Abby Sigler, Jack Cross, and Alexis Heldreth Christianity Abby Sigler, Jack Cross, and Alexis Heldreth

Background The beginning of Christianity is strongly rooted in Judaism. The founder of Christianity, Jesus, was actually Jewish and instructed one of his twelve disciples to start the church before his death by crucifixion. Christianity shares most of its background with Judaism and the religions differ in that Jews do not believe that Jesus was the messiah, only that he was a prophet, whereas Christians believe that he was. The holy book is the Bible which is split into the old and new testament.

Background cont. Christianity is not just a single religion either, it’s split into many divisions. The original was split into Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodoxy, then when people began to interpret the bible differently they began to form new divisions. These divisions still believe in the same basic principles but they have taken or discarded various parts of the original holy text, or simply reinterpreted it.

Christianity in Ancient Rome In the year 313 CE, Constantine I issued the Edict of Milan, which officially legalized the practice of Christianity. After this, Constantine went so far as to build an entire city with no pagani temples and overtly Christian style: Constantinople. This city came to be the new capital of Rome, and soon the role of the emperor was redefined by the First Council of Nicaea in 325 CE. Depiction of the First Council of Nicaea, where Christian practice was redefined and reaffirmed

Christianity in Ancient Rome This meeting established that an emperor was responsible for upholding Christianity and its values within the empire. After a brief attempt at pagan revival by Constantine’s successor, Julian, Christianity was returned to its previous status, and eventually became installed by Theodosius I as the official religion of the Roman Empire. Depiction of Emperor Julian, who tried to revive the practice of paganism in place of Christianity, at council

Christianity in Ancient Rome The Council of Nicaea convened to set a precedent for future clergymen to record what they found to be canon in relation to religion, so that a uniform belief system could be formed. In 381 CE, council convened to end the belief that Christ was an entirely separate entity from God, cementing the idea of the “Holy Trinity.” Byzantine imagery showing the proceedings of the First Council of Constantinople, at which Arian controversy was ended and Christ was proclaimed to be an aspect of God

From the Fall of the West... In 1054 medieval christianity split into two branches, Eastern orthodox and Roman Catholics, this is known as the Great Schism. When Charlemagne was crowned Holy Roman Emperor, the Byzantine Emperor became redundant. This caused relations between the East (Byzantine) and the West to fall apart and eventually split. The Eastern Church would then become the Eastern Orthodox church and the Roman Catholics would remain under the Pope. Pictured is the Patriarch of Constantinople whom is the leader of the Eastern Orthodox church.

...to the Rise of Catholicism With the reformations in the west under Charlemagne the First, the Catholic faith began to spread. When he took over he began to expand in the west and east and using military force he made the people in those areas convert. This greatly increased the following of the religion because of the fear. However even after he was replaced and the force in that area making them stay Roman Catholics was gone, many still followed and spread the religion.

Protestantism Arises Martin Luther was born into Roman Catholic family and on his own, he began to study the Bible more closely and his new interpretations, unlike those of the Catholic Church were viewed as radical. Martin Luther believed that having faith in God and God’s grace would save someone, rather than admitting sin and working for salvation. This contrasted the belief of the Roman Catholics and the Church, but Luther believed that his new interpretation was the correct one.

95 Theses When Martin Luther learned of the selling of indulgences, he proceeded to write the 95 Theses- a list of all that is wrong with the Church and his belief that faith brought justification. Symbolically, the Protestant Faith began when he nailed them to the door of the church. The church excommunicated him and at the Diet of Worms forbid him from writing anymore.

Beginnings of the Protestants

Current Currently, there are several different sections in Christianity. The Roman Catholics, Orthodox, and the Protestants are the major three divisions but there are even branches in the Protestant faith. Christianity is not very united in that sense. However these branches all believe in the same basic faith and have many things in common despite some various differences. For example even though the Pope only makes decisions for Catholics the Eastern Orthodox church has a Patriarch of Constantinople.

Major Differences

Sections Abby: Background, and the distinction between Orthodoxy and Catholicism Jack: The acceptance of Christianity in Ancient Rome and outlining the powerpoint Alexis: 95 Theses, Martin Luther All: Current

Works Cited https://www.christianhistoryinstitute.org/study/module/charlemagne/ http://christianity.about.com/od/lutherandenomination/a/martinlutherbio.htm http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/131christians/theologians/luther.html?start=2 http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/the-split-that-created-roman-catholics-and-eastern.html http://christianityinview.com/home.html