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Christianity
Article Free Pass- Introduction
- The church and its history
- The essence and identity of Christianity
- The history of Christianity
- The primitive church
- The internal development of the early Christian Church
- Relations between Christianity and the Roman government and the Hellenistic culture
- The early liturgy, the calendar, and the arts
- The alliance between church and empire
- Theological controversies of the 4th and 5th centuries
- Liturgy and the arts after Constantine
- Political relations between East and West
- Literature and art of the “Dark Ages”
- Missions and monasticism
- The Photian schism and the great East–West schism
- From the schism to the Reformation
- Christianity from the 16th to the 20th century
- Contemporary Christianity
- Christian doctrine
- The nature and functions of doctrine
- Scripture and tradition: the apostolic witness
- Evangelism: the first teaching about the God of Jesus Christ
- Catechesis: instructing candidates for baptism
- Liturgy: the school and feast of faith
- Ethics: obeying the truth
- Aversion of heresy: the establishment of orthodoxy
- Apologetics: defending the faith
- Restatement: respecting language and knowledge
- Inculturation: respecting places and peoples
- Dogma: the most authoritative teaching
- Consensus: patterns of agreement
- Theology: loving God with the mind
- Symbolics: creeds and confessions
- Development: the maturation of understanding
- Schism: division over substantial matters
- Controversy: fighting over the faith
- Ecumenism: speaking the truth in love
- God the Father
- God the Son
- God the Holy Spirit
- The Holy Trinity
- Anthropology
- What it is to be human
- The human as a creature
- The human as the image of God
- Human redemption
- The problem of suffering
- The resurrection of the body
- Progressive human perfection
- The “new man”: The human being in the light of Christ
- The “reborn human”
- Human liberation
- Joy in human existence
- The charismatic believer
- Christian perfection
- Fellow humans as the present Christ
- The church
- Church tradition
- Eschatology
- Expectations of the Kingdom of God in early Christianity
- Expectations of the Kingdom of God in the medieval and Reformation periods
- Expectations of the Kingdom of God in the post-Reformation period
- The role of imminent expectation in missions and emigrations
- Eschatological expectations and secularization
- Concepts of life after death
- Aspects of the Christian religion
- Christian philosophy
- Christian mysticism
- Christian myth and legend
- The Christian community and the world
- The relationships of Christianity
- Christian missions
- Ecumenism
- Christianity and world religions
- Related
- Contributors & Bibliography
- Year in Review Links
- Introduction
- The church and its history
- The essence and identity of Christianity
- The history of Christianity
- The primitive church
- The internal development of the early Christian Church
- Relations between Christianity and the Roman government and the Hellenistic culture
- The early liturgy, the calendar, and the arts
- The alliance between church and empire
- Theological controversies of the 4th and 5th centuries
- Liturgy and the arts after Constantine
- Political relations between East and West
- Literature and art of the “Dark Ages”
- Missions and monasticism
- The Photian schism and the great East–West schism
- From the schism to the Reformation
- Christianity from the 16th to the 20th century
- Contemporary Christianity
- Christian doctrine
- The nature and functions of doctrine
- Scripture and tradition: the apostolic witness
- Evangelism: the first teaching about the God of Jesus Christ
- Catechesis: instructing candidates for baptism
- Liturgy: the school and feast of faith
- Ethics: obeying the truth
- Aversion of heresy: the establishment of orthodoxy
- Apologetics: defending the faith
- Restatement: respecting language and knowledge
- Inculturation: respecting places and peoples
- Dogma: the most authoritative teaching
- Consensus: patterns of agreement
- Theology: loving God with the mind
- Symbolics: creeds and confessions
- Development: the maturation of understanding
- Schism: division over substantial matters
- Controversy: fighting over the faith
- Ecumenism: speaking the truth in love
- God the Father
- God the Son
- God the Holy Spirit
- The Holy Trinity
- Anthropology
- What it is to be human
- The human as a creature
- The human as the image of God
- Human redemption
