Christianity & The Celebration Of Christmas, Lecture notes of Religion

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Christianity & The

Celebration Of Christmas

Kapiolani Community College

Religion 150

Jewel Fontanilla

Christianity

• (^) The religion that’s based off the life/death and teachings of Jesus Christ

the son of God

• (^) Jesus is thy savior
• (^) The Holy Bible is the sacred text
• (^) The inspired word of God
• (^) Believes in the Holy Trinity
• (^) The Father
• (^) The Son
• (^) The Holy Spirit
• (^) Time of worship is on Sunday
• (^) Sunday is believed to be the Lord’s Day
• (^) The continuation to commemorate our savior’s resurrection

Jesus Christ

• (^) Born Around 4 B.C in the town of Bethlehem
• (^) The Son of God
• (^) Was given birth to by a virgin woman name Mary, who was engaged to a Jewish carpenter named Joseph.
• (^) His name is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Joshua or Yeshua, which means “The Lord is Salvation” Christ comes from the Greek word “Christos” meaning “Anointed one”
• (^) His birth as the one who shall be the King of the Jews.
• (^) Jesus’ title to become the “King of the Jews” caused the Jewish authorities to have him arrested in retaliation for fearing that they’re losing their power and control over the people of Israel. - (^) This lead him to be crucified to death in sacrifice for the worlds sins to be forgiven by God. - (^) Following his death he was placed in a tomb and from there on Sunday he was resurrected. This moment is pivotal to Christianity and is the reason behind the celebration of Easter Sunday and to worship on Sundays.

Christmas

• (^) The Christian holiday that honors the birth of Jesus Christ.
  • (^) Jesus’ birth is known as the nativity, according to the New Testament in the Holy Bible.
• (^) The Gospels of Mathew and Luke gives us a different accounts on the birth of Jesus.
  • (^) Their information is what helped piece together the entire nativity story.
• (^) Both accounts from the Gospels and the New Testament tell us that Jesus was given birth to by a woman named Mary, who was engaged to Joseph. - (^) In Luke’s telling's Mary was visited by an angel who brought a message telling her she would give birth to the son of God. - (^) But in Mathews accounts, Joseph was visited by an angel who persuaded him to marry Mary, then to rather banish her, and to not expose her pregnancy.
• (^) According to tradition, Joseph and Mary travelled to Bethlehem for a census that Joseph was ordered to take part in his home town. - (^) Joseph and Mary set off on a 90 mile journey from Nazareth along the valley of the River Jordan through Jerusalem to eventually Bethlehem. - (^) When they arrived in Bethlehem the local inn was full, so the innkeeper offered them to stay in a rock cave below his house that was used as a stable. It was here at the stable along side the animals that Mary gave birth to Jesus. - (^) Mathew tells us some wise men followed a star that led them to Jesus’s birthplace and gave Jesus gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. However Luke’s story tells us how shepherds were led to Bethlehem by an angel.

The Celebration Of Christmas Around The World

The Holy Trinity

• (^) Christians believe in this doctrine.
  • (^) The Father (God)
  • (^) The Son (Jesus)
  • (^) The Holy Spirit is the spirit in which give your life to Christ.
• (^) This is the belief that God is all three
• (^) “Yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.” 1 Corinthians 8:

The Ten Commandments

• (^) The bible says God himself spoke the Ten Commandments to Moses from Mount Sinai.
• (^) Apart of the Old Testament
• (^) Written in stone

1. You shall have no other gods before Me.
2. You shall not make idols.
3. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
5. Honor your father and your mother.
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
10. You shall not covet.

Holy Week

• (^) To commemorate Jesus’ final week of life.
• (^) It begins on Palm Sunday and it’s the week leading up to Easter
  • (^) Traditionally the week is filled with somber reflections on the events that lead

to Jesus Christ’s death

• (^) Holy Thursday also called Maundy Thursday, is the day Christians pay respect

to the “Last Supper.”

• (^) Good Friday is the day to remember Jesus’ crucifixion and his sacrifice for our

sins.

• (^) Typically on this day Christians refrain from eating meat or in some cases

they give up food altogether.

• (^) Easter Sunday may be the most important of all Christian holidays because it’s

the day Jesus rose from the dead.

Art in Christianity This painting to the right may be one of the most famous one’s of all in Christianity. The painting of the Last Supper made by Leonardo da Vinici (14521519). He painted this in 1495 to 1498. The Last Supper was during Jesus’ last week of life on Thursday, this is where Jesus ate his last meal with his twelve disciples Peter, Andrew, James, John, Mathew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, James, Judas, Jude, and Simon. "And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom." Matthew 26:2629 (KJV). Sandro Botticelli’s (14451510) adaptation of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. He painted this from 1480 to 1482. This is one of the most pivotal moments in Christianity. "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept." 1 Corinthians 15:1920 (KJV).

