million
Church of Lippe - 0.2 million
Evangelical Church of Congo - 0.2 million
Evangelical Church of Gabon - 0.2 million
Christian Evangelical Church of Sangihe Talaud - 0.2 million
Central Sulawesi Christian Church - 0.2 million
Evangelical Reformed Church in Bavaria and Northwestern Germany - 0.2 million
Non-Denominational Calvinist Churches - 10 million
Congregationalism - 7 million
United Church of Christ - 1.2 million
Evangelical Congregational Church in Angola - 0.9 million
United Congregational Church of Southern Africa - 0.5 million
Anabaptism and Schwarzenau Brethren - 3.5 million
Schwarzenau Brethren/German Baptist groups - 1.5 million
Mennonites - 1.7 million
Amish - 0.25 million
Hutterites - 0.05 million
Hussites - 1 million
Moravians - 0.825 million
Czechoslovak Hussite Church - 0.14 million
Unity of the Brethren - 0.035 million
Quakers (Religious Society of Friends) - 0.4 million
Modern Protestantism - 464 million
Pentecostalism - 279 million
Assemblies of God - 65 million
Fangcheng Fellowship - 12 million
International Circle of Faith - 11 million
China Gospel Fellowship - 10 million
Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee) - 9 million
International Church of the Foursquare Gospel - 8 million
Church of God in Christ - 6.5 million
Apostolic Church - 6 million
Jesus is Lord Church - 6 million
International Pentecostal Holiness Church - 4 million
United Pentecostal Church International - 4 million
The Pentecostal Mission - 2.5 million
Christian Congregation of Brazil - 2.5 million
True Jesus Church - 2.5 million
Church of Pentecost - 2.1 million
Universal Church of the Kingdom of God - 2 million
Pentecostal Assemblies of the World - 1.5 million
Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa - 1.2 million
Church of God of Prophecy - 1.5 million
Association of Pentecostal Churches of Rwanda - 1 million
God is Love Pentecostal Church - 0.8 million
Nondenominational evangelicalism - 80 million
Calvary Chapel - 25 million
Born Again Movement - 20 million
Association of Vineyard Churches - 15 million
Christian and Missionary Alliance - 4 million
True Jesus Church - 2.5 million
Church of God (Anderson, Indiana) - 1.2 million
African initiated Protestant churches - 60 million
Zion Christian Church - 15 million
Eternal Sacred Order of Cherubim and Seraphim - 10 million
Kimbanguist Church - 5.5 million
Church of the Lord (Aladura) - 3.6 million
Council of African Instituted Churches - 3 million
Church of Christ Light of the Holy Spirit - 1.4 million
African Church of the Holy Spirit - 0.7 million
African Israel Church Nineveh - 0.5 million
Seventh-day Adventist Church - 17 million
New Apostolic Church - 10 million
Chinese-originated and Chinese Independent Churches – 10 million
Local Churches – between 1 and 10 million
Eastern Lightning – 1 million
The Shouters – unknown, probably less than 1 million
Restoration Movement - 7 million
Churches of Christ - 5 million
Christian churches and churches of Christ - 1.1 million
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) - 0.7 million
Plymouth Brethren - 1 million
Eastern Orthodoxy - 225–300 million
Autocephalous churches - 240 million
Russian Orthodox Church - 150 million
Romanian Orthodox Church - 23 million
Church of Greece - 15 million
Serbian Orthodox Church - 11.5 million
Bulgarian Orthodox Church - 10 million
Georgian Orthodox Church - 3.5 million
Greek Orthodox Church of Constantinople - 3.5 million
Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch - 2.5 million
Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria - 1.5 million
Orthodox Church in America - 1.2 million
Polish Orthodox Church - 1 million
Albanian Orthodox Church - 0.8 million
Church of Cyprus - 0.7 million
Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem - 0.14 million
Czech and Slovak Orthodox Church - 0.07 million
Autonomous churches - 12 million
Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) - 7.2 million
Moldovan Orthodox Church - 3.2 million
Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia - 1.25 million
Metropolitan Church of Bessarabia - 0.62 million
Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric - 0.34 million
Estonian Orthodox Church - 0.3 million
Patriarchal Exarchate in Western Europe - 0.15 million
Finnish Orthodox Church - 0.08 million
Chinese Orthodox Church - 0.03 million
Japanese Orthodox Church - 0.02 million
Latvian Orthodox Church - 0.02 million
Non-universally recognized churches - 11 million
Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Kyiv Patriarchate) - 5.5 million
Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church - 3.8 million
Belarusian Autocephalous Orthodox Church - 2.4 million
Macedonian Orthodox Church - 2 million
Orthodox Church of Greece (Holy Synod in Resistance) - 0.75 million
Old Calendar Romanian Orthodox Church - 0.50 million
Old Calendar Bulgarian Orthodox Church - 0.45 million
Orthodox Church in Italy - 0.12 million
Montenegrin Orthodox Church - 0.05 million
Other separated Orthodox groups - 10 million
Old Believers - 5.5 million
Greek Old Calendarists - 0.86 million
True Orthodox Church - 0.85 million
Oriental Orthodoxy - 86 million
Autocephalous churches in communion
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church - 48 million
Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria - 15.5 million
Armenian Apostolic Church - 8 million
Syriac Orthodox Church - 6.6 million
Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church - 2.5 million
Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church - 2 million
Armenian Orthodox Church of Cilicia - 1.5 million
Autonomous churches in communion
Jacobite Syrian Christian Church - 1.2 million
Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople - 0.42 million
Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem - 0.34 million
French Coptic Orthodox Church - 0.01 million
British Orthodox Church - 0.01 million
Churches not in communion
Mar Thoma Syrian Church - 1.1 million
Malabar Independent Syrian Church - 0.06 million
Anglicanism - 85 million
Anglican Communion - 80 million
Church of England - 25.0 million
Church of Nigeria - 18.0 million
Church of Uganda - 8.1 million
Anglican Church of Kenya - 5.0 million
Episcopal Church of Sudan - 4.5 million
Church of South India - 4 million
Anglican Church of Australia - 3.9 million
Anglican Church of Southern Africa - 2.3 million
Episcopal Church in the United States - 2.1 million
Anglican Church of Tanzania - 2.0 million
Anglican Church of Canada - 2.0 million
Church of North India - 1.5 million
Anglican Church of Rwanda - 1.0 million
Church of the Province of Central Africa - 0.9 million
Anglican Church of Burundi - 0.8 million
Church in the Province of the West Indies - 0.8 million
Church of the Province of the Indian Ocean - 0.5 million
Church of Christ in Congo–Anglican Community of Congo - 0.5 million
Church of Pakistan - 0.5 million[148]
Church of Ireland - 0.4 million
Church of the Province of West Africa - 0.3 million
Church of the Province of Melanesia - 0.2 million
Continuing Anglican movement and independent Anglican churches - 1.5 million
Traditional Anglican Communion - 0.4 million
Church of England in South Africa - 0.1 million
Restorationism and Non-Trinitarianism - 41 million
Latter Day Saint movement - 15.2 million
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormonism) - 15 million
Community of Christ - 0.2 million
Iglesia ni Cristo - 10 million
Jehovah's Witnesses - 7.65 million
Oneness Pentecostalism - 6 million
United Pentecostal Church International - 4 million
Pentecostal Assemblies of the World - 1.5 million
La Luz del Mundo - between 1 and 7 million
Unitarian Universalism - 0.6 million
Unitarian Universalist Association - 0.2 million
Note: Unitarian Universalism, which counts 0.6 million adherents,[161] developed out of Christian traditions but no longer identifies as a Christian denomination.
