Second Temple Judaism is the Jewish religion as it developed during the Second Temple period , which began with the construction of the Second Temple around 516 BCE and ended with the Roman siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE.
113-696: Christ , used by Christians as both a name and a title , unambiguously refers to Jesus . It is also used as a title , in the reciprocal usage "Christ Jesus", meaning "the Messiah Jesus" or "Jesus the Anointed ", and independently as "the Christ". The Pauline epistles , the earliest texts of the New Testament , often call Jesus "Christ Jesus" or just "Christ". The concept of the Christ in Christianity originated from
226-593: A 2012 Pew Research Center survey, if current trends continue, Christianity will remain the world's largest religion by 2050. By 2050, the Christian population is expected to exceed 3 billion. While Muslims have an average of 3.1 children per woman—the highest rate of all religious groups—Christians are second, with 2.7 children per woman. High birth rates and conversion were cited as the reason for Christian population growth . A 2015 study found that approximately 10.2 million Muslims converted to Christianity . Christianity
339-614: A 2012 Pew Research Center survey, Christianity will remain the world's largest religion in 2050, if current trends continue. In recent history, Christians have experienced persecution of varying severity, especially in the Middle-East , North Africa, East Asia , and South Asia . The Greek word Χριστιανός ( Christianos ), meaning ' follower of Christ ' , comes from Χριστός ( Christos ), meaning ' anointed one ', with an adjectival ending borrowed from Latin to denote adhering to, or even belonging to, as in slave ownership. In
452-468: A Messiah of (meaning descended from) David. Wisdom, or hokmah , implied the learning acquired by study and formal education: "those who can read and write, those who have engaged in study, and who know literature, are the wise par excellence ". The literature associated with this tradition includes the books of Job , Psalms , Proverbs , Ecclesiastes , Song of Songs , Sirach and the Wisdom of Solomon ,
565-408: A derisive element in the term Christian to refer to followers of Christ who did not acknowledge the emperor of Rome. The city of Antioch, where someone gave them the name Christians , had a reputation for coming up with such nicknames. However Peter's apparent endorsement of the term led to its being preferred over "Nazarenes" and the term Christianoi from 1 Peter becomes the standard term in
678-517: A figure similar to a Messiah, as a descendant of the House of David who seemed, briefly, to be about to re-establish the ancient royal line. Zechariah writes of two messiahs, one royal and the other priestly. These early hopes were dashed (Zerubabbel disappears from the historical record, although the High Priests continued to be descended from Joshua ), and thereafter there are merely general references to
791-515: A goddess called the Queen of Heaven , probably a fusion of Astarte and the Mesopotamian goddess Ishtar , was possibly also worshiped, though this is often viewed as another title for Asherah. Baal and Yahweh coexisted in the early period but were considered irreconcilable after the 9th century. The worship of Yahweh alone, the concern of a small party in the monarchic period, gained ascendancy only in
904-472: A minority adopted views from Jubilees and 4QMMT , which promoted the idea that Jews were "radically discontinuous with the rest of humanity". Those works were of Essene, Hasidean or Sadducee origin. Other Jews were dissatisfied with the Pentateuch 's national-geographic definition of Jewishness, which did not sufficiently distinguish the multi-ethnic inhabitants of Judea from Jewish diasporas. For example,
1017-655: A name, one part of the name " Jesus Christ ", though it was originally a title ("the Messiah"). Its usage in "Christ Jesus" emphasizes its nature as a title. Compare the usage "the Christ". The spelling Christ in English became standardized in the 18th century, when, in the spirit of the Enlightenment , certain words' spelling changed to fit their Greek or Latin origins. Before that, scribes writing in Old and Middle English usually used
1130-547: A particular interest in the history of Israel: the written Torah (the books of Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy ), for example, likely existed in various forms during the Monarchy (the period of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah ), but according to the documentary hypothesis (disputed by some Christians) it was in the Second Temple that it was edited and revised into something like its current form, and
1243-452: A political context, is Ṣalībī ( صليبي ' Crusader ' ) from ṣalīb ( صليب ' cross ' ), which refers to Crusaders and may have negative connotations. However, Ṣalībī is a modern term; historically, Muslim writers described European Christian Crusaders as al-Faranj or Alfranj ( الفرنج ) and Firinjīyah ( الفرنجيّة ) in Arabic. This word comes from the name of
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#17328441256031356-747: A province under Rome's direct rule. Heavy taxes under the Romans and insensitivity towards the Jewish religion led to a revolt , and in 70 CE the Roman general (and later emperor) Titus captured Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple, bringing an end to the Second Temple period. The Jewish exiles in Babylon were not slaves or prisoners, nor were they badly treated, and when the Persians gave permission for them to return to Jerusalem
1469-757: A report commissioned by the United Kingdom's Secretary of State of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) to investigate global persecution of Christians found religious persecution has increased, and is highest in the Middle East, North Africa, India, China, North Korea, and Latin America, among others, and that it is global and not limited to Islamic states. This investigation found that approximately 80% of persecuted believers worldwide are Christians. Etymology Second Temple Judaism The Second Temple period
