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Among all religions, Christianity is the most widespread and influential teaching. It includes three official directions: Orthodoxy, Catholicism and Protestantism, and many unrecognized sects. Modern religion Christianity is the doctrine of the God-man Jesus Christ. Christians believe that he is God's son, and was sent to Earth to atone for the sins of all mankind.

Fundamentals of Christianity: what is the essence of religion

According to surviving documentary sources, Christianity originated in the 1st century AD, in the territory of modern Palestine. Born in Nazareth, into a simple family of a potter, the preacher Jesus Christ brought a new teaching to the Jews - about one God. He called himself the son of God, whom the Father sent to people to save them from sin. The teaching of Christ was a teaching about love and forgiveness. He preached nonviolence and humility, confirming his beliefs by his own example. The followers of Jesus were called Christians, and the new religion was called Christianity. After the crucifixion of Christ, his disciples and supporters spread the new teaching throughout the Roman Empire, and soon throughout Europe.

In Rus', Christianity appeared in the 10th century. Before this, the religion of the Russians was paganism - they deified the forces of nature and worshiped them. Prince Vladimir, having married a Byzantine woman, accepted her religion. Despite the resistance that arose everywhere, soon all of Rus' underwent the rite of baptism. Gradually, old faith was forgotten, and Christianity began to be perceived as an original Russian religion. Today there are more than 2 billion followers of the teachings of Christ in the world. Among them, approximately 1.2 billion consider themselves to be Catholic, about 0.4 billion are Protestant, and 0.25 billion are.

The Essence of God as Seen by Christians

According to the Old Testament (original) Christian faith, God is one in his appearance. He is the beginning of everything and the creator of all living beings. This perception of God was a dogma - the only true and inviolable position approved by the church. But in the 4th-5th centuries a new dogma appeared in Christianity - the Trinity. Its compilers presented God as three hypostases of one essence:

God the Father;
God the Son;
God is the Holy Spirit.

All entities (Persons) are equal and come from one another. The new addition was actively rejected by representatives of Eastern faiths. In the 7th century, the Western Christian Church officially adopted the filioque, an addition to the Trinity. This was the impetus for the split of the United Church.

In the view of religion, man is a creation of God, and he is not given the opportunity to know the essence of his creator. Questions and doubts are taboo for a true Christian believer. Everything that a person should and can know about God is set out in the Bible, the main book of Christians. It is a kind of encyclopedia containing information about the formation of religion, descriptions historical events before the appearance of Jesus and the key moments of his life.

The God-Man: Who Was Jesus?

The doctrine of the God-man - Christology - tells about Jesus, both as the incarnation of God and as the son of God. He is a man because his mother is a human woman, but he is like God because his father is the One God. At the same time, Christianity does not consider Jesus a demigod, and does not classify it as a prophet. He is the only unique incarnation of God on Earth. There cannot be a second person like Jesus, because God is infinite and cannot be incarnated twice. The appearance of Jesus was predicted by the prophets. In the Old Testament he is presented as the Messiah - the savior of mankind.

After the crucifixion and physical death, the human hypostasis of Jesus became incarnate into the divine. His soul united with the Father in Paradise, and his body was consigned to the earth. This paradox of Jesus the man and Jesus the God is expressed in Ecumenical Council formula of 4 negatives:

unmerged;
unconverted;
inseparably;
inseparable.

The orthodox branches of Christianity revere Jesus as the God-man - an entity who embodied divine and human characteristics. Arianism reveres him as a creation of God, Nestorianism - as two separate entities: divine and human. Those who profess Monophysitism believe in Jesus the God who absorbed his human nature.

Anthropology: the origin of man and his purpose

Initially, man was created in his image of God, and possesses his power. The first humans Adam and Eve were similar to their Creator, but committed original sin– succumbed to temptation and ate an apple from the tree of knowledge. From that moment on, man became sinful, and his body was perishable.

But human soul immortal and can go to Paradise, where God awaits her. To be in Paradise, a person must atone for his sin through physical and spiritual suffering. IN Christian understanding evil is temptation, and good is humility. Suffering is a way to fight evil. Ascent to God and return to one's original essence is possible only through humility. It leads to freedom of spirit and understanding of the true essence of life. For people who succumb to temptation, Hell awaits - the kingdom of Satan, in which sinners eternally suffer, paying for their sins.