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
RELIGIOUS TEXTS
The single most important text in Christianity is the Bible containing the Old and New Testaments. However, there are many forms of the Bible by denomination. They include, but are not limited to, the Catholic Bible, King James Version, New King James Version, New American Standard Bible, Good News Translation, Mormon Bible, Common English Bible and New International Version. There are also many other versions of the in English and other languages.
After the bible there are the CANONS, which are books which interpret the Books of the bible.
There are many, many other forms of Christian text (like Ecumenical creeds) but they are far too numerous to list here.
RELIGIOUS BELIEFS
The basic belief of Christianity is: “Do unto other as you would have them do unto you” ,which is known as the "Golden Rule".
The basic laws of Christianity are found in the 10 commandments as recorded in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5. They are the 10 laws issued by God to help Christian people live in accordance with the Bible's teachings. God issued the 10 commandments on Mount Sinai along with trumpets, smoke and earthquakes to emphasize their importance. His audience was Moses, who recorded the commandments
.
The 10 commandments are:
1. "You shall have no other Gods before me."
2."You shall not make for yourselves an idol."
3. "You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God."
4. "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy."
5. "Honor your father and your mother."
6. "You shall not murder."
7."You shall not commit adultery."
8."You shall not steal."
9."You shall not give false testimony."
10."You shall not covet."
They believe that every individual is born with “Original Sin” from what Adam and Eve did by disobeying God in the Garden of Eden and that only by Baptism into the Christian Church can that sin be cleansed form ones soul so that one can enter Heaven.
Christians believe that Jesus Christ is the Lord God and Savior and only by accepting him can one who has been baptized and sinned be saved and go to Heaven.
Christians believe that irrespective of how bad a life one may have lived one can still enter Heaven if he/she accepts Jesus Christ as one’s personal God and Savior repents his/her sins and is forgiven by the Church before death.
Generally, Christians believe that they should oppose such evils as racism, greed, adultery, homosexuality, pornography, abortion and exploitation of the poor and the weak. In the past few years the opposition to homosexuality has weakened.
Christians believe that they must defend their faith, even unto death.
Catholics believe that extraordinarily righteous Christians can become “Saints” if three miracles can be officially proven by those praying to them for help. Saints are generally Christians that have entered Heaven.
RELIGIOUS PRACTICES
Christians generally have seven Sacraments which are: Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance, Anointing of the Sick (including the Last Rites), Holy Orders, and Matrimony. While Catholics have seven sacraments whereas the Protestants generally have only two, baptism and marriage. They abstain from Communion (or Eucharist) , because they do not admit that the Host is the flesh of Jesus .
Every Christian must go to church for Mass or Services on Sundays and observe the religious holidays. Some Denominations have “tithing” or give a certain percentage of their income (generally about 10%) to the church each year.
Many cities and towns ,as well as many vocations , have 'Patron Saints" to which they pray for protection and guidance , which is similar to Hindu minor deities practice.
HOLIDAYS
Listed below is a list of Christian Holidays for 2015. Some of the dates change every year.
Thursday, January 1, 2015 Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God
Tuesday, January 6, 2015 Epiphany
Thursday, February 12, 2015 Fat Thursday
Tuesday, February 17, 2015 Shrove Tuesday (Mardi Gras)
Wednesday, February 18, 2015 Ash Wednesday
Sunday, March 29, 2015 Palm Sunday
Thursday, April 2, 2015 Maundy Thursday
Friday, April 3, 2015 Good Friday
Sunday, April 5, 2015 Easter
Monday, April 6, 2015 Easter Monday
Thursday, May 14, 2015 Ascension of Jesus
Sunday, May 24, 2015 Pentecost
Thursday, June 4, 2015 Corpus Christi
Saturday, August 15, 2015 Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Sunday, November 1, 2015 All Saints' Day 4 weeks (28 days)
Tuesday, December 8, 2015 Feast of the Immaculate Conception 9 weeks & 2 days (65 days)
Friday, December 25, 2015 Christmas
HEAVEN AND HELL
Christian beliefs in Heaven and Hell are simple and rather straightforward.
Christians believe that a good and righteous life (one where one dies with no sins on one’s soul) will result in a soul going straight to Heaven , which is paradise , to live with God the Saints, the Angles and Jesus, for eternity.
On the other hand is one dies with serious unforgiven and unrepeated sins on one’s soul, then a soul will go to Hell to live with the Devil and his demons and suffer eternal damnation and suffer in the fires of Hell for all eternity.
Christians also believe in Purgatory (which is like the Hell of all other religions) where one is sent after death if one dies with less serious sins on one’s soul. In Purgatory one can serve something like a temporary jail sentence until the sins are forgiven after a time and then one can enter Heaven.
SOCIAL ORDER
Every person is considered equal in the eyes of God and therefore should likewise be considered equal in the social order of society.
Every Christian is under obligation to seek to make the will of Christ supreme in his own life and in human society. Means and methods used for the improvement of society and the establishment of righteousness among men can be truly and permanently helpful only when they are rooted in the regeneration of the individual by the saving grace of God in Christ Jesus.
The Christian should oppose in the spirit of Christ every form of greed, selfishness, and vice. He should work to provide for the orphaned, the needy, the aged, the helpless, and the sick. Every Christian should seek to bring industry, government, and society as a whole under the way of the principles of righteousness, truth and brotherly love. In order to promote these ends, Christians should be ready to work with all men of good will in any good cause, always being careful to act in the spirit of love without compromising their loyalty to Christ and His truth
.
INITIATION
In order to enter the Christian church each person must be baptized to be absolved and forgiven of Original Sin. One who is not baptized cannot be considered to truly be a Christian and be accepted into the Church.
Other forms of initiation are part of the rituals of becoming a member of the Christian Clergy and certain religious groups such as The Knights of Columbus and other social and religious organizations and groups..
PURPOSE OF LIFE
Reason is a unique gift bestowed by God on humans and enables them to reflect on their own nature and conscience, and from that derive knowledge of God's will for creation. But a complete understanding is beyond human reach. To fulfill the goal of wholeness in an existence perfected by both justice and love, something more is needed. Humans are not expected to accomplish the divine plan alone. The fulfillment of God's purpose depends on God's grace. For Christians, grace is God's freely-given favor and love.
In Christianity, the purpose of life is “love”. That is what Jesus came to Earth to teach us. He loved everyone equally and unconditionally. How can one regard oneself above God and put conditions for one's love on another being. We all came alone to this place, stark naked and owned nothing. All that you had was the ability to love your brothers and sisters. Everything is made of by energy, even your soul. Love is the key to perfecting that energy and moving on to a higher dimension. The meaning of your life is to be a candle, burn and spread light around you till you exhaust. The Bible is a sacred documentation of God's teachings. Christianity is a faith named by man. God did not create religion.
