Monica Dawson.History of Religion: Site Visit Paper

Christianity

You Are Welcome HereA 2012 study showed that there are 7 billion people living on our planet Earth.To get an idea: The Roman Colosseum held about 50,000 people. Imagine 40,000 completely full, people-packed Roman Colosseums. What do all these people have in common? They are all Christians. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~In this paper, I intend to answer the 6 questions vital to the understanding of the Christian religion. Who? Who are Christians? Who do they worship? Who started Christianity? What? What does being a Christian entail? What are the major holidays? What is the religious scripture? Where? Where was Christianity founded? Where do they go to worship? Where is Christianity most popular? When? When was Christianity founded? When do they worship? When are the major holidays? Why? Why do Christians believe what they do? Why are there so many misconceptions about Christianity? Why is Christianity so popular? And How? How do Christians know whats right? How do Christians show their faith? How can I be apart of this religion? In addition to answering Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How about Christianity, I will also tell you about my recent visit to a Christian Church; what I learned, what I felt, what I thought, what I did, and even what I tasted. The Who. For God so lovedthe world that he gavehis one and only Son,that whoever believesin him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

A Christian, by definition [2] is: A person who has received Christian baptism or is a believer in Jesus Christ and his teachings. Christianity is very diverse. Christians can be found in every part of the world, from the United States, which is approx. [4] 77% of the adult population, to Kenya, at about 70% of its population, to China, donating about 4% of their population etc. Christianity is the number 1 most popular world religion, with 2.2 billion people, nearly 1/3 of humanity, adhering to its principles. Christians worship God. They are strictly a monotheistic religion but they believe that there are 3 elements to God to which some call The Holy Trinity: The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit. The Father has no origin in Christianity; he is there to beget the Son. The Son is begotten from the father. The Holy Spirit derives from both. These three elements together make up (one) God. The Son, is the most talked about, I believe, in the Christian religion. Jesus of Nazareth, to unjustifiably sum up, is believed to be the Messiah [A] and was sent from the Holy Spirit to our world, conducted miracles, was a healer, a philosopher, was crucified as a sacrifice for our sins, rose from the dead, and then ascended to the Heavens. This is the main foundation for Christianity.As far as who started Christianity, there is a bit of a debate going on in the Christian religion. My research did not conclude with a solid answer. I found many articles stating that Jesus founded Christianity, which is what I expected, but half of the articles, books, and teachings I read, mentioned this guy called Paul. Paul was, at first, Christianitys greatest enemy. As the story of Paul goes, he was hand-chosen by Jesus to spread the message of salvation. After seeing a resurrected Jesus Christ, Paul converted to Christianity and began a relentless spreading the aforementioned message. It is said that 13 of the 27 books of the New Testament [B] are accredited to Paul. So, I think Who founded Christianity is a bit of a The chicken or the egg debate in this religion.[A]. Messiah- leader or savior of a specific group or cause. (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/messiah) [B] The new testament is the second half of the Christian Bible. It is a record of Jesus teachings and his earliest followers.

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The What. The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law. Deuteronomy 29:29

Being a Christian comes with a certain responsibility. God gave Moses [c] a list of 10 commandments that he was to bring back to the people of Israel. They were to obey these 10 commandments. Christians of older times and of now, use these commandments as a guideline to living their lives, although Christians then and now debate whether or not it was intended for them to follow as well. The Ten Commandments as according to Blaire B. of Catholic Digest, are as follows [I] : 1. I, the Lord, am your God. You shall not have other gods besides me. 2. You shall not take the name of the Lord God in vain. 3. Remember to keep holy the Lords Day. 4. Honor your father and your mother. 5. You shall not kill. 6. You shall not commit adultery. 7. You shall not steal. 8. You shall not bear false witness. 9. You shall not covet your neighbors wife. 10. You shall not covet your neighbors goods. Many Christians believe these laws are outdated, however they are still a major theme in the Christian religion.[C]. Moses is very important in many religions. Including Judaism, where he is said to have written the Torah.Christians celebrate many holidays, but the major ones are Easter Sunday and Christmas. Easter Sunday is to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is on different days every year, as it is set around the time of the March equinox. It is, however, always on a Sunday. Christians also celebrate Christmas. It is commonly believed to be Jesus birthday. This is not the case, in all reality, but it is the day Christians agreed to celebrate it. Christmas is celebrated on December 25th of every year. This does not change. The acts followed out on these holidays, are symbolic of Jesus, although I do not believe they have any direct connection to him. The religious scripture of the Christian religion is The Bible. They have only one Holy text, although it is broken into two parts. The Old Testament, which is 39 books that correspond directly to the Hebrew Bible, and the New Testament, that is composed of 27 books of Jesus teachings and earliest followers. Christians today are still heavily influenced by the Bible and its teachings. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~The Where?Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee. Psalms 122:6

