In English Please

I am not a particularly religious person, but the idea religion has always been of interest to me. It is fascinating to look at the major world religions and to study their similarities and differences as well as the differences in the doctrine versus the actual practice of the religion. However, I have found myself confused and overwhelmed with all of the fractures within the system and the different denominations. Even though history is chronological for the most part, I find it easier to understand some aspects if I know what is going to happen.

For a world regional geography class a few semesters ago, I created my own simplified version of the history of world religions; a timeline of sorts. I like uncomplicated explanations because it makes studying a bit easier. Part of my outline shows the progression of Christianity and highlights events such as the Great Schism in 1054. I also included more details such as a list of denominations that grew from several divisions in the church.

History of World Religions: Christianity

1. Divisions: Eastern Orthodox Church, Roman Catholic Church, Oriental Orthodoxy,
2. Great Schism, 1054.
1. Eastern Orthodox Church

i. Denominations include: British Orthodox; Serbian Orthodox; Orthodox Church of Finland; Russian Orthodox; Syrian Orthodox; Ukrainian Orthodox; Bulgarian Orthodox; Romanian Orthodox; Antiochian Orthodox; Greek Orthodox; the Church of Alexandria; the Church of Jerusalem; and the Orthodox Church in America.

2. Roman Catholic Church

i. Protestant Reformation.

1. Denominations include: Amish; The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon); Jehovah's Witnesses; Quakers; Seventh-Day Adventist Church; United Pentecostal Church International; Calvinism; Lutheranism, Nazarene, Presbyterian.

2. Reformed: based in Switzerland. Followed teachings of Ulrich Zwingli and John Calvin.

3. Presbyterianism: based in Scotland. Followed teachings of John Knox.

4. Anabaptists: based in Switzerland. Connected with Amish, Mennonites, Quakers, and Baptists.

5. Anglicanism: based in England. Created by King Henry VIII.

i. Episcopalianism: interpretation of Anglicanism in America.

ii. Methodism: based on Anglicanism. Followed the teachings of John Wesley.

I also included links to comparisons between denominations from Religious Facts. I like these charts because they are easy to read and compare the denominations well; it makes studying religion less overwhelming.
•Facts and Stats
•Beliefs
•Practices
•Positions on Social and Ethical Issues
•Catholic and Protestant Theology

Another nice graphic to help make sense of the organization of Christianity can be found here.


Source Consulted:
http://www.religionfacts.com/christianity/denominations/history.htm

The Byzantine Empire

After the division of the Eastern and Western parts of Rome, the eastern remained under the rule of Constantine, the first Christian emperor of Rome. Constantine moved the capital from Rome to the city of Byzantium. He rebuilt the city and called it Constantinople, naming it after himself. This new capital city represents the end of the Roman Empire and the beginning of the Byzantine Empire. He began building monuments to create a more Christian feel in the new capital city. The first church built there by Constantinople was the church of St Eirene, and it was dedicated to Holy peace.
The fall of Rome ended the western half of the Roman Empire, and the eastern half continued as the Byzantine Empire. The empire had many different elements, a few of which were Christianity and Greek education. The Christianity developed here was the most significant cultural feature of the Byzantium Empire. It had a major influence on Orthodox Christianity, and missionary work began its spread.
The Byzantine Empire covered Greece, Balkans, Asia Minor, Syria, and Egypt. The empire looked less like a Roman empire, and had more of a Greek aspect, because the Greeks were the predominant race in the empire. Greek became the main language of the empire, replacing Latin. Also, legislation became thoroughly Greek.
The Byzantine Empire fell to Muslim invaders in 1453 because of the sack of Constantinople.
The Christianity and Greek influence in the Byzantine empire was extremely important. The spread of Orthodox Christianity lead to the adoption of a new religion still practiced in many places today. Without Constantine, and the Byzantine empire, Christianity might not have spread the way it did, and the religion would not be how it is today.

http://www.gothicmed.com/gothicmed/GothicMed/virtual-museum/greece/General/Byzantio.html
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/byzantium/index.html
http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ac59
http://www.lycos.com/info/byzantine-empire.html

Justinian: Byzantine Emperor

Justinian I was an aspiring ruler of the Byzantine Empire whose ultimate goal was to re-conquer Rome, despite the several obstacles and failures that stood in his way. His contributions to the empire included the reformation of taxation and a new body of laws called the corpus iuris civilis, which combined Roman laws with the beliefs of Christianity. This new system of laws would influence later European countries and be the standard for which they based their legal practices on.

