Settlement.[146] Later, the British took their democratic ideals to their colonies, e.g. Australia, New Zealand, and India. In North America, Plymouth Colony (Pilgrim Fathers; 1620) and Massachusetts Bay Colony (1628) practised democratic self-rule and separation of powers.[147][148][149][150] These Congregationalists were convinced that the democratic form of government was the will of God.[151] The Mayflower Compact was a social contract.[152][153] Rights and liberty[edit] Set of pictures for a number of famous Protestants from various fields. The Protestant and Enlightenment philosopher John Locke argued for individual conscience, free from state control. Protestants also took the initiative in advocating for religious freedom. Freedom of conscience had high priority on the theological, philosophical, and political agendas since Luther refused to recant his beliefs before the Diet of the Holy Roman Empire at Worms (1521). In his view, faith was a free work of the Holy Spirit and could, therefore, not be forced on a person.[154] The persecuted Anabaptists and Huguenots demanded freedom of conscience, and they practised separation of church and state.[155] In the early seventeenth century, Baptists like John Smyth and Thomas Helwys published tracts in defense of religious freedom.[156] Their thinking influenced John Milton and John Locke's stance on tolerance.[157][158] Under the leadership of Baptist Roger Williams, Congregationalist Thomas Hooker, and Quaker William Penn, respectively, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania combined democratic constitutions with freedom of religion. These colonies became safe havens for persecuted religious minorities, including Jews.[159][160][161] The United States Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution, and the American Bill of Rights with its fundamental human rights made this tradition permanent by giving it a legal and political framework.[162] The great majority of American Protestants, both clergy and laity, strongly supported the independence movement. All major Protestant churches were represented in the First and Second Continental Congresses.[163] In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the American democracy became a model for numerous other countries and regions throughout the world (e.g., Latin America, Japan, and Germany). The strongest link between the American and French Revolutions was Marquis de Lafayette, an ardent supporter of the American constitutional principles. The French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen was mainly based on Lafayette's draft of this document.[164] The United Nations Declaration and Universal Declaration of Human Rights also echo the American constitutional tradition.[165][166][167]

Democracy, social-contract theory, separation of powers, religious freedom, separation of church and state – these achievements of the Reformation and early Protestantism were elaborated on and popularized by Enlightenment thinkers. Some of the philosophers of the English, Scottish, German, and Swiss Enlightenment - Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, John Toland, David Hume, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Christian Wolff, Immanuel Kant, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau - had Protestant backgrounds.[168] For example, John Locke, whose political thought was based on "a set of Protestant Christian assumptions",[169] derived the equality of all humans, including the equality of the genders ("Adam and Eve"), from Genesis 1, 26-28. As all persons were created equally free, all governments needed "the consent of the governed."[170] These Lockean ideas were fundamental to the United States Declaration of Independence, which also deduced human rights from the biblical belief in creation: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness." Also, other human rights were advocated for by some Protestants. For example, torture was abolished in Prussia in 1740, slavery in Britain in 1834 and in the United States in 1865 (William Wilberforce, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Abraham Lincoln - against Southern Protestants).[171][172] Hugo Grotius and Samuel Pufendorf were among the first thinkers who made significant contributions to international law.[173][174] The Geneva Convention, an important part of humanitarian international law, was largely the work of Henry Dunant, a reformed pietist. He also founded the Red Cross.[175] Social teaching[edit] Protestants have founded hospitals, homes for disabled or elderly people, educational institutions, organizations that give aid to developing countries, and other social welfare agencies.[176][177][178] In the nineteenth century, throughout the Anglo-American world, numerous dedicated members of all Protestant denominations were active in social reform movements such as the abolition of slavery, prison reforms, and woman suffrage.[179][180][181] As an answer to the "social question" of the nineteenth century, Germany under Chancellor Otto von Bismarck introduced insurance programs that led the way to the welfare state (health insurance, accident insurance, disability insurance, old-age pensions). To Bismarck this was "practical Christianity".[182][183] These programs, too, were copied by many other nations, particularly in the Western world. Arts[edit] Martin Luther Memorial in Worms, Germany, which features some of the Reformation's crucial figures The arts have been strongly inspired by Protestant beliefs. Martin Luther, Paul Gerhardt, George Wither, Isaac Watts, Charles Wesley, William Cowper, and many other authors and composers created well-known church hymns. Musicians like Heinrich Schütz, Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel, Henry Purcell, Johannes Brahms, and Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy composed great works of music. Prominent painters with Protestant background were, for example, Albrecht Dürer, Hans Holbein the Younger, Lucas Cranach, Rembrandt, and Vincent van Gogh. World literature was enriched by the works of Edmund Spenser, John Milton, John Bunyan, John Donne, John Dryden, Daniel Defoe, William Wordsworth, Jonathan Swift, Johann Wolfgang Goethe, Friedrich Schiller, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Edgar Allan Poe, Matthew Arnold, Conrad Ferdinand Meyer, Theodor Fontane, Washington Irving, Robert Browning, Emily Dickinson, Emily Brontë, Charles Dickens, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Thomas Stearns Eliot, John Galsworthy, Thomas Mann, William Faulkner, John Updike, and many others. Catholic and Eastern Orthodox responses[edit] Passional Christi und Antichristi, by Lucas Cranach the Elder, from Luther's 1521 Passionary of the Christ and Antichrist. The Pope as the Antichrist, signing and selling indulgences. St. Bartholomew's Day massacre of French Protestants, 1572. The view of the Roman Catholic Church is that Protestant denominations cannot be considered churches but rather that they are ecclesial communities or specific faith-believing communities because their ordinances and doctrines are not historically the same as the Catholic sacraments and dogmas, and the Protestant communities have no sacramental ministerial priesthood and therefore lack true apostolic succession.[184][185] According to Bishop Hilarion (Alfeyev) the Eastern Orthodox Church shares the same view on the subject.[186] Contrary to how the Protestant Reformers were often characterized, the concept of a catholic or universal Church was not brushed aside during the Protestant Reformation. On the contrary, the visible unity of the catholic or universal church was seen by the Protestant reformers as an important and essential doctrine of the Reformation. The Magisterial reformers, such as Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Huldrych Zwingli, believed that they were reforming the Roman Catholic Church, which they viewed as having become corrupted. Each of them took very seriously the charges of schism and innovation, denying these charges and maintaining that it was the Roman Catholic Church that had left them.[187] In order to justify their departure from the Roman Catholic Church, Protestants often posited a new argument, saying that there was no real visible Church with divine authority, only a spiritual, invisible, and hidden church—this notion began in the early days of the Protestant Reformation. Wherever the Magisterial Reformation, which received support from the ruling authorities, took place, the result was a reformed national Protestant church envisioned to be a part of the whole invisible church, but disagreeing, in certain important points of doctrine and doctrine-linked practice, with what had until then been considered the normative reference point on such matters, namely the Papacy and central authority of the Roman Catholic Church. The Reformed churches thus believed in some form of Catholicity, founded on their doctrines of the five solas and a visible ecclesiastical organization based on the 14th and 15th century Conciliar movement, rejecting the papacy and papal infallibility in favor of ecumenical councils, but rejecting the latest ecumenical council, the Council of Trent. Religious unity therefore became not one of doctrine and identity but one of invisible character, wherein the unity was one of faith in Jesus Christ, not common identity, doctrine, belief, and collaborative action. Today there is a growing movement of Protestants, especially of the Reformed tradition, that either reject or down-play the designation Protestant because of the negative idea that the word invokes in addition to its primary meaning, preferring the designation Reformed, Evangelical or even Reformed Catholic expressive of what they call a Reformed Catholicity and defending their arguments from the traditional Protestant confessions.[188] Ecumenism[edit] Main article: Christian ecumenism Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity.