基督教主要分支的特点及对比研究

石河子大学毕业论文
题目：基督教主要分支的特点及对比研究
A Comparative Study On the Main Branches of
Christianity and Their Features
院（系）：外国语学院
专业：英语
班级： 2 班
学号：2012505008
姓名：丁华侨
指导教师：渠新峰
完成日期： 2016年1月31日
Abstract
Christianity as one of the three major religions, is established in Palestinian territories in the first century. In 392, Christianity became the state religion of the Roman Empire, Christianity subsequently obtained a great development. In 1054, Orthodox Church split with Catholicism. Influenced by the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, people gradually realize the importance of human. Protestant came into being under such background. These three branches distributed in various countries and regions, which has a very important influence in politics, economics and culture. The research shall find out the distinguished features of the branches and made a comparison between them, so that Chinese and foreign friends as well as English learners could know the characteristics and differences between the main branches of Christianity, and avoid the culture misunderstanding caused by the branches.
Key words:Catholicism; orthodox church; protestant; features; comparison
摘要
基督教作为世界三大宗教之一，于公元一世纪产生于巴勒斯坦地区。

392年基督教成为罗马帝国国教，随后基督教得到了极大的发展。

1054年东正教与天主教分裂。

受文艺复兴，启蒙运动的影响，人们对宗教有了不同的理解，新教应育而生。

三个派系分布在各个国家地区，在政治，经济，文化等方面具有非常重要的影响。

本文通过对三个主要分支的研究，发现各个分支的显著特征，从而进行对比分析，能够让中外友人以及英语学习者理解基督教主要分支的特点及区别，减少因分支差异而产生的文化误解。

关键词：天主教；东正教；新教；特点：对比
Contents
I. Introduction (1)
II. Literature Review (1)
III. The Major Characters of Catholicism (3)
A. The center of Catholicism (4)
B. Catholic beliefs (4)
C. The traditional Catholic seven sacraments (5)
IV. The Main Features of Orthodox Church (6)
A. Theology (6)
B. Worship (8)
1. Church calendar (8)
2. Fasting (8)
C. Holy mysteries (9)
V. An Introduction of Protestanism (9)
A. Spread (10)
B. Theology (10)
C. Major branches (12)
VI.The Difference betweent the Three Branches (13)
A. Apostolic Succession (13)
B. Bible (13)
C. Clergy (14)
D. Holy spirit (14)
E. Marriage and divorce (14)
F. Mary (14)
G. Pope (15)
H. Purgatory (15)
I. Sacraments (15)
J. Encharist (15)
K. Saints (16)
L. Salvation (16)
M. Scripture (16)
Ⅶ. Conclusion (16)
Works Cited (18)
I. Introduction
Christianity is rooted in Judaism and founded by Jesus in the Palestinian territory in mid-century, breakaway from Judaism as an independent religion in 135. Early Christianity had been subjected to cruel persecution and repression of the Roman emperors. In 313, Emperor Constantine I issued Edict of Milan, declared common freedom with Christianity and all other religious without discrimination.
Since then Christianity became an official legitimate religion. In 393, Christianity became the state religion of Roman Empire, and gradually became the man spiritual pillar of middle European federal society. In 1054, Christianity split into the Roman Catholic and Orthodox. In the 16th century, with the rise of Western European nation-state and public class, the reformation movement broke out against rule of Pope. After these, some of the new sect, known as the Protestant,were split from the Catholic Church. Christianity is a concept of Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant. However, there are various differences between the branches as doctrine, festival, calendar and church style.
In the past ten years, the way of transportation and communication has changed greatly. China has become the second largest economy around the world, the average income of Chinese has increased sharply. Thus, people have more chance to communicate with foreigners who are Christians for the reason of working, studying or traveling. English learners should have the general knowledge of Christianity, which could be divided as Catholicism, Orthodox Church and Protestantism, only by this way, can they show their respects to these believers and avoid the unnecessary embarrassment caused by our misunderstanding of the branches.