What are the sacraments

IN Christian faith There is a unique concept - sacrament. It arose as a definition of a special action that cannot be attributed to either rites or rituals. Know true essence sacraments can only be given to God; they are not accessible to man due to his imperfection and sinfulness.

The most important sacraments: baptism and communion. The first is the initiation of the believer, introducing him into the number of God-pleasing people. The second is connecting with the essence of Jesus by eating the sacred bread and wine, symbolizing his flesh and blood.

Orthodoxy and Catholicism recognize five more sacraments:

anointing;
ordination;
repentance;
marriage;
Unction.

Protestantism denies the sacredness of these phenomena. This branch is also characterized by a gradual abandonment of asceticism, as the only way for a person to get closer to the divine essence.

The role of the monarchy in the formation of religion

Official state religion Rome had paganism, which involved the deification of the current emperor. The new teaching was received with hostility. Persecution and prohibitions have become part of the history of religion. Christianity was forbidden not only to profess, but also to remember its existence. Preachers were subjected to torture, life imprisonment or the death penalty. But adherents of Christianity revered them as martyrs, and every year Christianity spread more and more actively.

Already in the 4th century, Emperor Constantine was forced to recognize the new belief. The pagans staged riots to protest against the emperor's interference in the affairs of the Church. Christians went into the desert and organized monastic settlements there. Thanks to this, nomads learned about the new religion. Christianity gradually spread to other countries.

The emperor's power was weakening. The abbot of the Roman Church, the Pope, declared himself the sole representative of the religion, and the rightful ruler of the Roman Empire. Attempts to find a balance between the desire for power and preservation Christian image life became the main moral dilemma for representatives of high church rank.

Key points of ancient religion: the schism of the Church

The reason for the split of Christianity into three conflicting faiths was the debate about the union of the divine and human essence of Jesus Christ into one person. Due to cultural and historical differences, there was constant debate among followers about the need to choose one official version. The growing conflict led to a division into denominations, each of which adhered to its own version.

In 1054, Christianity split into Orthodox and Catholic branches. Attempts to unite them again into one Church were unsuccessful. An attempt at unification was an agreement on the unification of churches on the territory of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - the Union of Brest, signed in 1596. But in the end, the conflict between faiths only intensified.

Modern times: the crisis of Christianity

In the 16th century world Christianity is experiencing a series of military conflicts. The churches sought to supplant each other. Humanity entered the Age of Enlightenment: religion was subjected to severe criticism and denial. The search began for new models of human self-awareness, independent of Biblical doctrines.

The innovators opposed the progress of Christianity - gradual development, the transition from simple to complex. Based on the idea of progress, Charles Darwin would later develop a theory of evolution based on scientific facts. According to it, man is not a creation of God, but the result of an evolutionary process. Since the 17th century, science and religion have been in constant conflict.

In the 20th century in the post-revolutionary Soviet Union, Christianity is experiencing a period of strict prohibitions and categorical denial religious view to the world. Church ministers renounce their ranks, churches are destroyed, and religious books are burned. Only with the collapse of the USSR did religion gradually regain its right to exist, and freedom of religion became an inalienable human right.

Modern Christianity is not totalitarian religious belief. Christians are free to accept baptism or refuse to follow its traditions. Since the mid-20th century, the idea of reuniting the three faiths into a single belief has been promoted as an attempt to avoid the extinction of religion. But none of the Churches is taking concrete action and the denominations are still divided.

It is difficult to find a religion that would so powerfully influence the fate of humanity as Christianity did. It would seem that the emergence of Christianity has been studied quite well. An unlimited amount of material has been written about this. Church authors, historians, philosophers, and representatives of biblical criticism worked in this field. This is understandable, because we were talking about the greatest phenomenon, under the influence of which the modern western civilization. However, one of the three world religions still holds many secrets.

Emergence

The creation and development of a new world religion has a complicated history. The emergence of Christianity is shrouded in secrets, legends, assumptions and assumptions. Not much is known about the establishment of this doctrine, which today is professed by a quarter of the world's population (about 1.5 billion people). This can be explained by the fact that in Christianity, much more clearly than in Buddhism or Islam, there is a supernatural principle, belief in which usually gives rise to not only reverence, but also skepticism. Therefore, the history of the issue was subject to significant falsification by various ideologists.

In addition, the emergence of Christianity and its spread was explosive. The process was accompanied by active religious, ideological and political struggle, which significantly distorted the historical truth. Disputes on this issue continue to this day.