The purpose of life is to be true to yourself and listen to your inner voice because only then would you be able to open the doors of your heart and truly accept Jesus and follow his teachings. He will guide you through this life and many lives after this one. You will realize that the purpose of the life that you call yours was given by someone else and so you do not have the right to be selfish enough to call it yours. It was meant to be shared with others. We are all reflections of each other for you shall see yourself in others as they see themselves in you.
CONCLUSION
Christianity is the largest religion in the world for a reason. Part of that reason is that it appeals to some inner need in man to be a part of something grater. Christianity offers a just and moral life as its own reward and punishes an immoral and unjust life. People find contentment in that concept.
Christianity at its core is LOVE. Love of oneself, love of one’s fellow humans and love of God. Christ is the Prophet of that concept. However, the religion is so large, so complex and so old that doctrine and dogma have arisen in it, as in all other religions, where men sought to use religion to empower themselves with wealth, power and fame.
If one wants to understand the true meaning of Christianity one must turn to the oldest books of the Bible and other ancient and original Christian teachings. Anything that has been interpreted by man or church is flawed.
Christianity is a religion that appeals to all people in all areas of the world and in all societies. It is likely to be around for a long, long time to come. It has seen threats to it in the past and has been versatile and strong enough to resist all of those threats and will likely do the same in the future.
Like we said to begin, it is the world’s largest religion for a reason and there is nothing to believe that that reason will change anytime soon.
Scott Ramsey, October 4, 2015
************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
POSTSCRIPT #1:
For an Esoteric view of Christian philosophy please consider the following excerpt from FUNDAMENTALS OF THE ESOTERIC PHILOSOPHY by G. de PURUCKER - chapter 10, p 132 :
"In conclusion, let us remember that while each man has the Christ within himself, and can be "saved" only by that Christ, he can be saved by that inner Christ only when he chooses to save himself; the initiative must come from below, from himself. And while some people, through misunderstanding of this wonderful doctrine of swabhava, may speak of fatalism, we can do no more this evening than to say emphatically that this doctrine is not fatalism. It is absolutely the contrary of the fatalistic hypothesis, which asserts that there is a blind or unknown or conscious or unconscious force outside of man, directing him, driving him, in his choice, acts, and evolution, to annihilation or heaven or hell. That is not the doctrine of swabhava and it is not taught in the esoteric philosophy."
- G. de Purucker, Theosophist
CHRISTIANITY
"Do to others whatever you would have them do to you"
Jesus, Matthew 7:12
For a long time it has seemed to me that life was about to begin; Real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be got through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life.
Father Albert D'Souza
OVERVIEW
Christianity is the largest religion in the world with approximately 3.3 billion Christians representing about 47% of the total population of the world. The largest Christian country is the United States which has about 150 million members. The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is, the largest Christian church, with more than 1.25 billion members worldwide; the Latin Catholic Church 1.15 billion members and Protestantism - 600–800 million. In the late 20th Century the membership in Catholicism was declining, but appears to have begun a climb back in the early 21st Century. The reigning Pope is Francis ,an extremely humble and compassionate man.
Protestantism is more a definition of the group of churches that broke off from the Roman Catholic Church during the sixteenth century rather than a religion in and of itself. All protestant churches can trace their roots back to the protestant reformation that was initiated by Martin Luther when he wrote his 95 thesis and nailed it to the door of the Wittenburg Church. Following his questioning of the Holy Roman Empire, others started to question their authority and beliefs as well. .
The term "protestant" was originally meant to denote someone who was "a witness" rather than someone "against" something. Most early protestant figures saw themselves as trying to correct problems within the Roman Catholic Church rather than trying to rebel against it. Today, the term protestant describes any sect or religion that had its basis originally in the Catholic Church but broke away to form their own organization. These protestant families include religious sects such as Lutheran, Presbyterian, Anglican, Episcopal, Baptist and Calvinists. In later centuries, there would be many splinter groups from these early protestant religions such as Methodists, Evangelical Churches and Pentecostals. Today there are hundreds of different denominations that originally derived from the reformation movement.
The followers of the Catholic Church believe that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was a virgin all through out her life and that the birth of Jesus Christ was a real miracle. On the other hand, the followers of Protestant Church do not consider Mary to have remained a virgin after the birth of Jesus.
Protestants are very religious and give as much importance to the church as they give to their homes. The Protestants place more emphasis on the bible when compared to the Catholics. Unlike the protestant church, the Catholic Churches tend to be more decorated.
Christianity is one of the three Abrahamic monotheistic religions like Judaism and Islam. Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God, fully divine and fully human, and the savior of humanity who’s coming as Christ the Messiah was prophesied in the Old Testament of the Bible.
Theoretically, Christianity began with the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, the “Christ”, in the year ZERO. The Anglican calendar measures the years from the birth of Christ. For example it is presently the year 2015 so that it has been that many years since the birth of Christ. In truth, no one knows the exact day, month or year of Christ’s birth.
Christianity is based on the life of Jesus Christ. His story, briefly is as follows:
Jesus was born in Israel more than 2000 years ago. His birth marks the end of the period B.C. (Before Christ) and the beginning of the A.D. period (Anno Domini, or the Year of Our Lord). Most of his life was told in the four Gospels of the New Testament of the Christian Bible, written by the Apostles- Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Because these stories were not actual biographies and all rather allegorical accounts with the purpose of telling the story of Christ and of spreading his religion, the actual historic data regarding the life of Jesus Christ is scarce.
Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Judea, a part of the present-day West Bank in the Palestinian Territories. He was born to Mary, who was a virgin engaged to a local carpenter by the name of Joseph. Since a virgin cannot become pregnant, Christians believe that the birth of Jesus was the result of Immaculate Conception. According to Matthew, Jesus was born during the reign of Herod the Great, who, upon hearing that a miraculous child was to be born, ordered all of the children in that area, under the age of two, to be killed. Fortunately, Joseph was warned about this by an angel so he took the newborn baby and his wife to Egypt, where they stayed until Herod died and it was safe for them to return. They settled in Nazareth, Galilee.
Not much is known about the early life of Jesus Christ. It is believed that since his teenage years he was working as a carpenter, continuing the family business. It is widely believed that his ministry began when he was 30. Jesus encountered John the Baptist, who saw him as the Son of God and baptized him in the River Jordan. After he was baptized, Jesus went into the desert to meditate and fast for 40 days and 40 nights in what is known as the Temptation of Christ.
After that, Jesus started traveling the land, teaching and performing miracles. This went on for three years before the Roman governors and Jewish leaders learned about him and immediately saw him as a danger to their interests. Because he claimed he was the Son of God, which was a violation of the Jewish law, Jewish leaders asked the Romans to execute him. The execution was authorized by Pilate, governor of the Southern province of Israel.
Jesus was brutally tortured and hung on a cross. It is believed that he died in less than three hours. However, three days later, he came back to life in front of hundreds of witnesses. He traveled for another 40 days before going back to Jerusalem where he rose up into the sky.
After this miraculous event, the number of his followers and believers increased by thousands each day. The new religion was repressed during the first three centuries and it was only in 325 A.D. at the Counsel of Nicaea that it became the official religion in the Roman Empire, under the emperor Constantine , who himself was never a Christian.
CENTRAL ORGANIZATION
Because there are many denominations in Christianity we will focus on the largest, Catholicism. It’s headquarters is located in the Vatican in Rome, Italy.