The research will focus on the following three aspects: the main features of Orthodox Church and Catholicism, the history of Protestantism and the features of it, and the main differences between the three branches.
II. Literature Review
A.The Current situation of Domestic research
The researches about Christianity’s branches focus on their spread features in Chinese different provinces and regions at different time, theirs influences on Chinese
culture, mind, and behavior, Chinese attitudes to the new religions.
B.The Current situation of Foreign research
For Orthodox Church, the researches are main about it’s influence and status in Russia. Protestantism’s researches are about its history and its spread around the world. Besides, there are some comparison between Orthodox Church and Catholicism.
C.The Background of Christianity
Christianity has been greatly influenced by two cultures: One is the Hebrews, ancestor of the Jewish. Another is the Greek.
Christianity is one of the world's three major religions. Neale has put forward(1997）that “Christianity is referred to Roman Catholic (Catholicism called in China ), Orthodox (Orthodox), Protestantism (in China called Christian or Protestant) and a number of other smaller factions in.”
Wang Meixiu said that(2006) that “Christianity comes from the Jewish community in Palestinian territories around the 1st century which is the product of Jewish mass movement against domination of the Roman.”In the beginning, Christianity is just a small branch of Judaism. Early Christianity is created by the mass movement, which is religion of lower people, and participants are mostly the poor, artisans, slaves or semi-free. Different from the Mother Church's emphasis on the Old Testament, Christianity stresses the saving grace of the spiritual leader Jesus Christ. Believers would call Jesus as the Christ. The world is originally found To Magnesia church book in the 2nd century, which referred to a new religion worshiped Christ as Lord, greatly different from Judaism. Since then it spreads throughout the Mediterranean coast.
It could be find in A Brief History of Christianity(2006) that “Constantine declared Edict of Milan in Milan in 313, Christianity became the legal religion. Christianity became the state religion of the Roman Empire in the 4th century.”
In 395, under the internal contradictions and the external invasion, the Eastern Roman with Constantinople as the center splits from the Roman Empire, and Rome is still the center of West Rome. Since then the territory of the Roman Empire was divided into two, Bulgakov writes(1996) that “the Eastern Roman Empire, including Greece, Asia Minor, Syria, Palestine, and Egypt; the Western Roman Empire,
including Italy, Gaul, Britain, Spain and other places”. For culture, the Eastern Roman is mainly dominated by Greek, Latin is still prevailing in West Rome.With the division of Roman, Christianity began to split into the Roman Catholic and Orthodox. Pope is the center of Western Roman, who can control the monarchy and the military leaders. The Western Roman Empire comes to an end in 476 AD, and the Eastern Roman Empire lasts until 1453.
D.The Definition of Protestant
Protestant is a new Christian concept, after the 16th century Reformation, different from the old Christian forces like Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church. Le Feng claims that(2004) “three major sects of Protestant mainly refer to: Lutheran, Calvinist, and Anglican, and these sects’consistent view is opposed to the pope’s control of different Church”. They declared that the Bible is the supreme principle of faith, and did not recognize that the Church has the absolute authority of explaining doctrine, emphasizing individual could directly communicate with God with a priest as mediation. Owning to the attitude of Protestants, they are called protestants.
Lewis Christopher Alan believes that(2008) “the reformation is the product of the following reasons: First, it is influenced by the Renaissance and humanism; Second, the establishment and expansion of capitalism lead to the outbreak of the reform; Third, the Development of Nationalism contributes to the outbreak of reform; Fourth, disasters fell upon the public increased their opposition to the church”.
