On The Abrahamic Faiths: Part II, Christianity I of II

CHRISTIANITY (33 A.D-Judgement Day)

Origin: Jesus of Nazareth, “I am the way, the truth and the light”

Most world religions are hardly unique, they are merely spinoffs of a previous faith, changed to fit the needs of their adherents or to maintain authority. How has the God of Abraham maintained the purity of his original message? Or has he?  

Unlike most religions, Judaism and Christianity are in fact unique.  Similar concepts of good and evil are key themes found in nearly every faith, but the God of Abraham is something completely different.  

Each ancient religion seems to have a spin-off of some sort.  It may be a deity with identical purpose and character as another, or even a shameless transposition. 

  Perhaps the most successful copy-cats of culture were the Romans.  The Romans (Pre-Rome Latin speaking people) were a small conglomeration of various peoples that settled in Etruscan land and eventually absorbed their host to become the most powerful empire in history. 

 The Romans are known for many things, but their rich culture is not one of them, in fact there is little to no evidence of Latin culture at all.  It appears that having no culture of their own, they simply adopted a less creative version of someone else’s:   Aries- the Greek god of war became Mars- the Roman god of war, and etc. 

Typically, religions change according to the culture of the adopted people, sometimes resulting in a totally unorthodox version.  If a new “spin-off” religion claims to share the history of the adopted religion and/or culture, it will typically have some sort of disclaimer justifying its existence as being a lost or true version of the “corrupted” or incomplete original faith.

   Such offshoots require a patron and/or an enigmatic figure that claims sole access to the truth, and often, though not always, has much to gain by his new faith.  Buda was such a man and his philosophy started one of the largest religions in the world.  Buda claimed never to have any desire for personal wealth or power; in fact, his teachings confirm this.  Never the less, the Anti-Hindu offshoot he created generated a great deal of both.

Though it fits some of the pre-requisites of an offshoot, Christianity is not an offshoot of Judaism but a continuation of it.  Pre-Rabbinic Judaism ends with a set of specific prophetic fulfillments that are harbingers to the coming of the Messiah.  The Jews believe the Messiah will bring immediate physical deliverance. The Christians believe he brought spiritual deliverance and will bring physical deliverance later.

Jesus fulfilled all the prophecies required of the Messiah, but contrary to Judaism, Christ also offered eternal life to gentiles (non-Jews).  No longer were God’s people called to the Promised Land, they were called to “go out unto all the earth”.  Christianity did not bring gain or profit to its founders.  It remained a largely underground and persecuted movement until the 4^th Century A.D.  The wealth and power that the Church is known for, along with its “Corruption”, began after Emperor Constantine married Church and government.

CONSTANTINE & THE CHURCH

        Constantine ended the persecution of Christians and created the first Christian Empire (After persecuting all non-Christians).  Though he officiated many councils that were meant to settle theological debates, he never sought to create scripture.  The Bible had existed already and was written by those who witnessed Christ’s ministry first hand.  

*The pre-requisite for being an apostle was not merely being inspired, but having personally seen/heard Jesus speak to them.

     The Christian Church, as the official Roman faith, inevitably gained power.  Though the earliest churches had powerful bishops, the Bible clearly states that no apostle was greater than another and each church or Bishopric was equally important.  Such structure was ideal under persecution but presented challenges for Emperor Constantine, who sought to centralize his power.

 Constantine created the first Christian authority in Rome.  Pagan shrines were converted to shrines of “Saints.”  Pagan holidays were celebrated as Christian holidays.   When Constantine died, the Office of Pope was both a spiritual and a temporal kingdom. 

 The Keys were given by Constantine to Pope Sylvester, rather than by God to St. Peter.  (Pope Sylvester was given his office and authority by Emperor Constantine I.  He was the first Pope to claim authority over all other Bishops, making the Roman See the most powerful religious authority.) .*See=Jurisdiction

Constantine relied on a co-emperor and Roman Bishop to keep order in the west while he moved his capitol from Rome to the wealthier eastern half of his empire.  Rome had become dirty and, comparatively, poor.  Constantine ruled from Constantinople, present day Istanbul.  Though Constantine was indeed the first Christian Emperor, he didn’t convert until near his death.  With the emperor gone, Papal authority was on shaky ground and worse still, Constantine had been converted by an Eastern Christian Arian bishop, not the Pope.  Rome quickly fabricated a story involving Pope Sylvester, in an effort to maintain dominance and it worked marvelously in the west.

   Despite continual efforts to exercise dominance, The Bishopric/See of Rome never exercised total authority over the Eastern Church.  As the Popes that followed Sylvester grew in power and influence, the religious climate in the western empire changed.  The Eastern churches remained fairly independent of the Bishop of Constantinople and functioned almost totally independent from the Western Roman See, the city of Rome was however, still considered the heart of the empire and thus Christianity. 