The internal structure of the Catholic Church is as follows:
Pope
Cardinals
Archbishops
Bishops
Monsignors
Priests
Brothers
Nuns (women )
Lay Clergy
Lay persons
The Catholic Church is led by clergy who have received the sacrament of Holy Orders. There are three levels of clergy, the episcopate (bishops), whose members are usually given a geographical area to lead called a diocese or eparchy; the presbyterate (priests), who usually serve the bishops by leading local parishes; and the diaconate (deacons), who serve the bishops and priests in a variety of ministerial roles. Ultimately leading the entire Catholic Church is the Bishop of Rome, commonly called the Pope. In parallel to the diocesan structure are a variety of religious institutes that function autonomously, often subject only to the authority of the Pope, though sometimes subject to the local bishop. Most religious institutes only have male or female members but some have both. Additionally, lay members aid many liturgical functions during worship services
CREATIONIST BELIEF
God called into existence the heaven and earth. Within six days He shaped a world of order and beauty. The Christian Creationist story is found in the BOOK of GENESIS of the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. It is as follows:
The First Day-On the first day, God said, “Let there be Light” -- and there was Light.
The Second Day-On the second day God made the sky, and called it Heaven.
The Third Day-On the third day, God put the earth into good shape. At His command the waters of the earth gathered together at certain places. The waters formed seas and oceans, lakes and rivers, so that in other parts, the dry land became visible. At God’s further command, the earth was made to produce all kinds of plants, grass, and trees, shrubs and flowers. Each contained its own seed for further growth and reproduction.
The Fourth Day-On the fourth day, God made the Sun, the Moon, and the Stars, to shed light upon the earth. And so He set a time for day and a time for night, a time for the week, the month, and the year, and a time for each of the four seasons.
The Fifth Day-On the fifth day, God filled the seas with fishes and other water animals. In to the air above the earth He put many birds of all kinds and colors and sizes.
The Sixth Day-On the sixth day, were created all the other animals, large and small, those that walk and those that creep or crawl on the earth. And towards the end of the sixth day, God put a divine soul into a body which He made of earth and clay. This was the human. To the human God granted high mental ability that one could think and reach one’s own conclusions. Gd also gave the human the power of speech and He made humans superior to all other creatures of the earth. God placed all the creatures of the earth and the powers of nature in the control of the human
.
The Seventh Day-By the seventh day, everything was created and put into shape and order. And God rested on the seventh day and He glorified it as a day of rest. Therefore we should work for six days and rest on the Seventh day, Shabbat or Sabbath, which God blessed and sanctified for all time to come.
Christians generally accept the written story of the Bible and see the “days” of creation as literal “days”.
VISION OF GOD
Christians see God as an anthropomorphic Supreme Being. He has made man in his image, therefore he looks like man. He is generally pictured as an old man wearing a robe, with longhair and a long beard seated on a throne in a cloud in Heaven surrounded by angles and Saint Peter guards the Pearly Gates, the entrance to heaven.
God always was and always will be. He is the Creator of everything. He knows all, sees all and hears all. He answers prayers by granting or denying them. He judges the living and the dead. He is a daily and constant presence in every Christian’s life.
God is three persons in one. The Father, the Son (Jesus) and the Holy Spirit.
God is merciful, but can be cruel. He can grant one eternal happiness or sentence one to eternal suffering and damnation in Hell.
Denominations
Although the following is a very long list it is presented here to show diversity of Christianity.
NOTE: when looking at the below keep in mind that the entire Jewish Religion, Worldwide, has only about 12 million members total.
Wikipedia list the Christian denominations as follows
:
*****
Catholic Church - 1,166 million ( 1.166 billion)
Latin Church - 1,149 million (1.149 billion)
Eastern Catholic Churches - 17 million
Alexandrian Rite
Ethiopian Catholic Church - 0.2 million
Coptic Catholic Church - 0.2 million
Antiochene Rite
Maronite Catholic Church - 3.1 million
Syro-Malankara Catholic Church - 0.4 million
Syriac Catholic Church - 0.1 million
Armenian Rite
Armenian Catholic Church - 0.4 million
Chaldean Rite
Syro-Malabar Catholic Church - 3.8 million
Chaldean Catholic Church - 0.4 million
Byzantine Rite
Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church - 4.3 million
Melkite Greek Catholic Church - 1.3 million
Romanian Catholic Church - 0.7 million
Ruthenian Catholic Church - 0.5 million
Hungarian Greek Catholic Church - 0.3 million
Slovak Greek Catholic Church - 0.2 million
Italo-Albanian Catholic Church - 0.1 million
Belarusian Greek Catholic Church - 0.1 million
Georgian Byzantine Catholic Church - 0.01 million
Albanian Byzantine Catholic Church - 0.01 million
Bulgarian Greek Catholic Church - 0.01 million
Croatian Greek Catholic Church - 0.01 million
Greek Byzantine Catholic Church - 0.01 million
Macedonian Greek Catholic Church - 0.01 million
Russian Greek Catholic Church - 0.01 million
Breakaway Catholic Churches - 25 million
Philippine Independent Church - 6 million
Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association - 5 million
Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church - 5 million
Old Catholic Church - 0.6 million
Society of St. Pius X - 0.5 million
Polish National Catholic Church - 0.025 million
Protestantism - 600–800 million
A map of Protestantism (including Anglicanism) by population percentage.
Estimates of the total number of Protestants are very uncertain, partly because of the difficulty in determining which denominations should be placed in the category. It seems however clear that Protestantism is the second largest major group of Christians after Catholicism by number of followers. Often that number is put at 800 million. Some sources, which put the number at 800 million, include also Anglicanism within Protestantism. However, the 33,000 Protestant denominations in the world differ vastly to slightly theologically and do not form a single communion.