[3] The group claims a worldwide membership of more than 8.2 million adherents involved in evangelism,[4] convention attendance figures of more than 15 million, and an annual Memorial attendance of more than 19.9 million.[5] Jehovah's Witnesses are directed by the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses, a group of elders in Brooklyn, New York, which establishes all doctrines[6] based on its interpretations of the Bible.[7] They prefer to use their own translation, the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures,[8] although their literature occasionally quotes and cites other translations.[9] They believe that the destruction of the present world system at Armageddon is imminent, and that the establishment of God's kingdom over the earth is the only solution for all problems faced by humanity.[10] The group emerged from the Bible Student movement, founded in the late 1870s by Charles Taze Russell with the formation of Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society, with significant organizational and doctrinal changes under the leadership of Joseph Franklin Rutherford.[11][12] The name Jehovah's witnesses[13] was adopted in 1931 to distinguish themselves from other Bible Student groups and symbolize a break with the legacy of Russell's traditions. Jehovah's Witnesses are best known for their door-to-door preaching, distributing literature such as The Watchtower and Awake!, and refusing military service and blood transfusions. They consider use of the name Jehovah vital for proper worship. They reject Trinitarianism, inherent immortality of the soul, and hellfire, which they consider to be unscriptural doctrines. They do not observe Christmas, Easter, birthdays, or other holidays and customs they consider to have pagan origins incompatible with Christianity.[14] Adherents commonly refer to their body of beliefs as "the truth" and consider themselves to be "in the truth".[15] They consider secular society to be morally corrupt and under the influence of Satan, and most limit their social interaction with non-Witnesses.[16] Congregational disciplinary actions include disfellowshipping, their term for formal expulsion and shunning.[17] Baptized individuals who formally leave are considered disassociated and are also shunned. Disfellowshipped and disassociated individuals may eventually be reinstated if deemed repentant.[18] The religion's position regarding conscientious objection to military service and refusal to salute national flags has brought it into conflict with some governments. Consequently, some Jehovah's Witnesses have been persecuted and their activities are banned or restricted in some countries. Persistent legal challenges by Jehovah's Witnesses have influenced legislation related to civil rights in several countries.[19] The organization has attracted criticism over issues surrounding biblical translation, doctrines, handling of sexual abuse cases, and alleged coercion of its members. The claims are rejected by the religion's leaders, and some have been disputed by courts and religious scholars. Contents [hide] 1 History 1.1 Background (1870–1916) 1.2 Reorganization (1917–1942) 1.3 Continued development (1942–present) 2 Organization 2.1 Publishing 2.2 Funding 3 Beliefs 3.1 Sources of doctrine 3.2 Jehovah and Jesus Christ 3.3 Satan 3.4 Life after death 3.5 God's kingdom 3.6 Eschatology 4 Practices 4.1 Worship 4.2 Evangelism 4.3 Ethics and morality 4.4 Disciplinary action 4.5 Separateness 4.6 Rejection of blood transfusions 5 Demographics 6 Sociological analysis 7 Opposition 7.1 Persecution 7.2 Legal challenges 8 Criticism and controversy 8.1 Free speech and thought 8.2 New World Translation 8.3 Failed predictions 8.4 Handling of sexual abuse cases 9 References 10 Further reading 11 External links History[edit] Part of a series on Jehovah's Witnesses Overview Organizational structure Governing Body Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society Corporations History Bible Student movement Leadership dispute Splinter groups Doctrinal development Unfulfilled predictions Demographics By country Beliefs Practices Salvation Eschatology The 144,000 Faithful and discreet slave Hymns God's name Blood Discipline Literature The Watchtower Awake! New World Translation List of publications Bibliography Teaching programs Kingdom Hall Gilead School People Watch Tower presidents W. H. Conley C. T. Russell J. F. Rutherford N. H. Knorr F. W. Franz M. G. Henschel D. A. Adams Formative influences William Miller Henry Grew George Storrs N. H. Barbour John Nelson Darby Notable former members Raymond Franz Olin Moyle Opposition Criticism Persecution Supreme Court cases by country v t e Main article: History of Jehovah's Witnesses Background (1870–1916)[edit] Charles Taze Russell (1852–1916) In 1870, Charles Taze Russell and others formed a group in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to study the Bible.[20] During the course of his ministry, Russell disputed many beliefs of mainstream Christianity including immortality of the soul, hellfire, predestination, the fleshly return of Jesus Christ, the Trinity, and the burning up of the world.[21] In 1876, Russell met Nelson H. Barbour; later that year they jointly produced the book Three Worlds, which combined restitutionist views with end time prophecy. The book taught that God's dealings with humanity were divided dispensationally, each ending with a "harvest," that Christ had returned as an invisible spirit being in 1874[21] inaugurating the "harvest of the Gospel age," and that 1914 would mark the end of a 2520-year period called "the Gentile Times,"[22] at which time world society would be replaced by the full establishment of God's kingdom on earth.[23][24][25] Beginning in 1878 Russell and Barbour jointly edited a religious journal, Herald of the Morning.[26] In June 1879 the two split over doctrinal differences, and in July, Russell began publishing the magazine Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence,[27] stating that its purpose was to demonstrate that the world was in "the last days," and that a new age of earthly and human restitution under the reign of Christ was imminent.[28] From 1879, Watch Tower supporters gathered as autonomous congregations to study the Bible topically. Thirty congregations were founded, and during 1879 and 1880, Russell visited each to provide the format he recommended for conducting meetings.[29] As congregations continued to form during Russell's ministry, they each remained self-administrative, functioning under the congregationalist style of church governance.[30][31] In 1881, Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society was presided over by William Henry Conley, and in 1884, Charles Taze Russell incorporated the society as a non-profit business to distribute tracts and Bibles.[32][33][34] By about 1900, Russell had organized thousands of part- and full-time colporteurs,[27] and was appointing foreign missionaries and establishing branch offices. By the 1910s, Russell's organization maintained nearly a hundred "pilgrims," or traveling preachers.[35] Russell engaged in significant global publishing efforts during his ministry,[36][37] and by 1912, he was the most distributed Christian author in the United States.[38][39] Russell moved the Watch Tower Society's headquarters to Brooklyn, New York, in 1909, combining printing and corporate offices with a house of worship; volunteers were housed in a nearby residence he named Bethel. He identified the religious movement as "Bible Students," and more formally as the International Bible Students Association.[40] By 1910, about 50,000 people worldwide were associated with the movement[41] and congregations re-elected him annually as their "pastor."[42] Russell died October 31, 1916, at the age of 64 while returning from a ministerial speaking tour.[43] Reorganization (1917–1942)[edit] Joseph F. Rutherford (1869–1942) In January 1917, the Watch Tower Society's legal representative, Joseph Franklin Rutherford, was elected as its next president. His election was disputed, and members of the Board of Directors accused him of acting in an autocratic and secretive manner.[44][45] The divisions between his supporters and opponents triggered a major turnover of members over the next decade.[46][47] In June 1917, he released The Finished Mystery as a seventh volume of Russell's Studies in the Scriptures series. The book, published as the posthumous work of Russell, was a compilation of his commentaries on the Bible books of Ezekiel and Revelation, plus numerous additions by Bible Students Clayton Woodworth and George Fisher.[48][49][50][51] It strongly criticized Catholic and Protestant clergy and Christian involvement in the Great War.[52] As a result, Watch Tower Society directors were jailed for sedition under the Espionage Act in 1918 and members were subjected to mob violence; charges against the directors were dropped in 1920.[53] Rutherford centralized organizational control of the Watch Tower Society. In 1919, he instituted the appointment of a director in each congregation, and a year later all members were instructed to report their weekly preaching activity to the Brooklyn headquarters.[54] At an international convention held at Cedar Point, Ohio, in September 1922, a new emphasis was made on house-to-house preaching.[55] Significant changes in doctrine and administration were regularly introduced during Rutherford's twenty-five years as president, including the 1920 announcement that the Jewish patriarchs (such as Abraham and Isaac) would be resurrected in 1925, marking the beginning of Christ's thousand-year Kingdom.[56][57][58] Disappointed by the changes, tens of thousands of defections occurred during the first half of Rutherford's tenure, leading to the formation of several Bible Student organizations independent of the Watch Tower Society,[59][60] most of which still exist.[61] By mid-1919, as many as one in seven of Russell-era Bible Students had ceased their association with the Society, and as many as two-thirds by the end of the 1920s.