How Can We Attain… ETERNAL LIFE: With Our LORD GOD In Heaven? By Way Of True Defender of the Faith

Some have objected that it was not fair for God to transfer guilt to an innocent person, but we need to remember that it was actually Jesus who volunteered to pay the penalty. There was no coercion. Jesus voluntarily went in our place. The difference, of course, is that in this situation it was an unjust debt. In our situation we owe it, big time!

Hopefully that helps some. As a Christian of many years I am still so young in my journey and it is a constant learning curve for me. Raised in a non-christian house I have been surrounded by non-christians all my life. My acceptance of Christ as a teenager was something that disturbed my non-christian family and to this day, they still question my faith. Their disbelief is primarily that God is a figment of ones imagination and is a means by which people seek solace in times of need or by which people try to control others. Therefore they want no part in it. On the other hand they feel that in saying humans are sinful and wrong Christians are passing judgement and trying to impose their beliefs on others.

We are bigots and we are doing a horrible thing by trying to indoctrinate them and most especially their children. For me to tell them in any way shape or form that they are being sinful and are doing wrong would cause them to feel anger and hatred towards my faith and to detest the fact that I love the Lord with all my heart. Nina, thanks for the comment and question. First I would just like to encourage you to keep pressing on fighting the good fight.

I can only imagine how difficult it must be for you to stand by your beliefs in such a hostile environment. Remember that God says you are blessed when you are persecuted for His name. In fact He says to consider it joy! My advice to you would be to wage a campaign of prayer. Prayer is SO powerful! It is usually the first thing we talk about but the last thing we do. Pray for the Holy Spirit to work in your family; to convict them of sin and prepare the way for you to share.

If your family made it clear that they do not want you to try to persuade them to believe, I think you should respect their wishes and pray that God would soften their hearts. Yiu cannot do anything to save them. Apart from a work of God in their hearts giving them faith, they will not hear or understand your words. This is what Paul tels us in 1 Cor 2: Consider fasting in and praying. As you pray for God to work in them, also pray the the Holy Spirit will fill you with the power to live like Jesus. If they see a real change in you, how you react, how you serve, and how you love, they will see your faith as a source of strength, not a crutch to help the weak.

They will know your faith is real when they can see it lived out. Repay evil with kindness. Love when you are attacked. You cannot do this in your own power. It will have to be God working through you, this is why it is important to pray for Him to do this work in your heart. Repent of anything God shows you that needs to change. Your focus needs to be on your life. As you do this eventually God wil begin to make headway into their hearts. God can use your life as contrast to theirs and point out their sin. He will guide you and show you when the proper time is to share why there is a change in you.

This part takes some discernment so pray for that as well. As a general rule, wait until they ask you what is going on. When you do speak about God be sure do do it from a position of humility, acknowledging your many faults and showing thanks for how much God has saved you from. There are times when it is appropriate and necessary to point out their sin, but if they are seeing you and Christians as judgmental, then the best approach may be to talk about your sin and what God has saved you from.

Paying or not paying taxes has nothing to do with being a religion. It has absolutely nothing to do with if they are religions or not. Is that what you think? The word religion certainly has many definitions like many words in the English language. I have done this very clearly in my blog above. Do you disagree that Christianity is not a religion by the definition that I gave?

However, this is not the common use of the word. There is much more implied there than that they believe in a god of some kind. Also, people can believe in the existence of a god but not be religious and not belong to any religion. I believe in the existence of my wife. Belief is absolutely necessary in order to have a relationship.

This is no different than the fact that I believe in the existence of my wife because I know her. That is not intellectually honest. In it, a Christian is supposed to obey God without question. The fact that we are communicating shows that at some level we ARE having a relationship. I may not be able to see God, but I can and certainly do hear Him and feel Him. My relationship with Him is undeniably real. Since I am the only one who can testify what MY relationship with God like, I think I am in the best position to comment on it.

He is very real. He speaks to me frequently in unmistakable ways. He stirs my heart and my spirit and moves me to want and desire new things that I never thought I would ever desire before. It is only someone who knows God, who has experienced this same thing that can understand this or will believe it. But, once you have, there is no doubting it. My relationship with Jesus is as real to me as any earthly relationship.

In so many ways it is deeper. It is one of mutual love. That is what you cannot understand without experiencing it. The relationship between me and my Savior is not one of slave to master. It is one of close brother to brother. It is one of son to loving Father. I gladly choose to obey because I love Him and I know that He knows what is best. His plan and His way is the best way. It is in my best interest to follow Him because He knows everything all ways and has chosen the best path for me. Additionally, He is continually at work in my heart changing me.

He gives me new desires and I find that I no longer want to go my way. There are certainly times when I disobey and go my own way and not His. However, without fail this turns out to my detriment and to the detriment of those I love. When I repent and turn back to His way He is always there with open arms welcoming me back and helping me want to grow. What arrogance to think that we can tell God what is right and that He is wrong. It is simply a fact that God is right. It is His very nature.

He cannot be un-right. Right and wrong only make sense in relation to God. Without an external God separated from His creation there is no such thing as objective right an wrong. We would have no concept of right or wrong apart from God. Everything would be purely subjective.

So, of course God is right. I have a real relationship with my earthly Father. However, there are certainly times when we disagreed. Yes, this was wrong. There were consequences when I disobeyed. He was still my father and I was still his son. I still have a relationship with him in fact a very good one.

I am not his slave just because he gave me healthy boundaries, set rules and called me to obey them. They were for my safety and well being. Do you think that perhaps my Dad may have know a few more things that I, as an 8 year old boy, did? Is it possible he might have known better than I did if it was a good idea for me to go walking around town at midnight? Perhaps the almighty God of the universe might know a little bit more than you do?

You are a sinner. Like all of us you have chosen to rebel against the holy, just and good God of this universe. You have thumbed you nose at Him and and the sound of submitting to Him is like nails on a chalk board to you. You would rather continue to go your way because you have believed the lie that you know better than God what is good and right for you. If you only could see the truth that of what you are missing.

If you only knew that the real freedom, the real joy, the real hope, the real life is only found when you fulfill the purpose for which you were created and repent of your way and let God lead. It is my prayer that you will. There is a real eternal hell at stake here. Just as God cannot be un-right, He can also not be unjust. His very character is just. He must punish evil and sin. If He overlooked it He would be unjust. The only hope of escaping this punishment is the fact that Jesus agreed to take this punishment for those who repent and agree to let God lead.

Jesus stepped in on the cross and took our punishment, the penalty that we rightly deserved so that God could remain just and so that we could live. This was the only way both could be satisfied. If you do not repent and place God in His rightful position of Lord of your life, you will pay for your own sin in hell for all eternity. However, if you swallow your pride, admit you are wrong and that He is right, and place your trust in Him, you can live forever with Him in a love relationship that will grow and grow for eternity.