III. The Major Characters of Catholicism
The Roman Catholic Church is the largest of all Christain churches in the world. It has about 1 billion members. Most Catholics are living in Europe, North America and South America. The main countries are Brazil with 120 millions Catholics, Mexico with 75.4 millions Catholics, Italy with 55.9 mullions of Catholics, America with 53 millions of Catholics and France with 46.45 millions of Catholics. The important festivals are Christmas, Easter, Pentecost and Feast of Assumption. Pentecost is a Christian festival that takes place on the seventh Sunday after Easter and celebrates the sending of the Holy Spirit the first followers of Christ. Feast of assumption is to celebrate Virgin Mary into the heaven at the end of her earthly life. The famous church of Catholicism are Saint Peter’s Basilica, Notre Dame, Milan
Cathedral and Westminster Cathedral.
A. The Center of Catholic
Vatican city is the official seat of the catholic church，and its head，the pope，rules through a civil governor. As with any other country，this miniature country sports its own flag，coins its own coins，runs its own postal，transportation，telephone systems，and radio broadcasting station.Vatican city is all grown up. Size is not a criterion in our definition of what constitutes a country. A country need only be an independent state, with distinct territorial boundaries and its own government. As weighing in at a mere 0.17 square miles, Vatican holds the title of being the smallest country in the world.
B. Catholic beliefs
Catholicism could include the Roman Catholic Church, the various Churches of Eastern Christianity, the Old Catholic Church, Anglicanism, and at least some of the "independent Catholic Churches" and, again in this interpretation, the beliefs and practices of Catholicism include:
Direct and continuous organizational descent from the original church founded by Jesus, who, according to tradition, designated the ApostlePeter as its first leader.
Belief that Jesus Christ is Divine, a doctrine officially clarified in the First Council of Nicaea and expressed in the Nicene Creed.
Transubstantiation, the belief that the elements in the Eucharist become really, truly, the body, blood, soul and divinity of Christ at consecration, resulting in the Real Presence of Christ, and that, because Christ himself is present in the sacrament, he is to be honoured in it with the worship known asEucharistic adoration.
Possession of the "threefold ordained ministry" of Bishops, Priests and Deacons.
All ministers are ordained by, and subject to, Bishops, who pass down sacramental authority by the "laying-on of hands", having themselves been ordained in a direct line of succession from the Apostles.
Belief that the Church is the vessel and deposit of the fullness of the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles from which the Scriptures were formed. This teaching is preserved in both written scripture and in unwritten tradition, neither being independent of the other.
A belief in the necessity and efficacy of sacraments.
The use of sacred images, candles, vestments and music, and often incense and water, in worship.
Veneration of Mary, the mother of Jesus as the Blessed Virgin Mary or Theotokos, and veneration of the saints.
A distinction between adoration (latria) for God, and veneration (dulia) for saints. The term hyperdulia is used for a special veneration accorded to the Virgin Mary among the saints.
The use of prayer for the dead.
The acceptance of canonizations.
Requests to the departed saints for intercessory prayers.
C. The traditional Catholic seven sacraments
Churches in the Catholic tradition administer seven sacraments or "sacred mysteries": Baptism, Confirmation or Chrismation,Eucharist, Penance, also known as Reconciliation, Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders, and Matrimony.
Baptism -the Sacrament of Baptism, the first of the three sacraments of initiation, is also the first of the seven sacraments in the Catholic Church. It removes the guilt and effects of Original Sin and incorporates the baptized into the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ on earth.
Confirmation or Chrismation - the second of the three sacraments of initiation because, historically, it was administered immediately after the Sacrament of Baptism. Confirmation perfects our baptism and brings us the graces of the Holy Spirit that were granted to the Apostles on Pentecost Sunday.
Penance (also called Confession and Reconciliation) - the Sacrament of Confession is one of the least understood, and least utilized, sacraments in the Catholic Church. In reconciling us to God, it is a great source of grace, and Catholics are encouraged to take advantage of it often, even if they are not aware of having committed a mortal sin.
