Christianity

The vast majority of British people are Christian (71.6% to be precise). Christians worship the same God as Muslims and Jews. For Christians however, Jesus Christ was more than the prophets who came before him. He is in fact the promised Messiah, the son of God, and also God incarnate.

Christianity in the UK

Although we live in a multicultural society with many prominent minority faith and cultural groups, it is important to realise the dominance that Christianity still has in British culture. British culture has been built on a thousand years of Christian ethics and iconography.

Christianity, until very recently, was almost the only religion taught in schools and almost the only religion to appear in the media. It totally dominated the culture of Britain and the thoughts and opinions of the people. Still now it is often considered the default religion of British people. More than three times more people say they are Christian than say they are not religious. In a recent poll of under-10s, God was voted most famous person in the world, narrowly defeating Wayne Rooney; Jesus came third.

The Queen is the Defender of ‘the’ Faith; “Jesus” and “God” are the most common blasphemous swearwords; politicians refer to God or the Bible to make a political point. Most churches run Sunday Schools where toddlers learn about Christ’s life and teachings. Throughout the history of Western music and art, artists and composers have found their inspiration in and dedicated their works towards Christian figures. For much of this time the only way to hear music or see art was to visit a church.

However, things are opening. As more and more people come to Britain to pursue a new life, the need for new religious space is becoming more and more necessary. There are already a handful of Muslim, Sikh and Hindu local councillors and MPs. The Jewish community, having been present in the UK for hundreds of years, is well established, with a high profile and wide representation despite making up just 0.5% of the population, and as such is an example of the integration possible by non-Christian religious people into the fabric of British society.

Beliefs

To many British people, to be a good person is the definition of being a good Christian. Jesus taught for his followers to act with compassion, with forgiveness, and most of all to act with love. The most important of Jesus’ teachings is often considered to be:

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”

Most Christians worship in church, where they will sing hymns, often written by great European composers, hear readings from the Bible and a sermon from the priest, and pray together. Some prayers are always used, others are unique and are written by the leader for a particular circumstance – praying for victims of a natural disaster, or praying for a local person’s welfare.

Many believe in the afterlife, in Heaven and Hell, where you go depending on how good a person you have been in life. There is no common consensus on what this means, and many Christians take it to be metaphorical, another way of impressing the importance of a life given towards the Christian faith.

Prayer is an important part of Christian life, and can be performed anywhere. In addition to being a way of showing God your faith and thus helping ensure a place in Heaven, it is normally believed that God listens to and answers prayers. So Christians pray both to the glory of God, but also for themselves and for others.

A Christian has no need of unnecessary material possessions, nor does he need to be rich, successful, famous, beautiful, important or anything else dependent on the material world. Jesus taught that the weak shall inherit the Earth and that there is as much chance of a rich man going to heaven as there is a camel getting through the eye of a needle. Accordingly Christians are encouraged to be compassionate and charitable, always to give away or share what they have. Self-sacrifice is purely temporary, for he who lives his life for others ensures a place in heaven. The Bible states that “greater love hath no man that he who lays down his life for his friends”. To sacrifice your life for someone you love is considered the greatest good that can be done. A belief similar to this is held by many of the major religions.

Love

Love is the probably the most important concept in Christianity, and is certainly the reason Christianity is seeing a surge of popularity across Europe and America. “God is Love” states John in his Gospel, and state the boards in front of churches across the globe. It was God’s love for man that allowed him to give up his son to die for their sins. It is God’s gift that we can love and therefore an obligation to love both your neighbour and your enemy. When Christians feel love, it is the feeling of faith and God. When they feel depressed or uncertain it is the love of God that must be let into their hearts to uplift them.

Among Jesus’ final words were that those who had killed him should be forgiven. Throughout the Bible Christians are taught that to forgive and to love other people are their obligations. It is always possible, even in the final part of life, to repent of your disbelief, let God into your heart and be forgiven for all your sins. The strength and relevance of this message is seen frequently in headlines describing victims’ forgiveness of their aggressor.

