World religions. Рахимбергенова М.Х. - 10 стр.

maintained the earlier arrangement of the collegiality of the bishops. While it        lated viewpoint in a more systematic fashion, making explicit some assumptions,
honored the Bishop of Rome as the chief bishop, it considered his authority was        which Luther had made tacitly. Calvin was able to convert the independent Swiss
limited to his own region, and it looked to the Patriarch of Constantinople as its     city of Geneva to his views, which gave him the political protection he needed.
leader. The Western Church, on the other hand, came to attribute to the Bishop         While there are important differences between the two on secondary matters,
of Rome more and more authority.                                                       their main doctrines are very similar, and amount essentially to a strict interpreta-
     Eventually, in 1054, the two churches excommunicated one another. The             tion of the faith that it is God who saves us, and not we ourselves.
Eastern Church is now referred to as the Orthodox Church, the Western Church                Salvation by grace alone. We are saved, not by our own actions, however
as the (Roman) Catholic Church.                                                        virtuous, nor by actions of other men, such as the priests of the Church, but only
     Although there are many minor differences of spirit and emphasis, the two         by the grace and mercy of God, which is entirely undeserved. Human beings con-
Churches teach essentially the same doctrines. Both adhere to the seven Sacra-         tribute nothing to their own salvation. This view involves a doctrine of predestina-
ments and to the Nicene Creed (with the exception of one phrase about the Holy         tion: since the decision whether a particular individual will be saved or damned
Spirit). The worship of both centers on the Eucharist. The decisive differences        rests entirely with God, and in no way depends on the individual’s behavior, the
are in organization and authority. The split between them is not termed heresy,        individual’s fate must have been decided even before the person was born.
but schism.                                                                                 Nature and reason are corrupt. No human activity can be of help toward
                                                                                       salvation because human nature has been corrupted by Adam’s sin. In conse-
                   The Germanic tribes and the Middle Ages                             quence of this corruption, every human being is condemned by God as a sinner.
     Roman Christianity contained elements which emphasized both the merit             This corruption extends not only to our moral character but also to our reason,
of the individual and the unmerited grace of God. It could be described as hold-       which is of no avail for salvation. Whereas the Catholic tradition has assumed,
ing a certain balance between saviorist and Palagian tendencies. In the course of      for example, that we could know through rational argument that God exists, the
the fourth and fifth centuries, however, the western Roman Empire collapsed.           view of the Reformers was that this is possible. We can come to know God ef-
Northern Europe was inhabited by Germanic tribes, many of whom migrated                fectively only through his revelation of himself to us.
into the Roman territories, took over the reins of power, and became Christians.            The grace of God comes only through Jesus Christ because of the incar-
This admixture of Germanic culture changed the character of Western Christi-           nation, death, and resurrection of the Son of God, God overlooks the corruption
anity profoundly.                                                                      men have inherited from Adam, forgives the sin of those destined for salvation,
     One effect was to emphasize even more strongly the sacramental aspects of         and bestows righteousness on them. Jesus Christ and he alone is the savior of
Christianity. In addition to the seven Sacraments properly so called, many other       mankind.
rituals of a quasi – sacramental nature, called “sacramentals”, were added, such            Salvation by faith alone. The grace or mercy of God of given to the indi-
as the veneration of relics, pilgrimages to distant shrines, and the practice of in-   vidual through faith. Our first obligation is to believe in God’s mercy. Having
dulgences. (An indulgence is a promise that, in return for certain prayers or          faith in God means, for the Reformers, in the first place having confidence in His
good deeds, God will lessen the punishment inflicted after death.) The general         compassion, and only secondarily signifies an intellectual assent to the doctrines
effect of this was to give a greater role in the Christian life to the virtuous ac-    of Christianity – which is what it primarily means for the Catholic tradition.
tions and the merit of the individual, rather than the unmerited grace and mercy            Certainty of salvation: According to Catholic doctrine, we can never be
of God. In medieval Christianity Pelagian tendencies became more manifest.             certain in this life that we will attain salvation, since it is always possible for us
                                                                                       to reject God’s grace, and to sin. According to Luther and Calvin, by contrast,
                     The Reformation: Luther and Calvin                                we cannot reject God’s grace if it is once given, otherwise God would not be
     In 1517 Martin Luther (1483–1546) raised the standard of protest against          sovereign. While only God knows with certainty who has been destined for sal-
this development. Inaugurating a movement that swept through northern Europe,          vation and who for damnation, there are powerful signs or indications that we
he cast off the authority of the Catholic Church. Previous individuals who had         have been saved that may be available to us. The first of these is just the fact
attempted that had run afoul of the political power of the Catholic Church and         that we have faith in Christ. Later Puritans saw other signs in the blessings of
had typically lost their lives, but Luther succeeded in obtaining the support of a     God bestowed in this life, such as material prosperity.
German prince, who protected him. John Calvin (1509–1564) developed a re-

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