1582-492: A review of the Nobel Prizes award between 1901 and 2000 reveals that (65.4%) of Nobel Prizes Laureates, have identified Christianity in its various forms as their religious preference. In 2017, Open Doors , a human rights NGO , estimated approximately 260 million Christians are subjected annually to "high, very high, or extreme persecution", with North Korea considered the most hazardous nation for Christians. In 2019,
1695-551: A rich literature of their own covering epic poetry, philosophy, tragedy and other forms. Less is known of the Babylonian diaspora , but the Seleucid period produced works such as the court tales of the Book of Daniel (chapters 1-6 of Daniel - chapters 7-12 were a later addition), and the books of Tobit and Esther . The eastern Jews were also responsible for the adoption and transmission of
1808-490: A source of some key Christological connections; e.g., Ephesians 3:17–19 relates the love of Christ to the knowledge of Christ , and considers the love of Christ as a necessity for knowing him. There are also implicit claims to him being the Christ in the words and actions of Jesus. The Hellenization Μεσσίας (Messías) is used twice to mean "Messiah" in the New Testament: by the disciple Andrew at John 1:41 , and by
1921-525: A third of the world's population and is the largest religion in the world. Christians have composed about 33 percent of the world's population for around 100 years. The largest Christian denomination is the Roman Catholic Church , with 1.3 billion adherents, representing half of all Christians. Christianity remains the dominant religion in the Western World , where 70% are Christians. According to
2034-532: A translation of the Biblical Hebrew term mashiach ( מָשִׁיחַ ) (usually rendered as messiah in English). While there are diverse interpretations of Christianity which sometimes conflict, they are united in believing that Jesus has a unique significance. The term Christian used as an adjective is descriptive of anything associated with Christianity or Christian churches , or in a proverbial sense "all that
2147-670: A unique significance." Michael Martin evaluated three historical Christian creeds (the Apostles' Creed , the Nicene Creed and the Athanasian Creed ) to establish a set of basic Christian assumptions which include belief in theism , the historicity of Jesus , the Incarnation , salvation through faith in Jesus, and Jesus as an ethical role model. The identification of Jesus as the Messiah
2260-514: A university degree in institutions of higher education (67%), followed by the Christians of Israel (63%), and the Christians of Georgia (57%). According to the study, Christians in North America , Europe , Middle East , North Africa and Asia Pacific regions are highly educated since many of the world's universities were built by the historic Christian denominations , in addition to
2373-561: Is an English form of χ-mas, itself an abbreviation for Christ-mas. The Oxford English Dictionary ( OED ) and the OED Supplement have cited usages of "X-" or "Xp-" for "Christ-" as early as 1485. The terms "Xpian" and "Xren" have been used for "Christian", "Xst" for "Christ's" "Xρofer" for (Saint) Christopher and Xmas, Xstmas, and Xtmas for Christmas. The OED further cites usage of "Xtianity" for "Christianity" from 1634. According to Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage , most of
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#17328441256032486-577: Is an artificial date chosen so that 70 years could be said to have passed between the destruction and the rebuilding, fulfilling a prophecy of Jeremiah . The Persian period ended after Alexander the Great 's conquest of the Mediterranean coast in 333-332 BCE. His empire disintegrated after his death, and Judea fell to the Ptolemies , who ruled Egypt. In 200 BCE, Israel and Judea were conquered by
2599-702: Is coming into the world", signifying that both titles were generally accepted (yet considered distinct) among the followers of Jesus before the raising of Lazarus . During the Sanhedrin trial of Jesus , it might appear from the narrative of Matthew that Jesus at first refused a direct reply to the high priest Caiaphas 's question: "Are you the Messiah, the Son of God?", where his answer is given merely as Σὺ εἶπας ( Su eipas , "You [singular] have said it"). Similarly but differently in Luke, all those present are said to ask Jesus: 'Are you then
2712-513: Is generally understood to be derived from Nazarenes , believers of Jesus of Nazareth through Syriac (Aramaic); Masīḥī ( مسيحي ) means followers of the Messiah. Where there is a distinction, Naṣrānī refers to people from a Christian culture and Masīḥī is used by Christians themselves for those with a religious faith in Jesus. In some countries Naṣrānī tends to be used generically for non-Muslim Western foreigners. Another Arabic word sometimes used for Christians, particularly in
2825-515: Is growing in Africa , Asia, Eastern Europe , Latin America , the Muslim world , and Oceania . According to a study from 2015, Christians hold the largest amount of wealth (55% of the total world wealth), followed by Muslims (5.8%), Hindus (3.3%) and Jews (1.1%). According to the same study it was found that adherents under the classification Irreligion or other religions hold about 34.8% of
2938-670: Is noble, and good, and Christ-like." According to a 2011 Pew Research Center survey, there were 2.2 billion Christians around the world in 2010, up from about 600 million in 1910. Today, about 37% of all Christians live in the Americas , about 26% live in Europe , 24% live in sub-Saharan Africa , about 13% live in Asia and the Pacific , and 1% live in the Middle East and North Africa . Christians make up
3051-622: Is not accepted by Judaism. The term for a Christian in Hebrew is נוֹצְרִי ( Notzri ' Nazarene ' ), a Talmudic term originally derived from the fact that Jesus came from the Galilean village of Nazareth, today in northern Israel. Adherents of Messianic Judaism are referred to in modern Hebrew as יְהוּדִים מְשִׁיחִיִּים ( Yehudim Meshihi'im ' Messianic Jews ' ). In Arabic-speaking cultures , two words are commonly used for Christians: Naṣrānī ( نصراني ), plural Naṣārā ( نصارى )
3164-448: Is not possible to determine what their share was in the total Jewish population. Some scholars suggest that Jesus ' quote in the Gospel of Matthew , "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are", is evidence of Jewish proselytism during