Like many faiths, community plays a central role in Christianity. The church is the focal point of a Christian’s life. Here there will frequently be groups, talks, games, discussions, lectures, coffee mornings, jumble sales and the like, all with the aim of bringing people of faith together, often with charity in mind.

The Life of Jesus

A young, recently married virgin called Mary was visited by the Angel Gabriel (Jibril in Islam, which also records this ‘Immaculate Conception’) and told that she would bear a child by God, and that his name would be Jesus Christ. The year of his birth in Bethlehem became year 0. When he was about 30 he was baptised by John and subsequently began teaching. Jesus, like other prophets, recommended a life full of compassion, faith, humility, and above all, love. He not only gave sermons but was also sought for his wisdom, referring always to higher morality rather than the canonical rule of law, recommending that forgiveness and conscience be the guardians of the soul.

He also performed many miracles, which made people fearful and in awe of him, and did much to convert the many sceptics to his beliefs.

After 3 years of preaching, it was decided by the high priests, fearful of his growing influence, resolved that he should be killed. After going to the Roman governor, Pilate, and the local King Herod, it was decided that he should be flogged and then crucified. He died on the cross. After three days he came back to life and was seen by several of his followers, who pledged themselves to the spread of Christianity. After about 40 days he literally rose up into heaven in front of his friends, on the Mount of Olives outside Jerusalem, where he sat at the right hand of God, his father.

God

While most Christians believe the doctrine that God is a Trinity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the meaning of the concept is far from clear. While it would never occur to a Christian, other faiths often think that this makes Christianity polytheistic.

Christians agree there is only one God, but that He has three forms: the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. The Greek translation for these “persons” is hypostasis, which should be translated not as “persons” but as “personae” or roles. There is no question in Christianity of there being three Gods. Some Christians see Jesus as the only way to find God, others revere him as an example of a perfect spiritual life. None worship Jesus instead of, or in place of, God, but as part of God.

Denominations

There are many denominations of Christianity, akin to Shia and Sunni in Islam.

The largest is the Catholic Church, with over 1 billion believers, dominant in South America, Southern Europe and Ireland, and led by the Pope in The Vatican, Rome.

Most Christians in America and Northern Europe are Protestant, which includes many more modern denominations such as Anglican, Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran and many more.

The Eastern Church is predominantly made up of one of the Orthodox faiths, such as Greek Orthodox or Russian Orthodox. These denominations are quite unlike the others because the division between the Eastern and Western church was made long before the schism between Protestants and Catholics.

England has its own denomination called Church of England or Anglicanism. It is a form of Protestantism and was created in around 1534 by Henry VIII as he tried to divorce his wife. The Catholic Church did not allow it, forcing Henry to split from the Pope and cause the foundation of a new denomination to allow his divorce, forming the Church of England.

Festivals 2008

6th February –23rd March	Lent	Lent occurs in the forty days before Easter. It is traditional for people to abstain from over-indulgence during this time. The first day is Ash Wednesday, on which Christians are asked to remember their mortality. The day before this is Shrove Tuesday (5th February 2008), commonly known as Pancake Day.
21st March	Good Friday	This is the day on which Christ is believed to have been Crucified.
23rd March	Easter	Easter is the Sunday after Good Friday and commemorates the resurrection of Jesus, having been killed on the cross. Hence, the theme is rebirth and renewal. Coming at the beginning of Spring it subsumed pagan festivals and is hence widely celebrated in the secular world by the giving of Easter eggs made of chocolate; eggs symbolizing the new birth, of Christ and that of nature.
4th June	Whitsun (Pentecost)	On this day, after Jesus’ death, the Holy Spirit is believed to have come over Jesus’ disciples, causing them to speak in tongues.
25th December	Christmas Day	This is celebrated as the day of Christ’s birth, although the exact day is not known. It is now the most widely celebrated of Christianity’s festivals, so much so that it is practically secular in many people’s perceptions. The powerful commercial aspect of this festival has overtaken its religious significance.