POST CONSTANTINE

The era after Constantine was important to Christian development.  As western Rome eventually fell to invasion, Italy broke up into petty kingdoms and the Church of Rome fought hard to hold the people together.

  *The Eastern Roman Empire (daubed Byzantium by modern historians) remained until the 15^th Century, when it was finally defeated after centuries of attacks by the armies of Islam who sought to convert or destroy Christendom.

     

      Though the Roman Church had absorbed pagan traditions, it retained its core truth as well as its spiritual roots.  Rome became the unconquerable “City of God.”  The Church was an anchor that held fast through the storms of political chaos, much to the credit of St. Augustine.      The writings of St. Augustine, defined the brand of Christianity known today as: “Roman Catholicism.”

3 BRANCHES OF CHRISTIANITY

Christianity today consists of three different brands, separated by dogma more than beliefs.

In order of appearance Pope Sylvester, Bishop of Constantinople St. Greagory, & Martin Luther.  The reader may notice Martin Luther is on the far right side of the tree however, from the Pope’s view, he’s on the left.

 I CATHOLICISM (A.D. 430 to Present)

                Arguably started by St. Augustine, though it traces its own roots back to St. Peter, The Catholic Church believes itself to be the “True Universal Church”.  Many Catholic scholars (Not the credible ones) believe that Church history is seamless, The Papacy was created by Peter after being 

commissioned by Jesus Christ, and the Papacy has, thus far, maintained unity amongst the true believers.  

  History of course tells us quite differently.  All Christian history is world Christian or “Catholic history”; the church itself exists as a fort to equip the army of God (Spiritually speaking, Christians don’t Jihad) to go out and “preach the good news.”  Effective ministries vary according to culture, a topic Paul writes about to some extent.  Likewise culture can and will affect religion, another topic of which Paul writes.  

                Many of the Catholic Church’s theological fathers contradicted one another; one century’s heresy would be another century’s revelation.  The most extreme beliefs were filtered out, but some would, inevitably, stick.  St. Augustine, famously said: “Lord make me chaste… but not yet….”  Augustine was a philanderer before he was doctrinal Father, and he was heavily influenced by the writings of Plato. 

    Plato taught that physical desires were evil and carnal (physical desires prevented one from reaching the spirit/pure realm of virtue). To become truly pure before God, one must seek only the spiritual.

             This ancient philosophy is commonly held in the East but was quite strange to the West- its alien nature added to the allure.  While I don’t believe St. Augustine was intentionally paganizing the Catholic Church, rather projecting his own culture and convictions onto the church, the result was the same.

    Despite the western Church’s adoption of Augustine’s doctrine of clerical celibacy, many churches outside of Rome continued to preach and live God’s first commandment: “Go forth and multiply.”  The truth is that the Catholic Church was and is as different as the cultures it ministers to.

                The fine line between Cultural relevance and espionage:

3^rd Century Germanic tribes as well as Visigoth Spain worshiped goddesses and were notoriously difficult people for Rome to handle.  Constantine was able to facilitate the conversion of those tribes by compromising with Icons of Mary, Mother of God.  The idea of an afterlife that was neither heaven nor hell but rather a state or holding place where a soul may be cleansed and/or saved by the living was also a cultural addition to Western Catholic Christianity.

 The same happens today- a chapel in Cuernavaca Mexico may have faithful parishioners that are also “witch doctors.” (We like to refer to it as holistic medicine in my family)

       I recall walking into one of the churches built by Emperor Maximillian he built a manor house, chapel, and an amazing botanical garden for his Latina mistress. The church was like most Catholic chapels you see in that part of the world, but two things struck me as odd (By U.S. Catholic Standards):

1.       The Parishioner that was giving the tour put his hand in the center vessel that contains the holy water, proceeded to make the all familiar crucifix, but added an additional anointing to the back of his head.  When I asked about this strange rite, he replied: “It keeps the evil spirits out.”

2.       St. Francis not only had incense burning at his feet but was also covered in offerings of food, complete with what appeared to be a rosary of bagels!  Apparently a Jewish Aztec was converted in the area nearby.  

Aside from these quirks, speaking with the locals was normal; they considered themselves to be faithful Catholic Christians and, for the most part, believed everything that I believed about Christ’s teachings.  The additions, though strange to outsiders, are no different than when I take my children to the Church sponsored Easter egg hunt or celebrate the birth of Christ with elves.  

THE DEVELOPMENT OF MODERN CATHOLICISM                (Post Vatican II-Present)

The Catholic Church core beliefs have remained untouched since the days of St. Peter.  Today the Catholic Church is very near the beliefs of Protestant Christianity.  However, in the past, the Church had been overtly corrupted by false teachings.  The Catholic Church, after a thousand years of ministry, had reached the tipping point, where culture contradicts scripture.  A Pope was made king of the Church- he was either elected or appointed.  The benevolence of his office depended on the benevolence of the man. The power was intoxicating to many, and greed clouded the hearts of many Church officials.  Scripture supports order and even hierarchy to an extent, but it is very much opposed to God’s Church being controlled by a Man. 