Christianity, as I mentioned before, is the number 1 most practiced world religion. But where did it start? Jesus is believed to have been born in Bethlehem. But most of the stories you hear about Jesus or that Ive researched about Christianity, take place in Jerusalem. Most of Jesus life was spent there.Ready for the lumpy paragraph? : Although Ive not much to say on the subject, I believe its important to mention that a Christian worship place is called a Church. Churches are found all over the world, but the western world has the biggest numbers of Christian followers. The United States, Canada, European countries, etc., are the biggest parts of this statistic. Christianity is mentioned around 1st century CE although it is derived from Judaism. Lumpy paragraph ends.Christians gather on Sundays to worship God. Before I researched this at all, I knew Christians were supposed to worship on the Sabbath, but I also knew that the Sabbath was Saturday, the last day of the week. The Bible has many counts of Christians meeting on the Sabbath, but most Christian groups today, meet on Sunday, as I stated before. So I sought out to find an answer to this question. I had to do a bit of digging to find this answer, as there are many different theories as to why. The first, and most common theory, I found, is that Christians believe that since Jesus resurrected on a Sunday, they should now honor him in worshipping on Sunday. Some also state that Paul said in Corinthians, Christians should meet on the first day of the week, which is Sunday. Some Christians believe that the day of the Sabbath was taken too literally and that Christ meant for them to meet on one of the seven days, not specifically the seventh day. Whatever the reason, Christians have made it tradition to meet on Sundays.~~~~~~~~~~~The Why.4Love is patient,love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking,it is not easily angered,it keeps no record of wrongs.6Love does not delight in evilbut rejoices with the truth.7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies,they will cease; where there are tongues,they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. Corinthians 13: 4-8.Quite a few people will argue with you when you bring up the Bible. Christians themselves are constantly at a disagreement about how to interpret the Bible. So as far as why Christians believe what they do, its all a matter of perspective. Youve got churches who are very orthodox and who take the Bible 100% as is, literally. Then youve got churches that take the Bible as more suggestion as opposed to a rulebook. Then, of course, you have the churches who honor the Bible but choose to act, think and read out of love for one another and God, in their everyday lives. The stoning passages do not sit kindly with these groups. Unfortunately, like all religions, the founder is not around to say, This is what I meant so there are a lot of misconceptions about what Christianity is meant to be and who can commit to it. Many people believe Christianity got its popularity because it promised a new life. According to PBS.org, [5] Christianity got its popularity because it promised gifts, spiritual gifts, to people that went beyond the everyday life experience and promised also immortality, a future life which would be liberation from sickness and from disease and from poverty, and individual isolation. Although I have another theory. []~~~~~~~~~~~~~The How."Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will ishis good, pleasing and perfect will." Romans 12:2

