CHRISTIANITY

the religion profe ed by the followers of Jesus Christ. It has more adherents than any other single faith, though le than half the world is Christian. Christianity is an historical religion (for this and other ints, see below, Church History), and Bike some other great religions, looks back to an historic founder. Externally it belongs to the same group as Judaism, from which it sprang, and Mohammedanism, an offshoot, partly Jewish, partly Christian in origin, with other elements besides. It is therefore a monotheistic faith, but differs from other forms of monotheism in the supreme fen in which it places its Founder. Though Chris to logical controversies have rent the Church and are not yet settled, the Church has felt her Lord to be more than human, though its claim to Deity has been denied by Monarch i ans and Unitarians. Then the question of the relation of the Son to the Father arises, and the doctrine of the Trinity tries to That Christ is in some sense our Savior is generally held, though the Atonement seems to be capable of endle restatement. Belief in future reward and punishment is likewise found in all forms of Christian theology. Baptism and the Eucharist are almost universal, but about other matters there is endle divergence. But there are certain clearly marked types of Christianity. (1) Catholicism, reaching its most developed form in the R.C. Chure?. The Gr. and Eastern Churches, though in some ways different, largely resemble the Roman and Anglican Churches. The claim of the latter to Catholicity is denied by Rome; it approaches in government and practice the Roman and Gr. Churches, but its theology is more Prot. Catholicism is sacredotal and sacramental, making e ential the preservation of the threefold order (bishops. priests, and deacons), and making Baptism and the Eucharist generally e ential to salvation, though the Roman Church recognizes seven sacraments. For Catholics the ultimate authority is the Church, the mind of which is expre ed in the decrees of its councils. Greeks and Anglicans recognize only the undivided Church, while the Roman Church accepts later councils e.g.) Council of Trent, 1565, and the atican Council of 1870, which are binding and accept the infallibility of the Pope.; (2) Protestant ism was based originally on the doctrine of the sufficiency of Scriptures, but the doctrinal position of Protestants now varies greatly, and there is considerable latitude in Biblical criticism, etc. A recent phenomenon in theo. is what is called ‘Liberalism’ (ie.) the laying of great emphasis on freedom and development of thought, and on the ethical i side of religion rather than on doctrine, government, or sacrament. Though this is largely Prot. in origin. it has in ‘Modernism sprung up in th3 R.C. Church. Prot. Church government is either Presbyterian (t.e.) government by elders—or independent; each congregation is autonomous (t.e.) governed from below, not, as in Catholicism from above. Christianity claims to be universal (z.e.) it can and should be adopted by all men at all times and under’ all conditions. It also claims to be an absolute religion, that is, a final and supreme revelation of eternal truth, and to be supernatural in that it reveals things beyond our world of sense, though its truths may be only realized by degrees. See Church History (below), and RELIGION, Church History.—To trace completely the history of the Christian Church would be to tell the story of Judaism, to which it owes its birth, of Gr. thought, which has exerted such an influence on Christian theology, and of the various political institutions, particularly the Roman Empire, with which it has come in contact. This can hardly be done, but certain principles of study can be laid down, and its main divisions indicated. The beginning of Christianity lives in. the life and work of Jesus Christ and the belief in His Resurrection. Jesus is claimed to be Me iah and to come again to judge the world, hence Christianity was at first eschatological (see EscHaTotocy) (t.e.) expectant of the end of the world. At first, too, it was entirely Jewish, but the work of St. Paul won the Gentiles equal rights in the Church. Meanwhile Christianity was but one of a welter of rites, cults, and philosophies cornpeting for influence in the Roman Empire—an empire compounded of Roman government and Gr. culture. Christians moved the same spheres of thought a they lived in the same cities; as other men, hence there are parallels between the Christian and other religions, and some direct borrowing on each side. Herein lies the importance of Comparative Religion ~ for Christian origins. Several tendencies were now at work: (1) Greater systematizing of dogma, culminating in the Great Councils of the Church, especially Nicza (A.D. 325), and Chalcedon (A.D. 461), definition generally resulting from the crystallizing of inherited belief. Most of the early controversies turned on the person and work of Christ. (2) The centralizing of Church authority, first in the monarchical episcopate reached in early 2nd cent., then in the power of the great par triarch ates, culminating in the supreme authority gained in the West by the See of Rome. (3) With the development of dogma and Church government came that of ritual, worship, and (generally) of eccles. life. Besides internal development, the first three centuries of Christianity saw bitter and frequent conflicts with the state. By the conversion of Const an tine and the recognition of Christianity as the state religion of the Roman Empire, the Church had won, and now had the still mightier task of winning to real allegiance to Christ those who acknowledged her sway. While the Church was persecuted there was no inducement to profe Christianity; with her triumph came nominal conversions. After the onslaught of the barbarians and the collapse of the W. Empire the Church set herself to the task of civilizing and converting them. Though her work was noble it must never be forgotten that whole tribes were baptized en ma e, and thus their Christianity was superficial. The Middle Ages saw Catholicism dominant not only in religion but in politics, and from the 11th to the 13th century the Papacy wielded enormous power. The growth of the monastic and mendicant orders is likewise most important during this period. In the 15th and 16th centuries came the Renai ance, when there arose a split (seemingly final) in Western were mingled with political till the 17th cent., but the 18th was anti-religious. Thus the Fr. Revolution endeavored to sweep away Christianity, which was identified with the ancien regime. The 19th cent. saw most important movements in Christian history; science and the growth of historical criticism questioned old positions, yet there were frequent outbursts of religious life— (e.g.,) the Oxford Movement, the Salvation Army, Christian Science. The 20th cent. with the deeper understanding both of past history and of religious psychology, will probably have no le _important results. Christianity existed outside the Roman Empire. Recent research has shown how widespread was the Nestor i an Church in Asia till crushed by Islam, and Oriental Churches still survive. ‘The Gr. Churches have remained little changed since the 6th cent., and the Ru ian Church has been formed on their model. But Asia and Africa have never been thoroughly Christian i zed. K.), seaport, on fjord of Skagerrack, 8. Norway; timber, fish. Pop. 1920, 16,543.