Historical Protestantism - 500 million
Baptist churches - 100 million
Southern Baptist Convention - 16.3 million
National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. - 8.5 million
National Baptist Convention of America, Inc. - 3.1 million
Nigerian Baptist Convention - 2.5 million
Progressive National Baptist Convention - 2.5 million
Baptist General Convention of Texas - 2.3 million
Baptist Union of Uganda - 1.5 million
American Baptist Churches USA - 1.4 million
Brazilian Baptist Convention - 1.3 million
Baptist Bible Fellowship International - 1.2 million
Baptist Community of the Congo River - 1 million
National Primitive Baptist Convention of the U.S.A. - 1 million
National Missionary Baptist Convention of America - 1 million
Association of Reformed Baptists churches in America - 1 million
Independent Calvinistic Baptists - 5 million
Myanmar Baptist Convention - 0.9 million
Samavesam of Telugu Baptist Churches - 0.8 million
Korea Baptist Convention - 0.8 million
Baptist Convention of Kenya - 0.8 million
Council of Baptist Churches in Northeast India - 0.6 million
Cooperative Baptist Fellowship - 0.5 million
Nagaland Baptist Church Council - 0.5 million
Baptist Convention in Tanzania - 0.5 million
Orissa Evangelical Baptist Crusade - 0.5 million
Baptist General Association of Virginia - 0.5 million
National Baptist Convention (Brazil) - 0.4 million
Church of Christ in Congo–Baptist Community of Congo - 0.4 million
Convention of Philippine Baptist Churches - 0.3
American Baptist Association - 0.3 million
Union of Baptist Churches in Rwanda - 0.3 million
Association of Baptist Churches in Rwanda - 0.3 million
Garo Baptist Convention - 0.2 million
Baptist Community of Western Congo - 0.2 million
Baptist Missionary Association of America - 0.2 million
Conservative Baptist Association of America - 0.2 million
National Association of Free Will Baptists - 0.2 million
Canadian Baptist Ministries - 0.2 million
National Baptist Convention of Mexico - 0.2 million
Manipur Baptist Convention - 0.2 million
Convention of Baptist Churches of the Northern Circars - 0.2 million
Baptist Community in Central Africa - 0.2 million
Baptist Convention of Malawi - 0.2 million
Lutheranism - 75 million[21]
Evangelical Church in Germany - 24.5 million
Church of Sweden - 6.7 million
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania - 5.6 million
Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus - 5.3 million
United Evangelical Lutheran Churches in India - 4.5 million
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America - 4.5 million
Church of Denmark - 4.5 million
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland - 4.4 million
Batak Christian Protestant Church - 4.2 million
Church of Norway - 4.0 million
Christian Protestant Church in Indonesia - 3.6 million
Malagasy Lutheran Church - 3.0 million
Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod - 2.5 million
The Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria - 1.9 million
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea - 0.9 million
Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession in Brazil - 0.7 million
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia - 0.7 million
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa - 0.6 million
Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Namibia - 0.4 million
Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod - 0.4 million
Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Slovakia - 0.4 million
The Indonesian Protestant Church - 0.4 million
The Protestant Christian Church - 0.4 million
Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Austria - 0.3 million
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Cameroon - 0.2 million
Church of Iceland - 0.2 million
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Brazil - 0.2 million
Simalungun Protestant Christian Church - 0.2 million
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Zimbabwe - 0.2 million
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia - 0.2 million
Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Hungary - 0.2 million
Protestant Church of Augsburg Confession of Alsace and Lorraine - 0.2 million
The Lutheran Council of Great Britain - 0.2 million
Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church - 0.2 million
Methodism - 75 million
United Methodist Church - 12 million
African Methodist Episcopal Church - 2.5 million
Methodist Church Nigeria - 2 million
Church of the Nazarene - 2 million
Methodist Church of Southern Africa - 1.7 million
Korean Methodist Church - 1.5 million
African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church - 1.5 million
The Salvation Army - 1.4 million [35]
United Methodist Church of Ivory Coast - 1 million
Free Methodist Church - 0.9 million
Christian Methodist Episcopal Church - 0.9 million
Methodist Church Ghana - 0.8 million
Methodist Church in India - 0.6 million
Methodist Church in Kenya - 0.5 million
Wesleyan Church - 0.4 million
Evangelical Free Church of America - 0.4 million
Methodist Church of Great Britain - 0.3 million
Methodist Church in Brazil - 0.2 million
Reformed churches - 85 million-100 million
Presbyterianism - 55 million
Presbyterian Church of East Africa - 4.0 million
Presbyterian Church of Africa - 3.4 million
United Church of Canada - 2.8 million
Church of Christ in Congo–Presbyterian Community of Congo - 2.5 million
Presbyterian Church of Korea - 2.4 million
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) - 1.8 million
Presbyterian Church of Cameroon - 1.8 million
Church of Central Africa, Presbyterian - 1.3 million
Church of Scotland - 1.1 million
Presbyterian Church of the Sudan - 1.0 million
Presbyterian Church in Cameroon - 0.7 million
Presbyterian Church of Brazil - 0.7 million
Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana - 0.6 million
United Church of Christ in the Philippines - 0.5 million
Presbyterian Church of Nigeria - 0.5 million
Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa - 0.5 million
Presbyterian Church of Pakistan - 0.4 million
Presbyterian Church in Ireland - 0.3 million
Uniting Church in Australia - 0.3 million
Presbyterian Church in America - 0.3 million
Presbyterian Church of Korea - 0.3 million
Presbyterian Church in Rwanda - 0.3 million
Presbyterian Church in Taiwan - 0.3 million
Continental Reformed churches - 35-40 million
Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar - 3.5 million
United Church of Zambia - 3.0 million
Protestant Church in the Netherlands - 2.5 million
Swiss Reformed Church - 2.4 million
Evangelical Church of Cameroon - 2.0 million
Protestant Evangelical Church in Timor - 2.0 million
Dutch Reformed Church - 1.1 million
Christian Evangelical Church in Minahasa - 0.7 million
United Church in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands - 0.6 million
Protestant Church in Western Indonesia - 0.6 million
Evangelical Christian Church in Tanah Papua - 0.6 million
Protestant Church in the Moluccas - 0.6 million
Reformed Church in Hungary - 0.6 million
Reformed Church in Romania - 0.6 million
Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa - 0.5 million
Toraja Church - 0.4 million
Reformed Church of France - 0.4 million
Lesotho Evangelical Church - 0.3 million
Evangelical Christian Church in Halmahera - 0.3 million
Christian Church of Sumba - 0.3 million
Karo Batak Protestant Church - 0.3 million
Reformed Church in America - 0.3 million
Christian Reformed Church in North America - 0.3 million
Christian Reformed Church of Nigeria - 0.3 million
Reformed Church in Zambia - 0.3 million
Kalimantan Evangelical Church - 0.2 million
Javanese Christian Churches - 0.2 million
Indonesia Christian Church - 0.2 million
Church of Christ in the Sudan Among the Tiv - 0.2 million
Church of Lippe - 0.2 million
Evangelical Church of Congo - 0.2 million
Evangelical Church of Gabon - 0.2 million
Christian Evangelical Church of Sangihe Talaud - 0.2 million
Central Sulawesi Christian Church - 0.2 million
Evangelical Reformed Church in Bavaria and Northwestern Germany - 0.2 million
Non-Denominational Calvinist Churches - 10 million
Congregationalism - 7 million
United Church of Christ - 1.2 million
Evangelical Congregational Church in Angola - 0.9 million
United Congregational Church of Southern Africa - 0.5 million
Anabaptism and Schwarzenau Brethren - 3.5 million
Schwarzenau Brethren/German Baptist groups - 1.5 million
Mennonites - 1.7 million
Amish - 0.25 million
Hutterites - 0.05 million
Hussites - 1 million
Moravians - 0.825 million
Czechoslovak Hussite Church - 0.14 million
Unity of the Brethren - 0.035 million
Quakers (Religious Society of Friends) - 0.4 million
Modern Protestantism - 464 million
Pentecostalism - 279 million
Assemblies of God - 65 million
Fangcheng Fellowship - 12 million
International Circle of Faith - 11 million
China Gospel Fellowship - 10 million
Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee) - 9 million
International Church of the Foursquare Gospel - 8 million
Church of God in Christ - 6.5 million
Apostolic Church - 6 million
Jesus is Lord Church - 6 million
International Pentecostal Holiness Church - 4 million
United Pentecostal Church International - 4 million
The Pentecostal Mission - 2.5 million
Christian Congregation of Brazil - 2.5 million
True Jesus Church - 2.5 million
Church of Pentecost - 2.1 million
Universal Church of the Kingdom of God - 2 million
Pentecostal Assemblies of the World - 1.5 million
Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa - 1.2 million
Church of God of Prophecy - 1.5 million
Association of Pentecostal Churches of Rwanda - 1 million
God is Love Pentecostal Church - 0.8 million
Nondenominational evangelicalism - 80 million
Calvary Chapel - 25 million
Born Again Movement - 20 million
Association of Vineyard Churches - 15 million
Christian and Missionary Alliance - 4 million
True Jesus Church - 2.5 million
Church of God (Anderson, Indiana) - 1.2 million
African initiated Protestant churches - 60 million
Zion Christian Church - 15 million
Eternal Sacred Order of Cherubim and Seraphim - 10 million
Kimbanguist Church - 5.5 million
Church of the Lord (Aladura) - 3.6 million
Council of African Instituted Churches - 3 million
Church of Christ Light of the Holy Spirit - 1.4 million
African Church of the Holy Spirit - 0.7 million
African Israel Church Nineveh - 0.5 million
Seventh-day Adventist Church - 17 million
New Apostolic Church - 10 million
Chinese-originated and Chinese Independent Churches – 10 million
Local Churches – between 1 and 10 million
Eastern Lightning – 1 million
The Shouters – unknown, probably less than 1 million
Restoration Movement - 7 million
Churches of Christ - 5 million
Christian churches and churches of Christ - 1.1 million
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) - 0.7 million
Plymouth Brethren - 1 million
Eastern Orthodoxy - 225–300 million
Autocephalous churches - 240 million
Russian Orthodox Church - 150 million
Romanian Orthodox Church - 23 million
Church of Greece - 15 million
Serbian Orthodox Church - 11.5 million
Bulgarian Orthodox Church - 10 million
Georgian Orthodox Church - 3.5 million
Greek Orthodox Church of Constantinople - 3.5 million
Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch - 2.5 million
Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria - 1.5 million
Orthodox Church in America - 1.2 million
Polish Orthodox Church - 1 million
Albanian Orthodox Church - 0.8 million
Church of Cyprus - 0.7 million
Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem - 0.14 million
Czech and Slovak Orthodox Church - 0.07 million
Autonomous churches - 12 million
Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) - 7.2 million
Moldovan Orthodox Church - 3.2 million
Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia - 1.25 million
Metropolitan Church of Bessarabia - 0.62 million
Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric - 0.34 million
Estonian Orthodox Church - 0.3 million
Patriarchal Exarchate in Western Europe - 0.15 million
Finnish Orthodox Church - 0.08 million
Chinese Orthodox Church - 0.03 million
Japanese Orthodox Church - 0.02 million
Latvian Orthodox Church - 0.02 million
Non-universally recognized churches - 11 million
Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Kyiv Patriarchate) - 5.5 million
Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church - 3.8 million
Belarusian Autocephalous Orthodox Church - 2.4 million
Macedonian Orthodox Church - 2 million
Orthodox Church of Greece (Holy Synod in Resistance) - 0.75 million
Old Calendar Romanian Orthodox Church - 0.50 million
Old Calendar Bulgarian Orthodox Church - 0.45 million
Orthodox Church in Italy - 0.12 million
Montenegrin Orthodox Church - 0.05 million
Other separated Orthodox groups - 10 million
Old Believers - 5.5 million
Greek Old Calendarists - 0.86 million
True Orthodox Church - 0.85 million
Oriental Orthodoxy - 86 million
Autocephalous churches in communion
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church - 48 million
Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria - 15.5 million
Armenian Apostolic Church - 8 million
Syriac Orthodox Church - 6.6 million
Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church - 2.5 million
Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church - 2 million
Armenian Orthodox Church of Cilicia - 1.5 million
Autonomous churches in communion
Jacobite Syrian Christian Church - 1.2 million
Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople - 0.42 million
Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem - 0.34 million
French Coptic Orthodox Church - 0.01 million
British Orthodox Church - 0.01 million
Churches not in communion
Mar Thoma Syrian Church - 1.1 million
Malabar Independent Syrian Church - 0.06 million
Anglicanism - 85 million
Anglican Communion - 80 million
Church of England - 25.0 million
Church of Nigeria - 18.0 million
Church of Uganda - 8.1 million
Anglican Church of Kenya - 5.0 million
Episcopal Church of Sudan - 4.5 million
Church of South India - 4 million
Anglican Church of Australia - 3.9 million
Anglican Church of Southern Africa - 2.3 million
Episcopal Church in the United States - 2.1 million
Anglican Church of Tanzania - 2.0 million
Anglican Church of Canada - 2.0 million
Church of North India - 1.5 million
Anglican Church of Rwanda - 1.0 million
Church of the Province of Central Africa - 0.9 million
Anglican Church of Burundi - 0.8 million
Church in the Province of the West Indies - 0.8 million
Church of the Province of the Indian Ocean - 0.5 million
Church of Christ in Congo–Anglican Community of Congo - 0.5 million
Church of Pakistan - 0.5 million[148]
Church of Ireland - 0.4 million
Church of the Province of West Africa - 0.3 million
Church of the Province of Melanesia - 0.2 million
Continuing Anglican movement and independent Anglican churches - 1.5 million
Traditional Anglican Communion - 0.4 million
Church of England in South Africa - 0.1 million
Restorationism and Non-Trinitarianism - 41 million
Latter Day Saint movement - 15.2 million
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormonism) - 15 million
Community of Christ - 0.2 million
Iglesia ni Cristo - 10 million
Jehovah's Witnesses - 7.65 million
Oneness Pentecostalism - 6 million
United Pentecostal Church International - 4 million
Pentecostal Assemblies of the World - 1.5 million
La Luz del Mundo - between 1 and 7 million
Unitarian Universalism - 0.6 million
Unitarian Universalist Association - 0.2 million
Note: Unitarian Universalism, which counts 0.6 million adherents,[161] developed out of Christian traditions but no longer identifies as a Christian denomination.
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
RELIGIOUS TEXTS
The single most important text in Christianity is the Bible containing the Old and New Testaments. However, there are many forms of the Bible by denomination. They include, but are not limited to, the Catholic Bible, King James Version, New King James Version, New American Standard Bible, Good News Translation, Mormon Bible, Common English Bible and New International Version. There are also many other versions of the in English and other languages.
After the bible there are the CANONS, which are books which interpret the Books of the bible.
There are many, many other forms of Christian text (like Ecumenical creeds) but they are far too numerous to list here.
RELIGIOUS BELIEFS
The basic belief of Christianity is: “Do unto other as you would have them do unto you” ,which is known as the "Golden Rule".
The basic laws of Christianity are found in the 10 commandments as recorded in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5. They are the 10 laws issued by God to help Christian people live in accordance with the Bible's teachings. God issued the 10 commandments on Mount Sinai along with trumpets, smoke and earthquakes to emphasize their importance. His audience was Moses, who recorded the commandments
.
The 10 commandments are:
1. "You shall have no other Gods before me."
2."You shall not make for yourselves an idol."
3. "You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God."
4. "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy."
5. "Honor your father and your mother."
6. "You shall not murder."
7."You shall not commit adultery."
8."You shall not steal."
9."You shall not give false testimony."
10."You shall not covet."
They believe that every individual is born with “Original Sin” from what Adam and Eve did by disobeying God in the Garden of Eden and that only by Baptism into the Christian Church can that sin be cleansed form ones soul so that one can enter Heaven.
Christians believe that Jesus Christ is the Lord God and Savior and only by accepting him can one who has been baptized and sinned be saved and go to Heaven.