Birth of the Savior

The emergence and spread of Christianity is associated with the birth, deeds, death and resurrection of just one person - Jesus Christ. The basis of the new religion was the belief in the divine Savior, whose biography is presented mainly in the Gospels - four canonical and numerous apocryphal ones.

The emergence of Christianity is described in sufficient detail in church literature. Let us briefly try to convey the main events recorded in the Gospels. They claim that in the city of Nazareth (Galilee), the Archangel Gabriel appeared to a simple girl (“virgin”) Mary and announced the upcoming birth of a son, but not from an earthly father, but from the Holy Spirit (God).

Mary gave birth to this son during the time of the Jewish king Herod and the Roman emperor Augustus in the city of Bethlehem, where she went with her husband, the carpenter Joseph, to participate in the census. The shepherds, notified by the angels, welcomed the baby, who received the name Jesus (the Greek form of the Hebrew "Yeshua", which means "God the savior", "God saves me").

By the movement of the stars in the sky, the eastern sages - the Magi - learned about this event. Following the star, they found a house and a baby, in whom they recognized Christ (“the anointed one,” “messiah”), and presented him with gifts. Then the family, saving the child from the maddened King Herod, went to Egypt, returning and settled in Nazareth.

The apocryphal Gospels tell numerous details about the life of Jesus at that time. But the canonical Gospels reflect only one episode from his childhood - a trip to Jerusalem for a holiday.

Acts of the Messiah

Growing up, Jesus adopted his father’s experience, became a mason and carpenter, and after Joseph’s death he fed and took care of the family. When Jesus was 30 years old, he met John the Baptist and was baptized in the Jordan River. Subsequently, he gathered 12 disciples-apostles (“envoys”) and, walking with them for 3.5 years around the cities and villages of Palestine, preached a completely new, peace-loving religion.

IN Sermon on the Mount Jesus substantiated the moral principles that became the basis of the worldview new era. At the same time, he performed various miracles: he walked on water, raised the dead with the touch of his hand (three such cases are recorded in the Gospels), and healed the sick. He could also calm a storm, turn water into wine, and feed 5,000 people with “five loaves and two fishes.” However, Jesus was going through a difficult time. The emergence of Christianity is associated not only with miracles, but also with the suffering that he experienced later.

Persecution of Jesus

No one perceived Jesus as the Messiah, and his family even decided that he had “lost his temper,” that is, he had become frantic. Only during the Transfiguration did Jesus' disciples understand his greatness. But the preaching activity of Jesus irritated the high priests who led Jerusalem Temple who declared him a false messiah. After the Last Supper, which took place in Jerusalem, Jesus was betrayed by one of his disciples-followers, Judas, for 30 pieces of silver.

Jesus, like any person, in addition to divine manifestations, felt pain and fear, so he experienced the “passion” with anguish. Captured on the Mount of Olives, he was convicted by the Jewish religious court - the Sanhedrin - and sentenced to death. The sentence was confirmed by the governor of Rome, Pontius Pilate. During the reign of the Roman Emperor Tiberius, Christ was subjected to martyrdom - crucifixion. At the same time, miracles happened again: earthquakes swept through, the sun darkened, and according to legend, “coffins opened” - some of the dead were resurrected.

Resurrection

Jesus was buried, but on the third day he rose again and soon appeared to the disciples. According to the canons, he ascended to heaven on a cloud, promising to return later in order to resurrect the dead, to Last Judgment condemn the actions of everyone, cast sinners into hell to eternal torment, and exalt the righteous to eternal life to “mountainous” Jerusalem, heavenly kingdom God's. We can say that from this moment an amazing story begins - the emergence of Christianity. The believing apostles spread the new teaching throughout Asia Minor, the Mediterranean and other regions.

The founding day of the Church was the feast of the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles 10 days after the Ascension, thanks to which the apostles had the opportunity to preach a new teaching in all parts of the Roman Empire.

Secrets of history

How the emergence and development of Christianity proceeded at an early stage is not known for certain. We know what the authors of the Gospels - the apostles - told about. But the Gospels differ, and significantly, regarding the interpretation of the image of Christ. In John, Jesus is God in human form, the divine nature is emphasized by the author in every possible way, and Matthew, Mark and Luke attributed to Christ the qualities of an ordinary person.

