英语语言文学 西方文化讲义

The Birth and Development of Christianity

1. Formation of Early Christianity (100 BC)

“Dead Sea Scrolls”死海古卷* : 100 BC- 60 AD

● a collection of manuscripts in Hebrew discovered in caves near the Dead Sea between 1947

and 1956

●widely held to provide important biblical evidence

The earliest secret organization (2nd century BC－2nd century AD):

came into being among the Jews in Asia Minor小亚细亚, advocating faith in Messiah.

●Messiah弥赛亚

A messiah (literally, “anointed one“受膏者)has come to be seen as a saviour or liberator of a group of people, most commonly in the Abrahamic religions.

Islamism: Mohammed

Christianity: Jesus Christ

2. The Legends of Jesus Christ (6BC - 30AD)

Jesus of Nazareth 拿撒勒（an ancient city in North of Palestine）

crucifixion,钉死在十字架

resurrection 复活

ascension 升天

sacrificed his life in order to save humankind

●Nativity(The Birth of Jesus Christ)

“Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel以马内利（耶稣基督的别称）, which being interpreted is, God with us.”-- Matthew 1:23.

the incarnation of Jesus as the second Adam: in fulfillment of the divine will of God, undoing the damage caused by the first Adam

humility of Jesus: a tender image in Christian arts.

●Virgin Mary圣母玛利亚

●The Baptism洗礼

Jesus was baptized at the age of 29 in the river Jordan (约旦河) as a Judaist by John the Baptist (施洗约翰).

●The Beatitudes (山上宝训/八种福乐)

Jesus delivered his most famous sermon布道on a mountain. In it, Jesus taught his listeners to: - Love your enemies.

- Do not judge others.

- Trust God.

- Don't be anxious about tomorrow.

- Do unto others as you would have them do unto you (The "golden rule").

●12 Apostles 十二使徒

Jesus stated in the bible to have had 12 apostles who by the great commission spread the message of the Gospel（good news 福音）after his resurrection复活.

The Last Supper, by Da Vinci, 1490

The betrayer: Judas

sold Jesus to his enemies, and the price was 30 pieces of silver

Judas kiss: gave Jesus a kiss to identify him to the crowd who then arrested him

●Some festivals

Christmas: celebrate Jesus' birth on December 25th. It follows a month of preparation (Advent) and involved lots of festivities, school plays telling the story of the nativity, exchanging Christmas cards and presents, special meals, special decoration - very much like big festivals in other world religions.

Easter Sunday : The most important festival for Christians. It is a very joyous occasion marked in churches by wonderful music and flowers. Out of church by the exchange of cards and Easter eggs - a symbol of spring and new life as Jesus' death brought new life to Christians.

2.The Dissemination (传播) and Perfection of Christianity

Why is Christianity, a religion that originated in the Middle East, is regarded as the religion of the West?

The disciples were also persecuted by the Roman authorities and the Palestinian kings.

The followers of Jesus had to get to the other places in Palestine.

After Jesus’death, his followers began to spread his ideas:

“People are brothers and sisters and they should love each other, behave themselves, since all of them are the children of God.”

●St. Paul (圣徒保罗)

Paul is as old as Jesus. Educated in both Judaism and Hellenistic希腊文化的traditions, he was once engaged in the persecution迫害of Christians

but around 33 AD he accepted Jesus’ideas after some mysterious experience, and started his missionary movement and set up a number of Christian branches in Asia Minor (小亚细亚) and Greece.

Paul wrote in the 50s and 60s some epistles书信集/letters to those branches expounding Christian doctrine, which helped greatly to shape Christianity.

●Saint Peter圣彼得

Simon Peter preached Jesus’ideas in various places in the Roman Empire and around Rome. Peter also wrote several letters. He finally became the bishop of Rome in the early 60s AD (He is the successor of Jesus). (St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome designed by Michelangelo in 1506) Persecution against Christians

A group of Christians began to be recognized in the Roman Empire in the early 60s AD. Although there was no official religion in the Empire at that time (Emperor worship and worshipping of Roman gods were practiced, though.)

the Christian movement offended the ruling class.

In 64 AD, both St. Paul and St. Peter were killed.

●Christianity as the state religion

In the fourth century AD, the religion of Mithraism (密特拉教，拜日教)was still very popular in the Roman Empire. In Zoroastrianism (起源于古波斯的琐罗亚斯德教,祆教,拜火教), Mithra光明神is a god close to the Sun.

Developed from Persian thought, Mithraism became a popular cult among Roman soldiers stationed in Anatolia (安那托利亚)during the late Republic.