This is the most rewarding and wonderful relationship you could ever have. I know from personal experience. I was where you are now. But I gave in, I realized my way was not the right way. I realized that I was drinking out of the toilet when I was being offered fresh, purified water. I came to Him dirty and full on sin and my own pride.

I laid it all at the foot of His cross and repented and it was all gone, in an instant. He took it all upon Him and suddenly I was set free in a way I cannot express. I have never been the same since. I am a new person. I truly do desire this for you. I will pray for you and I am here if you have any questions. The greatest thing he has never known. Matiny, This is a good question.

You are referring to John Ironically and most likely not coincidentally , it is a subject that was directly discussed in the sermon preached at my church on the same day you posted your comment. I highly recommend that you listen to this sermon. I think it will help answer your question and provide you with my perspective in better detail. You can find the full sermon here: The sermon above is much more thorough than I can be here, but I will try to give a quick summary of my thoughts.

The scriptures are very clear that we, as New Testament followers of Jesus, are not under the specific and direct commands of the Old Testament law. This can be clearly seen in numerous Scripture passages. The Mosaic Law was not intended as a universal and eternal reflection of the will of God. It was intended for a particular time, place and people. In Christ, it is no longer binding. Abel, Noah, Abraham and many others were declared righteous before the law.

Moses, Joshua, David, the prophets and many others born under the law were declared righteous not through obedience to the law but through faith in the promises of God. Now, in Christ, we relish in the final revelation of the fulfillment of the promises in the coming of the object of the faith Jesus Christ who alone justifies.

We are not under the law but under grace Romans 6: However, this is not a passport for living how we want and thumbing our nose at God. But what is the law of Christ? This can be answered by looking at a few verses. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. The law of Christ is love; love for others and love for God. Jesus tells us that love fulfills the whole law Matt We are called to love. By doing so, we fulfill all the intent and purpose of the rules of the law without needed to obey the letter.

Jesus actually modeled this for us when He was on earth. That is where the passage you asked about comes in. Look at the verse the immediately follows the one you quote, John You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. He gives us the Holy Spirit to help us with this commandment to love.

Thus it is actually His work, not ours. The Holy Spirit empowers us and helps us love overcoming our selfishness. He says that if you try to obey part of the law then you are obligated to keep the whole thing. As we place our faith in God, he changes our hearts. The Holy Spirit helps us to genuinely love God and love others. This faith works itself out as love in our lives. Therefore, those who have faith will love, and thus, fulfill the law of Christ. Not sure i understand your post.

These things themselves have no moral implications. They are just things. How they are used and why they are used is what is relevant. It is always about the heart. Pradeepa, The short answer to your question is that it is because of sin. As I explained in the post above, sin separates us from God. It also separates us from each other. We see this every day.

As a result of sin, marriages split up, friends part ways, relationships are strained, etc. Relationships are always impacted when we sin usually our horizontal relationships with others, but always our vertical relationship with God. We repeatedly see this example in the Bible. When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden, they became separated from God. We see this with the Nation of Israel. When King Solomon sins by worshiping idols, the result is that his kingdom is divided.

It is split into two kingdoms Israel and Judah. The once unified Nation of Israel is torn in two as a result of this sin. This is similar to what has happened to the Church. However, when Jesus left, Satan remained. His desire is to spread dissension and division Romans 6: The Church has a real enemy that is continually warring against it to try to create as much division as possible. Additionally, Christians still have sinful natures. We are far from perfect! Sin also has the effect of clouding our minds so that we cannot perceive things correctly.

It tends to skew our interpretation of things. Thus, there were many disagreements of how to interpret various things in Scripture. The result of this sin is that divisions came up. Sometimes they even fought over these disagreements. In most cases these disagreements and different interpretations of Scripture were not major, but were more minor. However, it is the proclivity of mankind to focus on our differences instead of the more important points we agree on. Some of these points of disagreement are listed in my post above what day of the week to meet on, forms of music to use, ritualistic prayers, dietary requirements, etc.

These things are minor points and should not cause fellow believers in Christ to divide. But, all too often, our sinfulness comes out and we fear those who do not agree with us. In addition to these minor points, theological differences caused division. Many of these differences are about concepts about God and how He works that are very difficult for us humans to understand such as the role of human free will in relationship to the sovereignty of God. Other theological points of disagreement centered on who should be baptized and how. Instead of bearing with one another and allowing each other to disagree on minor matters like this, churches split up over them.

They formed whole organizations of churches around their way of thinking. Groups who believed that the right way to baptize was by immersing the person in water instead of sprinkling water over them split off. Groups of churches that believed that infants should be baptized at birth joined together and separated themselves from churches that believed only believers in Christ should be baptized. The result was that the Church, as a whole, lost out. In most of these cases there are correct points on both sides as well as some errors and over reactions.

We cannot put God in a box, and the reality is that we need perspective of the whole Church to better understand Him. By surrounding ourselves with only the people who think like us, everyone loses. I look forward to the day when Jesus returns and there will no longer be any denominations, nations, or any other divisions; only followers of Jesus. God will correct all the wrong thinking in all of us, align us and help all of us to see and understand more of Him than we can now.

That is my short answer, I hope it helps some. Pradeepa the various different denominations to my understanding have come about much in the same way that cultural differences come about. When the disciples were sent out to all the ends of the earth to spread the Good News, they naturally came across people from very diverse backgrounds and cultures which resulted in slightly different traditions and practices within the one faith. I imagine a lot of this is reflected in the various different denominations that you come across today.

Nina, Thanks for the response. However, that is not really historically accurate. The Church had already spread over the entire known world. At this point it split in two. It further divided when the Protestant Reformation occurred in the 16th century. The king of England also split the church in because he wanted to get a divorce. For a good summary of the actual history you can see this link: Hi, I heard that when people die, instead of going directly to heaven or hell, they sleep until the day God would comes back and question us about our sins.

I was just wondering if that was correct? It is false teaching. The bible never teaches that. There are several clear bible passages that directly contradict it. Jesus claimed He would never die John 5: They are clearly alive and not asleep. The apostle John sees saints alive in Heaven when he is taken there by an angel in Revelation.

Here is a web site that goes into more length refuting soul sleep: So Christians, why is your religion more valid, than say, Hinduism? What is so veeeery believable about Christianity that you take it above all other religions? I pointed out a few in a previous blog, such as how Christianity is unique in the fact that is about God coming to man instead of man […]. Alex, This is a good question. I chose to write a blog post to answer it. This will allow me a little more space to more fully address your question. See blog linked below:. Your entire essay here can easily be undone by the first sentence of your fabricated definition for religion.

