Christian Beliefs
1. Spiritual Belief:
Christianity is monotheistic, believing in a divine being who not only created all matter and the life that grew within it in the first place, but
who also cares about that which was created and wants to be in relationship with all of it. While Christianity is monotheistic - namely one
God - it also believes that God manifests in three aspects from the point of view of how humanity experiences God. These aspects are what
Christians call the Trinity - God the Father, God the Son (Jesus) and God the Holy Spirit.
2. How We Pray – House of worship, rituals and practices:
Christians communicate with God through prayer and worship. However, there is a very wide diversity expressed by Christians through their
styles of prayer (scripted, spoken, silently said or meditatively waiting), or of worship (following various forms of prescriptive liturgy, or more
spontaneous worship forms or even total silence); what is common to all, however, is that regular prayer and worship are considered essential.
Some rituals by all sections Christianity - such as marriage and funerals - though the particular practices may vary widely; other riturals are
practised by many sections but not all - such as baptism and communion.
3. Dietary Laws:
In terms of general dietary laws, some Christian groups may choose to practice certain restrictions to diet (including temperance or
vegetarianism), however, the majority do not - the one broad exception being that many Catholics will not eat meat on Fridays, choosing fish
instead. There is though the issue of Fasting - some Christians will follow various dietary restrictions during set times of the year (such as Lent,
the 40-49 day period before Easter; and some other special periods in the case of Coptic Christians). The Fasting practices, however, have
grown through tradition rather than Biblical instruction.
4. Holy Books and Sacred Stories:
Christians believe that the Holy Bible is a collection of writings inspired by God. The Christian Bible consists of two sections - the Old Testament
(which is essentially the Hebrew Bible, though with some change in the ordering of books within it) and the New Testament (consisting of four
Gospels - narratives about the time of Jesus on Earth; Acts of the Apostles - a history of the first years of the Church; Epistles - letters written to
the early Church; and the Book of Revelation - an apocalyptic work). In addition to the Holy Bible, there is also the Apocrypha, a selection of
works both from times before Christ and after that many in the early church considered to be meaningful but not necessarily divinely inspired.
5. Religious observations:
Christian Holy-days are traditionally Christmas (a symbolic date chosen in the absence of exact historical information that has been chosen
as the birth date of Jesus) and Easter (consisting of Good Friday, the day of Christ’s crucifixion and Easter Day, the day of his resurrection);
Easter is set each year by two different formulae (one Western, one Eastern) both of which link to Jewish Passover dates. Some Christian
denominations will also celebrate feast days of some saints (such as Coptic, Orthodox, Catholic and Anglican), or annual cycles such as New
Year (which the Copts celebrate in September).
6. Life Cycle Rituals:
Life Cycle Rituals, Birth, Coming of Age Ceremonies and Marriage Sacred Rituals in the Christian tradition are called Sacraments. These
include Water Baptism is a ritual followed by most Christians (though not groups such as Salvation Army or Quakers) and is either done by sprinkling
or full immersion; and is also either done in the first year of life or in adulthood. Those denominations that practice infant baptism will also have a
practice of self-conscious entry into faith by the young person at a later point - this is called Confirmation. The Sacrament of Holy Matrimony is
practised, albeit in somewhat different forms, by all Christian groups. The are some other sacraments followed by certain groups but not all; such as
the Sacrament of Holy Unction - the act of blessing with oil.
7. Death and the Afterlife:
Christians believe that Christ not only conquered death for himself (by his resurrection on Easter Day) but also for all who believe in him (ie
as the Son of God). Thus Christians do believe in an Afterlife. There are some differences in understanding as to how this Afterlife will look.
Some believe there is an immediate post-temporal existence of both body and soul; others believe that, while the soul may exist immediately,
the body will not be recreated until after Christ comes again; while still others believe that neither soul nor body will exist again until what
is known as the Second Coming of Christ. There are also different interpretations as to what will happen after death to those who do not
believe in Christ. Some believe in a state of Hell, absence from the love of God which may also include an eternal state of torment; while
others believe that the state of being absent from the love of God is torment enough; still others (Christadelphians) believe that there is no
afterlife at all for those who do not believe.
Links:
Fact sheet about Christianity in Australia
National Council of Churches in Australia
http://www.racismnoway.com.au/teaching-resources/factsheets/30.htmlhttp://www.ncca.org.au/
As told by Rev. Lynn Arnold
Information collected as part of The Golden Rule Interfaith Exhibition 2016 held at the Adelaide City Library 7 September - 9 October 2016,
for further information visit www.abrahaminstitute.com.au