Anointing of the Sick - traditionally referred to as Extreme Unction or Last Rites, the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick is administered both to the dying and to those who are gravely ill or are about to undergo a serious operation, for the recovery of their health and for spiritual strength.
Holy Orders - The Sacrament of Holy Orders is the continuation of Christ's priesthood, which He bestowed upon His Apostles. There are three levels to this
sacrament: the episcopate, the priesthood, and the diaconate.
Holy Matrimony - is the sacrament of joining a man and a woman for mutual help and love, consecrating them for their particular mission of building up the Church and the world, and providing grace for accomplishing that mission. Western tradition sees the sacrament as conferred by the canonically expressed mutual consent of the partners in marriage; Eastern and some recent Western theologians not in communion with the see of Rome view the blessing by a priest as constituting the sacramental action.
IV. The Main Features of Orthodox Church
Orthodox Church is the second largest Christian Church in the world, with an estimated 225–300 million adherents. The Eastern Orthodox Church is one of the oldest religious institutions in the world, teaching that it is theOne, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church established by Jesus Christ in his Great Commission to the apostles, and practicing what it understands to be the original faith passed down from the Apostles. Geographically, the majority of Eastern Orthodox Christians in the 21st century reside in Greece, Eastern Europe andRussia, with less numerous communities in the former Byzantine regions of the Middle East and around the Eastern Mediterranean. There are also many small but growing communities in other parts of the world, formed in part through immigration and in part through conversion and missionary activity. They celebrate Easter which is subjected to Julian Calendar, Palm Sunday which is celebrated on the previous Sunday, and Ascension Day on the first Thursday 40 days after Easter.
A. Theology
Trinity-Orthodox Christians believe in the Trinity. The Holy Trinity is three, distinct, divine persons, without overlap or modality among them, who share one divine essence - uncreated, immaterial and eternal. These three persons are typically distinguished by their relation to each other. The Father is eternal and not begotten and does not proceed from any, the Son is eternal and begotten of the Father, and the Holy Spirit is eternal and proceeds from the Father. Orthodox doctrine regarding
the Holy Trinity is summarized in the Nicene Creed.
Resurrection of Christ - The Orthodox Church understands the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus to be real historical events, as described in the gospels of the New Testament. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was in his humanity crucified, and died, descending into Hades (Sheol), the place of the dead, as all humans do. But He, alone among humans, has two natures, one human, one divine, which are indivisible and inseparable from each other through the mystery of the incarnation. Hades could not restrain the infinite God. Christ in His divine nature captured the keys of Hades and broke the bonds which had imprisoned the human souls who had been held there through their separation from God.
Neither could death contain the Son of God, the Fountain of Life, who arose from death even in his human nature. Not only this, but he opened the gates of Hades to all the righteous dead of past ages, rescuing them from their fallen human nature and restoring them to a nature of grace with God, bringing them back to life, this time in God's heavenly kingdom. And this path he opened to all who choose to follow him in time yet to come, thus saving the human race. Thus the Orthodox proclaim each year at the time of Pascha (Easter), that Christ "trampled down death by death, and on those in the tombs bestowed life."
Eschatology-Orthodox Christians believe that when a person dies the soul is temporarily separated from the body. Though it may linger for a short period on Earth, it is ultimately escorted either to paradise (Abraham's bosom) or the darkness ofHades, following the Temporary Judgment. Orthodox do not accept the doctrine of Purgatory, which is held by Roman Catholicism. The soul’s experience of either of these states is only a "foretaste"—being experienced only by the soul—until the Final Judgment, when the soul and body will be reunited.