Christians believe that irrespective of how bad a life one may have lived one can still enter Heaven if he/she accepts Jesus Christ as one’s personal God and Savior repents his/her sins and is forgiven by the Church before death.
Generally, Christians believe that they should oppose such evils as racism, greed, adultery, homosexuality, pornography, abortion and exploitation of the poor and the weak. In the past few years the opposition to homosexuality has weakened.
Christians believe that they must defend their faith, even unto death.
Catholics believe that extraordinarily righteous Christians can become “Saints” if three miracles can be officially proven by those praying to them for help. Saints are generally Christians that have entered Heaven.
RELIGIOUS PRACTICES
Christians generally have seven Sacraments which are: Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance, Anointing of the Sick (including the Last Rites), Holy Orders, and Matrimony. While Catholics have seven sacraments whereas the Protestants generally have only two, baptism and marriage. They abstain from Communion (or Eucharist) , because they do not admit that the Host is the flesh of Jesus .
Every Christian must go to church for Mass or Services on Sundays and observe the religious holidays. Some Denominations have “tithing” or give a certain percentage of their income (generally about 10%) to the church each year.
Many cities and towns ,as well as many vocations , have 'Patron Saints" to which they pray for protection and guidance , which is similar to Hindu minor deities practice.
HOLIDAYS
Listed below is a list of Christian Holidays for 2015. Some of the dates change every year.
Thursday, January 1, 2015 Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God
Tuesday, January 6, 2015 Epiphany
Thursday, February 12, 2015 Fat Thursday
Tuesday, February 17, 2015 Shrove Tuesday (Mardi Gras)
Wednesday, February 18, 2015 Ash Wednesday
Sunday, March 29, 2015 Palm Sunday
Thursday, April 2, 2015 Maundy Thursday
Friday, April 3, 2015 Good Friday
Sunday, April 5, 2015 Easter
Monday, April 6, 2015 Easter Monday
Thursday, May 14, 2015 Ascension of Jesus
Sunday, May 24, 2015 Pentecost
Thursday, June 4, 2015 Corpus Christi
Saturday, August 15, 2015 Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Sunday, November 1, 2015 All Saints' Day 4 weeks (28 days)
Tuesday, December 8, 2015 Feast of the Immaculate Conception 9 weeks & 2 days (65 days)
Friday, December 25, 2015 Christmas
HEAVEN AND HELL
Christian beliefs in Heaven and Hell are simple and rather straightforward.
Christians believe that a good and righteous life (one where one dies with no sins on one’s soul) will result in a soul going straight to Heaven , which is paradise , to live with God the Saints, the Angles and Jesus, for eternity.
On the other hand is one dies with serious unforgiven and unrepeated sins on one’s soul, then a soul will go to Hell to live with the Devil and his demons and suffer eternal damnation and suffer in the fires of Hell for all eternity.
Christians also believe in Purgatory (which is like the Hell of all other religions) where one is sent after death if one dies with less serious sins on one’s soul. In Purgatory one can serve something like a temporary jail sentence until the sins are forgiven after a time and then one can enter Heaven.
SOCIAL ORDER
Every person is considered equal in the eyes of God and therefore should likewise be considered equal in the social order of society.
Every Christian is under obligation to seek to make the will of Christ supreme in his own life and in human society. Means and methods used for the improvement of society and the establishment of righteousness among men can be truly and permanently helpful only when they are rooted in the regeneration of the individual by the saving grace of God in Christ Jesus.
The Christian should oppose in the spirit of Christ every form of greed, selfishness, and vice. He should work to provide for the orphaned, the needy, the aged, the helpless, and the sick. Every Christian should seek to bring industry, government, and society as a whole under the way of the principles of righteousness, truth and brotherly love. In order to promote these ends, Christians should be ready to work with all men of good will in any good cause, always being careful to act in the spirit of love without compromising their loyalty to Christ and His truth
.
INITIATION
In order to enter the Christian church each person must be baptized to be absolved and forgiven of Original Sin. One who is not baptized cannot be considered to truly be a Christian and be accepted into the Church.
Other forms of initiation are part of the rituals of becoming a member of the Christian Clergy and certain religious groups such as The Knights of Columbus and other social and religious organizations and groups..
PURPOSE OF LIFE
Reason is a unique gift bestowed by God on humans and enables them to reflect on their own nature and conscience, and from that derive knowledge of God's will for creation. But a complete understanding is beyond human reach. To fulfill the goal of wholeness in an existence perfected by both justice and love, something more is needed. Humans are not expected to accomplish the divine plan alone. The fulfillment of God's purpose depends on God's grace. For Christians, grace is God's freely-given favor and love.
In Christianity, the purpose of life is “love”. That is what Jesus came to Earth to teach us. He loved everyone equally and unconditionally. How can one regard oneself above God and put conditions for one's love on another being. We all came alone to this place, stark naked and owned nothing. All that you had was the ability to love your brothers and sisters. Everything is made of by energy, even your soul. Love is the key to perfecting that energy and moving on to a higher dimension. The meaning of your life is to be a candle, burn and spread light around you till you exhaust. The Bible is a sacred documentation of God's teachings. Christianity is a faith named by man. God did not create religion.
The purpose of life is to be true to yourself and listen to your inner voice because only then would you be able to open the doors of your heart and truly accept Jesus and follow his teachings. He will guide you through this life and many lives after this one. You will realize that the purpose of the life that you call yours was given by someone else and so you do not have the right to be selfish enough to call it yours. It was meant to be shared with others. We are all reflections of each other for you shall see yourself in others as they see themselves in you.
CONCLUSION
Christianity is the largest religion in the world for a reason. Part of that reason is that it appeals to some inner need in man to be a part of something grater. Christianity offers a just and moral life as its own reward and punishes an immoral and unjust life. People find contentment in that concept.
Christianity at its core is LOVE. Love of oneself, love of one’s fellow humans and love of God. Christ is the Prophet of that concept. However, the religion is so large, so complex and so old that doctrine and dogma have arisen in it, as in all other religions, where men sought to use religion to empower themselves with wealth, power and fame.
If one wants to understand the true meaning of Christianity one must turn to the oldest books of the Bible and other ancient and original Christian teachings. Anything that has been interpreted by man or church is flawed.
Christianity is a religion that appeals to all people in all areas of the world and in all societies. It is likely to be around for a long, long time to come. It has seen threats to it in the past and has been versatile and strong enough to resist all of those threats and will likely do the same in the future.
Like we said to begin, it is the world’s largest religion for a reason and there is nothing to believe that that reason will change anytime soon.
Scott Ramsey, October 4, 2015
************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
POSTSCRIPT #1:
For an Esoteric view of Christian philosophy please consider the following excerpt from FUNDAMENTALS OF THE ESOTERIC PHILOSOPHY by G. de PURUCKER - chapter 10, p 132 :
"In conclusion, let us remember that while each man has the Christ within himself, and can be "saved" only by that Christ, he can be saved by that inner Christ only when he chooses to save himself; the initiative must come from below, from himself. And while some people, through misunderstanding of this wonderful doctrine of swabhava, may speak of fatalism, we can do no more this evening than to say emphatically that this doctrine is not fatalism. It is absolutely the contrary of the fatalistic hypothesis, which asserts that there is a blind or unknown or conscious or unconscious force outside of man, directing him, driving him, in his choice, acts, and evolution, to annihilation or heaven or hell. That is not the doctrine of swabhava and it is not taught in the esoteric philosophy."