3277-503: Is one of Christianity's highest holy days. Christians A Christian ( / ˈ k r ɪ s tʃ ən , - t i ə n / ) is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity , a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ . Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words Christ and Christian derive from the Koine Greek title Christós ( Χριστός ),
3390-576: The Summa Theologica of Thomas Aquinas , in the singular case of Jesus, the word Christ has a twofold meaning, which stands for "both the Godhead anointing and the manhood anointed". It derives from the twofold human-divine nature of Christ ( dyophysitism ): the Son of man is anointed in consequence of His incarnated flesh, as well as the Son of God is anointing in consequence of the " Godhead which He has with
3503-695: The Zugot headed the Jews' spiritual affairs; it was during this period that several factions, such as the Pharisees , Sadducees , Essenes , Zealots , and early Christians were formed. The " people of the land ", that is the uneducated people of the Holy Land , may be seen as another faction of Second Temple Judaism. (Note: dates and periods are in many cases approximate and/or conventional) In 586 BCE, Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II captured Jerusalem , destroyed
Christ (title) - Misplaced Pages Continue
3616-648: The Apostolic Age , the use of the definite article before the word Christ and its gradual development into a proper name show the Christians identified the bearer with the promised Messias of the Jews. In the Old Testament , anointing was a ceremonial ritual reserved to: In the Septuagint text of the deuterocanonical books , the term "Christ" (Χριστός, translit. Christós) is found in 2 Maccabees 1:10 (referring to
3729-622: The Chronicles , a history written at this time, reflects the concerns of the Persian Yehud in its almost exclusive focus on Judah and the Temple. Prophetic works were also of particular interest to the Persian-era authors, with some works being composed at this time (the last ten chapters of Isaiah and the books of Haggai , Zechariah , Malachi and perhaps Joel ) and the older prophets edited and reinterpreted. The corpus of Wisdom books saw
3842-633: The Early Church Fathers from Ignatius and Polycarp onwards. The earliest occurrences of the term in non-Christian literature include Josephus , referring to "the tribe of Christians, so named from him;" Pliny the Younger in correspondence with Trajan ; and Tacitus , writing near the end of the 1st century. In the Annals he relates that "by vulgar appellation [they were] commonly called Christians" and identifies Christians as Nero 's scapegoats for
3955-620: The Franks and can be seen in the Arab history text Al-Kamil fi al-Tarikh by Ali ibn al-Athir . The most common Persian word is Masīhī ( مسیحی ), from Arabic . Other words are Nasrānī ( نصرانی ), from Syriac for ' Nazarene ' , and Tarsā ( ترسا ), from the Middle Persian word Tarsāg , also meaning ' Christian ' , derived from tars , meaning ' fear, respect ' . An old Kurdish word for Christian frequently in usage
4068-650: The Great Fire of Rome . Another term for Christians which appears in the New Testament is Nazarenes . Jesus is named as a Nazarene in Matthew 2:23 , while Paul is said to be Nazarene in Acts 24:5 . The latter verse makes it clear that Nazarene also referred to the name of a sect or heresy, as well as the town called Nazareth. The term Nazarene was also used by the Jewish lawyer Tertullus ( Against Marcion 4:8), who records
4181-674: The Greek Septuagint , christos was used to translate the Hebrew מָשִׁיחַ ( Mašíaḥ , ' messiah '), meaning "[one who is] anointed". In other European languages, equivalent words to Christian are likewise derived from the Greek, such as chrétien in French and cristiano in Spanish. The abbreviations Xian and Xtian (and similarly formed other parts of speech) have been used since at least
4294-531: The Greek word χριστός ( chrīstós ), meaning literally " anointed one". The word is derived from the Greek verb χρίω ( chrī́ō ), meaning literally "to anoint." In the Greek Septuagint , χριστός was a semantic loan used to translate the Hebrew מָשִׁיחַ ( Mašíaḥ , messiah), meaning "[one who is] anointed". The word Christ (and similar spellings) appears in English and in most European languages. English speakers now often use "Christ" as if it were
4407-473: The Samaritan woman at the well at John 4:25. In both cases, the Greek text specifies immediately after that this means "the Christ." Christology, literally "the understanding of Christ", is the study of the nature (person) and work (role in salvation) of Jesus in Christianity . It studies Jesus Christ's humanity and divinity, and the relation between these two aspects; and the role he plays in salvation . From
4520-486: The Seleucids , who ruled Syria. Around 167 BCE, for reasons that remain obscure, the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes attempted to suppress Jewish worship; this provoked a Jewish revolt that resulted in the end of Greek occupation. Hasmonean Judea was a client kingdom of the Romans, and in the 1st century BCE , the Romans replaced them with their protégé Herod the Great . After Herod’s death, Judea became
4633-564: The Temple of Solomon , and deported the elite of the population to Babylon (the " Babylonian exile "). In 539 BCE, Babylon fell to the Persian conqueror Cyrus , and in 538 BCE, the exiles were permitted to return to Yehud Medinata , a Judean province of the Persian Empire . The Temple is commonly said to have been rebuilt in the period 520–515 BCE, but it seems probable that this
Christ (title) - Misplaced Pages Continue
4746-470: The anointed High Priest of Israel ) and in the Book of Sirach 46:19, in relation to Samuel , prophet and institutor of the kingdom under Saul. At the time of Jesus, there was no single form of Second Temple Judaism , and there were significant political, social, and religious differences among the various Jewish groups. But for centuries the Jews had used the term moshiach ("anointed") to refer to their expected deliverer. Mark 1:1 ("The beginning of
4859-589: The education of women , which led to the eradication of illiteracy among females in Protestant communities. Christian culture describes the cultural practices common to Christian peoples. There are variations in the application of Christian beliefs in different cultures and traditions. Christian culture has influenced and assimilated much from the Greco-Roman , Byzantine , Western culture , Middle Eastern , Slavic , Caucasian , and Indian cultures . Since