[62][63][64][65][66] On July 26, 1931, at a convention in Columbus, Ohio, Rutherford introduced the new name—Jehovah's witnesses—based on Isaiah 43:10: "Ye are my witnesses, saith Jehovah, and my servant whom I have chosen"—which was adopted by resolution. The name was chosen to distinguish his group of Bible Students from other independent groups that had severed ties with the Society, as well as symbolize the instigation of new outlooks and the promotion of fresh evangelizing methods.[67][68][69] In 1932, Rutherford eliminated the system of locally elected elders and in 1938, introduced what he called a "theocratic" (literally, God-ruled) organizational system, under which appointments in congregations worldwide were made from the Brooklyn headquarters.[54] From 1932, it was taught that the "little flock" of 144,000 would not be the only people to survive Armageddon. Rutherford explained that in addition to the 144,000 "anointed" who would be resurrected—or transferred at death—to live in heaven to rule over earth with Christ, a separate class of members, the "great multitude," would live in a paradise restored on earth; from 1935, new converts to the movement were considered part of that class.[70][71] By the mid-1930s, the timing of the beginning of Christ's presence (Greek: parousía), his enthronement as king, and the start of the "last days" were each moved to 1914.[72] As their interpretations of the Bible developed, Witness publications decreed that saluting national flags is a form of idolatry, which led to a new outbreak of mob violence and government opposition in the United States, Canada, Germany, and other countries.[73][74] Worldwide membership of Jehovah's Witnesses reached 113,624 in 5,323 congregations by the time of Rutherford's death in January 1942.[75][76] Continued development (1942–present)[edit] See also: Development of Jehovah's Witnesses doctrine and Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses Nathan H. Knorr (1905-1977) Nathan Knorr was appointed as third president of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society in 1942. Knorr commissioned a new translation of the Bible, the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures, the full version of which was released in 1961. He organized large international assemblies, instituted new training programs for members, and expanded missionary activity and branch offices throughout the world.[77] Knorr's presidency was also marked by an increasing use of explicit instructions guiding Witnesses in their lifestyle and conduct, and a greater use of congregational judicial procedures to enforce a strict moral code.[78][79] From 1966, Witness publications and convention talks built anticipation of the possibility that Christ's thousand-year reign might begin in late 1975[80][81] or shortly thereafter.[82][83][84][85] The number of baptisms increased significantly, from about 59,000 in 1966 to more than 297,000 in 1974. By 1975, the number of active members exceeded two million. Membership declined during the late 1970s after expectations for 1975 were proved wrong.[86][87][88][89] Watch Tower Society literature did not state dogmatically that 1975 would definitely mark the end,[82] but in 1980 the Watch Tower Society admitted its responsibility in building up hope regarding that year.[90][91] The offices of elder and ministerial servant were restored to Witness congregations in 1972, with appointments made from headquarters[92] (and later, also by branch committees). It was announced that, starting in September 2014, appointments would be made by traveling overseers. In a major organizational overhaul in 1976, the power of the Watch Tower Society president was diminished, with authority for doctrinal and organizational decisions passed to the Governing Body.[93] Since Knorr's death in 1977, the position of president has been occupied by Frederick Franz (1977–1992) and Milton Henschel (1992–2000), both members of the Governing Body, and since 2000 by Don A. Adams, not a member of the Governing Body. In 1995, Jehovah's Witnesses abandoned the idea that Armageddon must occur during the lives of the generation that was alive in 1914 and in 2013 changed their teaching on the "generation".[94][95][96][97] Organization[edit] Main article: Organizational structure of Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses are organized hierarchically, in what the leadership calls a "theocratic organization", reflecting their belief that it is God's "visible organization" on earth.[98][99][100] The organization is led by the Governing Body—an all-male group that varies in size, but since early 2014 has comprised seven members,[note 1] all of whom profess to be of the "anointed" class with a hope of heavenly life—based in the Watch Tower Society's Brooklyn headquarters.[101][102] There is no election for membership; new members are selected by the existing body.[103] Until late 2012, the Governing Body described itself as the representative[104][105] and "spokesman" for God's "faithful and discreet slave class" (approximately 10,000 self-professed "anointed" Jehovah's Witnesses).[106][107] At the 2012 Annual Meeting of the Watch Tower Society, the "faithful and discreet slave" was defined as referring to the Governing Body only.[108] The Governing Body directs several committees that are responsible for administrative functions, including publishing, assembly programs and evangelizing activities.[100] It appoints all branch committee members and traveling overseers, after they have been recommended by local branches, with traveling overseers supervising circuits of congregations within their jurisdictions. Traveling overseers appoint local elders and ministerial servants, and while branch offices may appoint regional committees for matters such as Kingdom Hall construction or disaster relief.[109] Each congregation has a body of appointed unpaid male elders and ministerial servants. Elders maintain general responsibility for congregational governance, setting meeting times, selecting speakers and conducting meetings, directing the public preaching work, and creating "judicial committees" to investigate and decide disciplinary action for cases involving sexual misconduct or doctrinal breaches.[110] New elders are appointed by a traveling overseer after recommendation by the existing body of elders. Ministerial servants—appointed in a similar manner to elders—fulfill clerical and attendant duties, but may also teach and conduct meetings.[100] Witnesses do not use elder as a title to signify a formal clergy-laity division,[111] though elders may employ ecclesiastical privilege such as confession of sins.[112] Baptism is a requirement for being considered a member of Jehovah's Witnesses. Jehovah's Witnesses do not practice infant baptism,[113] and previous baptisms performed by other denominations are not considered valid.[114] Individuals undergoing baptism must affirm publicly that dedication and baptism identify them "as one of Jehovah's Witnesses in association with God's spirit-directed organization,"[114] though Witness publications say baptism symbolizes personal dedication to God and not "to a man, work or organization."[115][116] Their literature emphasizes the need for members to be obedient and loyal to Jehovah and to "his organization,"[117][118][note 2] stating that individuals must remain part of it to receive God's favor and to survive Armageddon.[119][120][121] Publishing[edit] The organization publishes a significant amount of literature as part of its evangelism activities.[122] The Watch Tower Society has produced over 200 million copies of the Bible in over 100 languages.[123] The Watchtower and Awake! are among the most widely distributed magazines in the world. Translation of Witness publications is done by over 2000 volunteers worldwide, producing literature in over 760 languages.[124] Funding[edit] Much of their funding is provided by donations, primarily from members. There is no tithing or collection.[90] In 2001 Newsday listed the Watch Tower Society as one of New York's forty richest corporations, with revenues exceeding $950 million.[122][125] The organization reported for the same year that it "spent over 70.9 million dollars in caring for special pioneers, missionaries, and traveling overseers in their field service assignments."[126][note 3] Beliefs[edit] Part of a series on Christianity Jesus depicted as the Good Shepherd Jesus Christ [show] Bible Foundations [show] Theology[show] History Tradition [show] Related topics[show] Denominations Groups [show] Ichthus Christianity portal v t e Main article: Jehovah's Witnesses beliefs Sources of doctrine[edit] Jehovah's Witnesses believe their religion is a restoration of first-century Christianity.[127] Doctrines of Jehovah's Witnesses are established by the Governing Body, which assumes responsibility for interpreting and applying scripture.[47][128][129] The Governing Body does not issue any single, comprehensive "statement of faith", but prefers to express its doctrinal position in a variety of ways through publications published by the Watch Tower Society.[130] Their publications teach that doctrinal changes and refinements result from a process of progressive revelation, in which God gradually reveals his will and purpose,[131][132][133][134] and that such enlightenment or "new light"[135] results from the application of reason and study,[136] the guidance of the holy spirit, and direction from Jesus Christ and angels.[137] The Society also teaches that members of the Governing Body are helped by the holy spirit to discern "deep truths", which are then considered by the entire Governing Body before it makes doctrinal decisions.[138] The religion's leadership, while disclaiming divine inspiration and infallibility,[139] is said to provide "divine guidance"[140] through its teachings described as "based on God's Word thus ... not from men, but from Jehovah."[141][142] The entire Protestant canon of scripture is considered the inspired, inerrant word of God.