As I said earlier, Christianity comes with a bit of responsibility. Since there is no clear-cut way of the Bible and many things have been open to interpretation, each individual Christian has to check his or her own moral compass as a means of knowing which way to go. Ive met a significant number of Christians in my life. They all had one thing in common. They were kind. Christians show their Faith in kindness. In Smiles. In Happiness. In Charity. In touch. In song. In advice. Basically, In Love.I would guarantee that all Christians would agree with me. If youre wondering about how to be apart of their religion, youre not alone. I, myself, was wondering the exact same thing. Going to a religious site and invading what seems to be a personal experience was a bit intimidating. I picked the church out of a handful that looked the most inviting. My experience there was wonderful and Im going to tell you about it but first things first, my advice. My advice to anyone wanting to join this religion is to just jump right in. Find a place of worship, get to know the people, fall in love with the community, then fall in love with God. A great place to start is Bethel United Church of Christ.~~~Site Visit~~~Bethel United Church of Christ is located in Cahokia, Illinois. I grew up in Dupo, Illinois, just next door to Cahokia. Most of my driving experience has come from 640+ back and forth drives to college. On those trips, every single one, I would pass by Bethel UCC. (This is of course excluding the countless trips past there before I could drive.) Bethel UCCs uniqueness is apparent before you even walk in the door. Outside the building, there is a very large rainbow sign that reads, God is still speaking, [1a] As well as, a rainbow around the Cross on their Church name sign. [1b]These signs alone made me want to know more about Bethel United Church of Christ. Walking up to a building with a giant cross outside may seem a little intimidating but I assure you, its not. Its enormously intimidating. I think maybe its because the Cross holds so much power and emotion for the Christian faith that you feel small next to it, of course, not necessarily in a bad way. (Not to mention, this Cross Im talking about is the same size as the building I was walking into.) I was nervous about going to a church as you never know what kind of people are going to be on the other side of those doors. As I walked in with my friend, Matt, we were greeted by smiling faces. Okay, so far so good. I thought. A woman introduced herself as Pastor Carol Shanks. As we shook hands, I couldnt help but feel a little odd at a woman introducing herself as a pastor. I didnt even know women could be pastors. When I say odd, I dont mean in an off-putting way. I mean odd in a fantastic way. This church was something different, something innovative, something I could really get on board with. After a few more hand shakes from people with names I wish Id written down, Matt and I took our seats. The congregation was about 30 people and they all seemed to know each other well. I was relieved not to see a giant church choir but a man sitting at a chair with a guitar or a giant window with pretty stained glass depicting a moment in Jesus life but a stage with a table that held palm leaves, a Bible, a golden bowl, a cross, and next to the table was a screen that would tell me what was happening during the service. It was simple. And the simplicity made me feelnot so small. A woman wearing a very pretty dress with earrings to match came up and introduced herself to Matt and I. Her name was Jane. She introduced herself as Jane, Pastor Libbys wife. I immediately knew this was going to be memorable in the best kind of way.The first thing in the church service was something I had not ever heard of before. It wasnt anything shocking or surprising, just something I had not seen before. (This was not my first time at a church.) They began to sing but the song they sang is what stood out to me. It was a short, catchy, song about being welcome in their church no matter who you are. For someone out of place, in a new setting, with unfamiliar people, its nice to feel welcome and its even nicer to be sung to that youre welcome. It was wonderful. Next was something else I did not expect. Remember how I said the congregation knew each other well? Well, after the Song of Welcome, everyone started walking around the room shaking hands, and they were saying something. Matt and I tried to sit kind of out of the way, so it took people a bit to get to us but once they did I understood. Each and every person of the congregation met with each other and Matt and I to shake hands or hug and say Peace be with you. That was how they started their service. Next were announcements and a prayer. Easter is soon so they had an announcement about an Easter egg hunt and a few about some members of their congregation. After the prayer came the first of five hymns. I cannot sing, but hymns are my favorite part of church. The first was hymn 256- All Glory, Laud, and Honor. Another prayer followed. I wasnt sure what to think at this first prayer. The congregation recited the prayer in unison. It was a prayer about forgiveness. After 5 hymns, a scripture lesson from Mark, confessions of triumph and concern from the congregation, in which they confessed trivial thoughts and more serious ones, and a prayer to thank God for those triumphs and share their worries, the service was over. To conclude the service, the congregation, Matt and I included, joined hands in a Shalom circle; something that I was very familiar with. The woman next to me held my hand and sang a song of Shalom to me and the rest of the circle and then thanked me for coming. After the service, there was food and drinks and lots of talking. Pastor Carol and I were a sucker for the Jelly beans that were being displayed for our taking. There was even music from what Pastor Carol later told me was called the Pick Up Blue Grass Band a bunch from the congregation playing mix-matched instruments, that were not bad to listen to.Pastor Carol, Matt and I sat down to talk after more hand shaking and talking to the rest of the congregation. I asked Pastor Carol to describe her church in 3 words. Her response was spot-on with what I would have said after just one service. []She replied, One word, I think, would be openness. Another word would be progressive in the sense, as you can see during the prayer time, no one wears a mask around here. She also makes a point to say the things that people arent afraid to say there and that there is absolutely no judgment when they say these things. Our congregation, she continues, has studied and chosen, some years ago, to be whats called open and affirming and that means, were open to people of all sexual orientations. She tells me about how they let the congregation vote on whether or not to be open and affirming and how it wasnt even a thing to this congregation. It was an easy decision.For her last word, she stays away from faith-y type words and opts for innovative. I absolutely agree with her. The amount of times I was shocked, in the best way possible, by this church service was astounding. She goes on to mention their online prayer sessions they hold. Bethel UCC has an online service community (livingwellofbethel.com) for those who cant or dont want to be in a church setting but want the religious experience. Pastor Carol also tells me about the backpack program, the pencil program, the socks program and the anti-bullying program this church has been a part of. Bethel UCC has a bulletin board up in their hallway of all the charitable contributions theyve made. [1c] The amount of stuff on this board is incredible. Bethel collects food, books, pencils, etc., for children in their area and surrounding areas. They also give socks to the homeless and raise awareness for the LBGTAPS community by setting up a booth at the Belleville pride festival. I could tell Pastor Carol was proud of her church and how much theyve done. I was proud. I think anyone who saw that board would be proud. As I mentioned earlier, Christians show their faith through love. And thats what this board was. It was a board of all the faith, love, kindness and dedication Bethel UCC has shown over the years. Before I left, Pastor Carol handed me a copy of a book she wrote. Bethel UCC was being forced to close a while back and her book is the story of how they partnered with Hoyleton Ministries to keep it going. Its a very inspiring and motivating story. But, before she handed me the book, she showed me the signatures. On the first page of this book, she mentioned people were asking her to sign it, so I expected to see her signature. There was more. There are 8 signatures on the title page of this book. Why? She tells me, This was their story. It was all of ours.What Ive learned about the Christian religion, Bethel UCC, and all of the other religions weve learned about in class is this:Religion seeks to take a chaotic, unorganized, hateful, misguided world and make it better. They want honor, love, respect, guidance, acceptance, strength, and humility. The Christian religion is no exception. Bethel United Church of Christ showed me that full well. They welcomed me with open arms and open hearts. Christianity is the most popular world religion and people like Pastor Carol Shanks, Pastor Libby Feagans-King, and all those wonderful people I shook hands with at Bethel UCC, are the reason. []

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