- The problem of suffering
- The resurrection of the body
- Progressive human perfection
- The “new man”: The human being in the light of Christ
- The “reborn human”
- Human liberation
- Joy in human existence
- The charismatic believer
- Christian perfection
- Fellow humans as the present Christ
- The church
- Church tradition
- Eschatology
- Expectations of the Kingdom of God in early Christianity
- Expectations of the Kingdom of God in the medieval and Reformation periods
- Expectations of the Kingdom of God in the post-Reformation period
- The role of imminent expectation in missions and emigrations
- Eschatological expectations and secularization
- Concepts of life after death
- Aspects of the Christian religion
- Christian philosophy
- Christian mysticism
- Christian myth and legend
- The Christian community and the world
- The relationships of Christianity
- Christian missions
- Ecumenism
- Christianity and world religions
- Related
- Contributors & Bibliography
- Year in Review Links
The early liturgy, the calendar, and the arts
Paul’s letters mention worship on the first day of the week. In John’s Apocalypse, Sunday is called “the Lord’s day.” The weekly commemoration of the Resurrection replaced for Christians the synagogue meetings on Saturdays; the practice of circumcision was dropped, and initiation was by baptism; and continuing membership in the church was signified by weekly participation in the Eucharist. Baptism in water in the name of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit was preceded by instruction (catechesis) and fasting. Persons about to be baptized renounced evil and, as they made the declaration of faith, were dipped in water; they then received by anointing and by the laying on of hands (confirmation) the gift of the Holy Spirit and incorporation within the body of Christ. Only the baptized were allowed to be admitted to the Eucharist, when the words of Jesus at the Last Supper were recalled; the Holy Spirit was invoked upon the people of God making the offering, and the consecrated bread and wine were distributed to the faithful. Accounts of these rites are given in the works of Justin (c. 150) and especially in the Apostolic Tradition of Hippolytus of Rome (c. 220).
Before the 4th century, worship was in private houses. A house church of ad 232 has been excavated at Doura-Europus on the Euphrates. Whereas pagan temples were intended as the residence of the god, churches were designed for the community. The rectangular basilica with an apse (semicircular projection to house the altar), which had been used for Roman judicial buildings, was found especially suitable. The Doura-Europus church has Gospel scenes on the walls. But many Old Testament heroes also appear in the earliest Christian art; Jewish models probably were followed. The artists also adapted conventional pagan forms (good shepherd; praying persons with hands uplifted). Fishing scenes, doves, and lyres also were popular. In themselves neutral, they carried special meaning to the Christians. The words of several pre-Constantinian hymns survive (e.g., “Shepherd of tender youth,” by Clement of Alexandria), but only one with musical notation (Oxyrhynchus papyrus 1786 of the 3rd century).
The earliest Christians wrote to convert or to edify, not to please. Their literature was not produced with aesthetic intentions. Nevertheless, the pulpit offered scope for oratory (as in Melito of Sardis’s Homily on the Pascha, c. 170). Desire for romance and adventure was satisfied by apocryphal Acts of the Apostles, recounting their travels, with continence replacing love. Justin and Irenaeus did not write for high style but simply to convey information. Apologists hoping for well-educated readers, however, could not be indifferent to literary tastes. By ad 200 the most graceful living writer of Greek literature was Clement of Alexandria, the liveliest writer of Latin, Tertullian. Wholly different in temperament (Clement urbane and allusive, Tertullian vigorous and vulgar), both men wrote distinguished prose with regard to form and rhetorical convention.
By the 3rd century the Bible needed explanation. Origen of Alexandria set out to provide commentaries and undertook for the Old Testament a collation of the various Greek versions with the original Hebrew. Many of his sermons and commentaries were translated into Latin between 385 and 400 by Tyrannius Rufinus and Jerome; their learning and passionate mystical aspiration shaped Western medieval exegesis (critical interpretive methods).
