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 Still a Wide Majority Among Americans
A survey by Newsweek magazine and Belief.Net in the summer of 2005
found that 85% of Americans identified themselves with some form of Christianity
(5% identified with a non-Christian religion, 6% said they were atheists,
agnostics or had no religion, and 4% would not designate a religion to the
pollsters). For that reason, this web resource will provide brief discussions of
the major divisions within Christianity. Historically, those divisions have been
classified as Orthodoxy, Catholicism, and Protestantism. Particularly in
contemporary American society, another division needs to be added, namely The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
Popularly known as the "Mormon Church," leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-Day Saints asked in 2001 that designation be dropped in favor of
either "The Church of Jesus Christ" or simply "The Church." Respect for those
who hold this faith would warrant some deference for their sensitivities
regarding the naming of their faith community, but while the names "The Church
of Jesus Christ" or "The Church" may work well within that community they are
not sufficiently specific to designate these beliefs in the overall context of
American Christianity. Consequently, the shorthand used here will be to use the
last part of the official name, "Latter-Day Saints" (or abbreviated as "LDS"). For reasons that will be briefly explored
on the LDS page on this site, there has been some debate
by those in other branches of Christianity about whether the Latter-Day Saints
are properly classified within historical Christian beliefs. The position within
the LDS has been that personal commitment to Jesus Christ is the defining
characteristic of all Christians, and so based on their commitment to Jesus they
consider themselves Christians. Respect for that belief is sufficient for
classifying Latter-Day Saints as Christians for our purposes.
Ecumenical Christianity
The usual distinctions, broadly considered, among Christians -- Orthodoxy,
Catholicism, Protestantism, and LDS -- all are rooted within particular
historical developments. Those moments in time will be discussed on the
particular pages related to each division on this website. The general beliefs
of the Church prior to any of these divisions are labeled "ecumenical" because
they were basically worked out by "ecumenical councils" within the first few
centuries of Christianity. The word "ecumenical" is also used to describe
efforts in modern times to reestablish common ground among the various
expressions of Christianity. It is thus both something of an origin and a goal
toward which many Christians look. It is these ecumenical beliefs and practices
that will be explored on this particular page.
The Beginnings of Christianity
Christianity traces its beginnings to the teachings and actions of Jesus of
Nazareth, a Jew who lived in the Roman governed province of Palestine from
approximately 4 BCE to 30 CE.
According to the scriptural traditions about him, there were some acquainted
with his work in his lifetime who came to believe that he was the "Messiah"
(literally, "anointed one") that many Jews believed would be sent by God to
restore the fortunes of the Jewish people (messianic expectations differed
regarding the degree to which this restoration would be religious, cultural
and/or political and its breadth in reaching only to Jews or extending to all
people). The Greek word for "Messiah" was "Christos," and so since the
scriptures of this religious movement were originally written in Greek it was
that particular word that came to be associated both with Jesus and with his
followers. Thus, "Christ" is properly a title rather than a name, and
"Christian" describes those who believe that Jesus was a (or the) messiah, one anointed
by God.
Very early on, these followers of Jesus began to construe his role as Messiah
in a very particular way, namely that he was the "Son of God." Both historically
and among modern Christians, there has been a broad range of beliefs as to how
it is that Jesus is properly considered God's Son. Overtime, ecumenical councils
came to the view that somehow and in some way God was embodied in Jesus of
Nazareth (a doctrine or teaching known as "incarnation"). Again, there has been
a wide range of beliefs about just how "incarnation" is to be understood and
what it means for the nature of God, but it is this belief that has more than
anything else separated Christians from Jews and Muslims among the monotheistic
religions. This assertion is especially true of the almost universally held
(both historically and in modern Christianity there have been dissenters)
teaching of Christians called Trinitarianism -- that the one God has eternally
existed as Father, Son and Spirit.
Perhaps the earliest statement of ecumenical Christian belief was
encapsulated in an acronym that was developed from the Greek word for "fish,"
ichthys (in this transliteration, the "ch" and the "th" respectively
represent single Greek letters). That statement ran, "Jesus Christ, God's Son,
Savior," or in Greek, Iesous Christos Theou Yios Soter. Incidentally,
that is why a simply drawn fish remains a popular symbol of Christianity to this
day, and not as some think as a reference to stories about Jesus feeding
thousands of people with only a couple of fish. We have already touched on the
first two of the assertions in this statement of belief; what remains is to
comment briefly on the final belief that Jesus is "Savior." Simply put, this
means that Christians believe that Jesus is the one who has restored the
relationship between God and humanity. This restoration (often referred to as
"salvation") was necessary because people were alienated from God by their
actions against both God and God's creations.
Christian Scriptures
The particular scriptures of the Christian religion are called "The New
Testament." It is a collection of 27 short books (the longest of which could be
still be considered a 'short story' by modern standards), including four accounts of
Jesus' life (the "Gospels"), one account of early church history, 21 letters
written to early Christian communities or leaders within those groups about
beliefs and practices, and one account of a highly symbolic vision (the book of
"Revelation"). Along with the New Testament, Christians have almost always
accepted as scripture certain writings from the Jewish tradition. Since they
have not always agreed on which Jewish writings are to be counted as Christian
scripture, we will return to the particular differences between the divisions
within Christianity on their respective web pages (see the navigational buttons
at the left of this page). The Christian practice of referring to these scriptures
shared with Judaism as "The Old Testament," while pairing nicely with "New
Testament" for its own distinctive scriptures, can be problematic in groups where
there are both Christians and Jews (see the discussion of this issue on the "Judaism"
page of this website).
Christian Practice
Basic to Christian belief is the teaching that after Jesus was crucified by
the Romans (hence the most recognizable Christian symbol, the cross) God
"resurrected" him to "eternal life" (an unending life in perfect relationship
with God). This resurrection (and like "incarnation," there are many
understandings within Christianity of what specifically the word means) is
commemorated each year at Easter (see the page on "Othodoxy"
for why the date of Easter is not consistent). It is because the resurrection
happened on what we now call in English a Sunday that most Christians usually
conduct there chief worship services on that day. However, some denominations
(e.g., the Seventh-Day Adventist Church) either continue to observe the same
Sabbath as Judaism (thus, on Saturday) or are more flexible about when worship
may happen (many Catholic churches have a Saturday evening mass). Many American
Christian communities will also have a mid-week prayer service (typically on
Wednesday nights). While Scout troops may wish to be sensitive to these
traditional times for worship and reverence before God, particularly those that
have boys from a diversity of religious traditions should be careful not to
suggest that these are the "natural" or "appropriate" times for remembering God.
These times are very much related to a specific religious faith. Just as all the
other points of the Scout Law are a constant guide to life and not just
appropriate to days and times of regular troop meetings, so "reverence" and
"duty to God" should be constant qualities of a Scout.
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