DS, thank you for the comment. In fact, it seems you have completely missed or intentionally avoided my entire point. Yes, Christianity is a system of beliefs that one adheres to. That is not my point, though. I was very specific in how I defined religion. I specifically laid out WHAT religion adheres to: Christianity is unique in that it is a belief without requiring anything more than believing.

It is this last part that characterizes religion. Religion says you have to EARN it. In Christianity the work is already done by God. All that is necessary is to trust is His work. Jesus earned it for us on the cross. Everyone has a belief that they adhere to. Religion is not just believing something.

Religion is a belief that requires you to to do something to earn favor from God. This is why Christianity is so different from the others. Religion is the reason why they are killing us innocent Men Woman and Children.. The end result was complete failures. I believe God has chosen me to share Gospel among Hindus and will use some of the teaching shared here on this blog.

I have goose bumps from reading all of this. To everyone who responded so kindly to the people who had questions and doubts, may God bless you. All I know is that my life has dramatically changed since I invited Jesus Christ our Lord into my life. I am not religious, but instead have a wonderful relationship with Him. As I have learned over the years, trying is religion.

If you let Jesus captured you heart you would not be trying anymore because you will be living it. Let Jesus capture your heart. Tubs, Thank you for your comment. I must disagree with you, however. That is not at all what I intend to say with this blog post. It totally depends on WHY you are trying. It should be clearly understood that the bible calls us to try to live how God wants us. We are to try to live like Jesus did.

In 1 Cor 9: There are countless more I could list. The above verses among many others make it very easy to see that as Christians we are indeed called to strive, toil, work, obey, and labor. Not just trying but trying very hard! When then, does it become religion? The answer to this question is what I was attempting to explain in this blog. It is all about why you are working. Why are you trying? Do you think you can make him love you more by doing good things? If so, THIS is religion.

If you think it is like earning a reward, then you are working from religion. However, that is not why Paul and the other New Testament authors worked hard. Paul understood that his good works were worthless. I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin—a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church.

And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault. I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him.

I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. Paul understood that he had to discard these attempts to earn favor from God and rely only on God to make up the gap and save him. However, it was the understanding of how much grace and mercy God had shown him that made him want to work so hard.

He worked hard out of love for God and a desire to show gratitude with his life. He also worked hard to gain an eternal reward in heaven. God promises that he will reward all the work that is genuinely done for His glory. So, it is not trying that is religious. If so, then we should just do whatever we want. That is NOT biblical Christianity. We are still called to try and try as hard as we can. But, our reason for trying has changed.

We now try out of love and gratitude and in expectation of an eternal reward that will never fade away. I also work as an Engineer at The Boeing Company. Glad I could help. I am doing a research paper on Christianity vs Religion how being a Christian is religious or a religion. Driscoll How are you? I do believe in the Word of God. I do believe Christianity is not a religion of system of rules it is based on relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ.

Their are so much cult religions out their in the world that is based on a system of rules by man. Since we have a relationship and believe in our Lord Jesus Christ. The enemy wants to hurt us by killing us off because we believe in our Lord Jesus Christ and not a false God.. All of these prominent sources call Christianity a religion: I suppose everyone is free to make up their own definition of words, but you can hardly blame the rest of the world for not acknowledging your invented definition.

Amanda, First off, thanks for the comment. I hope you understand that what I have written comes from a desire to help you and others. It is certainly perfectly fine if we disagree on this. I appreciate your point that many dictionaries and other sources do not define religion as I have done here. I know and understand this. The truth is that there is not great agreement on the actual definition. I surveyed several sources with widely differing definitions. There are also many that include my definition as one of the definitions for religion, so I am not out in left field by myself here.

A set of beliefs, values, and practices based on the teachings of a spiritual leader. A cause, principle, or activity pursued with zeal or conscientious devotion. From the Dictionary of Word Origins: I could certainly site others. Notice the use of practices, obligation, activity, devotion, and rituals above. The point here is that there is certainly a use and way in which the word religion can mean exactly what I am saying here. I think this gives me some room to point out that there is a major element contained in all of all the world religions that is absolutely missing in Christianity.

That just comes down to an argument over how you want to define religion. The point is that there is something vastly different about Christianity. This is the point you are missing here. There is something common to all religions that is absent in Christianity. But this is not true. Belief is NOT something you can chose to do. It is not an action. It is a state of being.

It is like the color of your skin. No you could not. You could think about a pink elephant but you do not actually believe it is floating over your head. This is because your will does not control your beliefs. You believe what you think is actually true based on the evidence you observe. Rules are about choices. Rules govern behavior, not mental states of being. Additionally, I agree that Christianity depends on belief. Belief is a requirement, but this is not an action you perform. If you possess it, it is something given to you by God.

This is made clear in the bible in Ephesians 2: Similarly, all other religions require belief. Even non-religions require belief. This is because it is a state of mind. You cannot be absent belief. Yes, Christianity requires belief, but so does anything else. So does Buddhism, Islam, Shintoism, or even atheism. But, there is a fundamental difference about Christianity from all the other world religions that you are refusing to acknowledge: Every other religion adds to this works, rituals, acts of service, essentially requiring you to earn it yourself.

This is the point I am trying to get across here. Jesus has already done all the work for you. He has earned your redemption and restoration. He has actually dealt with sin and evil and addressed it something no other religions does. Christianity is the only one to address the problem of evil and offer a solution. I am certainly not that smart. Is this not an accurate statement? Think about it for a moment. What other religion has God doing the work needed to make it right Himself? I sincerely wish you the best, Amanda.

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I pray that you will not see this response as argumentative. Regardless of whether you and I agree on if Christianity is a religion or not, I hope that we can both agree on the vast, amazing way in which it is different and unique. I hope that you will spend some time considering how different Christianity is. I truly think that it is the only one that makes any sense.

I do not understand how anyone could think that sinful, flawed humans can try to earn our own way to a perfect and holy God. How can I expect a perfectly just God to overlook the things I have already done? I can never earn this. Then here is the offer of Christianity: God offers to pay it for me. This actually makes sense, since He is the only one qualified to pay it. This allows Him to remain just, punishing the evil but also to display His love by not giving me what I deserve.

Maryjo, Thanks for the comment. I absolutely agree with you. God saved us not because of our works, but he also has called us to do works which he has appointed for us. This idea is made explicit. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. I talk some about this idea in some of my response to comments. I am so glad I found this page. Thank you so much for clearing things up for me.

I have a question for you philipians. Could you please help me understand the tithe in the Church. There is so much controversy on this topic. I thought that was something that was done only in the old testament. I would greatly appreciate your help in helping me understanding this topic. You ask a very good question about tithing. Hence the word tithe. Many Christians will mistakingly try to apply this to us today, but I never do so. Like many New Testament ideas it is much more ambiguous and fuzzy than the old Law.

