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Information by Topics on Christianity, the Christian Faith, and the Christian Faith in Relationship to Culture, Society, and Other Religions (e.g. Islam)
TABLE OF CONTENTS (Scroll Down to read the articles or click on links to their posts)
Christian symbols
Christian/Church Year Calendar
Christian Feasts/Festivals
Christian Scriptures
Christian Beliefs
Christian Practices
The Church Fathers
History of Christendom & Origin of Denominations, and Denominations
Christian Global Missions
Christian Societies & Institutions
Christian Orders, Brotherhoods, and Vocations
Christian Bible Schools, Colleges, Universities, & Seminaries (Higher Education)
Christian Faith and Science
Christian News Media
Christian Book & Resources Publishers
Christian Radio Stations
Christian Television Networks
Christian Thought/Philosophy
Christian Culture: Art, Music
Christian Camps & Retreat Centers
Christian Counselors/Therapists
Biblical Museums, Exhibits, Parks & Gardens
Biblical Archaeology
The Holy Land
Christian Pilgrimages, Tours & Travel Agencies
Christian Business Directories and Chambers of Commerce
Christian symbols
The Cross is the chief Christian symbol. You would naturally think it is the oldest Christian symbol. But did you know there is another ancient symbol used by Christians in Galilee in the 1st century A.D. …
The chief symbol of the Christian faith through the ages is the CROSS. The Cross is the chief symbol because it stands for Jesus Christ dying on His cross for our sins and the whole world’s sins (c.f. Gal. 6:14), that we may not be punished eternally but live with God forever in Heaven. Jesus’ shed blood gained for us the forgiveness of sins from God, received by God’s grace through faith (Eph. 2:8).
Considering the strong witness of the Cross of Christ in the New Testament, we would not be surprised to find it the oldest Christian symbol. Many modern Christians have heard it from sermons or youth gatherings that in the days of the Early Church in Roman times (late 1st cent. to 3rd century A.D.), when Christians met who were strangers, to secretly find out if each other was a Christian, one would use their foot to draw a straight line in the dirt. If the other person was a Christian, they would complete the cross symbol by drawing a cross bar perpendicular to the first straight line.
But what many western Christians do not know except for those who have gone to Israel and visited special sites such as Capernaum is that the Peacock was also a symbol Christians used in Israel in the mid to late 1st century too, yes, from the time of the apostles. Thus, the Peacock contends to be actually the oldest Christian symbol, possibly used before the Roman persecution of Christians that begun by Nero in 70 A.D.
To read more on Christian symbols, see below.
For Further Reading
Bradner, John. Symbols of Church Seasons and Days, Harrisburg, PA: Morehouse, 1977.
Sill, Gertrude Grace. A Handbook of Symbols in Christian Art, NY: Macmillan, 1975.
Christian/Church Year Calendar
In the ancient Christian Church (1st-4th centuries A.D.), the two main seasons of the year revolved around the three greatest festivals of the Faith, namely the Nativity (birth) of Jesus Christ, later called Christmas, in December, and Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday called Easter. Advent was the season leading up to Christmas, and Lent, which meant “spring,” which occurred in the season of spring, led up to Holy Week: Good Friday and Easter. Added to this was the long season of Pentecost, about a 6-month season, which runs from Pentecost Sunday in late spring (about 50 days after Easter) all the way to the start of Advent.
To get a better understanding of these Christian yearly seasons as occurs in the Roman Catholic Church, you may to read the below essay by lay member M. Lukowski of Gainesville, FL of whom I have permission to post this on this site. “Liturgical” comes from the Gk. word liturgia which means worship. It came to mean a set form of worship, written down which includes rites. Here, the term is used generally synonymously with the Church year:
Essay on the Liturgical Year-M. Lukowski March 2021Essay on the Liturgical Year-M Lukowski Mar. 6 2021
Christian Feasts/Festivals
The main Feasts or Festivals of the Christian Faith, kept faithfully since ancient times, are:
The Nativity of Christ (Christmas): Western Churches day is December 25; Eastern Orthodox Churches is January 6
Epiphany Day: January 6 for the Western Churches
Maundy Thursday* – commemoration of the Lord’s (Last) Supper with His Apostles
Good Friday* – commemorates the death of Christ Jesus on the Cross, a most sacred and holy day for Christians
Resurrection/Easter Sunday*commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ, a most joyous time for Christians
*These sacred feasts have been kept since the time of the apostles,
Christian Scriptures
The holy Bible (there are many versions).