[143] Jehovah's Witnesses consider the Bible to be scientifically and historically accurate and reliable[144] and interpret much of it literally, but accept parts of it as symbolic.[145] They consider the Bible to be the final authority for all their beliefs,[146] although sociologist Andrew Holden's ethnographic study of the religion concluded that pronouncements of the Governing Body, through Watch Tower Society publications, carry almost as much weight as the Bible.[147] Regular personal Bible reading is frequently recommended; Witnesses are discouraged from formulating doctrines and "private ideas" reached through Bible research independent of Watch Tower Society publications, and are cautioned against reading other religious literature.[148][149][150] Adherents are told to have "complete confidence" in the leadership, avoid skepticism about what is taught in the Watch Tower Society's literature, and "not advocate or insist on personal opinions or harbor private ideas when it comes to Bible understanding."[151][152][153][154] The religion makes no provision for members to criticize or contribute to official teachings[155] and all Witnesses must abide by its doctrines and organizational requirements.[156] Jehovah and Jesus Christ[edit] Jehovah's Witnesses emphasize the use of what they consider to be God's name, represented in the Old Testament by the Tetragrammaton.[157][158] In English they prefer to use the name Jehovah.[159] They believe that Jehovah is the only true God, the creator of all things, and the "Universal Sovereign". They believe that all worship should be directed toward him, and that he is not part of a Trinity;[160] consequently, the religion places more emphasis on God than on Christ.[161][162] They believe that the holy spirit is God's applied power or "active force", rather than a person.[163][164] The Tetragrammaton Jehovah's Witnesses believe that Jesus is God's only direct creation, that everything else was created by means of Christ, and that the initial unassisted act of creation uniquely identifies Jesus as God's "only-begotten Son".[165] Jesus served as a redeemer and a ransom sacrifice to pay for the sins of humanity.[166] They believe Jesus died on a single upright post rather than the traditional cross.[167] They believe that references in the Bible to the Archangel Michael, Abaddon (Apollyon), and the Word all refer to Jesus.[168] Jesus is considered to be the only intercessor and high priest between God and humanity, and appointed by God as the king and judge of his kingdom.[169] His role as a mediator (referred to in 1 Timothy 2:5) is applied to the 'anointed' class, though the 'other sheep' are said to also benefit from the arrangement.[170] Satan[edit] Jehovah's Witnesses believe that Satan was originally a perfect angel who developed feelings of self-importance and craved worship. Satan influenced Adam and Eve to disobey God, and humanity subsequently became participants in a challenge involving the competing claims of Jehovah and Satan to universal sovereignty.[171] Other angels who sided with Satan became demons. Jehovah's Witnesses teach that Satan and his demons were cast down to earth from heaven after October 1, 1914,[172] at which point the end times began. Witnesses believe that Satan is the ruler of the current world order,[171] that human society is influenced and misled by Satan and his demons, and that they are a cause of human suffering. They believe that human governments are controlled by Satan,[173] but that he does not directly control each human ruler.[174] Life after death[edit] Main article: Jehovah's Witnesses and salvation Jehovah's Witnesses believe death is a state of non-existence with no consciousness. There is no Hell of fiery torment; Hades and Sheol are understood to refer to the condition of death, termed the common grave.[175] Jehovah's Witnesses consider the soul to be a life or a living body that can die.[176] Jehovah's Witnesses believe that humanity is in a sinful state,[176] from which release is only possible by means of Jesus' shed blood as a ransom, or atonement, for the sins of humankind.[177] Witnesses believe that a "little flock" go to heaven, but that the hope for life after death for the majority of "other sheep" involves being resurrected by God to a cleansed earth after Armageddon. They interpret Revelation 14:1–5 to mean that the number of Christians going to heaven is limited to exactly 144,000, who will rule with Jesus as kings and priests over earth.[178] Jehovah's Witnesses teach that only they meet scriptural requirements for surviving Armageddon, but that God is the final judge.[179][180][181] During Christ's millennial reign, most people who died prior to Armageddon will be resurrected with the prospect of living forever; they will be taught the proper way to worship God to prepare them for their final test at the end of the millennium.[182][183] God's kingdom[edit] Jehovah's Witnesses believe that God's kingdom is a literal government in heaven, ruled by Jesus Christ and 144,000 Christians drawn from the earth.[184] The kingdom is viewed as the means by which God will accomplish his original purpose for the earth, transforming it into a paradise without sickness or death.[185] It is said to have been the focal point of Jesus' ministry on earth.[186] They believe the kingdom was established in heaven in 1914,[187] and that Jehovah's Witnesses serve as representatives of the kingdom on earth.[188][189] Eschatology[edit] Main article: Eschatology of Jehovah's Witnesses A central teaching of Jehovah's Witnesses is that the current world era, or "system of things", entered the "last days" in 1914 and faces imminent destruction through intervention by God and Jesus Christ, leading to deliverance for those who worship God acceptably.[190] They consider all other present-day religions to be false, identifying them with "Babylon the Great", or the "harlot", of Revelation 17,[191] and believe that they will soon be destroyed by the United Nations, which they believe is represented in scripture by the scarlet-colored wild beast of Revelation chapter 17. This development will mark the beginning of the "great tribulation".[192] Satan will subsequently attack Jehovah's Witnesses, an action that will prompt God to begin the war of Armageddon, during which all forms of government and all people not counted as Christ's "sheep", or true followers, will be destroyed. After Armageddon, God will extend his heavenly kingdom to include earth, which will be transformed into a paradise similar to the Garden of Eden.[193] After Armageddon, most of those who had died before God's intervention will gradually be resurrected during "judgment day" lasting for one thousand years. This judgment will be based on their actions after resurrection rather than past deeds. At the end of the thousand years, Christ will hand all authority back to God. Then a final test will take place when Satan is released to mislead perfect mankind. Those who fail will be destroyed, along with Satan and his demons. The end result will be a fully tested, glorified human race.[194][195] Jehovah's Witnesses believe that Jesus Christ began to rule in heaven as king of God's kingdom in October 1914, and that Satan was subsequently ousted from heaven to the earth, resulting in "woe" to humanity. They believe that Jesus rules invisibly, from heaven, perceived only as a series of "signs". They base this belief on a rendering of the Greek word parousia—usually translated as "coming" when referring to Christ—as "presence". They believe Jesus' presence includes an unknown period beginning with his inauguration as king in heaven in 1914, and ending when he comes to bring a final judgment against humans on earth. They thus depart from the mainstream Christian belief that the "second coming" of Matthew 24 refers to a single moment of arrival on earth to judge humans.[196][197] Practices[edit] Main article: Jehovah's Witnesses practices Worship[edit] Worship at a Kingdom Hall. Meetings for worship and study are held at Kingdom Halls, which are typically functional in character, and do not contain religious symbols.[198] Witnesses are assigned to a congregation in whose "territory" they usually reside and attend weekly services they refer to as "meetings" as scheduled by congregation elders. The meetings are largely devoted to study of Watch Tower Society literature and the Bible. The format of the meetings is established by the religion's headquarters, and the subject matter for most meetings is the same worldwide.[198] Congregations meet for two sessions each week comprising five distinct meetings that total about three-and-a-half hours, typically gathering mid-week (three meetings) and on the weekend (two meetings). Prior to 2009, congregations met three times each week; these meetings were condensed, with the intention that members dedicate an evening for "family worship".[199][200] Gatherings are opened and closed with kingdom songs (hymns) and brief prayers. Twice each year, Witnesses from a number of congregations that form a "circuit" gather for a one-day assembly. Larger groups of congregations meet once a year for a three-day "regional convention", usually at rented stadiums or auditoriums. Their most important and solemn event is the commemoration of the "Lord's Evening Meal", or "Memorial of Christ's Death" on the date of the Jewish Passover.[201] Evangelism[edit] See also: Jehovah's Witnesses publications Jehovah's Witnesses are perhaps best known for their efforts to spread their beliefs, most notably by visiting people from house to house,[202][203][204] distributing literature published by the Watch Tower Society in 700 languages.[205] The objective is to start a regular "Bible study" with any person who is not already a member,[206] with the intention that the student be baptized as a member of the group;[207][208] if the student does not show an interest in becoming a member, the study is terminated.[209][210] Witnesses are told they are under a biblical command to engage in public preaching.