Christians believe TheBible is the word of GoD, to some degree or another (that is, many christians disagree about how accurate TheBible is and how literally it should be taken). TheBible is the most widely regarded source of information on the life of JesusChrist?. It maintains that JesusChrist? is the messiah which the Jews have long awaited; thus Christianity could be considered (at least by Christians) the continuation or fulfillment of the Jewish faith. Christians and Jews both consider the first five books of TheBible to be the word of GoD.
Catholicism and Protestantism are the two major divisions of Christianity (but see below). Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, and Anglican (ChurchOfEngland?) churches are examples of Protestant faiths. Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox are the two primary divisions of Catholicism.
Catholics believe that their faith is a continuation of the original Christian church established in the time of Jesus, and that the Pope has authority which can be traced directly to the apostle Peter.
Protestant faiths trace their roots to the work of John Calvin and Martin Luther, who felt that the Catholic church no longer had GoD's sanction, and thus rejected its authority.
Several other faiths which also believe in JesusChrist? claim not to be descended from either of these groups directly. TheChurchOfJesusChristofLatterdaySaints?, for instance, while often grouped with Protestant religions, believes that it alone has authority from GoD to perform religous rites, much like the Catholics' belief.
Many people belonging to the above-listed faiths have strong feelings about the "actual" nature of the other Christian faiths, sometimes even claiming that the other faiths do not actually count as Christian. Thus, when researching branches of Christianity, it is often wise to first define clearly what the working definition of "Christianity" will be, and then get information from each branch regarding their qualificationes based on that definition.
-J
Commentary:
Generally, Christianity, Judaism and Islam are exemplary of a modern conception of "western" faith, in contrast to "eastern" disciplines. Older "western" religious traditions, those being the pagan traditions of Norse, Celtic, Germanic and other generally European peoples, the polytheistic traditions of Greece and Rome, and New World animistic aboriginal practices, seem to have largely died out in developed areas, notwithstaning a minor contemporary revival of such observances as DruidisM? and WiccA?.
In contrast, the oldest "eastern" disciplines anyone has been able to detect are still in practice within their original geographical regions today.
Why would that be?
A cursory glance immediately reveals a marked difference in the nature of the use of authority between "eastern" and "western" belief systems. Where the Sons of Abraham, in all their various stripes, tend toward authoritarianism and exclusivity with regard to religious rites, the various eastern traditions tend toward democracy and inclusiveness. One will not find in eastern religious thought a single threat of damnation, nor claim to sole possession of all and every religious truth. Nor will one find in western traditional religious scripture the slightest hint that other belief than the one at issue could be be given the slightest credence. Add to this the fact that Catholicism historically had government sanction, power of taxation, military might and punitive authority for a substantial block of time in history, and one can begin to see how an interesting paradox developed.
Western religionists, being authoritarian, exclusive, and having military might, tended to stamp out their competition through slaughter or threat thereof, while eastern religionists have enjoyed governmental favor from time to time, but have not historically converted their fellow man at sword point. By geographic coincidence, mechanization and its resulting period of "enlightenment" proceeded more quickly and broadly in the west than in the east. Inquiry in the physical sciences, fomented by the forces of mechanization, laid the groundwork for objective observation and its resulting egalitarian views, all the way back to early Greek philosophers.
As a result, democratic societies grew up in largely Christian areas, though Christianity is undemocratic; and totalitarian societies (save middle-east theocracies) tend to be anti-religious or to co-exist with the eastern observances which pre-dated them, though eastern religious thought and political democracy are a perfect match. The devout eastern student has learned tolerance, non-resistance, cooperation, disavowal of material wealth; and such principles as that revenge is base and unseemly, given that evil and corruption contain their own punishment. So he is more easily held down under an authoritarian scheme. Western scripture contains exhortations to rise up and smite non-believers and the unjust, to convert others to the one proper faith, and that various misdeeds should be remedied by putting the miscreant to death. Western believers, therefore, are able to justify their faith in forceful conversion and slaughter.
The remnants of this paradoxical dichotomy still color the American political landscape. It is the Religious Right, those whom one would most quickly identify with moral uprightness, who are popularly seen as least charitable, least forgiving, and most rigid, vengeful, and intolerant. The left, commonly the target of epithets regarding hedonism, license and moral decay, nonetheless turn out the be the champions of inclusion, equality, open government and common rights.
Go figure.
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