The existing Gospels are written in Greek, common in the Hellenistic world, while the real Jesus and his first followers (Judeo-Christians) lived and acted in a different cultural environment, communicating in Aramaic, common in Palestine and the Middle East. Unfortunately, not a single Christian document in Aramaic has survived, although early Christian authors mention Gospels written in this language.

After the ascension of Jesus, the sparks of the new religion seemed to fade away, since there were no educated preachers among his followers. In fact, it happened that a new faith was established throughout the planet. According to church views, the emergence of Christianity is due to the fact that humanity, having retreated from God and carried away by the illusion of domination over the forces of nature with the help of magic, still sought the path to God. Society, having passed the hard way, “ripe” to the recognition of a single creator. Scientists also tried to explain the avalanche-like spread of the new religion.

Prerequisites for the emergence of a new religion

Theologians and scientists have been struggling for 2000 years over the phenomenal, rapid spread of a new religion, trying to figure out these reasons. The emergence of Christianity, according to ancient sources, was recorded in the Asia Minor provinces of the Roman Empire and in Rome itself. This phenomenon was due to a number of historical factors:

Intensifying exploitation of the peoples subjugated and enslaved by Rome.
Defeats of the slave rebels.
Crisis polytheistic religions in Ancient Rome.
Social need for a new religion.

The beliefs, ideas and ethical principles of Christianity emerged on the basis of certain social relations. In the first centuries AD, the Romans completed their conquest of the Mediterranean. Subjugating states and peoples, Rome simultaneously destroyed their independence and identity public life. By the way, in this respect the emergence of Christianity and Islam are somewhat similar. Only the development of two world religions took place against different historical backgrounds.

At the beginning of the 1st century, Palestine also became a province of the Roman Empire. Including it in world empire led to the integration of Jewish religious and philosophical thought from Greco-Roman thought. Numerous communities of the Jewish Diaspora in different parts of the empire also contributed to this.

Why a new religion spread in record time

A number of researchers consider the emergence of Christianity to be a historical miracle: too many factors coincided for the rapid, “explosive” spread of a new teaching. In fact great importance had the fact that this movement absorbed broad and effective ideological material, which served it to form its own doctrine and cult.

Christianity as world religion developed gradually under the influence of various movements and beliefs of the Eastern Mediterranean and Western Asia. Ideas were drawn from religious, literary and philosophical sources. This:

Jewish messianism.
Jewish sectarianism.
Hellenistic syncretism.
Oriental religions and cults.
Roman folk cults.
Cult of the Emperor.
Mysticism.
Philosophical ideas.

Fusion of philosophy and religion

Philosophy—skepticism, Epicureanism, Cynicism, and Stoicism—had a significant role in the emergence of Christianity. The “middle Platonism” of Philo from Alexandria also had a noticeable influence. A Jewish theologian, he actually went into the service of the Roman emperor. Through an allegorical interpretation of the Bible, Philo sought to merge monotheism Jewish religion(belief in one God) and elements of Greco-Roman philosophy.

The moral teachings of the Roman Stoic philosopher and writer Seneca were no less influential. He viewed earthly life as a prelude to rebirth into other world. Seneca considered the main thing for a person to be the acquisition of freedom of spirit through the awareness of divine necessity. This is why later researchers called Seneca the “uncle” of Christianity.

Dating problem

The emergence of Christianity is inextricably linked with the problem of dating events. An indisputable fact is that it arose in the Roman Empire at the turn of our era. But when exactly? And where in the grandiose empire that covered the entire Mediterranean, a significant part of Europe, and Asia Minor?

According to the traditional interpretation, the origin of the basic postulates dates back to the years of Jesus’ preaching activity (30-33 AD). Scholars partially agree with this, but add that the creed was compiled after the execution of Jesus. Moreover, of the four canonically recognized authors of the New Testament, only Matthew and John were disciples of Jesus Christ, were witnesses to events, that is, they were in contact with the direct source of the teaching.

Others (Mark and Luke) have already received some of the information indirectly. It is obvious that the formation of the doctrine extended over time. It `s naturally. After all, after the “revolutionary explosion of ideas” in the time of Christ, there began an evolutionary process of assimilation and development of these ideas by his disciples, who gave the teaching a completed form. This is noticeable when analyzing the New Testament, the writing of which continued until the end of the 1st century. True, there are still different datings of books: Christian tradition limits the writing sacred texts a period of 2-3 decades after the death of Jesus, and some researchers extend this process until the middle of the 2nd century.