4972-407: The messianic predictions in a fuller and a higher sense than had been given them by the rabbis . The so-called Confession of Peter , recorded in the Synoptic Gospels as Jesus's foremost apostle Peter saying that Jesus was the Messiah, has become a famous proclamation of faith among Christians since the first century. In John 11:27 Martha told Jesus, "you are the Christ, the Son of God, who
5085-444: The resurrection of the dead , which was rejected by the Sadducees) and possibly later led to Christians' expulsion from synagogues (see Council of Jamnia for other theories). While Marcionism rejected all Jewish influence on Christianity, proto-orthodox Christianity instead retained some of the doctrines and practices of 1st-century Judaism while rejecting others. They held the Tanakh to be authoritative and sacred, employing mostly
5198-478: The 16th and 17th centuries before the religion was banned by the Tokugawa shogunate . Today, Christians are referred to in Standard Japanese as キリスト教徒 ( Kirisuto-kyōto ) or the English-derived term クリスチャン ( kurisuchan ). Korean still uses 기독교도 ( RR : Gidokkyodo ) for ' Christian ' , though the Portuguese loanword 그리스도 (RR: Geuriseudo ) now replaced the old Sino-Korean 기독 (RR: Gidok ), which refers to Christ himself. In Thailand,
5311-494: The 17th century: Oxford English Dictionary shows a 1634 use of Xtianity and Xian is seen in a 1634–38 diary. The word Xmas uses a similar contraction. The first recorded use of the term (or its cognates in other languages) is in the New Testament , in Acts 11 after Barnabas brought Saul (Paul) to Antioch where they taught the disciples for about a year. The text says that "the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch" ( Acts 11:26 ). The second mention of
5424-458: The 19th century to the present day. Research has not yet yielded a consensus among scholars: some believe that Judaism was a missionary religion, and others reject their conclusions. Some assess that the conversion of Gentiles to Judaism in the Hellenistic and Roman periods was a wide-ranging phenomenon of great demographic importance, while others doubt this. Modern research does not have the possibility to determine how many Gentiles converted, and it
5537-484: The 20th and early 21st centuries have accepted that widespread Torah observance began sometime around the middle of the 5th century BCE. However, scholars such as David Zvi Hoffmann and Umberto Cassuto devote lengthy treatises to refuting Wellhausen's theories. More recently, Yonatan Adler has argued that in fact there is no surviving evidence to support the notion that the Torah was widely known, regarded as authoritative, and put into practice, any time prior to
5650-469: The Babylonian and Persian apocalyptic tradition seen in Daniel. The Hebrew Bible represents the beliefs of a small sector within the Israelite community who were exiled by the Babylonians and emphasized on orthodox worship, genealogical purity and adherence to the codified law. In the earliest stages of the Persian period, the returnees insisted on a strict separation between themselves ("Israel") and those who had never gone into exile ("Canaanites"), to
5763-494: The Father" (ST III , q. 16, a. 5). The use of "Χ" as an abbreviation for "Christ" derives from the Greek letter Chi (χ), in the word Christós (Ancient Greek: Χριστός , romanized: khristós , lit. 'anointed, covered in oil'). An early Christogram is the Chi Rho symbol, formed by superimposing the first two Greek letters in Christ, chi (Χ) and rho (Ρ), to produce ☧ . The centuries-old English word Χmas (or, in earlier form, XPmas )
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#17328441256035876-445: The Greco-Roman world. Overall, Second Temple Judaism and Samaritanism were two religions that gradually split from the common religion of Yahwism . For most of the Second Temple period, Samaria was larger, richer, and more populous than Judea—down to about 164 BCE there were probably more Samaritans than Judeans living in Palestine. They had their own temple on Mount Gerizim near Shechem and regarded themselves as
5989-495: The Hasmoneans were criticized for blurring the line between gentile and Jew when they converted Idumeans but others, who held a strict interpretation of Deuteronomy 17:15 , feared the Idumean Herodians would usurp the Hasmoneans. But most Jews believed the Idumeans were acceptable converts since they lived in the Promised Land . C.L. Crouch states that pro-integrationist Jews were more likely to descend from Jews who were re-settled in Babylonian urban centers. Second Temple Judaism
6102-427: The High Priest, which was unheard of in earlier times, became the governing authority, making the province of Yehud a de facto theocracy , although it seems unlikely that they had significant autonomy. In the Hellenistic period, the High Priest continued to play a vital role with both cultic and civic obligations, and the office reached its height under the Hasmoneans who made themselves priest-kings. Both Herod and
6215-463: The Jewish messiah, e.g. in the Confession of Peter , he was usually called "Jesus of Nazareth" or "Jesus, son of Joseph ". Jesus came to be called "Jesus Christ" (meaning "Jesus the Khristós ", i.e. "Jesus the Messiah" or "Jesus the Anointed ") by Christians, who believe that his crucifixion and resurrection fulfill the messianic prophecies of the Old Testament, especially the prophecies outlined in Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22. Christ derives from
6328-399: The Jewish messiah, was God made flesh , who died for the sins of humanity, marking the beginning of Christology . Scholars additionally note the role of Hellenistic Judaism in Christianity and believe that the doctrine of Jesus's death for the redemption of mankind was not possible without Hellenism. While on one hand Jesus and the very first Christians had all been ethnically Jewish,
6441-402: The Jewish people and called from them his first disciples. Jewish Christians regarded "Christianity" as an affirmation of every aspect of contemporary Judaism, with the addition of one extra belief—that Jesus is the Messiah. The doctrines of the apostles of Jesus brought the early church into conflict with some Jewish religious authorities (e.g., the Book of Acts records a dispute over
