religion christianity assignment

8/16/2019 Religion Christianity Assignment

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Studies of Religion 1 Christianity Shaun McManus

The word ‘ Justified’ is defined as “pronounced or treated as righteous”. Justification by faith is God’s act of removing guilt and punishment of sin while at the same timeaffirming sinners to be righteous through Christ’s atoning sacrifice. f the formation!doctrine and e"pression of Christianity! #ustification by faith is at the core of Christian

belief. $t is e"pressed through the contribution of %aul of Tarsus to Christian

formation through his beliefs and e"pression of Christianity& %aul’s influence on thedevelopment of Christianity that shaped and separated it from Judaism throughestablishment of Christian communities throughout the 'oman Catholic (mpire andletters of advice to those communities. )octrine is shown through the teachings of se"ual ethics throughout the variants of Christianity and each of their stances onissues such as pre*marital se" and homose"uality. ("pression of Christianity isconveyed through rituals and practices of Christianity! being +aptism! whichcommunicates the beliefs of Christianity. The formation! doctrine and e"pression of Christian faith are illustrated through %aul’s beliefs! the teachings of se"ual ethics andthe ritual of +aptism to form Christianity.

%aul of Tarsus ,originally -aul of Tarsus is considered by many Christians to be thegreatest principal disciple of Jesus ,/0 th disciple ! second to Jesus in the developmentof Christianity. 1c2nowledged as a -aint! %aul drove much advancement inChristianity among the gentiles and is considered to be of the earliest primary sourcesof Christian formation and doctrine. $t is recogni3ed that it was %aul who emphasi3edthe e"pansion of Christianity as a religion! brea2ing it away from the sect of Judaismand its practices. %aul’s impact on the development of Christianity is evident throughhis missionary #ourneys to spread the word of Christ and his letters to outer in the'oman (mpire that provided the foundation of the developing Christian doctrine andethical teaching! emphasi3ing #ustification by faith.

1 strategy of (vangeli3ation ,The process of converting individuals to Christianitywas used by %aul to address the Jewish community and convert the gentiles throughthe word of God. They set off from 1ntioch to begin their #ourneys (“Set apart for me

Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” So after they had fasted and prayed they placed their hands on them and sent them off.” 1cts /04 5*0of spreading Christianity’s message. 1s a starting point! the Jewish audience wastargeted for them to accept Jesus as the fulfillment of prophecies !"e tell you the

#ood news$ "hat %od promised our fathers he has fulfilled for us their children byraisin# up Jesus! ,1cts! /0405*00 . 1fter proclaiming the word of God in the Jewishsynagogues which proved ineffective! -ergius %aulus! a governor in Cyprus was

interested to hear in the word of God and after the blinding of (lymas converted toChristianity “he believed for he was ama&ed at the teachin# about the 'ord” ,1cts/04// . The preaching of the word of God among the gentiles was received positively!opposed to the Jews and was where the followers of Jesus were first called Christians!“"hen the %entiles heard this they were #lad and honored the word of the 'ord all who were appointed eternal life believed” ,1cts /0467 . %aul’s ob#ective of these

#ourneys was to emphasi3e that Christianity was open to all and an inclusivecommunity “the #ift of the )oly Spirit poured out to the %entiles also” ,1cts /8469and his wor2s clearly demonstrated that through Justification by faith that Christianityis open to a magnitude of communities.

%aul’s preaching of Justification by faith and God’s grace! is achieved through the practice of ‘acts of love’. Through letters to both individuals and communities! %aul


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spo2e of and defined the ma#or Christian beliefs4 -alvation! 'evelation the :umanityand )ivinity of Jesus Christ. %aul made Christianity as a faith available to all! nomatter whether they were “Jew or %entile male or female freed or slave” ,Galatians0457 . Justification by faith is recognised through wor2s ,i.e. sacrifices andcommandments . +uilding upon Jesus’ teachings! %aul taught that #ust simply obeying

commandments was not a clear way to earn #ustification& it was a way to show lovefor Jesus within “*put ri#ht with %od throu#h our faith in +hrist” ,Galatians 54/; .%aul shared a belief that being #ustified by faith with God brings peace and #oy andthat “ works of the law ” are not under #ustification by faith. This reference to Jewishtraditional practice that identified them as a separate community through observationof the -abbath! circumcision and eating 2osher which distinguished the Jewish societyas God’s covenant people “ I the 'ord am holy and I have set you apart from thenations to be my own ” ,


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richness as a person it increasin#ly becomes the occasion and instrument for self-assertion and the selfish satisfaction of personal desires and instincts ” lamenting thedecline in respect for marital love 5. The 1nglican perspective on premarital se" istolerant of the activity however! strongly endorsed marriage as “ a necessarycommitment for lon# term relations ” as stated by representative of the 1nglican

Church! The 1rchbishop of Canterbury 'owan Ailliams previous. :e has also statedthat he “ doesn’t believe the +hurch has sanction a#ainst those who practice se ual activity outside of marria#e .” :owever! in contrast to this! in 58/0 the new1rchbishop of Canterbury Justin Aelby stated! “ re#ardless of se ual preference seoutside of marria#e is wron#* 3o abandon the ideal simply because its difficult toachieve is ridiculous ” This was met with a mass amount of disagreement believing the1rchbishops words to be wrong. The Catholic Church as well as its variants of Christianity in turn believes that premarital se"ual relations are wrong and shouldonly be between a man and women under marriage. $t is the following of these se"ualethics that an e"ample of Justification by faith through the human ability to abstainoneself from e"tramarital se" “t hat whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery already ” ,=atthew 945>*57 .

The word ‘ homose uality’ is drawn from the Gree2 prefi" homo meaning ‘the same’!this relates to individuals who are attracted to their own gender. 0 :omose"uality isunderstood by Christians as a barrier to the idea of marriage and a family! whereasothers see this as sin believing it to be an abomination “ you shall not lie with a maleas with a woman it is an abomination ” ,>. Justification

by faith and se"ual ethics both suggest together that Christians must be againstinstances of homose"uality to allow grace with God however! developments in themodern world’s views have shifted to allow the inclusion of the


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significant role as a ceremony of purification and welcoming into the Church! creatinga sound and global understand within the religion “+aptism is not #ust a practice butalso a sacrament! it is a rite that admits candidates into the Christian ChurchCommunity” ,Janet =orrissey . There are distinct differences in the ritual of +aptismacross the variants of Christian faith! The Catholic! Bniting! %resbyterian! %aul’s letter indications that baptismheals an individuals sin against God. Justification by faith is adhered through its

practices within the Church to build a stronger collection with God.

Christianity! through its formation! doctrine and e"pression all connect to form thecore of Christian faith. Through %aul’s #ourneys and letters to various Christiancommunities signify how as Christians! should accept all into its community and

practice as an all*embracing culture. The Christian beliefs of se"ual ethics arechallenged and modified through Christian variants through modern day acceptanceof individuality! and the practice of baptism to further e"press #ustification by faith

through its tradition of welcoming new followers into Christianity. The formation!doctrine and e"pression of Christianity all wor2 together to create a #ustified faiththrough wor2s.

*http+,,---. atican. a,archi e,ccc/css,archi e,catechism,p2s2c1a1.htm

http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p2s2c1a1.htmhttp://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p2s2c1a1.htmhttp://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p2s2c1a1.htmhttp://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p2s2c1a1.htm


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religion christianity assignment

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