Historically, it is known that the teachings of Christ spread throughout Eastern Europe in the 9th century. The new ideology came to Rus' not from any single center, but through different channels:

from the Black Sea region (Byzantium, Chersonesus);
because of the Varangian (Baltic) Sea;
along the Danube.

Archaeologists testify that certain groups of Russians were baptized already in the 9th century, and not in the 10th century, when Vladimir baptized the people of Kiev in the river. Previously, Kyiv was baptized Chersonesus - a Greek colony in Crimea, with which the Slavs maintained close ties. Contacts Slavic peoples with the population of ancient Taurida, with the development of economic relations, they constantly expanded. The population constantly participated not only in the material, but also in the spiritual life of the colonies, where the first Christian exiles were sent into exile.

Also possible intermediaries in the penetration of religion into the East Slavic lands could be the Goths, moving from the shores of the Baltic to the Black Sea. Among them, in the 4th century, Christianity in the form of Arianism was spread by Bishop Ulfilas, who translated the Bible into Gothic. Bulgarian linguist V. Georgiev suggests that the Proto-Slavic words “church”, “cross”, “Lord” were probably inherited from the Gothic language.

The third path is the Danube path, which is associated with the enlighteners Cyril and Methodius. The main leitmotif of the Cyril and Methodius teaching was the synthesis of the achievements of Eastern and Western Christianity on the basis of Proto-Slavic culture. The Enlighteners created the original Slavic alphabet, translated liturgical and church canonical texts. That is, Cyril and Methodius laid the foundations church organization on our lands.

The official date of the baptism of Rus' is considered to be 988, when Prince Vladimir I Svyatoslavovich baptized the inhabitants of Kyiv en masse.

Conclusion

The emergence of Christianity cannot be briefly described. Too many historical mysteries, religious and philosophical disputes revolve around this issue. However, more important is the idea conveyed by this teaching: philanthropy, compassion, helping one's neighbor, condemnation of shameful acts. It doesn’t matter how a new religion was born, what matters is what it brought into our world: faith, hope, love.

It is difficult to find a religion that would so powerfully influence the fate of humanity as Christianity did. It would seem that the emergence of Christianity has been studied quite well. An unlimited amount of material has been written about this. Church authors, historians, philosophers, and representatives of biblical criticism worked in this field. This is understandable, because we were talking about the greatest phenomenon, under the influence of which modern Western civilization actually took shape. However, one of the three world religions still holds many secrets.

Emergence

Birth of the Savior

The apocryphal Gospels tell numerous details about the life of Jesus at that time. But the canonical Gospels reflect only one episode from his childhood - a trip to Jerusalem for a holiday.

Acts of the Messiah

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus established moral principles that became the basis for the worldview of the new era. At the same time, he performed various miracles: he walked on water, raised the dead with the touch of his hand (three such cases are recorded in the Gospels), and healed the sick. He could also calm a storm, turn water into wine, and feed 5,000 people with “five loaves and two fishes.” However, Jesus was going through a difficult time. The emergence of Christianity is associated not only with miracles, but also with the suffering that he experienced later.

Persecution of Jesus

No one perceived Jesus as the Messiah, and his family even decided that he had “lost his temper,” that is, he had become frantic. Only during the Transfiguration did Jesus' disciples understand his greatness. But Jesus’ preaching activities irritated the high priests in charge of the Jerusalem Temple, who declared him a false messiah. After the Last Supper, which took place in Jerusalem, Jesus was betrayed by one of his disciples-followers, Judas, for 30 pieces of silver.

Resurrection

Jesus was buried, but on the third day he rose again and soon appeared to the disciples. According to the canons, he ascended to heaven on a cloud, promising to return later to resurrect the dead, to condemn the actions of everyone at the Last Judgment, to cast sinners into hell to eternal torment, and to lift the righteous to eternal life in “mountainous” Jerusalem, the heavenly Kingdom of God. We can say that from this moment an amazing story begins - the emergence of Christianity. The believing apostles spread the new teaching throughout Asia Minor, the Mediterranean and other regions.

Secrets of history

The existing Gospels are written in Greek, a language common in the Hellenistic world, while the real Jesus and his early followers (Judeo-Christians) lived and operated in a different cultural environment, communicating in Aramaic, a language common in Palestine and the Middle East. Unfortunately, not a single Christian document in Aramaic has survived, although early Christian authors mention Gospels written in this language.