[211][212] They are instructed to devote as much time as possible to their ministry and are required to submit an individual monthly "Field Service Report".[213][214] Baptized members who fail to submit a report every month are termed "irregular" and may be counseled by elders;[215][216] those who do not submit a report for six consecutive months are termed "inactive".[217] Ethics and morality[edit] All sexual relations outside of marriage are grounds for expulsion if the individual is not deemed repentant;[218][219] homosexual activity is considered a serious sin, and same-sex marriages are forbidden. Abortion is considered murder.[220] Suicide is considered to be "self-inflicted murder" and a sin against God.[221] Modesty in dress and grooming is frequently emphasized. Gambling, drunkenness, illegal drugs, and tobacco use are forbidden.[222] Drinking of alcoholic beverages is permitted in moderation.[220] The family structure is patriarchal. The husband is considered to have authority on family decisions, but is encouraged to solicit his wife's thoughts and feelings, as well as those of his children. Marriages are required to be monogamous and legally registered.[223][224] Marrying a non-believer, or endorsing such a union, is strongly discouraged and carries religious sanctions.[225][226] Divorce is discouraged, and remarriage is forbidden unless a divorce is obtained on the grounds of adultery, which they refer to as "a scriptural divorce".[227] If a divorce is obtained for any other reason, remarriage is considered adulterous unless the prior spouse has died or is since considered to have committed sexual immorality.[228] Extreme physical abuse, willful non-support of one's family, and what the religion terms "absolute endangerment of spirituality" are considered grounds for legal separation.[229][230] Disciplinary action[edit] Main article: Jehovah's Witnesses and congregational discipline Formal discipline is administered by congregation elders. When a baptized member is accused of committing a serious sin—usually cases of sexual misconduct[110][231] or charges of apostasy for disputing Jehovah's Witness doctrines[232][233]—a judicial committee is formed to determine guilt, provide help and possibly administer discipline. Disfellowshipping, a form of shunning, is the strongest form of discipline, administered to an offender deemed unrepentant.[234] Contact with disfellowshipped individuals is limited to direct family members living in the same home, and with congregation elders who may invite disfellowshipped persons to apply for reinstatement;[235] formal business dealings may continue if contractually or financially obliged.[236] Witnesses are taught that avoiding social and spiritual interaction with disfellowshipped individuals keeps the congregation free from immoral influence and that "losing precious fellowship with loved ones may help [the shunned individual] to come 'to his senses,' see the seriousness of his wrong, and take steps to return to Jehovah."[237] The practice of shunning may also serve to deter other members from dissident behavior.[238] Members who disassociate (formally resign) are described in Watch Tower Society literature as wicked and are also shunned.[239][240][241] Expelled individuals may eventually be reinstated to the congregation if deemed repentant by elders in the congregation in which the disfellowshipping was enforced.[18] Reproof is a lesser form of discipline given formally by a judicial committee to a baptized Witness who is considered repentant of serious sin; the reproved person temporarily loses conspicuous privileges of service, but suffers no restriction of social or spiritual fellowship.[242] Marking, a curtailing of social but not spiritual fellowship, is practiced if a baptized member persists in a course of action regarded as a violation of Bible principles but not a serious sin.[note 4] Separateness[edit] Main article: Jehovah's Witnesses and governments Jehovah's Witnesses believe that the Bible condemns the mixing of religions, on the basis that there can only be one truth from God, and therefore reject interfaith and ecumenical movements.[243][244][245] They believe that only their religion represents true Christianity, and that other religions fail to meet all the requirements set by God and will soon be destroyed.[246] Jehovah's Witnesses are taught that it is vital to remain "separate from the world." The Witnesses' literature defines the "world" as "the mass of mankind apart from Jehovah's approved servants" and teach that it is morally contaminated and ruled by Satan.[247][248][249] Witnesses are taught that association with "worldly" people presents a "danger" to their faith,[250] and are instructed to minimize social contact with non-members to better maintain their own standards of morality.[251][252][253][254] Jehovah's Witnesses believe their highest allegiance belongs to God's kingdom, which is viewed as an actual government in heaven, with Christ as king. They remain politically neutral, do not seek public office, and are discouraged from voting, though individual members may participate in uncontroversial community improvement issues.[255][256] Although they do not take part in politics, they respect the authority of the governments under which they live.[257] They do not celebrate religious holidays such as Christmas and Easter, nor do they observe birthdays, nationalistic holidays, or other celebrations they consider to honor people other than Jesus. They feel that these and many other customs have pagan origins or reflect a nationalistic or political spirit. Their position is that these traditional holidays reflect Satan's control over the world.[258][259][260] Witnesses are told that spontaneous giving at other times can help their children to not feel deprived of birthdays or other celebrations.[261] They do not work in industries associated with the military, do not serve in the armed services,[262] and refuse national military service, which in some countries may result in their arrest and imprisonment.[263] They do not salute or pledge allegiance to flags or sing national anthems or patriotic songs.[264] Jehovah's Witnesses see themselves as a worldwide brotherhood that transcends national boundaries and ethnic loyalties.[265] Sociologist Ronald Lawson has suggested the religion's intellectual and organizational isolation, coupled with the intense indoctrination of adherents, rigid internal discipline and considerable persecution, has contributed to the consistency of its sense of urgency in its apocalyptic message.[266] Rejection of blood transfusions[edit] Main article: Jehovah's Witnesses and blood transfusions Jehovah's Witnesses refuse blood transfusions, which they consider a violation of God's law based on their interpretation of Acts 15:28, 29 and other scriptures.[267][268][269] Since 1961 the willing acceptance of a blood transfusion by an unrepentant member has been grounds for expulsion from the religion.[270][271] Members are directed to refuse blood transfusions, even in "a life-or-death situation".[272][273][274] Jehovah's Witnesses accept non-blood alternatives and other medical procedures in lieu of blood transfusions, and their literature provides information about non-blood medical procedures.[275] Though Jehovah's Witnesses do not accept blood transfusions of whole blood, they may accept some blood plasma fractions at their own discretion.[276][277][278] The Watch Tower Society provides pre-formatted durable power of attorney documents prohibiting major blood components, in which members can specify which allowable fractions and treatments they will personally accept.[279][280] Jehovah's Witnesses have established Hospital Liaison Committees as a cooperative arrangement between individual Jehovah's Witnesses and medical professionals and hospitals.[281][282] Demographics[edit] Main article: Demographics of Jehovah's Witnesses JWStats1931-2010.png Jehovah's Witnesses have an active presence in most countries, but do not form a large part of the population of any country. As of August 2014, Jehovah's Witnesses report an average of 8.2 million publishers—the term they use for members actively involved in preaching—in 115,416 congregations.[2] In 2014, these reports indicated over 1.94 billion hours spent in preaching and "Bible study" activity. Since the mid-1990s, the number of peak publishers has increased from 4.5 million to 8.2 million.[283] In the same year, they conducted "Bible studies" with over 9.2 million individuals, including those conducted by Witness parents with their children.[4][284][285] Jehovah's Witnesses estimate their current worldwide growth rate to be 2.2% per year.[2] The official published membership statistics, such as those mentioned above, include only those who submit reports for their personal ministry; official statistics do not include inactive and disfellowshipped individuals or others who might attend their meetings. As a result, only about half of those who self-identified as Jehovah's Witnesses in independent demographic studies are considered active by the faith itself.[286][287] The 2008 US Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life survey found a low retention rate among members of the religion: about 37% of people raised in the religion continued to identify themselves as Jehovah's Witnesses.[288][289] Sociological analysis[edit] See also: Sociological classifications of religious movements Sociologist James A. Beckford, in his 1975 study of Jehovah's Witnesses, classified the religion's organizational structure as Totalizing, characterized by an assertive leadership, specific and narrow objectives, control over competing demands on members' time and energy, and control over the quality of new members. Other characteristics of the classification include likelihood of friction with secular authorities, reluctance to co-operate with other religious organizations, a high rate of membership turnover, a low rate of doctrinal change, and strict uniformity of beliefs among members.