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In some ways the law was easier because it was so cut and dry. The New Covenant is all about relationship and listening the the guiding of the Holy Spirit. There are very few cut and dry rules. Because we each have the Holy Spirit we are given much more freedom to listen to His individual guidance for each of us.

This does not mean it is easier now or that the call to holiness is less high. It just means we need to put out a little more work to determine what we should do. We should pray and ask the Spirit to help us know how much we should give. He asked the Rich Young Ruler Matt He says whoever loves this life will lose it but whoever gives up this life will gain life John It is all or nothing Romans The call in the New Testament is much higher.

It could mean that, but most likely not. He has given it to you so that you can use it for His glory. Your money is like the talents given to the servants in Matthew God has entrusted it to you so that you can make wise use of His money. We should alwyas be looking for what will bring the greatest glory to God. Ultimately, we will all answer for what we did with it. You can bring glory to Him by loving and caring for your family. He calls us to do this. I have found that you cannot out give God. My personal experience is the more I give the greater He blesses me. Give sacrificially enough that it hurts and requires faith.

Give regularly to your local church body. God loves a cheerful giver 2 Cor 9: If you give out of compulsion you might as well not give at all. These three principles are good general guidelines to help you. Christianity or Churchianity is so institutionalized that it, in my opinion, is totally different from following Jesus. I try to follow Jesus and not the religion called Christianity. I do not agree with a lot of christian views. Edwin, Thanks for your comment.

I think responded to yourself. It would seem that you actually agree with me. That is actually what I mean above when I am talking about Christianity. I do it because I want to help support the church and pay the pastor who gives so much to me and because I want to help others and because I love God and it is an act of worship. You can give something freely without it being religion. By your understanding no one could never do anything good, help anyone, or ever attend church or they would be religious.

Most have it more right than wrong. Thanks for your reply. Indeed we do agree in a lot of things. The thing is that I have heard this statement christianity is not a religion too often. I really believe it is a statement by which people look down on others i. But how can we say that, when a Jew is keeping the Sabbath, he is religious? Perhaps he wants to do this because he believes it to be a good and healthy thing and not a rule that he has to observe or else… We must be honest to others and ourselves!

When a pastor and I have done this also… is teaching about tithing -a lot of times Malachi 3: My reaction above is perhaps somewhat raw. I have been a member of a G12 church that claimed to be non-religious. But we were forced to do a lot of things unwritten rules and regulations and I have seen this in a lot of other churches too.

As I am looking for help for the whole thought I had, I found in the right track. Honestly, I am so close to you that I am your contemporary. How can i view christianity other than following a set of rules? Maybe its to prove our love and faithfulness for God? But if thats the case then the rules are being put on a petistool.

Because if u dont follow them then it shows that u have superficial faith. What if following the rules brings us closer to God? We put SO much emphasis on how: If u have faith in Jesus then ur saved and going to heaven which i believe. God will always forgive u if u sin and repent which i believe ; so if those two things are true whats the point of rules? Why cant we give into temptation and then repent?

Im just saying; either christians disregard the rules and do what they want which proves superficial faith, or christians follow the rules to grow closer to God which makes following rules the focus because its ur stepping stone to grow closer to God. I just have trouble wrapping my head around where rules should be at in my faith and how i should follow them and how much of my focus i should have on following the rules God tells us to follow.

That is engraved in my mind to believe that if you are not following rules then u do not have real faith. And by rules i mainly mean drunkenness and sex. Its annoying being in college and going to FCA every wednesday and bonding with people over conversations about Jesus, then seeing the same people get drunk and have sex on the weekends.

So if they are saved and going to heaven then why should i discipline myself not to fall into the same temptations as them? If we are all going to end up in heaven then why should i try so hard not to have pre marital sex or do whatever sinful thing im tempted to do? I feel like my view of christianity is what u consider religion.

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Or what true christianity is. Or what God truly wants from me. Thank you for your comment. I think I understand your struggle. I will try to clarify what I meant and give my perspective on your questions. When I contrast religion and Christianity I am specifically talking about this factor of earning our righteousness. Other religions require us to earn it by works and good deeds. Christianity is different in that we are not required to earn it, it is a gift from God who earned it for us.

This is not to say that as a result of this gift there are not rules that we are to follow. Of course there are. The difference is the order of things. In religions you must do God works to appease God and earn his favor. We come empty, with nothing good to bring, in desperate need of God to fix it. God steps in and removes our guilt by placing it on Jesus at the cross and we are washed clean.

When a person does this God changes them forever. I think this is what you fail to grasp completely. It has nothing to do with our faithfulness to God thank goodness. Therefore when they notice they are a different person than they used to be it is God who gets the credit. It proves His faithfulness to them. When a person is saved, the Holy Spirit enters that person and begins a process of changing their heart. A new believer will often say things like this: This is because they have a new heart. It has replaced their old heart that lived to serve its selfish interests.

Here is another way in which Christianity is different from religion: It is about God gifting us a new heart that has a new set of wants and desires that align with His rules. Then He enters us and gradually goes about changing our wants to further align with His so that, more and more, we find ourselves living the way He has said is right.

Religion is forcing people to do what you want them to do and that which they do NOT wish to do. They are the right way to live. They are actually the way that results in the most pleasure, joy, peace, and happiness for us. God is not the cosmic party-popper. A follower if Jesus will learn that when they live His way, they are actually happier, freer, more content, and at peace than when they were going their own way. These rules are actually for our good. It is like a loving parent with a young child. The parent wants good for the child and sets up rules to help the child make good choices that they are not equipped to make themselves.

The actual event occurred on July 16, The abrasive Cardinal Humbert laid a papal bull of excommunication after Pope Leo had died on the altar right during the Liturgy at the Church of Hagia Sophia, which led the Eastern Church to excommunicate the envoy. While the event did not end the relationship between the Eastern and Western Churches, it became symbolic for the distrust and strain between the East and the West that developed through the centuries. The break was sealed in with the sacking of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade. Rome and Constantinople had been able to agree through three more Councils.

The fifth ecumenical council at Constantinople II in was called by the Emperor Justinian and reaffirmed that there is only one person or hypostasis in our Lord Jesus Christ. In response to the Monothelites, that Christ had only one will, the sixth ecumenical council affirmed the efforts of St. The seventh ecumenical council at Nicaea II in resolved the iconoclast controversy thanks to the writings of St.

However, the language of Rome was Latin, and that of Constantinople Greek. There was a difference in perception of Church authority between the East and West. Latin Rome believed the Pontiff, as the representative of Peter, was Pastor and Shepherd to the whole Church, whereas the Greek East saw the Pope, the Bishop of Rome and representative of Peter, as presiding with love in the sense of collegiality, as a first among equals. This difference in perception of Church authority produced the conflict over the addition of the word filioque - and the Son - to the Nicene Creed by the Roman Catholic Church.