After the ascension of Jesus, the sparks of the new religion seemed to fade away, since there were no educated preachers among his followers. In fact, it happened that a new faith was established throughout the planet. According to church views, the emergence of Christianity is due to the fact that humanity, having retreated from God and carried away by the illusion of domination over the forces of nature with the help of magic, nevertheless sought the path to God. Society, having gone through a difficult path, has “ripened” to the recognition of a single creator. Scientists also tried to explain the avalanche-like spread of the new religion.

Prerequisites for the emergence of a new religion

Intensifying exploitation of the peoples subjugated and enslaved by Rome.
Defeats of the slave rebels.
The crisis of polytheistic religions in Ancient Rome.
Social need for a new religion.

The beliefs, ideas and ethical principles of Christianity emerged on the basis of certain social relations. In the first centuries AD, the Romans completed their conquest of the Mediterranean. By subjugating states and peoples, Rome simultaneously destroyed their independence and the originality of social life. By the way, in this respect the emergence of Christianity and Islam are somewhat similar. Only the development of two world religions took place against different historical backgrounds.

At the beginning of the 1st century, Palestine also became a province of the Roman Empire. Its inclusion in the world empire led to the integration of Jewish religious and philosophical thought from Greco-Roman thought. Numerous communities of the Jewish Diaspora in different parts of the empire also contributed to this.

Why a new religion spread in record time

A number of researchers consider the emergence of Christianity to be a historical miracle: too many factors coincided for the rapid, “explosive” spread of a new teaching. In fact, it was of great importance that this movement absorbed broad and effective ideological material, which served it to form its own doctrine and cult.

Christianity as a world religion developed gradually under the influence of various movements and beliefs of the Eastern Mediterranean and Western Asia. Ideas were drawn from religious, literary and philosophical sources. This:

Jewish messianism.
Jewish sectarianism.
Hellenistic syncretism.
Oriental religions and cults.
Roman folk cults.
Cult of the Emperor.
Mysticism.
Philosophical ideas.

Fusion of philosophy and religion

Philosophy—skepticism, Epicureanism, Cynicism, and Stoicism—had a significant role in the emergence of Christianity. The “middle Platonism” of Philo from Alexandria also had a noticeable influence. A Jewish theologian, he actually went into the service of the Roman emperor. Through an allegorical interpretation of the Bible, Philo sought to merge the monotheism of the Jewish religion (belief in one god) and elements of Greco-Roman philosophy.

The moral teachings of the Roman Stoic philosopher and writer Seneca were no less influential. He viewed earthly life as a prelude to rebirth in the other world. Seneca considered the main thing for a person to be the acquisition of freedom of spirit through the awareness of divine necessity. This is why later researchers called Seneca the “uncle” of Christianity.

Dating problem

Others (Mark and Luke) have already received some of the information indirectly. It is obvious that the formation of the doctrine extended over time. It `s naturally. After all, after the “revolutionary explosion of ideas” in the time of Christ, there began an evolutionary process of assimilation and development of these ideas by his disciples, who gave the teaching a completed form. This is noticeable when analyzing the New Testament, the writing of which continued until the end of the 1st century. True, there are still different datings of books: Christian tradition limits the writing of sacred texts to a period of 2-3 decades after the death of Jesus, and some researchers extend this process until the middle of the 2nd century.

Historically, it is known that the teachings of Christ spread in Eastern Europe in the 9th century. The new ideology came to Rus' not from any single center, but through different channels:

from the Black Sea region (Byzantium, Chersonesus);
because of the Varangian (Baltic) Sea;
along the Danube.

Archaeologists testify that certain groups of Russians were baptized already in the 9th century, and not in the 10th century, when Vladimir baptized the people of Kiev in the river. Previously, Kyiv was baptized Chersonesus - a Greek colony in Crimea, with which the Slavs maintained close ties. Contacts of the Slavic peoples with the population of ancient Tauris constantly expanded with the development of economic relations. The population constantly participated not only in the material, but also in the spiritual life of the colonies, where the first Christian exiles were sent into exile.

The third path is the Danube path, which is associated with the enlighteners Cyril and Methodius. The main leitmotif of the Cyril and Methodius teaching was the synthesis of the achievements of Eastern and Western Christianity on the basis of Proto-Slavic culture. Enlighteners created the original Slavic alphabet and translated liturgical and canonical texts. That is, Cyril and Methodius laid the foundations of the church organization in our lands.