[290] Beckford identified the religion's chief characteristics as historicism (identifying historical events as relating to the outworking of God's purpose), absolutism (conviction that Jehovah's Witness leaders dispense absolute truth), activism (capacity to motivate members to perform missionary tasks), rationalism (conviction that Witness doctrines have a rational basis devoid of mystery), authoritarianism (rigid presentation of regulations without the opportunity for criticism) and world indifference (rejection of certain secular requirements and medical treatments).[291] Sociologist Bryan R. Wilson, in his consideration of five religions including Jehovah's Witnesses, noted that each of the religions:[292] "exists in a state of tension with the wider society;" "imposes tests of merit on would-be members;" "exercises stern discipline, regulating the declared beliefs and the life habits of members and prescribing and operating sanctions for those who deviate, including the possibility of expulsion;" "demands sustained and total commitment from its members, and the subordination, and perhaps even the exclusion of all other interests." A sociological comparative study by the Pew Research Center found that Jehovah's Witnesses in the United States ranked highest in statistics for getting no further than high school graduation, belief in God, importance of religion in one's life, frequency of religious attendance, frequency of prayers, frequency of Bible reading outside of religious services, belief their prayers are answered, belief that their religion can only be interpreted one way, belief that theirs is the only one true faith leading to eternal life, opposition to abortion, and opposition to homosexuality. In the study, Jehovah's Witnesses ranked lowest in statistics for having earned a graduate degree and interest in politics.[293] Opposition[edit] Controversy surrounding various beliefs, doctrines and practices of Jehovah's Witnesses has led to opposition from local governments, communities, and religious groups. Religious commentator Ken Jubber wrote that "Viewed globally, this persecution has been so persistent and of such intensity that it would not be inaccurate to regard Jehovah's Witnesses as the most persecuted group of Christians of the twentieth century."[294] Persecution[edit] Main article: Persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses See also: Persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Nazi Germany Jehovah's Witness prisoners were identified by purple triangle badges in Nazi concentration camps. Political and religious animosity against Jehovah's Witnesses has at times led to mob action and government oppression in various countries. Their doctrine of political neutrality and their refusal to serve in the military has led to imprisonment of members who refused conscription during World War II and at other times where national service has been compulsory. In 1933, there were approximately 20,000 Jehovah's Witnesses in Germany,[295] of whom about 10,000 were later imprisoned. Of those, 2000 were sent to Nazi concentration camps, where they were identified by purple triangles; as many as 1200 died, including 250 who were executed.[296][297][298][299] In Canada, Jehovah's Witnesses were interned in camps[300] along with political dissidents and people of Chinese and Japanese descent.[301] In the former Soviet Union, about 9,300 Jehovah's Witnesses were deported to Siberia as part of Operation North in April 1951.[302] Their religious activities are currently banned or restricted in some countries, including China, Vietnam and some Islamic states.[303][304] Authors including William Whalen, Shawn Francis Peters and former Witnesses Barbara Grizzuti Harrison, Alan Rogerson and William Schnell have claimed the arrests and mob violence in the United States in the 1930s and 1940s were the consequence of what appeared to be a deliberate course of provocation of authorities and other religions by Jehovah’s Witnesses. Whalen, Harrison and Schnell have suggested Rutherford invited and cultivated opposition for publicity purposes in a bid to attract dispossessed members of society, and to convince members that persecution from the outside world was evidence of the truth of their struggle to serve God.[305] Watch Tower Society literature of the period directed that Witnesses should "never seek a controversy" nor resist arrest, but also advised members not to co-operate with police officers or courts that ordered them to stop preaching, and to prefer jail rather than pay fines.[306] Legal challenges[edit] Main article: Supreme Court cases involving Jehovah's Witnesses by country Several cases involving Jehovah's Witnesses have been heard by Supreme Courts throughout the world.[307] The cases generally relate to their right to practice their religion, displays of patriotism and military service, and blood transfusions.[308] In the United States, their persistent legal challenges prompted a series of state and federal court rulings that reinforced judicial protections for civil liberties.[309] Among the rights strengthened by Witness court victories in the United States are the protection I edit Rakkyo Ide ?????? Hikaru Ijuin ???? Chosuke Ikariya ?????? Koji Imada ???? Ima Ikuyo Kuruyo ????•??? Impulse ????? Toshiyuki Itakura ???? Atsushi Tsutsumishita ??? Ma Inoue ???? Tatsuo Inoue ???? Instant Johnson ??????????? Inu ga Nya to Naita Hi ??????????? Ishibashi Hazama ??????? Yasushi Ishida ??? Rusher Itamae ??????? Asako Ito ?????? Esper Ito ?????? Itsumo Kokokara ??????? Kazunari Yamada ???? Hidenori Kikuchi ???? Shu Izumi ??? Izumo no Okuni ???? J edit Jalism ????? Atsumu Watanabe ??? Shigenori Yamashita ?????? Jelly Beans Collection ????????•?????? Jicho Kacho ???? Jun ichi Komoto ???? Satoshi Inoue ??? Tomonori Jinnai ???? Jipangu Joriku Sakusen ???????? Jishaku ?? Jodans ?????? Junction ??????? K edit Kankara ???? Kannazuki ??? Karateka ???? Karika ??? Kasaihochiki ????? kasumi kaho ????? Tsurutaro Kataoka ????? Cha Kato ??? Kunikazu Katsumata ???? Katsumi Sayuri ??????? Koeda Katsura ??? Sanshi Katsura ??? Utamaru Katsura ??? Zakoba Katsura ???? Yasushi Kawabata ???? Kunihiro Kawashima ???? Daido Kido Color ??????? Kigurumi Piero ??????? Kikaisenshi Shisso Boat ???? ???~? Koishi Kimi ????? Killing Sense ??????? Yuichi Kimura ?? ?? King of Comedy ????????? King Kong ?????? Yuta Kajiwara ???? Akihiro Nishino ???? Kirin ?? Knights ??? Nobuyuki Hanawa ??? Nobuyuki Tsuchiya ???? Kendo Kobayashi ???????? Yoshio Kojima ????? Kokoriko ???? Shozo Endo ???? Naoki Tanaka ???? Keita Komera ????? Koga Gaku iGP Manager Driver World Champion Kojima Yoshio ????? Kometsubu Shakyo ???? Koumedayu ???? Kukurin ???? Masashi Kumada ?????? Kazuo Kuwabara ???? Kuwabata Ohara ??????? Rie Kuwabata ????? Seiko Ohara ???? Nobuyoshi Kuwano ???? Kyain ???~? Hiroyuki Amano ?????? Udo Suzuki ???? KYAN×KYAN ???×??? L edit Let s Go Sam biki ??????? Ralph A Vaughn John B Veihmeyer Victoria Vesna Edward F Vincent Michael Viner Milan Vuitch WMurray Waas Jude Waddy Alex Wagner Dan Walker politician William Douglas Wallach Ron Walters politician William Walton painter Aida Ward Ernie Warlick Lewis Warrington Medal of Honor Eugenia Washington George Corbin Washington Erasmus M Weaver Jr Walter Reed Weaver Charles F Wedderburn Richard Hanson Weightman Sumner Welles Spencer Wells Arthur L Welsh Alexa L Wesner Anne Wexler Arthur K Wheelock Jr Rosa Whitaker John C Whitcomb John White Louisiana politician Courtney Whitney Arthur Widmer Robert Wiedmaier Isabel Wilkerson Terrence Wilkins Alexander Williams Jr Edwin Williams Stephanie Williams Miss District of Columbia Dede Wilsey Ernest J Wilson III Yauco Spanish pronunciation '?auko is a city ciudad and municipality in southwestern Puerto Rico centered on the city of the same name Although the city is inland the municipality stretches to a southern coast facing the Caribbean Yauco is south of Maricao Lares and Adjuntas east of Sabana Grande and Guánica and west of Guayanilla The municipality has wards and the main city Yauco zona urbana Yauco Urban Zone It is both a principal city of the Yauco Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Ponce Yauco Coamo Combined Statistical Area According to the United States Census Bureau the population of Yauco in the year was persons decreasing to persons in a net loss of people or of its population Its land area is square kilometers with a population density of The urban zone accounted for of its inhabitants in the census Founded by Fernando Pacheco on February Yauco was a center for Corsican immigration to Puerto Rico in the th century due to its geographical similarity to their homeland Corsicans have contributed to many areas of life in Yauco particularly its coffee producing agriculture This has contributed to its nicknames of El Pueblo del Café City of Coffee and Los Corsos The Corsicans It is also known as La Capital Taína Taíno Capital after the native peoples of Puerto Rico Contents History th century Corsican immigration Intentona de Yauco Spanish–American War Geography Cityscape Barrios Tourism Landmarks and places of interest Economy Culture Festivals and events Government Atsushi Tamura ??? Ryo Tamura ??? Love Couple ?????? M edit Macha macha a k a Maja ?????? ?? Ken Maeda ??? Shinji Maggy ????? Paul Maki ???? Shinji Maki ??? Masuda Okada ?????? Keisuke Okada ???? Hidehiko Masuda ???? Kick Matsumoto ????? Kunihiro Matsumura ???? Bannai Matsuo ???? Messenger ??????? Tamotsu Kuroda ?? ? Masakazu Aihara ?? ?? Michael ???? Yasue Michi ????? Kenichi Mikawa ???? Yaji Minamino ???? Mizutama Reppu Tai ??????? Daisuke and Hanako Miyagawa ????•?? Monkikki ?????? Mori San chu ??? Kazuko Kurosawa ???? Tomoko Murakami ???? Miyuki Oshima ???? Moriman ???? Hisaya Morishige ???? Moro Moro oka ???? Mr Bald Mr ???? Mr Okure Mr ??? Shoji Murakami ?????? MYMY ???? Miyuki Tori ????? N edit Yakan Nabe ????? Takeshi Nadagi ???? Hidekazu Nagai ???? Pretty Nagashima ?????? Nagare Boshi ??? Nakagawake ??? Mari Nakajima ???? Koji Nakamoto ???? Nakata Kausu Button ?????