Christianity: Part 2

Truth
A trans-rational truth
is a truth that is so
profound that it cant
be fully expressed in
words, so it resorts
to paradoxes & such
things to point to the
truth.

Trinity
We can see in our
very own experience
a three-in-one
experience that is a
hint about the Trinity.

Not Divided
This is a third force
which comes from
above and allows
us to not be so
divided between
opposites.

Monasticism
Another important
change in social
structure was the
beginning of
monasticism, which
had its roots in the
biblical tradition of
time spent in the
desert as time spent
alone with God.

Thomas Merton (1915-1968)

Probably the most
famous monk of
modern times was
the writer and poet
Thomas Merton,
who was a Trappist
monk.

Many Denominations
The division of
Christianity into
many different
denominations had
much more to do
with politics, power,
and language than it
did with theology.

The Split
The Eastern Church
(known as the
Orthodox Church)
and the Western
Church (known as
the Roman Catholic
Church) split
officially in the year
1054.

Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)

To build bridges and
understanding
between modern
faith and modern
reason, a marriage
of science and
spirituality..

St. Francis of Assisi

(1181-1226)
Many Christians
look to Francis as
the most Christ-like
human to have lived
since the time of
Jesus.

The Peace Prayer

The Reformation
The Reformation
was a decisive and
forever-changing
time in Christianity, it
was one of many
changes leading
toward the modern
mind.

Martin Luther (1483-1546)

Luther insisted on the
principle of sola
scriptura, the Bible
alone as guide to
Christian faith &
practice. He felt that
salvation by grace
through faith was the
clear, central message
of the scriptures.

Church vs. Secular Affairs

Philosophically, he
unleashed ideas
about individualism
& equality that would
strongly nurture
democracy.

John Calvin (1509-1564)

Churches known as
Reformed,
Presbyterian, or
Congregational
stem from the
reform efforts of
John Calvin, as did
the Puritan
movement.

Goodbye, Church of England

These groups
further separated
themselves from the
Church of England &
became known as
Puritan, Baptist,
Quaker, &
Methodist.

Building Bridges
Over the last 100
years, especially the
last 40, there has
been a growing
Ecumenical
movement that has
sought to build
bridges between the
different
denominations.

An Enriching Experience
Christians are
seeing the
advantages of
dialogue with other
Christians of
different groups.

Major/Minor
San Francisco is the
first major city in the
United States to
have Christians in
the minority.

The First Amendment

We seemed to have
demonstrated that
the absence of
state interference or
support need not
weaken religion, but
can liberate it to
flourish.

Growing Fast
The Assemblies of
God churches are
the fastest growing
Christian churches
in the world.

What is Important?
If you give the people
the right and
encouragement to read
the scriptures in their
own languages, they
will start to have their
own opinions about
whats important & what
should be stressed.

Growth of Christianity in Africa

Christianity is a
worldwide religion
now, and is the
fastest growing
religion in Africa.

European Christianity?
In other words,
European culture
was often seen as
not simply the
package that
Christianity came in,
but Christianity
itself.

A Manifesto
In an era where we
take the separation
of Church and State
as a manifesto of
the way things
should be, we tend
to forget what a
novel idea this was
and still is.

Matteo Ricci (1552-1610)

Matteo Ricci met the
Chinese on an equal
level of intellectual
respect.

Spreading Christianity
The globalization,
which is talked
about so often these
days, began with
this effort to spread
Christianity to every
area of the world.

Encountering Jesus
We find that
Christian history is
full of people who
have had these
encounters with
Jesus and then
proclaim some
message.

The Dark Side

There is a very dark
side to Christianity,
not because its
teachings are false,
but because it has
had the opportunity
to rule the world.

Too Radical?
Perhaps the
message of Jesus
was just too radical
to be believed and
lived.

Might Makes Right?

When we combine
the need to be right
with the power to
enforce it, no matter
what, then we have
a very dangerous
problem on our
hands.

A Dangerous Combination
Once the problems
of the false self were
combined with
unlimited power, the
dark side emerged
and has never gone
away.

Lives Transformed
Imagine the state of
the world if 2 billion
Christians were
living lives
transformed by
prayer and love into
lives of service and
compassion.

Praying for Our Enemies

Jesus taught
Christians to love
their enemies and
pray for those who
persecuted them.

Easy to Criticize
Its easy to criticize
institutions &
organizations, but
they are made up of
people like us who
have ideals & dont
always live up to
them.

No Trace
As with so many of
the negativities of
Christianity, it is
interesting to note
that we cannot trace
this problem back to
Jesus.

Galatians 3:28
It is made clear:
There is no longer
Jew or Greek, there
is no longer slave or
free, there is no
longer male or
female; for all of you
are one in Christ
Jesus.

First Printed Biblical Exegesis

As with so much of
Christianity, it seems
that how we
interpret biblical
passages has as
much to do with our
psychological
attitudes as it does
with biblical
interpretation.

Second Century Christianity

By the second
century, the most
influential sects of
the early Jesus
movement became
extremely
misogynistic.

Dont Worry
There are some
Christians who feel
that ecological
concern is
unnecessary
because Jesus will
be coming back
soon, and then it
wont matter.

Superstition
Witch hunts were
almost wholly based
on superstition and
fear of women, who
were considered
more open to
diabolical influence
than men.

Suffragettes
The liberation
movement for
women would not
bear much fruit until
the 20th century.

The Christian Right

Is it a temporary
reaction to liberal
movements
regarding women, or
is it here to stay?
How will the ideas
about women shape
American history?

What Exactly Does It Mean?

The modern
Christian who
accepts on faith that
Jesus is God isnt
always aware that
the church spent
many centuries
trying to figure what
that means.