Christianity

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

His disciples now commenced major missionary work, especially Paul, who translated the Christian thoughts into Greek, which in those days was a collective language in the civilized world. Crucial in the new thoughts were the words Saviour, the Lord, the Son of God, and Remission of Sins. Some scholars maintain that, in reality, Christianity was created by Paul, as he changed the gospel of Christ, which stated that Our Father is Our Saviour. Instead, Paul now stated that Jesus Christ is Our Saviour. Missionary work was also expressed through the gospels, written by the four evangelists: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

The word Christ is from the Greek khristos, which was introduced as a substitute for the word messiah – a Greek corruption of the Aramaic word meschicha, meaning ’the anointed one’. In Ancient Judæa, kings and priests were anointed, hereby being initiated to propagate God’s will and blessings to the people. Over time, the conception of Messiah was transformed into a belief that a new king of David’s line would arise on the very last day. Followers of Jesus regarded him as the new Messiah, who would save humanity. According to some authorities, the concept of Christ as the Son of God, who had descended to Earth, was instigated several hundred years after his death.

Initially, the new Christian missionary work had a free and open theological thinking as a result. Soon, however, this thinking succumbed to lust for power, and, similar to Judaism, a number of controlling posts evolved, such as deacons, priests, and bishops. Eventually, powerful Christian hierarchies came into existence, which had almost full control of European state affairs, as well as an immense influence on culture, with the Pope in Rome as supreme authority. In the 11th century, a breach between Rome and Byzantium took place, causing the eastern, Greek-Orthodox Church to be almost completely isolated from the Roman Catholic Church, the former now having a Patriarch as the highest authority.

In the 1500s, the so-called Reformation took place, in which a number of scholars, under the leadership of Martin Luther, broke with the Pope in Rome, the result of which was a number of Protestant Churches, including Lutheranism and the Anglican Church, which, again, have been split into a large number of creeds and sects.

The Greek-Orthodox Church was also divided into many branches, including the Coptic Church of Alexandria, the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Syriac Orthodox Church, the Ethiopian Tewahedo Church, and the Malankara Church of India. These churches believe in the one single unified Nature of Christ, i.e. a union of the divine and human natures into one is necessary to accomplish the divine salvation of humankind.

The major part of the information on this page is taken from various websites on Wikipedia.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Until 1959, the Tewahedo Church was administered by the Coptic Church of Alexandria, but was then granted its own patriarch by Cyril VI, who, besides being Coptic Pope of Alexandria, was also Patriarch of all Africa.

Tewahedo means ‘unified’. Contrary to the belief of the Roman Catholic, the Greek Orthodox, the Russian Orthodox, the Anglican, the Lutheran, and most other Protestant Churches, that Christ has two natures, a divine and a human, the Tewahedo and other Oriental Orthodox Churches believe in one single unified Nature of Christ, meaning that a unification of the divine and human natures of Christ into one is essential to accomplish the divine salvation of humankind.

Timkat is the Ethiopian Epiphany, usually celebrated on January 19 (in leap years on January 20). This festival is best known for its ritual re-enactment of baptism, celebrating the baptism of Jesus Christ in the Jordan River.

The Tabot is a model of the Ark of the Covenant, the Biblical chest which, according to The Book of Exodus, contained the two tablets, on which The Ten Commandments were inscribed.

During one of the Timkat ceremonies, the Tabot is wrapped in an ornate cloth and carried in a procession of priests. It represents the manifestation of Jesus as the Messiah, when he approached John the Baptist to be baptized. Around 2 a.m., the Tabot is carried to a nearby stream or pool, where a ritual cleansing of it is performed. Later, water is sprinkled on the participants of the procession. Some also immerse themselves, thus symbolically renewing their baptismal vows.

The town of Lalibela, in northern Ethiopia, is famous for its unique array of churches and monasteries, dating back to the 11th and 12th centuries. Many of these buildings are carved down into the bedrock, which is soft, red, volcanic tuff.

Our adventures in Lalibela during Timkat are described on the page Travel episodes – Ethiopia 1996: Timkat – a Christian festival.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Originally, the chapel was about 18 m long and 7 m wide, but today only the incomplete western gable wall and a few foundations of the side walls remain. The arched entrance gate in the eastern gable has been beautifully restored.