-
People
- (German theologian and church historian)"/> (German theologian and church historian)"/> Adolf von Harnack (German theologian and church historian)
- al-Ḥākim (Fāṭimid caliph)
- (Flemish theologian)"/> (Flemish theologian)"/> Cornelius Otto Jansen (Flemish theologian)
- (king of Scotland)"/> (king of Scotland)"/> David I (king of Scotland)
- (Dutch humanist and scholar)"/> (Dutch humanist and scholar)"/> Desiderius Erasmus (Dutch humanist and scholar)
- Elaine Pagels (American scholar)
- (German theologian)"/> (German theologian)"/> Ernst Troeltsch (German theologian)
- (German theologian)"/> (German theologian)"/> Ferdinand Christian Baur (German theologian)
- (king of Denmark)"/> (king of Denmark)"/> Harald I (king of Denmark)
- (Bohemian religious leader)"/> (Bohemian religious leader)"/> Jan Hus (Bohemian religious leader)
- (Czech philosopher)"/> (Czech philosopher)"/> Jerome Of Prague (Czech philosopher)
- Jesus Christ
- (English philosopher)"/> (English philosopher)"/> John Locke (English philosopher)
- John Toland (British author)
- (Mohawk chief)"/> (Mohawk chief)"/> Joseph Brant (Mohawk chief)
- (Spanish architect)"/> (Spanish architect)"/> Juan de Herrera (Spanish architect)
- Keshab Chunder Sen (Hindu philosopher and social reformer)
- (German religious philosopher)"/> (German religious philosopher)"/> Martin Buber (German religious philosopher)
- Martin E. Marty (American historian of religion)
- (mother of Jesus)"/> (mother of Jesus)"/> Mary (mother of Jesus)
- Mary Hannah Fulton (American physician and missionary)
- Matthias Flacius Illyricus (European religious reformer)
- Michael Psellus (Byzantine philosopher, theologian, and statesman)
- (Italian artist)"/> (Italian artist)"/> Michelozzo (Italian artist)
- Mieszko I (duke and prince of Poland)
- Minh Mang (emperor of Vietnam)
- (Danish bishop and poet)"/> (Danish bishop and poet)"/> N.F.S. Grundtvig (Danish bishop and poet)
- (German religious leader)"/> (German religious leader)"/> Nikolaus Ludwig, count von Zinzendorf (German religious leader)
- Nikolay Aleksandrovich Berdyayev (Russian philosopher)
- Olaf I Tryggvason (king of Norway)
- Olaf II Haraldsson (king of Norway)
- Pelagius (Christian theologian)
- (American theologian)"/> (American theologian)"/> Philip Schaff (American theologian)
- (French philosopher)"/> (French philosopher)"/> Pierre Bayle (French philosopher)
- Pseudo-Dionysius The Areopagite (Syrian author)
- (German theologian, scientist, and philosopher)"/> (German theologian, scientist, and philosopher)"/> Saint Albertus Magnus (German theologian, scientist, and philosopher)
- (Russian painter)"/> (Russian painter)"/> Saint Andrey Rublyov (Russian painter)
- (Christian bishop and theologian)"/> (Christian bishop and theologian)"/> Saint Augustine (Christian bishop and theologian)
- (Anglo-Saxon historian)"/> (Anglo-Saxon historian)"/> Saint Bede the Venerable (Anglo-Saxon historian)
- (Christian Apostle)"/> (Christian Apostle)"/> Saint Paul, the Apostle (Christian Apostle)
- Saint Theophilus of Alexandria (Egyptian theologian)
- Sir Sigmund Sternberg (British philanthropist and entrepreneur)
- (Danish philosopher)"/> (Danish philosopher)"/> Søren Kierkegaard (Danish philosopher)
- (king of Hungary)"/> (king of Hungary)"/> Stephen I (king of Hungary)
- (American missionary and educator)"/> (American missionary and educator)"/> Susan Lincoln Tolman Mills (American missionary and educator)
- Theōdūrus Abū Qurrah (Syrian bishop)
- Tu Duc (emperor of Vietnam)