6554-472: The Prophets were accepted as authoritative by the 1st century CE, but beyond this core the different Jewish groups continued to accept different groups of books as authoritative. The priesthood underwent profound changes with the Second Temple. Under the First Temple, the priesthood had been subordinate to the kings, but in the Second Temple, with the monarchy and even the state in the hands of foreign rulers, they became independent. The priesthood under
6667-407: The Romans severely reduced the importance of the High Priest, appointing and deposing High Priests to suit their purposes. Since the Hasmonean era, the Idumeans were heavily integrated in Judean society. Idumean-majority populations existed in southern and western Judea, and they intermingled with Judeans. It is disputed whether this integration was forced or voluntary. Regardless, their presence
6780-470: The Russian term крестьяне ( khrest'yane ) acquired the meaning ' peasants of Christian faith ' and later ' peasants ' (the main part of the population of the region), while the term Russian : христиане ( khristiane ) retained its religious meaning and the term Russian : русские ( russkie ) began to mean representatives of the heterogeneous Russian nation formed on the basis of common Christian faith and language, which strongly influenced
6893-417: The Samaritans seem to have regarded themselves as part of the wider Jewish community, but afterwards they denounced the Jerusalem temple as anathema to Yahweh. In recent decades it has become increasingly common among scholars to assume that much of the Hebrew Bible was assembled, revised and edited in the 5th century BCE to reflect the realities and challenges of the Persian era. The returnees had
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#17328441256037006-419: The Septuagint or Targum translations and adding other texts as the New Testament canon developed . Christian baptism was another continuation of a Judaic practice. Recent work by historians paints a more complex portrait of late Second Temple Judaism and early Christianity. Some historians have suggested that, before his death, Jesus created amongst his believers such certainty that the Kingdom of God and
7119-448: The Son of God?', to which Jesus reportedly answered: Ὑμεῖς λέγετε ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι ( Hymeis legete hoti ego eimi , "You [plural] say that I am". In the Gospel of Mark, however, when asked by Caiaphas 'Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?', Jesus tells the Sanhedrin: Ἐγώ εἰμι ( ego eimi , "I am"). There are instances from Jewish literature in which the expression "you have said it" is equivalent to "you are right". The Messianic claim
7232-453: The Western world, Christians has had an influence and contributed on various cultures, such as in Africa, the Near East, Middle East, East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Indian subcontinent. Christians have made noted contributions to a range of fields, including philosophy, science and technology , medicine , fine arts and architecture , politics , literatures , music , and business . According to 100 Years of Nobel Prizes
7345-624: The Zealots shared beliefs with the Pharisees , the latter were more democratic, respected the status quo, and believed Jewishness was a matter of choice than birth. Some historians argue the Pharisees were more interested in converting non-Pharisaical Jews. As a Jewish sect, early Christians also saw themselves as "true Israel". Compared to other Jews, they believed gentiles could assimilate without adopting customs such as circumcision. These beliefs, among others, caused Judaism and Christianity to separate as distinct religions. Whilst most contemporary Jews had no problem with integrating gentiles,
7458-422: The biblical account provided in the Book of Nehemiah (chapter 8), a priestly scribe named Ezra reads a copy of the Mosaic Torah before the populace of Judea assembled in a central Jerusalem square. Wellhausen believes that this narrative should be accepted as historical because it sounds plausible, noting "the credibility of the narrative appears on the face of it." Following Wellhausen, most scholars throughout
7571-419: The central role of the Western world and Western culture . Western culture, throughout most of its history, has been nearly equivalent to Christian culture, and a large portion of the population of the Western Hemisphere can be described as practicing or nominal Christians. The notion of "Europe" and the "Western World" has been intimately connected with the concept of "Christianity and Christendom". Outside
7684-449: The composition of Job , parts of Proverbs , and possibly Ecclesiastes , while the book of Psalms was possibly given its modern shape and division into five parts at this time (although the collection continued to be revised and expanded well into Hellenistic and even Roman times). In the Hellenistic period, the scriptures were translated into Greek as the Septuagint by the Jews of the Alexandrian diaspora in Egypt, who also produced
7797-416: The concept of the messiah in Judaism . Christians believe that Jesus is the messiah foretold in the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament . Although the conceptions of the messiah in each religion are similar, for the most part they are distinct from one another due to the split of early Christianity and Judaism in the 1st century . Although the original followers of Jesus believed Jesus to be
7910-412: The country's rich history of early Christianity during the Spanish colonial era . Some Protestants in the Philippines use the term Kristiyano (before the term born again became popular) to differentiate themselves from Catholics ( Katoliko ). The region of modern Eastern Europe and Central Eurasia has a long history of Christianity and Christian communities on its lands. In ancient times, in
8023-412: The early years of the Second Temple period; this left Jews without their version of divine guidance at a time when they felt most in need of support and direction. Under Hellenistic rule , the growing Hellenization of Judaism became a source of resentment among Jewish traditionalists who clung to strict monotheistic beliefs . Opposition to Hellenistic influence on Jewish religious and cultural practices
