Drum – 01 August 2019

http://www.drum.co.za1 AUGUST 2019 | (^59)
INTHE CLASSROOM
A priest of the Ethiopian
OrthodoxTewahedoChurch,
whichdatesfromthefourth
century. Pilgrims travelfar
to be baptised in the Jordan
River in Israel at the spot
whereJesuswasbaptised.
religiousandpoliticalleadersofthetimewho
sawhimasatroublemakerthreateningtheir
authority.Whenhewas 33 yearsoldhewas
falselyaccusedofblasphemy(showingdisre-
specttoa religionorgod)andarrestedinJeru-
salem.Hewasfoundguiltyandaspunishment
wasnailedtoa cross, wherehedied.
RESURRECTION
Threedaysafterdying
onthecross,Jesus
wasresurrected(hecame
backfromthedead) andhe
appearedtosomeofhisdis-
ciples,accordingtotheBible.
Hisresurrectionisstillcom-
memoratedeveryyearat
Easter. It’sthemostimportant
festivalontheChristiancalendar,fol-
lowedbyChristmas, whichcelebratesthe
birthofJesus.
ChristiansbelieveGodresurrectedJesusto
showusthathismessageofloveandforgive-
nessisstrongerthandeath. Christiansalso
thinkthatbelievinginJesuscangivepeoplelife
afterdeath.Outofthankfulnessforthisnew
life,theycanthenfollowhisexampleofloving
servicetotheirfellowhumanbeings.Christians
seetheresurrectionasasignofGod’smercy
andloveforallhumankind.
ASCENSION
TheBiblesaysthatafterhisresurrec-
tionJesusappearedonEarthfor
another 40 daystoteachandencouragehis
followers.Hethenascended(wentup)to
heaven.ThisisknownastheAscension.
MostChristiansbelieveintheHolyTrinity

• onegodinthreedivinebeingsknownasGod
  theFather,JesustheSonandtheHolySpiritor
  HolyGhost.TothemJesuswasbothcom-
  pletelyhumanandcompletelydivine(godly).

ChristiansbelievethatafterJesus’ascen-

sion,GodlefttheHolySpiritonEarthto

strengthenandcomforthisfollowers.

EARLY CHURCH

Jesus had tasked the apostles with

spreading his message across the

world.Asthey travelled and preached, an

increasing number of people around

the Mediterranean Sea became

Christians.

For the first 100 years of its

existence Christianity was seen

as a Jewish sect (a subdivision

of a larger religious group). But

as more and more non-Jewish

people became Christians it devel-

oped into an independent religion.

Christians were persecuted for

many years and many apostles were killed.

Christians’ refusal to honour the Roman

emperor and sacrifice to Romangods

made them the target of persecu-

tion.

After a huge fire broke out in

Rome, Emperor Nero put the

blame on Christians. He had

them rounded up and killed.

Some were torn apart by dogs

and others were burnt alive.

Nonetheless,theapostles

continuedtotravelfarandwideto

spreadtheChristianmessage. Inthat

way,congregationswereestablishedallover

the ancientworld.

Duringthefourthcentury AD, Christianity

grew tobecomethemost popular religion in

the Roman Empire. Emperor Constantine

converted in 312 AD and made Christianity the

empire’s official religion.

Hundreds of years later, Christian mission-

aries took the religion from Europe to the

Americas,AfricaandAustralasia.

DENOMINATIONS

Today there are various church

groups – called denominations. The

differences between these denominations is

the way in which the people worship and how

they interpret what is written in the Bible.

The three largest denominations are the

Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox

Church and Protestantism.

In 1054 the church of the Roman Empire split

between the Roman Catholic Church in the

Westand the Eastern Orthodox Church

inthe East.

In the 16th century the Protes-

tants separated from the

Roman Catholic Church be-

cause religious leaders such as

Martin Luther and John Calvin

didn’t agree with many of the

Catholic Church’s teachings.

Overtimethe Protestant

movementsubdivided into even

smallerchurches,including the Anglican

andApostolicchurches.

GALLO

IMAGES/GETTY

IMAGES,

GALLO IMAGES/ALAMY Towatcha
shortoverviewof
Christianitygoto
tinyurl.com/
The-Story-
of-Christianity

Turn to

page 60

tolearn all

about the first

Christian church.

FIND

OUT

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COPY: CUM LAUDE MEDIA. SOURCES: URI.ORG; STUDY.COM; CNN.COM; BRITANNICA.COM; BBC.CO.UK; THEGUARDIAN.COM; METRO.CO.UK; BIOGRAPHY.COM;GUIDE, DK, 2007; THE ILLUSTRATED BOOK OF SIGNS & SYMBOLS, DK, 1996; THE COMPLETE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SIGNS & SYMBOLS, HERMES HOUSE, 2006;NATIONALHISTORY:THEGEOGRAPHICDEFINITIVEVISUALVISUAL

HISTORY OF THE WORLD, 2005

PopeFrancisisthe266thpope(leader)oftheRoman

CatholicChurch.With1,3billionmembers,it’sthe

largestChristiandenominationintheworld. People

gather in St Peter’s Square in Vatican City – the

headquarters of the Catholic Church in a tiny state in

the middle of Rome, Italy – as the pope conducts mass

(areli gious service) at Easter, the most important festival

inthe Christian calendar.

ntworld

Christianity has

2,3 billion followers

worldwide, making it the

word’s largest religion.

Islam is second with about

1,8 billion followers,

while 1,2 billion people

identify with

no religion.

Christianity takes

its name from the

Greek translation of

the Hebrew word “Mes-

siah”, which comes from

the Hebrew word

“Mashiach” and means

“the Anointed One”.

Life

skills

p T p t a C

ORY: THE DEFINITIVE VISUAL

THEChurchoftheAnnuncia

ismanyheaTheciRomanchurchybeofieveNazareCatholicisisthebulthomehoverinChurchIsraeltheofMarytionsitein

motherSpiritsheGabrielthedwobecomeForld’sofappearedJesusholiesthispregnanteasonChrioChrisherit’sstthroughwheconsianandsiteseannouncedderedthetheangeloneHolyof

WHEREit’sInpartbelieved 1 ofourChristianityseriesonholystartedplacesITweALLlookatafascnatBEGANngchurchinIsraelwhere

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