Crossing the Line:  Infallibility & god’s authority incarnate

The Pope in ages past, claimed (or was said to, by enterprising clerics) have both the keys to the Kingdom and the guest list as well.  Forgiveness could be purchased with money or deeds.  Salvation could be denied by not complying with which ever King happened to be pulling the Church’s strings at the time, or vice versa.  The ability of the Pope to influence political powers was an ability that the Vatican and or whichever power protected and/or controlled it, wanted to maintain.  The union of church with temporal powers was a recipe for disaster, as it not only permitted but facilitated corruption. 

One of the most infamous periods of Catholic history was the period of the Crusades.  I will write on the crusades in a separate post, and I mention it here only as it serves as an example of the misuse of church influence.  I believe the first Crusade was justified; however the recruitment process involved the promise of forgiveness to all participants and/or their loved ones that may be in purgatory.  Many good and noble men set forth to end the  hostile Muslim conquest of the Eastern half of the old Christian Roman Empire (Byzantium), and the persecution, though exaggerated, was real and a staple of Turkish controlled territory.  However, the Pope’s declaration also justified the actions of some of the most heinous and notorious opportunists in history.

Dark Ages?

Though knowledge was difficult to cultivate in ages past, they were certainly not as “Dark” as you may have been taught.  Catholic churches sponsored schools, and families that could afford it, would hire education professionals.  Art and innovation actually thrived, limited only by the decentralized power of post Roman Europe, making travel difficult (Not suppressed by the Church, while some monks burned “Pagan writings,” more monks and Christian Noble patrons actually preserved Greek and Roman History than purged it).  It is true though, that Western Christians were forbidden to read scripture in their own language. 

The definition of Illiterate was not whether one had the mental faculty to read and write but that one could read and interpret Latin and Greek scripture.  One might be brilliant and fluent in French, German, and Occitan but that didn’t make one literate.  This skill was not hidden or even discouraged. In fact, it was common practice for medieval families to send one child into military service and one child to serve the Church, so that at least one member of the house would become literate.  (Interpreting scripture is to understand it in context, not simply translating the language, and required years of dedicated study.) 

Martin Luther was from a wealthy German family and, as such, received a good education, but after spending time in law school he decided to devote himself to Monastic life with the order of St. Augustine and He became a Doctor of Theology at the University of Wittenberg.  Luther was appalled by the corruption that had infiltrated his beloved Church and sought to change it.  He began teaching that God was the only one that could forgive sins and His grace alone brought salvation.  Furthermore any man claiming to possess such power was claiming himself to be God.  Luther taught that God and God’s word were the only things necessary for salvation.

The Catholic authority saw Luther as a threat to their power, which was closely tied to the “Holy Roman Emperor.”  Though Luther wanted only reform based on scripture, he was excommunicated and declared an outlaw by the Emperor.  Germany, at the time, was not a nation but a loosely united kingdom of barons, loyal to a king.  Their loyalty was maintained carefully and depended on their ability to rule over their barony with relative independence.  Many barons chose to back Luther and use the Protestant movement to ensure their independence.

  The Christians that followed Luther were also excommunicated as were any Christians that protested Papal authority.  The “Protestant movement” had begun and 30 years of bloodshed, led more by political motivations than religious ones, ensued.

                As Christian history goes, one man’s heretic is another man’s saint.  Four hundred years after the Protestant reformation, Pope John Paul II held the Second Vatican Council, which reformed the Catholic Church in a way that Luther would have championed.  The very same spirit that got Luther excommunicated, got Pope John Paul II canonized.   Today very little separates Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant core Doctrine.  Much less separates the East from the West, recently both the EOC Arch Bishop and the Pope took part in the Eucharist together, ending the Great Schism. 

The only major points of contention existing today between the three branches remains: 

1.       Papal Authority, though after Vatican II, even that is fairly easily mitigated as the Pope will not claim to be greater than any man, the appointed steward of God’s Church rather than its earthly ruler.

2.       The doctrine of purgatory and the belief that a purification process is needed for some before they may enter into heaven.  Prayers and good works of friends and family may speed up a loved one’s purification process. 

3.       Prayer to the dead, saints may be asked to intercede with you in prayer for you or your loved ones behalf.  Catholics teach that the Saints and their images possess no power of their own; they are only powerful prayer partners and advocates.  A Protestant may ask a minister with an apparent anointing to join them in prayer, but both Catholic and Orthodox Christians believe that this should continue even after death.