8136-509: The evidence for these words comes from "educated Englishmen who knew their Greek". The December 1957 News and Views published by the Church League of America , a conservative organization founded in 1937, attacked the use of "Xmas" in an article titled "X=The Unknown Quantity". Gerald L. K. Smith picked up the statements later, in December 1966, saying that Xmas was a "blasphemous omission of
8249-438: The exilic and early post-exilic period, and it was only in the post-exilic period that the very existence of other gods was denied. The Persian period saw the development of expectation in a future human king who would rule a purified Israel as God's representative at the end of time – that is, a messiah . The first to mention this were Haggai and Zechariah , both prophets of the early Persian period. They saw Zerubbabel as
8362-487: The extent of prohibiting intermarriage; this was presented in terms of religious purity, but there may have been a practical concern for land ownership. Ethnic markers for Israelite (or later, Jewish) identity were radically reformed, with increased emphasis on genealogical descent and/or faith in Yahweh, compared to circumcision . Views on gentile integration varied across Jewish schools of thought. The Sadducees doubted
8475-735: The first centuries after the birth of Christ, when this region was called Scythia, the geographical area of Scythians – Christians already lived there. Later the region saw the first states to adopt Christianity officially – initially Armenia (301 AD) and Georgia (337 AD), later Bulgaria ( c. 864) and Kyivan Rus ( c. 988 AD). In some areas, people came to denote themselves as Christians ( Russian : христиане, крестьяне ; Ukrainian : християни , romanized : khrystyiany ) and as Russians ( Russian : русские ), Ruthenians ( Old East Slavic : русини, руснаки , romanized: rusyny, rusnaky ), or Ukrainians ( Ukrainian : українці , romanized : ukraintsi ). In time
8588-414: The gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God") identifies Jesus as both Christ and the Son of God . Matthew 1:1 uses Christ as a name and Matthew 1:16 explains it again with: "Jesus, who is called Christ". The use of the definite article before the word "Christ" and its gradual development into a proper name show that the Christians identified Jesus with the promised messiah of the Jews who fulfilled all
8701-482: The hands of Gentiles is divine judgment for Judean wickedness. Daniel R. Scwhartz considers 2 Maccabees to be implicitly anti-Hasmonean and pro-Pharisee. One reason for the covert criticism includes 2 Maccabees being written too early and their authors being diasporic. In his seminal Prolegomena zur Geschichte Israels , Julius Wellhausen argues that Judaism as a religion based on widespread observance Torah law first emerged in 444 BCE when, according to
8814-481: The highest numbers of years of schooling among Christians were found in Germany (13.6), New Zealand (13.5) and Estonia (13.1). Christians were also found to have the second highest number of graduate and post-graduate degrees per capita while in absolute numbers ranked in the first place (220 million). Between the various Christian communities , Singapore outranks other nations in terms of Christians who obtain
8927-515: The historical evidence that "Christian monks built libraries and, in the days before printing presses, preserved important earlier writings produced in Latin, Greek and Arabic". According to the same study, Christians have a significant amount of gender equality in educational attainment, and the study suggests that one of the reasons is the encouragement of the Protestant Reformers in promoting
9040-494: The history and development of the region. In the region, the term Orthodox faith ( Russian : православная вера , pravoslavnaia vera ) or Russian faith ( Russian : русская вера , russkaia vera ) from the earliest times became almost as common as the original Christian faith ( Russian : христианская, крестьянская вера khristianskaia, krestianskaia ). Also in some contexts the term cossack ( Old East Slavic : козак, казак , romanized: kozak, kazak )
9153-526: The larger category as Christian. Most Baptists and fundamentalists ( Christian Fundamentalism ), for example, would not acknowledge Mormonism or Christian Science as Christian. In fact, the nearly 77 percent of Americans who self-identify as Christian are a diverse pluribus of Christianities that are far from any collective unity. Linda Woodhead attempts to provide a common belief thread for Christians by noting that "Whatever else they might disagree about, Christians are at least united in believing that Jesus has
9266-560: The majority elected to remain where they were. They and their descendants formed the diaspora , a large community of Jews living outside Judea, and the 1st century CE historian Josephus reports that there were more Jews in Syria (i.e., the Seleucid Empire) than in any other land. There was also a significant Egyptian diaspora, although the Jews of Egypt were immigrants, not deportees, "... attracted by Hellenistic culture, eager to win
9379-404: The majority of the population in 158 countries and territories. 280 million Christians live as a minority . About half of all Christians worldwide are Catholic , while more than a third are Protestant (37%). Orthodox communions comprise 12% of the world's Christians. Other Christian groups make up the remainder. By 2050, the Christian population is expected to exceed 3 billion. According to
9492-610: The middle of the 2nd century BCE. Adler explores the likelihhood that Judaism, as the widespread practice of Torah law by Jewish society at large, first emerged in Judea during the reign of the Hasmonean dynasty, centuries after the putative time of Ezra. Nonetheless, this view conflicts with the scholarly consensus. The issue of conversion to Judaism and Jewish proselytism in Second Temple Judaism has occupied many scholars from
9605-635: The most common terms are คนคริสต์ ( RTGS : khon khrit ) or ชาวคริสต์ (RTGS: chao khrit ) which literally means ' Christ person/people ' or ' Jesus person/people ' . The Thai word คริสต์ (RTGS: khrit ) is derived from Christ . In the Philippines , the most common terms are Kristiyano (for ' Christian ' ) and {{lang[fil|Kristiyanismo}} (for ' Christianity ' ) in most Philippine languages ; both derive from Spanish cristiano and cristianismo (also used in Chavacano ) due to