The chapel was dedicated to the Danish king Knud (Canute) IV, who was killed in a revolt in Odense in 1086. As he had been an avid Roman-Catholic, he was sanctified, known as Knud den Hellige (‘Canute the Sacred One’). He was also made patron of the Danish trade union Knudsgildet (‘The Canute Guild’).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another legend has it that the chapel is dedicated to a Celtic female saint, Brigida.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The chapel possibly takes its name from Salomonius (1231-1314), a mystic of the Dominican Order. When the large herring boom ended in the 1500s, the harbour was deserted, and the chapel fell into decay.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today, there are no remains of Venge Monastery, but the church has been almost fully preserved, as it only went through minor changes during the large restorations of churches in the late 1800s.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The cathedral, which replaced an old Roman church, was founded in 1239, but most parts of it date from the 15th Century and later.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two years later, Giedde and his crew reached the Coromandel Coast, at the mouth of River Kaveri in present-day Tamil Nadu. Following negotiations with the Prince of Thanjavur, Giedde obtained permission to build a trading station, which was called Trankebar (in English Tranquebar) – a corruption of the local Tamil name of the place, Tarangambadi, which means ‘singing waves’. In 1660, a fort was completed, named Dansborg (’Danish Castle’). Behind this fort, a town sprang up, fortified with moats and walls, through which a number of gates gave access to the town. The largest of these gates is shown on the page Decay.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I wonder, why this church is called True Jesus Church. Does anybody believe in a False Jesus?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

According to a French legend, St. Romanus of Rouen (died c. 640 A.D.) saved the country around Rouen from a monster, named La Gargouille, a dragon-like creature with wings, a long neck, and the ability to breathe fire from its mouth. In one version of the legend, St. Romanus subdued the creature with a crucifix, then leading it to Rouen, where it was burned. However, its head and neck would not burn, as it had been tempered by its own fire breath, so head and neck were mounted on the wall of a newly built church to scare off evil spirits.

In the 12th century, St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) spoke out against gargoyles, saying: “What are these fantastic monsters doing in the cloisters before the eyes of the brothers as they read? What is the meaning of these unclean monkeys, these strange savage lions, and monsters? To what purpose are here placed these creatures, half beast, half man, or these spotted tigers? I see several bodies with one head and several heads with one body. Here is a quadruped with a serpent’s head, there a fish with a quadruped’s head, then again an animal, half horse, half goat… Surely if we do not blush for such absurdities, we should at least regret what we have spent on them.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The wood carving in the picture below, exhibited in Højerup Church, Stevns Klint, Zealand, Denmark, is probably influenced by Chinese mythology, as it depicts two creatures, which resemble a mixture of dragon and Feng-Huang.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Slattenpatten steals from people at night, but if you mark bread and other pastry with a cross, she is unable to take it. If you are followed by her, you may escape by running across the furrows of a ploughed field, if it has been ploughed with a steel plough, because she cannot stand steel. You may also escape by jumping across a stream, as she doesn’t like running water either. (Source: Evald Tang Kristensen 1893. Danske Sagn, som de har lydt i Folkemunde, Vol. 2)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In many places, erecting runic stones only became a practice, after people had converted to Christianity, around 900-1000. For this reason, inscriptions on these stones all have a Christian stamp. In most cases, they shortly inform you, for whom the stone was erected, and by whom.

Pictures, depicting other runic stones, may be seen on the page Culture: Megaliths.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die’.”

“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman, “for God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

Traditionally, the Fruit of Knowledge is considered to be the apple (Malus pumila), although the text in Genesis does not mention this. However, it is just as likely to have been pomegranate (Punica granatum), or perhaps apricot (Prunus armeniaca), as the apple may not yet have been introduced to the Near East at the time, when the text was written.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The customs of adorning Christmas trees, streets, homes, etc, evolved within the last couple of hundred years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is generally believed that many Halloween traditions originated from ancient Celtic harvest festivals, particularly Samhain, which was changed to Hallows’ Evening by early Christians.

These days, on Hallows’ Evening, Christians in many parts of the world attend church services, or light candles on the graves of the dead. Earlier, some Christians would abstain from eating meat on this evening.

In the United States, Halloween is more of a ‘fun-fair’, which includes various activities, such as trick-or-treating, where children, clad in fanciful costumes, walk from house to house, asking for treats with the phrase “Trick or treat”. The treat usually comes in the form of candy, or sometimes money. The trick part used to be a threat of doing some mischief, if the house owner didn’t produce a gift, but today, of course, this threat means nothing.

Other activities include costume parties, carving pumpkins into Jack-o’-lanterns, lighting bonfires, playing pranks, telling scary stories, or watching horror films.