- (grand prince of Kiev)"/> (grand prince of Kiev)"/> Vladimir I (grand prince of Kiev)
- (prince of Bohemia)"/> (prince of Bohemia)"/> Wenceslas I (prince of Bohemia)
- (British missionary)"/> (British missionary)"/> William Carey (British missionary)
-
Places
- Armageddon (biblical place)
- (ancient city, Israel)"/> (ancient city, Israel)"/> Caesarea (ancient city, Israel)
- (Ireland)"/> (Ireland)"/> Clonmacnoise (Ireland)
- (Spain)"/> (Spain)"/> El Escorial (Spain)
- Le Temple (prison, Paris, France)
- (monasteries, Greece)"/> (monasteries, Greece)"/> Metéora (monasteries, Greece)
- (mosque, Córdoba, Spain)"/> (mosque, Córdoba, Spain)"/> Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba (mosque, Córdoba, Spain)
- (mountain, Greece)"/> (mountain, Greece)"/> Mount Athos (mountain, Greece)
- (ridge, Jerusalem)"/> (ridge, Jerusalem)"/> Mount of Olives (ridge, Jerusalem)
- (Italy)"/> (Italy)"/> Rome (Italy)
- (monastery and church, Assisi, Italy)"/> (monastery and church, Assisi, Italy)"/> San Francesco (monastery and church, Assisi, Italy)
- School of Alexandria (institution, Alexandria, Egypt)
- (ecclesiastical state, Europe)"/> (ecclesiastical state, Europe)"/> Vatican City (ecclesiastical state, Europe)
- (Scotland, United Kingdom)"/> (Scotland, United Kingdom)"/> Whithorn (Scotland, United Kingdom)
-
Topics
- (Christianity)"/> (Christianity)"/> Annunciation (Christianity)
- apocrypha (biblical literature)
- apologetics (Christianity)
- (Christianity)"/> (Christianity)"/> Apostle (Christianity)
- (Christianity)"/> (Christianity)"/> Ascension (Christianity)
- (Christianity)"/> (Christianity)"/> Assumption (Christianity)
- (Christianity)"/> (Christianity)"/> baptism (Christianity)
- (denomination)"/> (denomination)"/> Baptist (denomination)
- (biblical literature)"/> (biblical literature)"/> Beatitude (biblical literature)
- (sacred text)"/> (sacred text)"/> Bible (sacred text)
- biblical literature
- canon law (religion)
- catechism (religious manual)
- (liturgical vessel)"/> (liturgical vessel)"/> chalice (liturgical vessel)
- (doctrine of Christ)"/> (doctrine of Christ)"/> Christology (doctrine of Christ)
- church (Christianity)
- Church Father (Christianity)
- church year (Christianity)
- city mission (Christianity)
- confirmation (Christianity)
- creationism
- (religious symbol)"/> (religious symbol)"/> cross (religious symbol)
- (Christianity)"/> (Christianity)"/> ecumenism (Christianity)
- gospel music
- heresy
- (Jesus Christ)"/> (Jesus Christ)"/> Incarnation (Jesus Christ)
- justification (Christianity)
- kerygma and catechesis (Christian theology)
- Kingdom of God (Christianity)
- Kirishitan (religion)
- (Christianity)"/> (Christianity)"/> Last Supper (Christianity)
- (philosophy and theology)"/> (philosophy and theology)"/> logos (philosophy and theology)
- Lord’s Prayer (Christianity)
- (theology)"/> (theology)"/> Mariology (theology)
- ministry (Christianity)
- moral theology
- (biblical literature)"/> (biblical literature)"/> New Testament (biblical literature)
- oratorio (music)
- (religion)"/> (religion)"/> ordination (religion)
- original sin (theology)
- Passion music (vocal music)
- patristic literature (Christianity)
- (Christianity)"/> (Christianity)"/> Protestantism (Christianity)
- Religionsgeschichtliche Schule (biblical criticism)
- Roman Catholicism
- Second Coming (Christianity)
- Sunday school
- theological liberalism (religion)
- tithe (almsgiving)
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