Theological thought on the Trinity had progressed with time, particularly with St. Augustine, who saw the Holy Spirit as an expression of love between the Father and the Son. King Recared and his Visigothic bishops converted from Arianism to Catholicism at the Third Council of Toledo, Spain in and were required to add the word filioque to the Creed.

Charlemagne in insisted on its addition, so that the phrase read "the Holy Spirit who proceeds from the Father and the Son". The Eastern Orthodox Churches claim that the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed is the common possession of the whole church and that any change must be made by an ecumenical Council.

Catholic Spain was the first European territory to suffer Islamic invasion in when the Berber general Ibn Tariq conquered nearly all of Spain except the northern rim. The discovery of the relics of St. As recorded in the late ninth-century Chronicle of Alfonso III, Pelayo became the inspiration for the rightful recovery of Spanish territory lost to Muslim invasion. Spain was troubled in when the Moor Almanzor usurped the power of the Caliphate and sacked the city and Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in the northwest tip of Spain, but spared the tomb of St.

James Santiago in Spanish. With the loss of respect for the Caliphate, Al-Andalus fractured into multiple petty states, known as Taifas. El Cid held off the Muslims in Valencia until his death in The Reconquista of Spain, or the unification of Spain under Christian rule, was not formally completed until the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, when Granada was captured from the Moors on January 2, Pope Urban II, in one of history's most powerful speeches, launched years of the Crusades at the Council of Clermont, France on November 27, with this impassioned plea.

In a rare public session in an open field, he urged the knights and noblemen to win back the Holy Land, to face their sins, and called upon those present to save their souls and become Soldiers of Christ. Those who took the vow for the pilgrimage were to wear the sign of the cross croix in French: By the time his speech ended, the captivated audience began shouting Deus le volt! The expression became the battle-cry of the crusades. Three reasons are primarily given for the beginning of the Crusades: The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was once again in Christian hands and restored.

The Kingdom of Jerusalem lasted 88 years, until Saladin recaptured the city October 2, The four Crusader states eventually collapsed; the surrender of Acre in ended years of formal Christian rule in the Holy Land. The twelfth and thirteenth centuries were the peak of the Medieval Age. It was the flowering of Christendom, a time of extraordinary intellectual activity, with the rise of the University and the introduction of Arabian, Hebrew, and Greek works into Christian schools.

A new form of order arose whose aim was to pursue the monastic ideals of poverty, renunciation, and self-sacrifice, but also to maintain a presence and convert the world by example and preaching. They were known as friars and called the Mendicant Orders Franciscans, Dominicans, Carmelites, Augustinians, and the Servites , because of begging alms to support themselves. Francis of Assisi was born to wealth. He loved adventure, but experienced conversion after joining the military. He returned home, and heard a voice saying to him, "Francis, go and rebuild my house; it is falling down.

Francis loved creation and considered it good, for Christ himself took on flesh in the Incarnation. He loved all living creatures. Francis originated the Christmas manger scene. He founded the Franciscan order, and received approval from Rome in The Poor Clare Nuns began when St. Clare joined the Franciscans in in Assisi. Francis risked his life in the Fifth Crusade by calling directly upon the Sultan of Egypt in an effort to convert him and bring peace. He received the stigmata of Christ in , 2 years before his death in Dominic de Guzman was born in Calaruega, Spain.

On a journey through France he was confronted by the Albigensian heresy like Manichaeism and the Cathari. As he came with a Bishop in richly dressed clothes on horses, he realized the people would not be impressed with his message. This led him to a life of poverty. He spent several years preaching in France in an attempt to convert the Albigensians.

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In in Prouille, France, he received a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary and began to spread devotion to the Rosary. Dominic was a man of peace and converted many through prayer, preaching, and his example of poverty. He founded the Order of Preachers in known as the Dominican Friars. The universities in Europe began as guilds of scholars, which first attracted members of the clergy and were supported financially by the Church. The first universities in Europe were founded in Bologna and Paris; Oxford and Cambridge soon followed.

Theology, law, and medicine were fields of advanced study. The University of Paris was especially noted for studies in Theology. The age was the time of Scholasticism - of the schools, a method of learning that placed emphasis on reasoning. Important writers at the time were Bonaventure, Duns Scotus, Albertus Magnus, and his student Thomas Aquinas, who became the greatest theologian and philosopher of the age.

Thomas Aquinas was a Dominican priest who lived from to Born in Roccasecca, Italy to the Aquino family, he joined the Dominicans at the age of He received his doctorate in theology and taught at the University of Paris during the height of Christendom. One of the greatest contributions by Thomas was his incorporation of the philosophy of Aristotle into the theology of the Catholic Church. Thomas saw reason and faith as one and mutually supportive, and combined the Bible and Church Fathers and the reasoning of Aristotle into one unified system of understanding Christian revelation through faith enlightened by reason.

His most noted work was the Summa Theologica , a five-volume masterpiece. Thomas Aquinas presented the classical approach to Biblical Exegesis. Recalling the words of Gregory that Scripture transcends every science, " for in one and the same sentence, while it describes a fact, it reveals a mystery.

His exposition on the Seven Sacraments remains a standard to our present day. The Renaissance , which means rebirth, was the period of phenomenal growth in Western culture in art, architecture, literature, and sculpture. Christian humanism, a rejoicing in man's achievements and capabilities reflecting the greater glory of God, had its beginning with the Divine Comedy , published in by Dante Alighieri in Italy.

The Renaissance continued through the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries until William Shakespeare. Michelangelo, Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci, and Botticelli led the way in art. Brunelleschi revived the ancient Roman style of architecture and introduced linear perspective. The great sculptors were Donatello and Michelangelo. Thomas More and Erasmus were leading Christian humanists in literature. The Protestant Reformation resulted from the failure of the Catholic Church to reform itself in time. The dark side of the thirteenth through fifteenth centuries witnessed the errant Fourth Crusade to Constantinople in , the Albigensian Crusade against the Cathari in , and the beginning of the Inquisition which became severely punitive.

The Papacy suffered a great loss of respect during the Avignon Papacy and especially during the Papal Schism , when two and at one point three men declared themselves Pope and opposed each other. However, the Council also condemned John Hus , the Prague reformer who believed in the priesthood of all believers and the reception of Communion through bread and wine; he was burned at the stake on July 6, Another victim of the Inquisition was St.