- G. de Purucker, Theosophist
The word "Amen" is not an English ,Greek or Latin word. It is an Egyptian word derived from the god AMEN RA (a/k/a "Amun Ra") who was an Egyptian god who was regarded as a "supernatural" being" , the king of the gods who lacked love and respect for the natural environment. Ultimately, AMEN RA was obsessed with POWER OVER OTHERS - but, ironically, had no power over his own irrational mood swings. When overcome by rage, AMEN RA went berserk and was transformed into the God of War, Moloch, who fed off of blood sacrifices.
When at peace, AMEN RA took the form of Mammon, the God of Money, and it is this deity that ruled those who mistook property for prosperity and money for true wealth ,as well as brute force for power.
AMEN (also sometimes spelled AMON or AMUN) means "The Hidden One" - the invisible "almighty god" who humans were expected to believe in and worship as a matter of faith. The depiction above is not the way the Egyptians thought that Amen Ra actually looked. it was only symbolism for the way he was represented in their art .
When Marduk rr(known as Ra in Egypt*) became dissatisfied with leadership of both Upper and Lower Egypt, he moved his base to Babylon where he began to plot his own rise to supremacy, while in Egypt he continued to be worshiped as AMEN RA (Ra the Unseen).
Today, all Christians end all their prayers with a tribute to Amen Ra when they end each prayer with the word "Amen".
********************************************************************************************************************************************************************
Postscript: # 2
REINCARNATION
Every major religion on Earth, and many minor religions, all believe in and teach reincarnation , except for Christianity. However, reincarnation was part of the Christian belief until the 6th Century A.D.
According to the Bible Jesus believed in reincarnation. He was convinced that Elijah had already reincarnated . The New Testament Gospels of Matthew and Luke tell us that Jesus thought that John the Baptist was the reincarnation of the Old Testament Profit Elijah.
This belief is based on Malachi 4:5 "Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD."
The Bible is explicit on this:
Mark 9:11-13 : They asked Him, saying, "Why is it that the scribes say that Elijah must come first?" And He said to them, "Elijah does first come and restore all things. And yet how is it written of the Son of Man that He will suffer many things and be treated with contempt? "But I say to you that Elijah has indeed come, and they did to him whatever they wished, just as it is written of him."
Matthew 11:14: "And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come.
Matthew 17:10-13: And His disciples asked Him, "Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?" And He answered and said, "Elijah is coming and will restore all things; but I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished. So also the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands." Then the disciples understood that He had spoken to them about John the Baptist.
Luke 1:13-17 But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will give him the name John. "You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. "For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother's womb. "And he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God. "It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, TO TURN THE HEARTS OF THE FATHERS BACK TO THE CHILDREN, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."
So either Jesus mistakenly thought that John the Baptist was the reincarnation of Elija or the Gospel authors misquoted him.
The real actor in the movement to ban a belief in Reincarnation as a fundamental belief of Christianity was a woman: Theodora, the Roman Emperor Justinian’s wife. She had made a sharp social ascent—and this daughter of a bear tamer from the Constantinople circus had used a woman’s oldest weapon to make her climb. Earlier, she had been a young and beautiful prostitute whose services were happily sought by the aristocracy.
Hacebolus, the young governor of Pentapolis, fell for her charms and took Theodora with him to North Africa. But she abused the governor’s trust and, at the people’s cost, amassed great riches. When, in her greed, she overstepped the mark and Hacebolus was overwhelmed with complaints from the people, he threw Theodora out of his palace and confiscated all her goods. With only the clothes on her back, she fought her way through to Alexandria. At the gates to the city, she was taken in by a hermit named Eutyches. It was the same Eutyches who had originated monophysitism and was now living out his exile there. Later, Theodora would remember this fallen monk and use him to carry out her dark plans.
Back in Constantinople, she purposefully slept her way up the ladder of society, becoming one of Justinian’s concubines, then his favorite concubine, and, finally, in 523, his wife. Four years later, she and her husband assumed the highest position of power in the secular world: the imperial crown.
There was a logical reason why the Emperor Justinian was opposed to the concept that all of mankind originally came from God and was returning to God via the cycle of birth and death. Justinian had been convinced by high ranking cardinals that it was not in the interest of the empire to allow Origen's writings to continue to be copied and distributed. A powerful group of Cardinal's and Bishop's explained that if every soul had once pre-existed with God, then Christ wasn't anything special to have come from God. These Cardinals convinced the Emperor that if people realized they were the children of God they might begin to believe they no longer needed an Emperor, or to pay taxes, or to obey the Holy Church. But since they reasoned that only Christ had come from God but God made brand new souls at the time of conception and only the Holy Church could bring these souls to God.
Many scholars recognize that the New Testament we have today is a copy of a copy of a copy and that no reliable manuscript is dated before the third century. The doctrine of reincarnation echoes throughout the teachings of Christ, but the purity of Christ's teachings, about the soul being part of God, has been diluted by the copiers and the translators.
History records that the early Christine church believed in Reincarnation and of the souls journey back to oneness with God .
Pope Vigilius was a vicar during the reign of Emperor Justinian in the sixth century AD. Justinian and Vigilius disagreed on whether or not the doctrine of reincarnation should be condemned as heresy or allowed to be taught in the church.
Origin's writings were considered heresy by important cardinals in the sixth century. Origen's teachings had been considered as profound spiritual wisdom for three centuries. Origen lived around 250 AD and wrote about the pre-existence of the soul and in reincarnation. He taught that the soul's very source was God and that the soul's was traveling back to oneness with God via Reincarnation (a/k/a "restoration" with God").
Emperor Justinian wanted Origen's writings and teachings to be condemned and destroyed but Pope Vigilius refused to sign a papal decree condemning Origen's teachings on reincarnation. As a result of his disobedience, the Emperor had the Pope arrested and put into jail. In 543, Justinian convoked the Fifth General Council of the Church and told the Pope he would sign into doctrine whatever the council decided. On the way there, under guard, the Pope escaped to avoid being forced to condemn Origen's writings. The Emperor commanded the council to continue despite the Pope's refusal to attend.
Also ,all of the Eastern Bishops of the Church refused to attend the Conference, knowing what was going to happen and wanting no part of it. That left only the Western and African bishops ( about one-half of the total number of bishops in the Church) and it took six weeks of debate and on the final vote Reincarnation (Restoration) lost by one vote.
The council, as instructed by the Emperor, produced fourteen new anathemas and the very first one condemned reincarnation and the concept that souls pre-existed with God. It held that if anyone asserted the fabulous preexistence of souls, and asserted the monstrous restoration
which follows from it: let him be anathema : (a formal decree by a pope or a council of the Church, excommunicating a person or denouncing a doctrine).
The Pope never signed the order, so technically it was never legal, but the Roman Emperor Justinian, held that Pope's signature was not needed. Therefore, for the past 1,500+ years Christians have wrongfully believed that Reincarnation is against Christian Doctrine and teaching ,all due to the actions of the prostitute , turned Empress, Theodora , whose actions superseded those of Jesus on the issue of reincarnation .
JUSTINIAN and THEODORA