The Christianity is a monotheistic religion, based on the figure of revelation Jesus Christ (hence the name of the religion) as the son of God, whose preaching is codified in the Gospels present in the New Testament of Biblesacred text of religion. It is currently there most widespread religion in the world with approx 2.4 billion faithful30% of the world population. The Christian religion was born in Palestine in 1st century ADinitially as a “current” of the Jewish religion. Over the years it became a religion in its own right, but for a few centuries it was only professed clandestinelybecause it is considered illegal by the authorities. In the 4th century it was first legalized and then recognized as the official religion of the Roman Empire. It was therefore able to spread throughout the Mediterranean basin and other territories, supplanting pagan cults. Over the centuries, Christians have divided into different confessions: the most important splits were the Great Schism of 1054with which the Eastern (Orthodox) Church separated from that of Rome, and the Protestant Reformationwhich began in 1517. Today the greatest challenge facing Christianity is the secularizationwhich is developing especially in more developed countries.
The origins of Christianity
Christianity emerged in Palestine in the 1st century AD as a “current” of Judaismwhich was the most widespread religion in the region at the time. Christians accepted numerous precepts of the Jewish religion and recognized it as a sacred book Bible (the Old Testament), but associated with it a “New Testament”, composed of the Gospels and other texts. Christians, in fact, did not fully recognize Jewish theology and believed that Jesus Christ was the Messiah sent by God to “save” the human race (for the Jews the Messiah has yet to arrive).
For some years Christianity was a current of Judaism, but gradually separated from it. An important moment of this process was Council of Jerusalemthat is, a meeting that took place around 50 AD in which it was decided that the faithful were not obliged to respect Jewish law, in particular regarding circumcision (the removal of the foreskin of the penis), which is obligatory for Jews.
The Roman Empire and persecutions
When Christianity was born, Palestine, the Mediterranean and a vast sector of Europe were controlled by the Roman Empire, in which the pagan religion prevailed. The apostles began preaching to spread Christianity immediately after the death of Jesus, managing to make large sectors of the population accept the new religion. Christianity in fact had the advantage of offer a hope of salvation and “eternal life” to the faithful, proposing messages easy and understandable to everyone. The new religion was though opposed by the political authoritiesbecause Christians refused to perform military service and pay divine honors to the emperor. Original Christianity was therefore a clandestine religion. Many Christians suffered imprisonment and death sentences for their faith.
The legalization and elaboration of Christian doctrine
Christianity was legalized in 313 by Emperor Constantine and declared the official religion of the empire in 380 by Theodosius. Therefore religion could be practiced in the open, new communities were born, buildings of worship were built and the doctrinal development, already started in previous centuries, continued. Christians adapted the doctrine to political needs, admitting, among other things, military service. The Fathers of the Church, that is, the main “creators” of the doctrine, also had to also address some “heresies”that is, currents of thought that proposed a different interpretation of some elements of theology. One of the most widespread heresies was theArianismaccording to which the Son (Jesus) was created by the Father (God) and was subordinate to him, and was therefore not an “equal” figure of the Trinity. To discuss heresies, special councils were convened, that is, meetings of bishops, which established the cornerstones of the doctrine.
By the 6th century, Christianity completely supplanted Greco-Roman paganism, spreading throughout the Mediterranean basin and also starting to expand into Northern Europe. In the 7th century, however, he had to face the birth of Islam, a new monotheism that spread across vast territories where the Christian religion had previously prevailed.
Christianity in the Middle Ages and the Great Schism
In the Middle Ages the Christian religion underwent great changes. Originally the Church did not have a universally recognized head, but as the centuries passed the bishop of Romethat is, the Pope, acquired ever greater prestige, until he became the leader of the Christian world. However, the “primacy” of the Pope was not accepted everywhere. In 1054 the Great Schism took place: the church of the Byzantine Empiredue to theological and political disagreements, decided to no longer recognize the authority of the pontiff. Thus was born Orthodox Christianitystill prevalent in the East today. The Church of Rome continued to define itself Catholicthat is, universal, but in fact it was no longer such.
In the centuries of the Middle Ages, however, the Church and religion had enormous importance in society and in the political sphere, both in the East and in the West. European Christians decided to challenge Islam on a military level through the crusades, armed expeditions to conquer the places where Jesus had lived, but they only managed to occupy the territories for a few centuries and were later driven out.
The Protestant Reformation and expansion in America
In the 15th century the Catholic Church underwent a new split, that of the “Protestants”, i.e. the faithful of some countries in central-northern Europe who decided to no longer recognize the Pope’s authority and to partially modify the doctrine. The reform, initiated by the German monk Martin Luther in 1517was caused first of all by the sale of indulgences (the Church, in short, demanded that a sum of money be paid to “buy” salvation in the afterlife). Protestantism, which was divided into different currents, spread to many territories of central and northern Europe.
The papacy “responded” to the Reformation with the Counter-Reformation (or Catholic reform), which had its culminating moment in Council of Trent (1545-1563): the Church tried to remedy the “faults” that had caused the Reformation, but developed a strong rigidity in doctrinal matters. Thus began the period of the inquisition, witch hunts, religious wars between Catholics and Protestants. Starting from the 16th century, Christianity “conquered” a new continent, Americacolonized by European powers.
Christianity today in the face of secularization
The most important challenge facing Christianity today is secularizationthat is, the decrease in the weight of religion in society, in politics and in people’s lives. Secularization affects almost the entire Christian world and is particularly intense in the more developed countries.
Christianity remains there most practiced religion in the world. According to the most reliable estimates, it has around 2.4 billion believers in the world, especially spread across Europe, America, Oceania, central and southern Africa. However, the level of religiosity of the faithful is extremely varied and many Christians, despite declaring themselves religious, do not participate in worship.
