Atheism
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Christianity is one of three monotheistic Abrahamic religion, which originally developed from an offshoot of 1st century Judaism. It differers from it's parent religion in that it believes claim that Jesus Christ was (or is) the Son of God, who came to the earth to "save" the whole of mankind. Despite this supposed "Sacrifice" most of mankind will go to Hell.

Christian Doctrine

Although Christians are a remarkably divided group they will usually at least agree on the following elements of their myth:

  • That Jesus preached a message of reforming 1st century Judaism and a coming judgment.
  • That he was persecuted for his ministry, was killed by Roman civil authorities with the blessing and encouragement of the Jewish Sanhedrin.
  • That he subsequently rose from the dead three days after his Passover Eve crucifixion.

All this is believed to be (at least in part) as atonement for original sin.

After that, it all gets a bit unclear as different denominations take it in different directions from there. That is really a bit strange as they all have (more or less) the same holy book - the bible - which many claim to be infallible. Historically Christians, like Muslims, have been quite happy to kill each other over their particular interpretations of the holy word.

Fundamentalist & Liberal Christianity & the Bible

Christian fundamentalists believe that every word of the Bible is literally true. Either they do not know that the Bible is in some parts implausible and contradictory or they have enough faith to believe in spite of contradictions and other problems. Liberal Christians believe that some parts of the Bible are symbolic in some way and are not literally true. There are intermediates between fundamentalism and completely Liberal Christianity. For example a Christian may insist that the world was created in 6 days but all that was a “Creative day” not a 24 hour day whatever that means. Many Christians are encouraged to read sections of the Bible that their leader has suggested to them. Christians may go through life without ever getting to those parts of the Bible which are implausible or difficult to see as morally acceptable. This applies to Liberal Christians or Fundamentalists.

The Church or the Bible

Some Christians, especially Protestants believe that the Bible is authoritative. Others believe that their Church is in some way authoritative. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that Papal pronouncements are in some cases statements from God and believers are required to accept them as true. Mormons believe that the Book of Mormon is divine and authoritative as are statements by recent Prophets. Jehovah’s Witnesses treat the Bible as authoritative but their Bible is different from the standard Bible.

See Also

References and Notes

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