Much of his reign stressed the importance of Christianity, however for a short period of time, Justinian believed in Monophysite Doctrine, which claimed that Christ only had one nature that was truly divine and dismissed his humanity. This put a strain on his relationship with the Roman Pope. Eventually, after realizing that he needed the power and influence of the Pope, he changed his beliefs once more, and accepted the orthodox belief in both the divine and human nature of Christ.

While he was not having luck in the political and religious aspects of his empire, he did make a large contribution to the artistic culture of the Byzantine Empire. He had the Santa Sophia built in Constantinople and the Church of San Vitale in Ravenna. These two buildings were influential architectural breakthroughs that later gave influence to European architecture and mosaic style.

Although Justinian was tied to the Orthodox Latin Church, his persecutions of non-Christians played a role that eventually did more harm than good for his goal of re-conquering Rome. It was because of this persecution and intolerance that foreign nations, especially Muslim rulers, were largely accepted by a majority of the Byzantine people. It was because of his failed expeditions and persecutions of non-Christians that prevented him from achieving his goal of conquering Rome.

Links:

http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/MA/BYZ.HTM

Shared Saints: A Common Bond

Despite the division between the Byzantine and Western Catholic Churches, they share many things because of their common origin. For example, both celebrate many of the same saints, including Saints Cyril and Methodius.

The Byzantine Church recognizes Cyril and Methodius as great saints, "equal to the apostles" for their work in bringing the Orthodox faith to central Europe. The Roman Catholic Church also considers them important; Pope Leo XII even wrote an encyclical to introduce their feast day. Although originally only Slovenia, Moravia, and Croatia celebrated them, eventually Pope Pius IX officially recognized their feast day, and Pope Leo XII made it an official universal feast day in 1880.

The brothers are most known for their work as missionaries to the Slavic peoples of Europe. They converted many, and their success is primarily attributed to their work in creating a written Slavic language and translating Biblical and liturgical books into the vernacular. Cyril and Methodius devised an alphabet to make the written language, and their proficiency in the Slavic language from a young age made their task easier. Cyril's education in Constantinople increased their success as well, because he was able to apply what he knew to aid the spread of litearacy, and therefore Christianity.

Cyril and Methodius exemplify one of the many reasons people convert to new religions: education. In addition to preaching Orthodox Christianity, a religion that could be practiced in their own languages, the brothers offered literacy, in the form of religious texts written in Slavic. Because of their work, Cyril and Methodius are considered some of the greatest missionaries of Orthodox Christianity to the world, as well as the founders of Slavic civilization. For these contributions, both the Roman Catholic and Byzantine Orthodox churches honor them as saints.

Sources: OrthodoxWiki, Papel Encyclicals Online

Constantine and Christianity

Constantine was the first Roman Emperor to convert to Christianity. His conversion was extremely important in the rise of Christianity in Rome. Before the Battle of Milvian Bridge, Constantine saw a vision of a labarum. That night, he had a dream, and Christ told him to take this cross into Battle. He was also told him his dream that the symbol would act as a safe guard in all the battles he ever encountered. When he woke up in the morning, he told his soldiers to mark their shield with the symbol in his vision. Constantine and his troops won the Battle of Milvian Bridge, and he continued to wear the labarum for every battle thereafter. Soon after the vision and his victory in the battle, Constantine converted to Christianity with no questions asked. He dropped everything he believed in for this new religion because of a vision and dream he had. Constantine slowly integrated Christianity into the empire.

It is in question whether or not the vision Constantine encountered was a real event, or just a natural event called, “halo phenomena.” Constantine, however, gave the testimony on oath and most historians accept his statement.

Constantine’s conversion to Christianity helped the religion in many ways. He paved the way for the rise of Christianity in Rome. He did a lot of work for the church and the Christian cause. An example includes allowing followers to practice the religion without being persecuted through issuing the Edict of Milan. Constantine played a big part in the growth of the church because he funded Christian leaders and churches. He believed that the church and the state should be as close as possible. This relationship between the church and state made Rome stronger. Constantine’s sponsorship of Christianity made it a favorable religion in Rome.

Constantine’s conversion, involvement, and sponsorship in Christianity had a huge impact on the religion. He paved the way for Christianity in Rome, and practiced aspects of the religion that are still done today such as, worship on Sundays. Without the vision or dream, Constantine may have never converted to Christianity and it may never have been so wide spread through Rome.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/131christians/rulers/constantine.html
http://www.thenagain.info/WebChron/easteurope/ConstantineConverts.html
http://historymedren.about.com/od/cwho/p/who_constantine.htm