Saints and mother of Christ-The Orthodox Church believes death and the separation of body and soul to be unnatural—a result of the Fall of Man. They also hold that the congregation of the Church comprises both the living and the dead. All persons currently in heaven are considered to besaints, whether their names are known or not. There are, however, those saints of distinction whom God has revealed as particularly good examples. When a saint is revealed and ultimately recognized by a large portion of the Church a service of official recognition is celebrated. The Christ Child from the moment of conception was both fully God and fully Man. Mary is thus called the 'Theotokos' or 'Bogoroditsa' as an affirmation of the divinity of the One to
whom she gave birth. It is also believed that her virginity was not compromised in conceiving God-incarnate, that she was not harmed and that she remained forever a virgin. Scriptural references to "brothers" of Christ are interpreted as kin, given that the word 'brother' was used in multiple ways, as was the term 'father'. Due to her unique place in salvation history, Mary is honored above all other saints and especially venerated for the great work that God accomplished through her.
Sin-when Orthodox Christians refer to Fallen Nature they are not saying that human nature has become evil in itself. Human nature is still formed in the image of God; we are still God's creation, and God has never created anything evil. But our fallen nature remains open to evil intents and actions. It is sometimes said that we are "inclined to sin"; that is, we find some sinful things attractive. It is the nature of temptation to make sinful things seem the more attractive, and it is the fallen nature of humans that seeks or succumbs to the attraction. Orthodox Christians reject the Augustinian position that the descendants of Adam and Eve are actually guilty of the original sin of their ancestors. But just as any species begets its own kind, so fallen humans beget fallen humans, and from the beginning of our existence we lie open to sinning by our own choice.
Christian Life-The Orthodox Church, in understanding itself to be the Body of Christ, and similarly in understanding the Christian life to lead to the unification in Christ of all members of his body, views the church as embracing all Christ's members, those now living on earth, and also all those through the ages who have passed on to the heavenly life. The church includes the Christian saints from all times, and also judges, prophets and righteous Jews of the first covenant, Adam and Eve, even the angels and heavenly hosts. In Orthodox services, the earthly members together with the heavenly members worship God as one community in Christ, in a union that transcends time and space and joins heaven to earth. This unity of the Church is sometimes called the communion of the saints.
B. Worship
1. Church calendar
Many church traditions, including its schedules of services, feasts, and fasts, is structured by its calendar, which provides a strictly observed intermingled set of cycles of varying lengths. The fixed annual cycle begins 1 September, and establishes the times for all annual observances that are fixed by date, such as Christmas. The
annual Paschal cycle is established relative to the varying date of Pascha each year and affects the times for such observances as Pascha itself, Great Lent, Holy Week, and the feasts of Ascension and Pentecost.
Lesser cycles also run in tandem with the annual ones. A weekly cycle of days prescribes a specific focus for each day in addition to others that may be observed. 2. Fasting
fasting means abstaining from meat and meat products, dairy (eggs and cheese) and dairy products, fish, olive oil, and wine. Wine and oil—and, less frequently, fish —are allowed on certain feast days when they happen to fall on a day of fasting; but animal products and dairy are forbidden on fast days, with the exception of "Cheese Fare" week which precedes Great Lent, during which dairy products are allowed. Wine and oil are usually also allowed on Saturdays and Sundays during periods of fast. In some Orthodox traditions, caviar is permitted on Lazarus Saturday, the Saturday before Palm Sunday, although the day is otherwise a fast day. Married couples also abstain from sexual activity on fast days so that they may devote themselves fulsomely to prayer
C.Holy mysteries
There are at least seven sacraments in the Orthodox Church. The first is baptism which is the Christian rite of initiation in the Church. Chrismation is the second sacrament which bestows upon us the Holy Spirit. Holy Communion is the sacrament of receiving the resurrected body and blood of Jesus Christ. Although all Orthodox Christians are to confess their sins daily to God privately, all are encouraged to participate in the sacrament of Confession with a priest. Marriage is a sacrament of the Church for it is Christ himself through the priest or bishop that joins the couple together. Ordination to the sacred priesthood is also a sacrament, as is Holy Oil (Unction) which the faithful are anointed with for the healing of soul and body and for the forgiveness of sins.
It is the sacraments of the Church that manifest God's saving energies in our lives.