9718-546: The name of Christ" and that "'X' is referred to as being symbolical of the unknown quantity." More recently, American evangelist Franklin Graham and former CNN contributor Roland S. Martin publicly raised concerns. Graham stated in an interview that the use of "Xmas" is taking "Christ out of Christmas" and called it a "war against the name of Jesus Christ." Roland Martin relates the use of "Xmas" to his growing concerns of increasing commercialization and secularization of what he says
9831-699: The past, the Malays used to call Christians in Malay by the Portuguese loanword Serani (from Arabic Naṣrānī ), but the term now refers to the modern Kristang creoles of Malaysia . In the Indonesian language , the term Nasrani is also used alongside Kristen . The Chinese word is 基督 徒 ( jīdū tú ), literally ' Christ follower ' . The name Christ was originally phonetically written in Chinese as 基利斯督 , which
9944-477: The phrase "the Jews call us Nazarenes." While around 331 AD Eusebius records that Christ was called a Nazoraean from the name Nazareth , and that in earlier centuries "Christians" were once called "Nazarenes". The Hebrew equivalent of Nazarenes , Notzrim , occurs in the Babylonian Talmud , and is still the modern Israeli Hebrew term for Christian. A wide range of beliefs and practices are found across
10057-528: The possibility of gentiles becoming Jews but were tolerant of cross-cultural interactions. The Essenes community believed gentiles, including proselytes, were ritually impure, but the Essenes were even stricter and regarded other Jews as impure until they completed a prolonged initiation ritual . Likewise, the Zealots and Sicarii held xenophobic views but were willing to ally with Idumeans (or Edomites ). Whilst
10170-410: The religious systems that preceded them. Not only were rabbinic Judaism and Christianity religious twins, but, like Jacob and Esau, the twin sons of Isaac and Rebecca, they fought in the womb, setting the stage for life after the womb." The first Christians (the disciples or followers of Jesus) were essentially all ethnically Jewish or Jewish proselytes. In other words, Jesus was Jewish , preached to
10283-628: The respect of the Greeks and to adapt to their ways." The Egyptian diaspora was slow to develop, but by the Hellenistic period it exceeded the Babylonian community in importance. In addition to these major centres there were Jewish communities throughout the Hellenistic and subsequently the Roman world, from North Africa to Asia Minor and Greece and in Rome. There is also evidence for Jewish missionary activities in
10396-480: The resurrection of the dead was at hand, that with few exceptions when they saw him shortly after his execution, they had no doubt that he had been resurrected, and that the arrival of the kingdom and resurrection of the dead was at hand. These specific beliefs were compatible with Second Temple Judaism. In the following years the restoration of the kingdom, as Jews expected it, failed to occur. Some Christians began to believe instead that Christ, rather than simply being
10509-625: The rituals found in the First Temple era. For example, many Jews argued that only full-body immersion could achieve ritual purity. There was a sharp break between ancient Israelite religion and the Judaism of the Second Temple. Pre-exilic Israel was mostly polytheistic (see Yahwism ). Asherah was probably worshiped as Yahweh's consort, within his temples in Jerusalem, Bethel , and Samaria featuring what seem to be standing stones for another deity, and
10622-583: The second to the fifth centuries, the relation of the human and divine nature of Christ was a major focus of debates in the early church and at the first seven ecumenical councils . The Council of Chalcedon in 451 issued a formulation of the hypostatic union of the two natures of Christ, one human and one divine, "united with neither confusion nor division". Most of the major branches of Western Christianity and Eastern Orthodoxy subscribe to this formulation, while many branches of Oriental Orthodox Churches reject it, subscribing to miaphysitism . According to
10735-561: The so-called Sapiential books . During the Hasmoean dynasty, Jews were conflicted on whether to be religiously or politically oriented, which was represented by the thematic differences in 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees . 1 Maccabees, for instance, focuses on Judean affairs, generalizes all gentile rulers as being evil, believes Jewish martyrs were "pious fools", makes little mention of God and prayer, and attributes events to blind chance. 2 Maccabees argues that anti-Judean persecution by
10848-436: The spelling Crist —the i being pronounced either as / iː / , preserved in the names of churches such as St Katherine Cree , or as a short / ɪ / , preserved in the modern pronunciation of " Christmas ". The spelling "Christ" in English is attested from the 14th century. In modern and ancient usage, even in secular terminology, "Christ" usually refers to Jesus, based on the centuries-old tradition of such usage. Since
10961-502: The spread of Christianity from the Levant to Europe and North Africa and Horn of Africa during the early Roman Empire , Christendom has been divided in the pre-existing Greek East and Latin West . Consequently, different versions of the Christian cultures arose with their own rites and practices, centered around the cities such as Rome ( Western Christianity ) and Carthage , whose communities
11074-544: The term follows in Acts 26 , where Herod Agrippa II replied to Paul the Apostle , "Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian." ( Acts 26:28 ). The third and final New Testament reference to the term is in 1 Peter 4 , which exhorts believers: "Yet if [any man suffer] as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf." ( 1 Peter 4:16 ). Kenneth Samuel Wuest holds that all three original New Testament verses' usages reflect
11187-508: The time period. However, scholars such as Martin Goodman , for instance, argue that phrase relates to the Pharisees' attempt to persuade Jews to join their school of thought rather than their efforts to convert non-Jews. Early Christianity emerged within Second Temple Judaism during the 1st century , the key difference between Judaism and Jewish Christianity being the Christian belief that Jesus