The Catholic Bible includes the Apocrapha
The Protestant Bible excludes the Apocrapha, 66 books
The Christian sacred Scriptures, a.k.a. The Bible, is really a library of books written by Hebrew and Jewish men “moved by the Holy Spirit,” “breathed” by the Holy Spirit as the Word of God, spans a writing period from about 1400 BC to about 90 A.D., about a 1500 year period. They were originally written in biblical Hebrew, Aramaic, and Koine A (common) Greek. Each of the men God used were different in personality, in vocations, in style, and emphases of messages. They were sages, scribes, prophets, priests, shepherds, tax collection, fishermen, physician, and apostles. The unity of the Old and New Testaments of the Bible keeping in mind the long period of time and the many different writers is truly amazing.
Christian Beliefs
Overview of Historic Christian Beliefs:
There is one God, as revealed in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament), yet manifest in three Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Jesus Christ is the Son of God and part of the triune God
All Human beings are sinful, by nature not in right relationship with God and in need of a Savior since they cannot save themselves.
God sent His Savior of humankind into the world. That Savior is Jesus Christ who effected salvation by His perfect sacrificial death on the cross in our behalf (the death we deserved for our sins).
God’s Holy Spirit has been at work in the world always and is at work in every step of salvation in a human being, leading to contrition and a repentant heart, creating and instilling faith in a stony heart that is saving faith, regenerating souls, renewing spirits, teaching us with spiritual and heart knowledge as well as head knowledge, giving us the fruits of the Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit, and comforting us.
Every human has a soul and God judges the eternal destiny of every soul whether it will be in Heaven or in Hell. The righteous who accept God’s gift of salvation through Christ Jesus are on the path to Heaven and those who reject God’s gift in Christ are on the path to Hell.
God will bring all things to pass and all things fulfilled in the prophecies of sacred Scriptures and there will be an end of the world and a new Heavens and a new Earth.
Commonality and Distinctions
There is a variety of distinct beliefs among the 1000+ denominations. Some of these distinctions are finer points of theology like on the End Times (some are pre-Tribulation Rapture believers and some are post-Tribulation and some are pre-Millennialists and some are amillennialists.
But what holds all Christians in common to one another is the belief in the uniqueness in Jesus Christ, that He was not merely a prophet of God and not merely mortal, but that He came from God to Earth, born of the Virgin Mary, and who lived a sinless life to be the perfect sacrifice for our sins on the cross to atone for the sins of the world, so our sins would be forgiven, and by this most holy and precious act, we have been restored to a right relationship with God.
This belief is what makes Jesus’ death on the cross the most important and central belief for the Christian faith. But it is predicated on His coming from God and having Divine nature that took on human nature. Human nature alone could not have achieved this salvific event that humankind needed.
Christian Practices
The Church Fathers
History of Christendom & Origin of Denominations, and Denominations
Christian Global Missions
Christian Societies & Institutions
Christian Orders, Brotherhoods, and Vocations
Christian Bible Schools, Colleges, Universities, & Seminaries (Higher Education)
Christian Faith and Science
Christian News Media
Christian Book & Resources Publishers
Christian Thought/Philosophy
Christian Radio Stations
Christian Television Networks
See Media Organizations on the Resources page
Christian Culture: Art, Music
Christian Camps & Retreat Centers
Christian Counselors/Therapists
Biblical Museums, Exhibits, Parks & Gardens
See section below
Biblical Archaeology
“Biblical archaeology” may be used in two senses, the layman’s basic sense and the specialized scholar’s sense. The layman’s basic sense is the subject of archaeology at any and all sites mentioned in the Bible. The specialized scholar’s sense ranges from a “school of thought” which is a general conservative approach that begins with the premise that the scientific archaeological findings will support the Bible, a view that aligns with many evangelical Christians. There is still room for lots of discussion and debate such as does the evidence “proof” the Bible or does it “confirm” the Bible and take more of a “supporting” role?
The Holy Land
Christian Pilgrimages, Tours & Travel Agencies
Christian Business Directories and Chambers of Commerce
Shepherd’s Guide
U.S. Christian Chamber of Commerce
(began as Christian Chamber of Commerce of Central Florida, located in Orlando)