A life without the sacraments is like a life without God. One of the Church's important functions besides preaching, teaching and caring for her children, is to make these sacraments available to her people.
V. An Introduction of Protestant
A. Spread
There are more than 900 million Protestants worldwide among approximately 2.4 billion Christians. In 2010, a total of more than 800 million included 300 million in Sub-Saharan Africa, 260 million in the Americas, 140 million in Asia-Pacific region,100 million in Europe and 2 million in Middle East-North Africa.Protestants account for nearly forty percent of Christians worldwide and more than one tenth of the total human population.
In European countries which were most profoundly influenced by the Reformation, Protestantism still remains the most practiced religion. These include the Nordic countries and the United Kingdom. In other historical Protestant strongholds such as Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Latvia, Estonia and Hungary, it remains one of the most popular religions. Although Czech Republic was the site of one of the most significant pre-reformation movements, there are only few Protestant adherents; mainly due to historical reasons like persecution of Protestants by the Catholic Habsburgs, restrictions during the Communist rule, and also the ongoing secularization. Over the last several decades, religious practice has been declining as secularization has increased. According to a 2012 study about Religiosity in the European Union in 2012 by Eurobarometer, Protestants made up 12% of the EUpopulation.
B. Theology
1. Fundamental principles
If a Christian denomination is to be considered Protestant, it must acknowledge the following three fundamental principles of Protestantism.
Scripture alone:The belief in the Bible as the highest source of authority for the church. The early churches of the Reformation believed in a critical, yet serious, reading of scripture and holding the Bible as a source of authority higher than that of church tradition. The many abuses that had occurred in the Western Church prior to the Protestant Reformation led the Reformers to reject much of its tradition, though some would maintain tradition has been maintained and reorganized in the liturgy and in the confessions of the Protestant churches of the Reformation. In the early 20th century, a less critical reading of the Bible developed in the United States, leading to a "fundamentalist" reading of Scripture. Christian fundamentalists read the Bible as the "inerrant, infallible" Word of God, as do the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox,
Anglican and Lutheran churches, but interpret it in a literalist fashion without using the historical critical method.
Justification by faith alone:the belief that believers are justified, or pardoned for sin, solely on condition of faith inChrist rather than a combination of faith and good works. For Protestants, good works are a necessary consequence rather than cause of justification.
Universal priesthood of believers:the universal priesthood of believers implies the right and duty of the Christian laity not only to read the Bible in the vernacular, but also to take part in the government and all the public affairs of the Church. It is opposed to the hierarchical system which puts the essence and authority of the Church in an exclusive priesthood, and makes ordained priests the necessary mediators between God and the people.
2. Trinity
Protestants who adhere to the Nicene Creed believe in three Persons (God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit) as one God. Others, beginning with the Polish Brethren and sustained by the Unitarians in Transylvania, England and the United States, reject the Trinity.
3. Five solae
Sola scriptura:t his idea contains the four main doctrines on the Bible: that its teaching is needed for salvation; that all the doctrine necessary for salvation comes from the Bible alone; that everything taught in the Bible is correct; and that, by the Holy Spirit overcoming sin, believers may read and understand truth from the Bible itself, though understanding is difficult, so the means used to guide individual believers to the true teaching is often mutual discussion within the church.
sola fide states that faith in Christ is sufficient alone for eternal salvation. Though argued from scripture, and hence logically consequent to sola scriptura, this is the guiding principle of the work of Luther and the later reformers. Because sola scriptura placed the Bible as the only source of teaching, sola fide epitomises the main thrust of the teaching the reformers wanted to get back to, namely the direct, close, personal connection between Christ and the believer, hence the reformers' contention that their work was Christocentric.
Solus Christus: the Protestants characterize the dogma concerning the Pope as Christ's representative head of the Church on earth, the concept of works made meritorious by Christ, and the Catholic idea of a treasury of the merits of Christ and。