Christianity Continued

• (^) Christianity’s origins dates back many thousands of years before Christ was born

because it was derived from the religion of Judaism.

• (^) Believes in one God that created heaven, earth, and the universe
  • (^) This idea originated from the Jewish religion
• (^) The Christians believe Jesus is the “Messiah”
  • (^) Christians believed that the Old Testament predicted the coming of Christ.
• (^) The Three major branches of Christianity are:
  • (^) Orthodox “the right teachings”
  • (^) Catholic “Universal”
  • (^) Protestant “Protesting”
• (^) “In 392 AD Christianity becomes the official religion of the Roman Empire.”
• (^) “In 1054 disputes about the Pope's role and authority caused a split in Christianity

between the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Churches. The split

still exists today.”

• (^) 31.2% of the world considers themselves as some form of Christian as of 2015
• (^) In the US 70.6% of adults the age of 18 and up identify themselves as Christians.

Current Christian Conflict

• (^) Nigerian Government is failing to protect Christian Farmers from Fulani attacks. - (^) Fulani are Muslim people scattered around West Africa. - (^) Drought and desertification in the north of the country have forced the

roaming herdsmen from the south to compete for land, creating violent

tension between them.

• (^) Reports say the conflict is already affecting the fragile relations among the

country’s major regional, ethnic and religious groups.

• (^) The south’s Christian communities resent the increase of Muslim herders.

Some even calling them the “Islamisation force”

• (^) Government security and law enforcement have not established early

warning and quick response mechanisms; they’ve failed in also arresting and

prosecuting perpetrators for the violence and failing to offer some resolution

for the victims.

• (^) Until recently, officials paid little to no attention to minimize the friction.

Today’s Trends Involving Christianity

1. Number of Churches have reached the 5 million mark
   • (^) In 2017, there will be more than 5.5 million and credit that to a 2.9% growth rate.
   • (^) Numbers based off projections will continue to grow, 7.5 million in 2025 and 9 million in
2. Christianity isn’t just a WesternDominated religion anymore.
   • (^) In 1900, there were twice as many Christians in Europe compared to the rest of the world combined.
   • (^) By 2017, both Africa and Latin America will surpass the numbers of Christians living in Europe.
   • (^) By 2050, Africa number will reach 1.25 billion and in a few decades, more than 1 in 8 people on earth will be African Christian.
3. The number of Christian missionaries are growing, but slowly.
   • (^) In 2017, there will be 430,000 missionaries internationally, a increase of 10,000 from 2000.
   • (^) While up from 62,000 in 1900, the growth rate is just 0.54 percent and is less than half the entire world population growth rate at 1.21 percent

My Experience With Christmas

Just like the entire religion of Christianity their celebration and views of

Christmas are essentially the exact same. Just like for Christians I also view

Christmas as the holiday to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. I even at times go to

attend Christmas Eve service at my own church to start off the celebration. But

like the majority of the world Christmas is the holiday that we spend with family

and friends during the winter season to exchanges gifts and to just mainly be

around people we love. My family puts up lights and decorations throughout the

house, putting the Christmas tree up to decorate it with ornaments, from there we

wait till it’s Christmas day to open up the gifts from under the tree, and lastly the

Christmas dinner feast to close it out. I’m almost 100% sure my experience is just

the typical experience that many others have during Christmas.

Reference Slide

• (^) https://www.exploregod.com/whatischristianity
• (^) http://christianityinview.com/jesuschrist.html
• (^) http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/holydays/christmas_1.shtml
• (^) http://www.christianity.com/god/trinity/godinthreepersonsadoctrinewebarelyunderstand11634405.html
• (^) http://www.biblestudytools.com/1corinthians/86.html
• (^) http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/texts/bible.shtml
• (^) https://lifehopeandtruth.com/bible/10commandments/thetencommandments/whatarethe10commandments /
• (^) http://www.beliefnet.com/faiths/christianity/2007/03/faqchristianholidaysduringholyweek.aspx
• (^) https://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/common/eastersunday
• (^) http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/holydays/lent_1.shtml
• (^) http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/12/world/christianityfastfacts/index.html
• (^) http://catholicresources.org/Courses/ChristianityBranches.htm
• (^) https://www.christiantoday.com/article/nigeria.is.failing.to.protect.christian.farmers.from.fulani.attacks.says.ma jor.new.report/114352.htm
• (^) https://factsandtrends.net/2016/12/12/10keytrendsinglobalchristianityfor2017/