The official date of the baptism of Rus' is considered to be 988, when Prince Vladimir I Svyatoslavovich baptized the inhabitants of Kyiv en masse.

Conclusion

In all ages, humanity has had different religions, accepted different beliefs. The science of religious studies divides faiths into religions, sects, denominations, movements and simply personal beliefs. Faith is not scientifically provable. In fact, every person has faith in something Higher, even atheists who are convinced that there is no God cannot prove this.

World religions - Christianity, Islam, Buddhism - these are the four religions that are most widespread on Earth, while Christianity is historically inherent in the Slavic lands of Rus'. However, it is also divided into confessions - movements within the religion. Orthodoxy and Catholicism are widespread in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Poland, and Moldova; many families historically profess different faiths, so today we will talk about their differences.

Christianity - briefly about religion

The most important dogma of Christianity is that Jesus Christ, the Almighty Son of God, became incarnate from the Virgin Mary and voluntarily accepted death to save people from the power of sin. He Himself showed people the meaning of the death, burial and Resurrection of Christ. His words and actions remain in the Gospel.

After being condemned to death, the Lord Jesus was Crucified on the Cross like the last thief, with ordinary thieves nearby. The apostles left Him, afraid of death, and only Holy Mother of God remained with the Apostle John the Theologian at the Cross.

When the Lord gave up the ghost, the disciples - not the apostles, but simply the disciples of Christ Joseph and Nicodemus - asked to give them the Body of the Lord for burial. They left it in the garden, where Nicodemus himself had bought a place for his future burial. However, Christ rose again a day later, appearing to the holy myrrh-bearing women.

Only after the Resurrection did the Apostles believe in the Divine will about the Crucifixion, death and the Kingdom of the Lord and understood this to the end.

On the 40th day after the Resurrection, Christ called the apostles to the Mount of Olives, blessed them and ascended to heaven on a cloud, that is, he began to rise higher and higher until he disappeared from view. At the Ascension, the apostles received a blessing from the Lord to go and teach the Gospel to all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Holy Trinity.

Christ is one of the Persons of the Holy Trinity. Holy Trinity- God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit are the One and Only God, Whom Christians all over the world worship. The dogma of His Unity in Three Persons is the most important for Christians, regardless of denomination.

The dogma of the Trinity is most fully and clearly expressed by its icon in the form of three angels. Only in the Orthodox Church does this image exist: among Catholics and Protestants this plot is called “The Hospitality of Abraham” and is only an illustration of an episode from Old Testament.

Christianity, Orthodoxy and Catholicism

Traditionally, Christianity is divided into three movements:

Catholicism, that is, the United Roman Catholic Church with a single head - the Pope (at the same time, there is a special doctrinal dogma about the infallibility of the Pope, that is, he cannot do anything wrong and has absolute power). The Church is divided into "rites", that is, regional traditions, but they are all under one leadership.

Orthodoxy, which is divided into independent, separate Patriarchate Churches (for example, Moscow, Constantinople) and within them - Exarchates and Autonomous Churches(Serbian, Greek, Georgian, Ukrainian - by region) with varying degrees of independence. At the same time, both Patriarchs and bishops of Churches can be removed from governance if they seriously sin. There is no single head of the Orthodox Church, although Patriarch of Constantinople bears the historical title of Ecumenical. Orthodox Churches have commonality in prayers, the possibility of jointly celebrating the Sacrament of the Eucharist (Communion) and others.

Protestantism is the most difficult, moving and falling apart confession. The churches here are also divided by region, there are bishops, but there are many sects - that is, those who consider themselves or are classified by religious scholars as Protestantism of individual teachings.

Jesus Christ in history

Today there are a number of documentaries about the earthly life of Christ. Through them, the scientific myth about the existence of the tomb of Christ and its search is popularized. In fact, such searches exist only for commercial filming. Real archaeologists, serious researchers do not do such things.

It has long been proven that Christ is like a real man existed on Earth. The place of His burial was widely known among the Jews of His time. In addition, after His Resurrection, He appeared to many people more than once, as the evangelists say. And the apostles themselves - holy men, according to the testimony of many - could not lie, unanimously asserting that He ascended to Heaven and pointing out the place where the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is now located as the place of His burial.

May the Lord Jesus Christ protect you with His grace!