The Encyclopedia of World Religions

Christianity S 85

The 17th to the early 20th centuries were the great age of European colonialism. Christian mis sionaries accompanied European conquerors and converted people all over the globe. Catholic mis sionaries had been active among the indigenous peoples of the Americas from as early as the 16th century. The 19th century was the era of large and influential Protestant missionary societies. During the 20th century there were several important movements within Christianity. The ecu menical movement—named from the Greek word oikoumene, roughly meaning “the whole world”— tried to overcome the differences that divided Chris tianity into many separate churches and to unite Christians around the globe. A very different move ment, fundamentalism ( see FUNDAMENTALISM , C HRIS TIAN ), arose in response to challenges posed by his torical and scientific investigation; it insisted that every word of the Bible was literally true. Still other movements addressed issues of equality and justice: Liberal Protestant churches began to admit women to leadership roles previously closed to them, while in poorer parts of the world some Christians worked for political and economic liberation. BELIEFS Christians have generally emphasized the role of belief in bringing about SALVATION . As a result, Christian churches have insisted on a uniformity of belief more than many religions have. Christians often recite statements of belief known as CREEDS in public worship. Most but not all Christians endorse the beliefs established by the seven ancient ecumenical coun cils (325–787). (Councils are meetings of bishops, the heads of churches in various areas.) These beliefs include the belief that God is a trinity, Father (or Creator), Son, and Holy Spirit; that Jesus is the son of God and thus unites two natures, divine and human, in one person; that Jesus was conceived apart from human sexual activity ( see VIRGIN BIRTH ); that forgiveness of sins is available through Jesus’ death and RESURRECTION ; and that at the end of time the dead will be raised and judged ( see JUDGMENT OF THE DEAD ). Christians differ on which books make up the Old Testament, but virtually all

said that he wandered the countryside, teaching and working MIRACLES . Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea (today southern Israel), had him crucified on charges of sedition against the Roman government, but his followers soon became con vinced that he had been raised from the dead. Some of these followers traveled as MISSIONARIES , mostly throughout the Roman Empire. They taught that Jesus was the promised MESSIAH or C HRIST and that he provided people with forgiveness for their SINS and eternal life. Until the fourth century Christianity was illegal in the Roman Empire, because Christians refused to “venerate” or give a kind of worship to the emperor. But Emperor Constantine (c. 280–337) lifted the legal restrictions against Christianity, and Emperor Theodosius (347–395) made all other reli gions illegal. At this time Christians systematized their teachings. The most important teachings said that Jesus was both fully God and fully human ( see INCARNATION ) and that God was a trinity: Father (or Creator), Son, and Holy Spirit. At the same time they came to final agreement on which books should be included in the N EW T ESTAMENT , that is, the specifically Christian part of the Bible. The Roman Empire had two parts, an eastern, Greek-speaking part and a western, Latin-speak ing one. Starting in the fifth century, the political ties that had held these two together snapped, and Christians in the two regions gradually grew apart. In 1054 the Great Schism severed relations between the Roman Catholic Church in the west ( see R OMAN C ATHOLICISM ) and the Eastern Ortho dox churches ( see E ASTERN O RTHODOX CHRISTIAN ITY ). The official causes included differences in church teaching and the relative positions of the pope and the patriarch of Constantinople ( see PAPACY , THE ). During the 16th century the western church split. This event, known as the R EFORMATION , led to the creation of many Protestant churches ( see P ROTESTANTISM ). The Protestants insisted that only the Bible, not the papacy or the traditions of the church, had authority in religious matters. They also used the common language in worship ser vices instead of Latin.