•??? Kin ni kun Nakayama ???????? Kota Nakayama ???? Naname ° ??? ° Nankai Candies ????????? Ryota Yamasato ???? Shizuyo Yamasaki ???? Nasu Nakanishi ?????? Nasubi ??? Nego Six ?????? Neko Hiroshi ???? Neptune ?????? Jun Nagura ??? Taizo Harada ???? Ken Horiuchi ??? The Newspaper ?•???????? Nibun nogo ????? Ni cho Kenju ??? Nickelback ??????? Ninety Nine ???????? Takashi Okamura ???? Hiroyuki Yabe ???? Kiyoshi Nishikawa ????? Norio Nishikawa ????? NON STYLE ?????? Naoko Nozawa ???? O edit Takashi Obitani ???? Ogi Yahagi ????? Hiroaki Ogi ???? Ken Yahagi ??? Local Oka ????? Ijiri Okada ?????? Okami Shonen ?????? Oki Kodama Hibiki ?????•??? Ichiro Okuma ?????? Jimmy Onishi ????? Or Cs ???? Kayoko Okubo ?????? Yasuko Mitsu ura ???? Oriental Radio ????????? Atsuhiko Nakata ???? Shingo Fujimori ???? Othello ??? Tomoko Nakajima ???? Nahomi Matsushima ???? Oxygen ?????? Hideo Oyama ???? P edit Pa kkun Ma kkun ???????? Pakkun ???? Makkun ???? Patapata Mama ?????? Patch Work ?????? Punk Bu Bu ??????? Parachute Butai ???????? Peace ??? Zenji Peking ?????? Penalty ????? Wacky ???? Hide ?? Pink no Denwa ?????? Pirates ????? The Plan ?•??? Plus Minus ??????? POISON GIRL BAND Pu & Mu ??&?? Puppet Muppet ???????? R edit Rahmens ????? Jin Katagiri ??? Kentaro Kobayashi ????? Randys ?????? Razor Ramon ??????? Hard Gay a k a HG Masaki Sumitani ???????HG ???? Real Gay a k a RG Makoto Izubuchi ???????RG ??? Real Kidz ?????? Regular ????? Kota Matsumoto ???? Akihiro Nishikawa ???? REM Iro ??? Ritton Chosa dan ??????? Robert ???? Ryuji Akiyama ???? Hiroshi Yamamoto ??? Hiroyuki Baba ???? Rocket dan ????? Rookie Shin ichi ?????? Rokkotsu Mania R??? Route ??? Rozan ??? S edit Saburoku Monkeys °????? Sakai Kunio Toru ?????•??? Frankie Sakai ?????? Masaaki Sakai ??? Jiro Sakagami ???? Dandy Sakano ?????? Toshio Sakata ???? Sakamoto chan ????? Kazuyuki Sakuma ????? Sakurambo Booby ????????? Sambyoshi ??? Sampei ?? San yutei Enraku ????? San yutei Rakutaro ?????? Sandwich Man ????????? Savanna ???? Sayumi Hikari ???•??? Tsutomu Sekine ??? Sentaku Basami ??????? Shaka ??? Shampoo Hat ???????? Koidemizu ??? Tetsuji ??? Shanghai Doll ????? Rie Shibata ???? Ichinosuke Shimada ????? Shinsuke Shimada ???? Tamayo Shimada ???? Yohichi Shimada ???? Joji Shimaki ???? Akira Shimizu ?? ??? Ken Shimura ???? Shinagawa Shoji ???? Hiroshi Shinagawa ??? Tomoharu Shoji ???? Shio Kosho ????? Shizuru ??? Sho Hunting ??????? Nikaku Shofukutei ????? Shohei Shofukutei ????? Tsurube Shofukutei ????? Atom Shukugawa ????? Showa Noiru Koiru ?????•??? Slim Club ?????? Ken Maeda ??? ? Masanari Uchima ?? ?? Smiley Kikuchi ???????? Sonomanma Higashi ?????? Speed Wagon ??????? Jun Itoda ???? Kazuhiro Ozawa ???? Streak ????? Tomu Suetaka ???? Summers ???~? Kazuki Otake ???? Masakazu Mimura ?????? Shinji Suwa ???? T edit Saburo Taihei ?????? Shiro Taihei ????? Taizo ???? Taka and Toshi ??????? Junji Takada ???? Bu Takagi ???? Casey Takamine ?????? Takeshi Gundan ????? Take Tamori ??? Kei Tani ?? Tanoshingo ???? Kenji Tamura ?????? Tanaka Kosaka ???? Yoshie Tanoue ????? Masashi Tashiro ????? Tashiro ?? Danshi Tatekawa ???? Tekken ?? Tenshin ?? Tent ??? Tetsu and Tomo ??and?? TIM Red Yoshida ????? Golgo Matsumoto ????? Time Machine San go ??????? ? TKO Takehiro Kimoto ???? Takayuki Kinoshita ???? Tobi ishi Renkyu ???? George Tokoro ????? Tokyo Dynamite ???????? Tokyo ?? Cozy Tomita ?????? Tommys ???? Tonny Tani ???? Tomochika ?? Tomoike Nakabayashi ???? Tomonori Jinnai ???? Total Tenbosch ???????? The Touch ?•??? Minoru Torihada ??? Toro Salmon ?????? Oniyakko Tsubaki ??? Shiro Tsubuyaki ??????? Shigeo Tsujimoto ???? Edamame Tsumami ????? Tunnels ????? Takaaki Ishibashi ???? Norisuke Kinashi ???? Tutorial ??????? Tenjikunezumi ??? U edit Katsunori Uchiba ???? Hitoshi Ueki ??? Koichi Ukawa ???? Unabara Yasuyo Tomoko ?????•??? Yasuyo Unabara ????? Tomoko Unabara ????? Unbalance ?????? Ungirls ?????? Takushi Tanaka ???? Yoshiaki Yamane ???? UN JASH ??????? Ken Watabe ??? Kazuya Kojima ???? U ji Koji U??? Untouchable ???????? Hidetsugu Shibata ???? Hironari Yamazaki ???? Up down ?????? Takumi Takemori ??? Hiroki Abe ?? ?? U tchan Nan chan ?????????? Teruyoshi Uchimura ???? Kiyotaka Nanbara ???? Utopia ????? V edit Vickys ????? Viking ????? W edit Wagaya ??? Osamu Wakai ????? Warai Meshi ??? Y edit Hanako Yamada ???? Hosei Yamasaki ???? Passion Yara ??????? Yarusenasu ????? Yasei Bakudan ???? Yasu Kiyo ???? Yasushi Yokoyama ????? Kiyoshi Nishikawa ????? Shin nosuke Yasuo ????? Yasuda Dai Circus ??????? Yoiko ??? Masaru Hamaguchi ??? Shin ya Arino ???? Yokoyama Hot Brothers ?????????? Knock Yokoyama ????? Hiro Yoshida ???? Itoshi Yumeji ????? Yurioka Cho Tokkyu ??????Q Yutaro ????? Z edit Zenjiro ????? Idols male edit MR Chip Daiki Arioka Goro Inagaki Hikaru Yaotome Hiroki Uchi Jin Akanishi Jun Matsumoto Junnosuke Taguchi Junichi Okada Kanata Hongo Katori Shingo Kazunari Ninomiya Kazuya Kamenashi Kei Inoo Keiichiro Koyama Keita Tachibana Keito Okamoto Kimura Takuya Koichi Domoto Koike Teppei Kota Yabu Kusano Hironori Masahiro Nakai Masaki Aiba Ryutaro Morimoto Shingo Murakami Ryo Nishikido Ryohei Chiba Ryuichi Ogata Ryosuke Yamada Satoshi Ohno Shigeaki Kato Shingo Murakami Shintaro Morimoto Sho Sakurai Shota Yasuda Subaru Shibutani Takahisa Masuda Tanaka Koki Tatsuya Ueda Tsuyoshi Domoto Tsuyoshi Kusanagi Tomohisa Yamashita Toma Ikuta Yu Yokoyama Yuichi Nakamaru Yuma Nakayama Yuto Nakajima Yuuri Chinen Yuya Tegoshi Yuya Takaki Idols female edit Kanako Momota Shiori Tamai Ayaka Sasaki Momoka Ariyasu Reni Takagi Akiyama Rina Airi & Meiri Aya Ueto Koike Eiko Nakagawa Shoko Natsukawa Jun Uehara Takako Yamamoto Azusa Maeda Atsuko Oshima Yuko Itano Tomomi Chise Nakamura Haruna Iikubo Haruka Kudo Ayumi Ishida Masaki Sato Mizuki Fukumura Erina Ikuta Riho Sayashi Kanon Suzuki Umika Kawashima Sayumi Michishige Kusumi Koharu Erina Mano Aya Matsuura Yuki Kashiwagi Mayu Watanabe Jurina Matsui Rena Matsui Minami Takahashi Minami Minegishi Haruna Kojima Aki Takajo Mariko Shinoda Akimoto Sayaka Tomomi Kasai Rie Kitahara Rino Sashihara Models edit Aki Hoshino Riyo Mori Ebihara Yuri Fujiwara Norika Horiuchi Yoko Inoue Waka Mariya Nishiuchi May J Meisa Kuroki Oshikiri Moe Umemiya Anna Yamada Yu Josh Snow Kanata Hongo Tao Okamoto Suzuka Morita Oishi Megumi Musicians Singers male edit Eiichi Ohtaki Eikichi Yazawa Gackt Haruomi Hosono hide Hiromi Go Kiyoshiro Imawano Hideaki Tokunaga Hyde Kazumasa Oda Keisuke Kuwata Koshi Inaba Koji Tamaki Kyosuke Himuro Miyavi Noriyuki Makihara Ryuichi Sakamoto Saijo Hideki Takanori Nishikawa Tamio Okuda Tatsuya Ishii Tatsuro Yamashita Tomoyasu Hotei Toshi Kubota Toshiki Kadomatsu Yasuyuki Okamura Yoshiki Yosui Inoue Yukihiro Takahashi Musicians Singers female edit Ai Otsuka Ai Takahashi Aiko Kayo Akiko Wada Alisa Durbrow Angela Aki Anna Tsuchiya Airi Suzuki ARIA Asami Fujimura Aya Hirano Aya Matsuura Aya Ueto Ayaka Hirahara Ayaka Komatsu Ayaka Ayumi Hamasaki Ayumi Kinoshita Beni Arashiro Bonnie Pink Chiaki Kuriyama Chihiro Onitsuka Chisaki Hama Chitose Hajime Crystal Kay Erika Sawajiri Emi Hinouchi Emi Maria Emyli Garnet Crow Goto Maki Hagiwara Mai Halna Hikaru Nishida Hiro Hiroko Anzai Hiroko Shimabukuro hitomi Ikue Sakakibara Imai Eriko JASMINE JAMOSA Jhené Aiko Jun Natsukawa Junko Sakurada JYONGRI Kiyoe Yoshioka Kanako Enomoto Kanbe Miyuki Kanon Wakeshima Kawabe Chieco Kawase Tomoko Keiko Kitagawa Kia Sakara Kumi Koda Kusumi Koharu Lia Lisa Yamaguchi Maaya Sakamoto Maeda Atsuko May J Mari Amachi Masako Mori Meisa Kuroki Megumi Odaka Megumi Megumi Hayashibara Melody Mew Azama MiCHi Mihiro Taniguchi Miho Komatsu Miho Nakayama Miho Yoshioka Miki Fujimoto Miliyah Kato MINMI Miyu Sawai Mizuki Nana Momoe Yamaguchi Myco Mika Nakashima Namie Amuro Natsuyaki Miyabi Noriko Sakai Reina Tanaka Reon Kadena Ribbon Ryoko Hirosue Saori Minami Sayaka Sayumi Michishige Seiko Matsuda Shoko Nakagawa Takako Ohta Takako Uehara Thelma Aoyama Tomomi Itano Tsugunaga Momoko Utada Hikaru Waka Inoue Yui Yui Makino Yukiko Okada Yuko Ogura Yuna Ito Tarento edit Aya Ueto Becky Kazushige Nagashima Kano sisters Obi Tenaka Mina Fukui Momoiro Clover Z Actors edit Main article List of Japanese actors Eita Kamakari Kenta Fujiwara Tatsuya Ishihara Yujiro Ikuta Toma Matsudaira Ken Shun Oguri Ryuhei Matsuda Takeru Satoh Seto Koji Satoshi Tsumabuki Shota Matsuda Ken Watanabe A edit Hiroshi Abe Tsuyoshi Abe Asahi Uchida Aiba Hiroki Kazuyuki Aijima Show Aikawa Akanishi Jin Kousei Amano Anan Kenji Masanobu Ando Aoyama Sota Arai Hirofumi Hirofumi Araki Arata Asano Tadanobu Kai Ato Atsumi Kiyoshi B edit Ban Daisuke Bando Eiji C edit Sonny Chiba Shinichi Chiba Chishu Ryu D edit Tsuyoshi Domoto Koichi Domoto E edit Eita Eguchi Yosuke Endo Kenichi Enomoto Kenichi F edit Tatsuya Fuji Fujimoto Takahiro Fujioka Hiroshi Fujita Makoto Fujiwara Tatsuya Fukikoshi Mitsuru Seizo Fukumoto Fukuyama Masaharu Akira Fuse G edit H edit Takashi Hagino Hagiwara Masato Kento Handa Harada Yoshio Hideji Otaki Higashi Sonomanma Hirata Hiroaki Hiro Mizushima Hiroshi Tamaki Hiroya Matsumoto Takahiro Hojo Hongo Kanata Horie Kei Horiuchi Masami Shigeki Hosokawa I edit Ichikawa Raizo Ichikawa Utaemon Ikariya Chosuke Ikebe Ryo Ikuta Toma Inoue Mao Isaka Tatsuya Iseya Yusuke Renji Ishibashi Ishibashi Ryo Ishida Takuya Ishihara Yujiro Ishikura Saburo Atsushi Ito Shigeru Izumiya J edit K edit Takeshi Kaga Kagawa Teruyuki Kamenashi Kazuya Masaki Kaji Bando Kakitsu I Kenta Kamakari Yusuke Kamiji Ryunosuke Kamiki Ryuji Kamiyama Kaname Jun Miyuki Kanbe Kane Kosugi Kaneshiro Takeshi Mitsuru Karahashi Kenzie Taylor Tsurutaro Kataoka Kazuki Kato Katori Shingo Ryo Katsuji Kazama Morio Kazunari Ninomiya Kazuya Kamenashi Keaton Yamada Ken Watanabe Kenichi Matsuyama Kimura Takuya Kishi Yuji Shin Kishida Kitamura Eiki Takeshi Kitano Kobayashi Akira Kaoru Kobayashi Kobayashi Keiju Masahiro Kobayashi actor Masahiro Kobayashi director Kobayashi Nenji Koki Tanaka Koike Teppei Koyuki Yoshikazu Kotani Kubozuka Yousuke Kurata Yasuaki L edit M edit Maeda Atsuko Maruse Taro Masanobu Ando Masahiko Kondo Masuda Takahisa Matsuda Kenji Matsuda Ryuhei Matsuda Shota Ken Matsudaira Yusaku Matsuda Matsukata Hiroki Matsukawa Naruki Matsumoto Jun Kenichi Matsuyama Takashi Matsuyama Toshiro Mifune Akifumi Miura Miura Haruma Miura Tomokazu Miyaguchi Seiji Yuya Miyashita Miyavi Hiro Mizushima Ryoji Morimoto Morishige Hisaya Moriyama Mirai Motoki Masahiro Hiroaki Murakami Murata Kazumi N edit Anzu Nagai Nagase Masatoshi Akira Nagata Nagayama Takashi Nakadai Tatsuya Kiichi Nakai Nakai Masahiro Nakamaru Yuichi Katsuo Nakamura Yuichi Nakamura actor Yuichi Nakamura voice actor Narimiya Hiroki Nezu Jinpachi Nishida Toshiyuki Hidetoshi Nishijima Nishikido Ryo Nishimura Masahiko O edit Oda Yuji Joe Odagiri Ogata Ken Oguri Shun Suzuka Ohgo Oizumi You Masumi Okada Masi Oka Okochi Denjiro Okuchi Kengo Oshinari Shugo Osugi Ren P edit Q edit R edit Ryohei Odai Ryu Kohata S edit Saito Takumi Sakai Masato Sanada Hiroyuki Sandayu Dokumamushi Takashi Sasano Koichi Sato Sato Takeru Yuki Sato Kenta Satoi Kotaro Satomi Sawaki Tetsu Sawamura Ikki Seto Koji Jyoji Shibue Shimomoto Shiro Shimura Takashi Shin Koyamada Shinjiro Atae Shirota Yuu Shishido Jo Shoei Sorimachi Takashi Takamasa Suga Sugi Ryotaro Hiroki Suzuki Shogo Yamaguchi T edit Takizawa Hideaki Taguchi Tomorowo Taguchi Junnosuke Tak Sakaguchi Takahashi Hideki Takakura Ken Takaoka Sosuke Takashima Masahiro Takashima Masanobu Kaku Takashina Tetsuya Takeda Takenaka Naoto Takenouchi Yutaka Takeshi Kaneshiro Tamba Tetsuro Tamba Yoshitaka Tamayama Tetsuji Tamura Masakazu Ryo Tamura Tanabe Seiichi