She was burned at the stake on May 30, in Rouen, France. The Spanish Inquisition in the fifteenth century was particularly ruthless. The lack of Church funds led to even further corruption, including simony and the selling of indulgences. For example, Archbishop Albrecht of Mainz had to pay Rome ten thousand ducats for the right to hold three dioceses at once, and agreed to a three-way split with the Roman Curia and the Fugger Banking firm from the proceeds of the selling of indulgences.

These events led many to question the compassion and integrity of the Church. The unity of Tradition and Scripture went unchallenged through the Patristic Age and thirteenth century scholasticists such as St. But the unity of Scripture and Tradition began to be questioned with the decline of the Church. The Belgian Henry of Ghent believed that one should first have the duty to follow Scripture rather than a Church that became one in name only. The English Franciscan William of Ockham or Occam was known for the principle of Occam's Razor , that one needs to reduce everything to its simplest cause.

Ockham theorized on three possibilities of the relation of Scripture and the Church. First there was Sola Scriptura , that one could obtain salvation by following Scripture alone; second, that God does reveal truths to the universal Church, an ecclesiastical revelation supplemental to apostolic revelation; and third, the concept of orally transmitted apostolic revelation parallel to written Scripture. Ockham believed that one could reach God only through faith and not by reason. He wrote that universals, such as truth, beauty, and goodness, were concepts of the mind and did not exist, a philosophy known as Nominalism.

Thus began the division of the realm of faith from the secular world of reason. The rise of Nationalism led to the end of Christendom, for countries resented any effort to support Rome, especially in its dismal state. Dissemination of new ideas followed the invention of the movable type printing press by Johannes Gutenberg in Mainz, Germany; his very first printing was the Latin Vulgate Bible in The stage was set for the reform-minded Martin Luther , the Augustinian monk of Wittenberg, Germany.

He received his doctorate in theology in , and then taught biblical studies at the University of Wittenberg. His study of Scripture, particularly St. Paul in his Letter to the Romans, led him to believe that salvation was obtained through justification by faith alone. At first, his only interest was one of reform when he posted his 95 theses on the door of the Wittenberg Church October 31, But the intransigence of the Church and poor handling of the situation by the Pope and Curia only worsened matters, such that a break was inevitable.

In a July debate with the Catholic theologian Johann Eck, Luther stated that Sola Scriptura - Scripture alone - was the supreme authority in religion. He could no longer accept the authority of the Pope or the Councils, such as Constance. In Luther published three documents which laid down the fundamental principles of the Reformation. In Address To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation , Luther attacked the corruptions of the Church and the abuses of its authority, and asserted the right of the layman to spiritual independence. In the Babylonian Captivity of the Church , he defended the sacraments of Baptism, Eucharist, and Penance, but criticized the sacramental system of Rome, and set up the Scriptures as the supreme authority in religion.

In The Freedom of the Christian Man , he expounded the doctrine of salvation through justification by faith alone. The Augsburg Confession of , written by Philip Melanchthon and approved by Martin Luther, was the most widely accepted Lutheran confession of faith. Once Sola Scriptura became the norm, it became a matter of personal interpretation.

Huldrich Zwingli of Zurich, Switzerland was next, and he broke with Luther over the Eucharist, but his sect died out. The Anabaptists separated from Zwingli as they denied the validity of infant baptism; they survived as the Mennonites. While he agreed with Luther on the basic Protestant tenets of sola scriptura, salvation by faith alone, and the priesthood of all believers, he went even further on such issues as predestination and the sacraments.

George Fox, the son of Puritan parents, founded the Quakers in England in Thomas More refused to attend the wedding, and was imprisoned in the Tower of London and later beheaded in Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral in Two major sects that split off from the Anglicans were the Baptists , founded by John Smyth in , and later the Methodists , founded by John Wesley and his brother Charles.

There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, and peals of thunder, an earthquake, and a violent hailstorm. A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. On December 12, , Juan Diego was obedient to the Blessed Virgin Mary's instruction to gather beautiful roses in his tilma and take them to the Franciscan Bishop Don Fray Juan de Zumarraga on his third visit to appeal for the building of a Church as requested by Our Lady.

Juan Diego explained to the Bishop all that had passed. Then he put up both hands and untied the corners of crude cloth behind his neck. The looped-up fold of the tilma fell; the flowers he thought were the precious sign tumbled out on the floor. The Bishop fell on his knees in adoration before the tilma, as well as everyone else in the room. For on the tilma was the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary, just as described by Juan Diego, and is still preserved today in original condition in Tepeyac on the outskirts of Mexico City.

Spanish conquistadors may have conquered the Aztecs in , but their ruthless behavior antagonized the people and conversions were few. Our Lady of Guadalupe conveyed the beautiful message of Christianity: It is no wonder that over the next seven years, from to , eight million natives of Mexico converted to Catholicism!

Indeed, the Blessed Virgin Mary entered the very soul of Central America and became an inextricable part of Mexican life and a central figure to the history of Mexico itself. A harbinger of things to come, Christianity would thrive in the Americas. Her appearance in the center of the American continents has contributed to the Virgin of Guadalupe being given the title "Mother of America. The Catholic Church reformed itself both through the positive work of renewal and through the impetus of the Protestant Reformation. Efforts at reform had already begun with the Oratory of Divine Love in Genoa in The strict order of the Theatines was founded in and made significant efforts at the reform of the parish clergy.

The Capuchins were founded in Italy in to restore the Franciscan Order to its original ideals. Ignatius of Loyola began the Jesuit Order in Spiritual enrichment was kindled through the Spanish mystics St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross. The Council of Trent marked an important turning point for the Catholic Church, for it provided clarity on the beliefs of the Church, and ecclesiastical discipline was restored.

The doctrines established at Trent persist to this day. The Council addressed three areas: Seven major areas were included in doctrine: Both Tradition and Scripture were essential to the faith. The Latin Vulgate Bible was promoted as the only canonical Scripture. There was a clear definition of the seven sacraments.

The Mass, known as the Tridentine Mass, was given strict form and was celebrated only in Latin. The Latin Tridentine Mass provided unity for the universal Church, for it was the same Mass in every place and time. Discipline involved strict reform and the establishment of the seminary system for the proper and uniform training of priests. The office of indulgence seller was abolished, and doctrine on indulgences was clarified.

A Bishop was allowed only one diocese and residence was required, begun by the reformer St. Charles Borromeo of Milan. Catholic Missionaries accompanied the explorers on their journeys, such as Christopher Columbus in , the Portuguese Vasco da Gama to Goa, India in , and Ferdinand Magellan to the Philippines in Francis Xavier exemplified the missionary movement, and has been recognized as second only to the Apostle Paul in his evangelical efforts.

