There are three world religions: Islam, Buddhism and Christianity. The last is the subject of our conversation today. It is thought to be the largest religion in the world both by the amount of followers (over 2.4 billion followers) and by its distribution. This Abrahamic world religion is based on the belief in Jesus Christ, his life path and teaching, which is described in the New Testament. The followers believe that Jesus Christ was a Messiah, who became a human in order to rescue the humanity. Christianity arose in the 1st century AD in Palestine. Since that moment the rich Christian history has begun. In this Christianity essay we will tell you about the birth of this world religion, its history, the development of its doctrine and the role of Christianity in the modern world.
The short history of Christianity
As it was already mentioned, Christianity has begun in the 1st century as a Jewish sect. Zoroastrianism and Gnosticism had a great impact on the development of the early Christianity. The 1st and the 2nd centuries are named the century of the Church Fathers. They were the early Christian authors, who were thought to be the followers of Christ’s disciples. The period from 302 to 311 is called the Diocletianic Persecution. It is known to have been the last persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire. Nevertheless, it only furthered the development and expending of Christianity. In the 4th century the Great Armenia became the first country to adopt Christianity as an official religion. The next country to adopt Christianity became Georgia thanks to St. Nina in 324. The Georgian Christian church is considered to be one of the oldest churches in the world. During the rule of Emperor Constantine the Great, Christianity became an official religion in Rome. In the 4th century the phenomenon of monkhood appeared and plenty of monasteries were built. Each Christian essay tells that in the beginning of the 7th century, Christianity experienced deep changes because of expansion of Islam. The Arabs crossed the Gibraltar, captured Spain and started to expand their authority through Europe. The schism of Christian church occurred in 1054 and caused the formation of Catholic and Orthodox Church. It was caused by the disputable lands in Southern Italia. The church division became a really long process, which had continued for four centuries.
The next significant point in the history of Christianity is baptizing of Scandinavians. The evangelization of Scandinavian lands was begun by Ansgar, in the 9th century. However, the conversion of these territories was difficult and prolonged process. It ended only during the rule of the Olaf I of Norway in the 11th century.
During the time when the Western Europe was almost entirely baptized, the territories of central and eastern Europe were still pagan. There was a lot of job for missionary. Cyril and Methodius had a successful mission to the Kievan Rus in the 9th century. They translated the Bible and the Liturgies into Slavonic. In such a way, they were spreading Christianity among the Slavs. Consequently, the Kievan Pus was baptized in 988 by Volodimir the Great.
The Crusades became the next step in the development of Christianity, which you should definitely mention in your essay on the development of Christian doctrine. By the way to get help with writing of this essay you may address the request to our service. It was a series of military campaigns, which were made by Europeans to the Near East in order to liberate the Holy Land (Palestine) from the Muslims. By the way, the Holy Land had been the part of Roman Empire until the Muslim conquer. Though Christians were allowed to commit pilgrimage to these territories till 1071. The closing of pilgrimage caused the protest and as a result the first Crusade, which occurred in 1099. The Roman Pope played the role of the main initiator and sponsor of the Crusades.
The Renaissance period, which began in Italia, is known to be the time of great cultural changes. People’s views on religion changed as well. It does not mean that people turn into atheists at once. It means just that their focus shifted from the God to a human being. People of the Renaissance times became more interested in personality of each human and started appreciating it. For example, the difference between the Medieval icons and the Renaissance ones reflects and proves all these changes. All Christian essays claim that it is obvious that medieval artists tried to schematize and depersonalize saints depicted on their icons. They did not want to make Jesus Christ, Maria and other saint look like real humans. The icons of renaissance artists are more personalized. Each saint on their pictures has his/her own face, character, mimicry etc. That means that in the people’s mind the God has become closer to a human. However, the main values of Christianity remained as family, love to the people around you, modesty and forgiveness remained the same. It is worth being mentioned that if you are interested in the family subject, it would be useful for you to read what is family essay.
The year 1492 was the prominent date for the whole world and for Christianity development as well, because the moment when Columbus and his crew landed the American coast became at the same time the moment of Christianity expansion.
In the 1521 the Protestant reform began. Among its main initiators were Martin Luther and Huldrych Zwingli. They thought that contemporary church was corrupted and wanted to change the doctrines in order to improve the current situation.
Almost in all essays on Christianity you may find the story of English Reformation. It was influenced by Henry VIII. He wanted to cancel his marriage with Catherine of Aragon. The problem was that Catherine was a close relative of the most powerful secular supporter of papacy. Therefore, the King had to separate from Rome and become the head of his own English Church. Besides, this step heightened the authority of Henry VIII.
The modern attitude to Christianity
Nowadays we live in the age of globalization, computers and Internet. However, Christianity does not lose its popularity. There are many new Christian movements, which appeared in the 20th century. Among them are: ecumenism, liberation theology, Pentecostalism and fundamentalism. Christianity is still widely spread around the world and has its dedicated followers. Of course, people’s lifestyle, views, behavior and beliefs have greatly changed. People’s perception of Christianity has changed as well. Nevertheless, the sense of this world religion stays the same. It still preserves its values and concept. If you have to write an essay on the role of Christianity in the modern world, it would be a good idea to use our professional essay writing service. If you are writing an essay on the development of Christian doctrine, it would be appropriate to mention that Christianity has played a significant role in the history of civilization and is closely connected to the formation of the Western society.