Christianity as a world religion

To consider that the world religion Christianity is on the same line with Islam and Buddhism, allow the scale of its spread and influence on the course of history. If we talk about the other currents, they absolutely do not consider what force drives the development of mankind. Thus, it turns out that the field of their attention completely falls out the story. But Christianity as a world religion, perhaps, only treats it as a non-recurring process, directed in one direction and controlled by God from the beginning (from the moment of creation) to the end, that is, to the terrible judgment.

Its essence lies in the drama of a man who has fallen and fallen away from God, but who has the opportunity, through His mercy, to obtain redemption through the Savior and the church. So, Christianity as a world religion almost from the first minutes of its existence was associated with the most important moments of history, which later influenced the destiny of mankind as a whole.

At the end of the 20th century Oxford University published interesting data. According to them, at that time almost half a billion people on the Earth called themselves Christians, that is, a third of its population. For comparison: Islam at that time professed 720 million, and Buddhism - 270 million people.

In our day, Christianity as a world religion is a collective term, which includes three directions: Protestantism, Orthodoxy and Catholicism. Within their framework, during more than two thousand years of history, many religious associations emerged. All the followers of this direction believe in Jesus Christ. For them, he is both a man and God at the same time. They fully accept his teaching and try to conform to his behavior in his life.

As in any other religion, this one also has its own cult book - the Christian Bible. It consists of two Testaments: the Old Testament, considered sacred among the followers of Judaism, and the New written after the death of Jesus and narrating about his life and teaching. The latter consists of the four Gospels left by followers of Christ, the Epistles of the Apostles to the existing communities in the world, the Acts of the Apostles and the Apocalypse, or Revelation. All these parts are considered sacred, because they were written by people not from themselves, but from the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Christians believe that Jesus by his resurrection conquered death itself and gave all people hope for a new, eternal life. In this way, there is a reconciliation of the human race with the Lord God.

Christianity arose when the Roman Empire - a civilization based on slavery - was already on the verge of decline. In the end, in the lower classes, the conviction of the rich and ruling has matured, and a desire to transform life has emerged. In such conditions, Christianity with its convictions appeared at the very right time. The first followers of Jesus undoubtedly believed that God will very soon and personally intervene in the affairs taking place on Earth, destroy the existing world and establish his own. Christianity was also attracted by the promise of salvation. And the hope has appeared at all suffering, including at poor.

At that time, there were several communities at once, within which there were several sects and heresies. At the head of each of them stood the presbyter, new posts also appeared: the deacon, the bishop.

At the end of the 4th century, the Roman empire, after centuries of hostility on the basis of religious and political differences, split into the eastern and western parts. Along with this, there was a division of churches. At the head of the eastern became the patriarchs, and the western - the Roman bishop (pope). Since then, Christianity has forgotten about the period of persecution and, conversely, became the state religion. And even a complete break (in the middle of the 11th century) between the two branches did not contribute to its destruction. Just in Southeast and Eastern Europe, Orthodoxy, originating from Byzantium, was predominantly established, and in Western - Catholicism.

Today Christianity as a world religion has become even bigger, its positions are stronger than ever. Now the number of his followers exceeds 2 billion people. The world's largest religion is also in geographic distribution. After all, there is practically no country in which there would not be at least one Christian church.