The patron saint of missionaries, Francis Xavier sailed from Lisbon, Portugal and landed in Goa in His humble way had great impact on the local people, and he trained the young in the Ten Commandments and the Lord's Prayer. He was soon reported to have baptized 10, a month. He then headed to Cape Comorin, the southern tip of India, where he made many conversions of the fishermen there.

Andres de Urdaneta and the Augustinian monks sailed to Cebu, Philippines in He was a self-sacrificing man dedicated to protecting the natives, and received the name Motolinia for his life of poverty. He recorded in his book History of the Indians of New Spain the dramatic conversions following the appearances of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The Dominican Bartholomew de Las Casas first went to the West Indies in as a soldier, but on viewing the horrendous enslavement of the native Indians through the Spanish encomienda system, was ordained as a Dominican priest in , the first ordination in America.

In his role as human rights advocate for the Indians, he is considered an early pioneer of social justice. Missionary efforts would continue to the New World for years to come. The history of the English Bible is intimately intertwined with the history of the Reformation.

He served until his death in , when he was succeeded by his son, Charles I. It was a time when the English language reached its greatest expression in the works of William Shakespeare and the King James Bible. King James as head of the Church of England commissioned a group of bishops and scholars to establish an authoritative translation of the Bible from the original languages into English in There were several English versions available, either as translations of the Latin Vulgate or from the Greek-Latin parallel New Testament of Erasmus; the ones that follow influenced the King James scholars.

John Wycliffe produced a hand-written English translation of the Latin Vulgate in His colleague, Miles Coverdale, completed Tyndale's work, which formed the basis for the Great Bible , the first authorized Bible in English, which was placed in every church in England. When the Catholic Queen Mary came to the throne in , further work had to be done on the European continent, and the Geneva Bible, the first to have numbered verses, was published in The King James Bible originally included the Apocrypha but in a separate section. A literary masterpiece of the English language, the King James Bible is still in use today.

Christopher Columbus reached America in the Bahamas on October 12, Following the discovery of Florida by Ponce de Leon in , St.

THE LIFE AND TEACHINGS OF JESUS CHRIST

Augustine, Florida became the first permanent European settlement in North America in , from which missionaries spread Catholicism to the Native American Indians. Spanish explorations extended as far as Santa Fe, New Mexico, established in A wave of explorations to the New World continued. Samuel de Champlain explored the St. Christianity continued to thrive in the New World as our young Nation developed. Four of the original 13 English colonies were specifically chartered for religious freedom, as a refuge from religious persecution in England at the time.

The settlers soon enacted the Toleration Act of Maryland and founded St. Mary's Chapel in St. William Penn and the Quakers settled in in Pennsylvania. The Mennonites also moved to Pennsylvania in at the invitation of William Penn. The universal toleration offered in Pennsylvania continued to attract groups such as the Amish, Moravian Pietists, and Presbyterians. The period from through the eighteenth century was known as the Age of Enlightenment in Europe. The time had come when men would set aside religious views and look to reason and social experience to guide society.

It was the loss of Christian unity that led to the secularization of Western culture. Whereas Christendom provided one message to European society, the pluralism of religions provided different answers to questions about life and led to skepticism and conflict rather than unanimous thought. Discoveries in science had much to do with the Age of Enlightenment. Copernicus proposed the sun is the center of the solar system and the earth revolved around the sun.

Galileo Galilei , the first to use a telescope, confirmed that Copernicus was right and was condemned by the Catholic Church. Scientists such as Isaac Newton in physics and Robert Boyle in chemistry were pioneers and gave birth to technology, the application of science to practical problems, which led to the Industrial Revolution.

Progress based on science and technology became a major goal of Western Society. Mankind was left without its mooring, and philosophers set out in different directions to provide meaning for humanity. The critical Rationalism of Rene Descartes applied to philosophy the mathematical method so effective in science, that everything was questionable until it could be proved beyond all doubt. Blaise Pascal took a different stance and presented Pascal's Wager: John Locke applied reason to confirm revelation.

The political philosopher Baron de Montesquieu of France proposed that the best form of government would incorporate a separation of powers into executive, legislative, and judicial branches and would be based on the natural law. David Hume proposed a science of man, and is considered a pioneer in the social sciences. But Jean-Jacques Rousseau , considered the father of Romanticism, took an opposite approach and spoke of the noble savage, that man was happy only in his original native state, before government, laws, and politics chained mankind.

It was the German philosopher Immanuel Kant that defined the era: Unfortunately, the Age of Enlightenment ignored love, emotion, spirituality and concern for one's fellow man. It forgot that man is wounded by original and personal sin, and his reason is colored by desire and selfishness. In fact, the Age of Enlightenment brought the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror , Naziism, Communism, and the twentieth century, with its two World Wars, the bloodiest century in history.

Intellectual dryness and doctrinal religions prevalent during the Enlightenment Era led to a spiritual revival throughout Western Christian civilization, as seen with Pietism in Germany, Methodism in England and America, and the Great Awakening in the United States. Philipp Jakob Spener of Germany wrote Pia Desideria in and spoke of a theology of the heart , placing emphasis on inner devotion and Christian living, and inspired the Pietist movement.

Pietism especially influenced Nikolaus von Zinzendorf and the Moravian Church. John Wesley and his brother Charles provided light for Christianity during the Enlightenment. John Wesley, noted for his moving sermons, and his brother Charles, a poetic genius and hymn writer, began the Methodist movement in England, and set forth an evangelical revival throughout the British Isles, North America, and the world.

The two brothers were raised in the Anglican Church. Because of their strict method of living, they were soon called the Methodists. John Wesley experienced a heartwarming conversion experience at Aldersgate Street in London in He preached in the English countryside to the poor, and sparked a religious revival throughout England. He assured the people that all could be saved by experiencing God and opening their hearts to his grace.

George Whitefield made seven trips to America beginning in and was one of the most powerful evangelists ever. He, along with others, kindled a spiritual revival throughout the thirteen colonies known as the Great Awakening. The Great Awakening was the first national experience in America and did much to unite the American colonies. Revival during the Enlightenment Era fulfilled the human need for spiritual experience through Jesus Christ. The independence movement in the American colonies sparked an outcry for freedom of religion, such that Christianity flourished in the newly-formed United States of America.

Every taxable resident was required to support the state established Church, no matter what their faith! This caused dissension in the Colonies such as in Maryland and Virginia, where Catholics in Maryland and Presbyterians and Baptists in Virginia objected to the unfair Anglican clergy tax. Of those states with established Churches, Maryland became the first state to disestablish church and state following the Declaration of Independence. The Bill of Rights allowed the free exercise of religion and proliferation of Christian denominations during rapid westward expansion in America.