11300-410: The total global wealth. A study done by the nonpartisan wealth research firm New World Wealth found that 56.2% of the 13.1 million millionaires in the world were Christians. A Pew Center study about religion and education around the world in 2016, found that Christians ranked as the second most educated religious group around in the world after Jews with an average of 9.3 years of schooling, and
11413-411: The true Israel, who remained after Eli , a wicked high priest , convinced the other Israelites to abandon Gerizim and worship at Shiloh. Second Temple Judeans, however, derided them as foreign converts and the impure offspring of mixed marriages. By the late 2nd century BCE, the Jews and Samaritans permanently split after a Hasmonean king destroyed a Samaritan temple at Mount Gerizim; before that
11526-500: The world among those who call themselves Christian. Denominations and sects disagree on a common definition of "Christianity". For example, Timothy Beal notes the disparity of beliefs among those who identify as Christians in the United States as follows: Although all of them have their historical roots in Christian theology and tradition, and although most would identify themselves as Christian, many would not identify others within
11639-516: Was felle ( فەڵە ), coming from the root word meaning ' to be saved, attain salvation ' . The Syriac term Nasrani ( ' Nazarene ' ) has also been attached to the Saint Thomas Christians of Kerala , India. In northern India and Pakistan , Christians are referred to ʿĪsāʾī ( Hindi : ईसाई , Urdu : عیسائی ). Masīhī ( Hindi : मसीही , Urdu : مسیحی ) is a term Christians use to refer to themselves as well. In
11752-702: Was a major catalyst for the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire . Following the establishment of the Hasmonean dynasty , traditional Judaism was reasserted by the Maccabees across the Land of Israel as they expanded their independent territory. The later years of the Second Temple period saw the development of several Jewish messianic ideas . From c. 170 BCE to 30 CE, five successive generations of
11865-564: Was believed to influence Second Temple Judaism, particularly Pharisaical Judaism. They introduced religious innovations such as ritual immersion in baths, burial in caves with kokhim , and the perforation of pottery vessels so they could be purified. The Herodians continued this trend, with Judea, Jerusalem and the Temple being shaped by Idumean culture. Their contributions were obfuscated by religious Jews belonging to later variants of Second Temple Judaism and Rabbinic Judaism . Hayah Katz sees these ritual immersion rituals as being stricter than
11978-571: Was called Western or Latin Christendom , and Constantinople ( Eastern Christianity ), Antioch ( Syriac Christianity ), Kerala ( Indian Christianity ) and Alexandria , among others, whose communities were called Eastern or Oriental Christendom. The Byzantine Empire was one of the peaks in Christian history and Christian civilization . From the 11th to 13th centuries, Latin Christendom rose to
12091-403: Was centered not on synagogues, which began to appear only in the 3rd century BCE, but on the Temple, and a cycle of continual animal sacrifice . Torah, or ritual law, was also important, and the Temple priests were responsible for teaching it, but the concept of scripture developed only slowly. Thus the reading and study of scripture was a late development. The written Torah and the books of
12204-569: Was later abbreviated as 基督 . The term is Kî-tuk in the southern Hakka dialect ; the two characters are pronounced Jīdū in Mandarin Chinese. In Vietnam, the same two characters read Cơ đốc , and a "follower of Christianity" is a tín đồ Cơ đốc giáo . In Japan, the term kirishitan (written in Edo period documents 吉利支丹 , 切支丹 , and in modern Japanese histories as キリシタン ), from Portuguese cristão , referred to Roman Catholics in
12317-448: Was less significant than the claim to divinity, which caused the high priest 's horrified accusation of blasphemy and the subsequent call for the death sentence. Before Pilate , on the other hand, it was merely the assertion of his royal dignity which gave grounds for his condemnation. The word "Christ" is closely associated with Jesus in the Pauline epistles , which suggests that there
12430-491: Was marked by the emergence of multiple religious currents as well as extensive cultural, religious, and political developments among Jews . It saw the progression of the Hebrew Bible canon , the synagogue , and Jewish eschatology . Additionally, the rise of Christianity began in the final years of the Second Temple period. According to Jewish tradition, authentic prophecy ( נְבוּאָה , Nevu’ah ) ceased during
12543-518: Was no need for the early Christians to claim that Jesus is Christ because it was considered widely accepted among them. Hence Paul can use the term Khristós with no confusion as to whom it refers, and he can use expressions such as "in Christ" to refer to the followers of Jesus, as in 1 Corinthians 4:15 and Romans 12:5 . Paul proclaimed him as the Last Adam , who restored through obedience what Adam lost through disobedience. The Pauline epistles are
12656-436: Was the resurrected Jewish Messiah. Judaism is known to allow for multiple messianic figures, the two most relevant being Messiah ben Joseph and the Messiah ben David. The idea of two messiahs—one suffering and the second fulfilling the traditional messianic role—was normal in ancient Judaism and possibly even predated Jesus. Alan Segal states "one can speak of a 'twin birth' of two new Judaisms, both markedly different from
12769-543: Was used to denote "free" Christians of steppe origin and East Slavic language. Nominally "Christian" societies made "Christian" a default label for citizenship or for "people like us". In this context, religious or ethnic minorities can use "Christians" or "you Christians" loosely as a shorthand term for mainstream members of society who do not belong to their group – even in a thoroughly secular (though formerly Christian) society. As of 2020, Christianity has approximately 2.4 billion adherents. The faith represents about
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