Constitution and cousin of Charles Carroll, the only Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence, became the first Catholic Bishop of Baltimore, a diocese which served the entire United States. Two days after Thomas Jefferson wrote his highly quoted but out-of-context expression "wall of separation between Church and State" to the Danbury Baptists, he appeared on January 3, in the House of Representatives to hear the Baptist preacher John Leland lead an evangelical service on public property. Separation of Church and State did not preclude a vibrant public square. Recognizing the need to instill morals and values in our children, Bible reading and prayer continued in our public schools for years!

Conversions by Evangelical Protestants and other Christian faiths provided the moral fabric for the new American nation after the Revolutionary War. The Methodist movement proved most successful in North America. Methodist circuit-riders were effective missionaries in spreading the Christian faith from the South to settlers in the mid-West. It was left to the unlikely figure of President Abraham Lincoln to recognize the Christian culture of our Nation. He appealed for "malice toward none, with charity for all … to bind the nation's wounds. An conservative Supreme Court that respected the free exercise of religion and our Christian heritage declared in Church of the Holy Trinity v.

United States that "This is a Christian Nation. The American Declaration of Independence of July 4, read all men are created equal, but slavery persisted. How could the Revolutionary War be fought for freedom without granting freedom to all? The American Civil War reflected the Christian heritage of our Nation, for the moral issue of slavery troubled the hearts of Americans from our very beginning. The non-violent religious movement of the s and s emerged as the civil rights movement in the USA, which finally afforded racial equality for African-Americans, one hundred years after the Emancipation Proclamation!

The crusade arose within Negro Churches, the center of their life. African-Americans had begun to receive recognition in the fields of art, music, and sports. The arrest in Montgomery, Alabama of Rosa Parks , who was detained on December 1, for refusing to move to the back of the bus for a white person, sparked the drive for civil rights. Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. The boycott lasted days until a Supreme Court decision ended segregation on city buses.

Reverend King then organized 60 pastors into the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to foster civil rights. Thomas Aquinas distinguished between just and unjust laws. Non-violent civil disobedience , advocated by John Locke, Henry David Thoreau, and Mahatma Gandhi, was employed by civil rights leaders against oppressive and unjust civil laws.



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In general, one is obligated to obey civil laws that are just Matthew King Nebuchadnezzar Daniel 3: King Herod Matthew 2: Law itself is not meant for the righteous I Timothy 1: The early Christians refused to obey the Romans and suffered martyrdom rather than worship the Emperor.

Kennedy announced on nationwide television on June 11, that he would submit Civil Rights legislation the following week. Augustine that an unjust law is no law at all. He urged non-violent protest to turn the tide in favor of racial equality. The March on Washington, D. Martin Luther King Jr. Twentieth-century writers during the World Wars such as T. Eliot , Flannery O'Connor , Thomas Merton, and Dorothy Day catalogued the spiritual bankruptcy of the twentieth century and called for spiritual renewal.

John XXIII was welcomed with open arms by all of Christianity, for the Pope called not only for an intense spiritual cultivation of the modern world, but also sought Christian unity. The Second Vatican Council literally "reset the course" for the Catholic Church, a Church which had been described by some as a fortress Church embattled during the Enlightenment and the Modernist era. To coin the expression of Hans Urs von Balthazar in , the time had come to raze the bastions of the Church. It was time for the aggiornamento of Pope John XXIII, the "opening of the window" of the Church to the outside world, "a translation of the Christian message into an intellectual language understandable by the modern world.

The spirit of ecumenism and the change of heart towards all Christian brethren was truly a gift of the Holy Spirit. Lumen Gentium declared "the one Church of Jesus Christ subsists in the Catholic Church, although many elements of sanctification and truth exist outside its visible structure, elements which impel toward catholic unity. The role of the laity to order temporal affairs to the plan of God was emphasized. Vatican II led to the creation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church , first published in and updated in A playwright, actor, and poet, he was born May 18, in Wadowice, Poland.

In he enrolled in the school of drama at Jagiellonian University in Krakow, where he played goalie on the college soccer team. He entered an underground seminary in during the Nazi Regime, and was ordained a priest in after Poland fell under Communism. Oppression by the Nazis and Communists forged his dedication to freedom and human rights. He earned a doctorate in theology in and a doctorate in philosopy in His first book was Love and Responsibility , on love and sexual morality, published in His highly successful play on love, The Jeweler's Shop , was published in and subsequently translated into 22 languages, and was made into a movie in Karol Wojtyla became Bishop of Krakow, Poland in He then became Archbishop of Krakow in and Cardinal in Following the day papacy of John Paul I, the Conclave of Cardinals elected the bright, personable, and vigorous Wojtyla the th Pope on October 16, The man lived his philosophy, that man is a relational being.

The world was his parish, as the loving and outgoing Pope made an unprecedented papal trips abroad. During his three pilgrimages to Poland, his repeated call for freedom and spiritual renewal was the turning-point that ultimately led to the non-violent collapse of Communism, symbolized by the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, The world was moved when he forgave and visited the man who seriously wounded him in St. Peter's Square on May 13, Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral on May 29, He became a symbol of hope to the young with his inauguration of International World Youth Day in As expressed in his book Crossing the Threshold of Hope , his belief in Jesus Christ as the hope for man in the Third Millennium was an inspiration for all.

HISTORICAL FOUNDATIONS OF CHRISTIANITY

He urged all of us to hear the words Matthew On January 13, , he opposed the imminent pre-emptive strike against Iraq, stating war "is always a defeat for humanity. His first encyclical, The Redeemer of Man , called the Church a "community of disciples" who follow Jesus Christ, "the center of the universe and of history. He commemorated Saints Cyril and Methodius in The Apostles to the Slavs in to encourage his fellow countryman during communist oppression. The Pope called for social justice in three encyclicals, On Human Work , On Social Concerns , and On the One Hundredth Year of Rerum Novarum , in which he emphasized the dignity of the individual, in the face of man being unjustly treated as a unit of production in a socialistic utilitarian world.

He renewed commitment to the missionary role of the Church in Mission of the Redeemer in He appreciated man's thirst for truth, as noted in his encyclical The Splendor of Truth , published in One of his favorite Scriptural quotes was John 8: You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. Perhaps his most important was the widely read encyclical The Gospel of Life , published in , in which he defended the sanctity of life and described the culture of death - the evil of abortion and euthanasia. In addition to pointing out those areas of study necessary for a true consensus of faith, he addressed the common bonds of unity in faith among all Christians: He emphasized the relation of Faith and Reason in an encyclical of the same name in His fourteenth and final encyclical On The Eucharist in its Relationship to the Church was released in His weekly general audiences in St.

Peter's Square led to his book on the Theology of the Body in He established Divine Mercy Sunday, which recognized the devotion of St. Pope John Paul II was truly the moral and spiritual leader of the entire world, as one can appreciate by the worldwide outpouring of love on his death April 2,