abby-lane abby-rode abigail-clayton ada-tauler addie-juniper addison-cain adele-wiesenthal adeline-lange adeline-pollicina adriana-amante adrianna-laurenti adrianna-russo agnes agnes-ardant agnes-zalontai aimee-addison aisha-sun aja aleena-ferari alessandra-schiavo aletta-ocean alexandra-nice alexandria-cass alexa-parks alex-dane alex-foxe alexia-knight alexis-devell alexis-firestone alexis-greco alexis-payne alexis-x alex-storm alex-white aliana-love alice-springs alicia-alighatti alicia-monet alicia-rio alicyn-sterling alighiera-olena ali-moore aline-santos alissa-ashley allysin-chaynes alysin-embers alyssa-love alyssa-reece amanda-addams amanda-blake amanda-blue amanda-jane-adams amanda-rae amanda-stone amanda-tyler amber-hunt amberlina-lynn amber-lynn amber-michaels amber-peach amber-wild amber-woods ambrosia-fox amia-miley ami-rodgers amy-allison amy-brooke amy-rose amy-starz anastasia-christ anastasia-sands andrea-adams andrea-brittian andrea-lange andrea-true andy angel angela-baron angela-summers angel-barrett angel-cash angel-cruz angel-cummings angel-ducharme angelica-sin angelika-reschner angelina-brasini angelina-korrs angelina-valentine angel-kelly angel-long angel-west angie-knight anita-andic anita-blond anita-cannibal anita-dark anna-belle anna-malle anna-nikova anna-pierce anna-ventura anna-veruska anne-bie-warburg anne-libert anne-magle anne-sand annette-haven annie-sprinkle ann-kiray ann-marie-michelle antonia-dorian april-flowers april-may april-west arcadia-lake ariana-bali ariana-jollee arlana-blue ashley-anne ashley-brooks ashley-coda ashley-fires ashley-lauren ashley-long ashley-marie ashley-nicole ashley-perk ashley-renee ashley-robbins ashley-welles ashley-wells ashley-winger ashlyn-gere astrid-bone athena-star aubrey-nichols aurora aurora-snow autumn-bliss autumn-rayne ava-devine ava-lauren avalon ava-marteens avy-lee-roth bailey-monroe bambi-allen barbara-bourbon barbara-boutet barbara-dare barbara-doll barbara-moose barbarella 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christine-black christine-chavert christine-neona christine-rigoler christy-canyon cicciolina cindi-stephens cindy-carver cindy-crawford cindy-more cindy-shepard cindy-wong cinthya-marinho clair-dia claire-robbins claude-janna claudia-jackson claudia-jamsson claudia-mehringer claudia-nero claudia-van-statt claudia-zante claudine-beccarie clea-carson cleo-nichole cleo-patra cody-lane cody-love cody-nicole coffee-brown colleen-brennan connie-bennett connie-peterson constance-money copper-penny coreena corey-everson corinne-lemoine corneliah cory-everson cory-wolf courtney courtney-cummz courtney-james cris-cassidy crissy-moran cris-taliana crystal-breeze crystal-dawn crystal-holland crystal-knight crystal-lake crystal-lovin crystal-sync csilla-kalnay cuban-bee cynara-fox cyndee-summers cynthia-black cynthia-brooks cynthia-hammers cynthia-lavigne dagmar-lost daisy-layne dallas-miko dana-dylan dana-lynn danica-rhea daniela-nanou daniela-schiffer daniele-troeger daniella daniella-schiffer 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kapri-styles kara-nox karen-summer kari-foxx karine-gambier karin-schubert karli-sweet karmen-kennedy karol-castro kascha kassi-nova kat kate-frost kate-jones kathia-nobili kathleen-gentry kathleen-white kathy-divan kathy-harcourt kathy-heart kathy-kash katie-cummings katja-love kat-langer katrina-isis katrina-kraven katy-borman katy-caro kaycee-dean kayla-kupcakes kay-parker k-c-valentine keama-kim keira-moon keisha keli-richards kelli-tyler kelly-adams kelly-blue kelly-broox kelly-hearn kelly-kay kelly-kline kelly-nichols kelly-royce kelly-skyline kendra-kay kenzi-marie keri-windsor ketthy-divan kianna-dior kiley-heart kim-alexis kimber-blake kimberly-carson kimberly-kane kimberly-kyle kim-de-place kim-holland kimi-gee kimkim-de kim-kitaine kimmie-lee kimmy-nipples kina-kara kira-eggers kira-red kirsty-waay kitty-langdon kitty-lynxxx kitty-marie kitty-shayne kitty-yung kora-cummings kris-lara krista-lane krista-maze kristara-barrington kristarah-knight kristi-klenot kristina-blonde 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of religious conduct from federal and state interference, the right to abstain from patriotic rituals and military service, the right of patients to refuse medical treatment, and the right to engage in public discourse.[310] Similar cases in their favor have been heard in Canada.[311] Criticism and controversy[edit] Christianity[note 1] is an Abrahamic monotheistic[1] religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ as presented in the New Testament. Christianity is the world's largest religion,[2][3][4] with over 2.4 billion adherents,[5][6][7][8][note 2] known as Christians.[note 3] Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God and the savior of humanity whose coming as Christ or the Messiah was prophesied in the Old Testament.[9] Christian theology is expressed in ecumenical creeds. These professions of faith state that Jesus suffered, died, was buried, and was resurrected from the dead, in order to grant eternal life to those who believe in him and trust in him for the remission of their sins. The creeds further maintain that Jesus bodily ascended into heaven, where he reigns with God the Father, and that he will return to judge the living and dead and grant eternal life to his followers. His ministry, crucifixion and resurrection are often referred to as "the gospel", meaning "good news".[note 4] The term gospel also refers to written accounts of Jesus's life and teaching, four of which—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—are considered canonical and included in Christian Bibles. Christianity began as a Second Temple Judaic sect in the mid-1st century.[10][11] Originating in Judea, it quickly spread to Europe, Syria, Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, Egypt, Ethiopia, and India and by the end of the 4th century had become the official state church of the Roman Empire.[12][13][14] Following the Age of Discovery, Christianity spread to the Americas, Australasia, sub-Saharan Africa, and the rest of the world through missionary work and colonization.[15][16][17] Christianity has played a prominent role in the shaping of Western civilization.[18][19][20][21][22] Worldwide, the three largest branches of Christianity are the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church and the various denominations of Protestantism. The Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox patriarchates split from one another in the schism of the 11th century; Protestantism came into existence in the Reformation of the 16th century, splitting from the Roman Catholic Church.[23] Contents [hide] 1 Beliefs 1.1 Creeds 1.2 Jesus 1.3 Salvation 1.4 Trinity 1.5 Scriptures 1.6 Eschatology 2 Worship 2.1 Sacraments 2.2 Liturgical calendar 2.3 Symbols 2.4 Baptism 2.5 Prayer 3 History 3.1 Early Church and Christological Councils 3.2 Early Middle Ages 3.3 High and Late Middle Ages 3.4 Protestant Reformation and Counter-Reformation 3.5 Post-Enlightenment 4 Demographics 5 Major denominations 5.1 Catholic 5.2 Orthodox 5.3 Protestant 5.4 Restorationists and others 6 Christian culture 7 Ecumenism 8 Criticism and apologetics 9 See also 10 Notes 11 References 11.1 Bibliography 12 Further reading 13 External links Beliefs There are many important differences of interpretation and opinion of the Bible on which Christianity is based.[24] Because of these irreconcilable differences in theology and a lack of consensus on the core tenets of what defines Christianity, Protestants, Catholics and Orthodox church members and theologians often deny that members of other branches are Christians.[25] Creeds Main article: Creeds Wikisource has original text related to this article: Apostles' Creed Wikisource has original text related to this article: Nicene Creed Concise doctrinal statements or confessions of religious beliefs are known as creeds (from Latin credo, meaning "I believe"). They began as baptismal formulae and were later expanded during the Christological controversies of the 4th and 5th centuries to become statements of faith. Many evangelical Protestants reject creeds as definitive statements of faith, even while agreeing with some or all of the substance of the creeds. The Baptists have been non-creedal "in that they have not sought to establish binding authoritative confessions of faith on one another."[26]:p.111 Also rejecting creeds are groups with roots in the Restoration Movement, such as the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), the Evangelical Christian Church in Canada and the Churches of Christ.[27][28]:14–15[29]:123 An Eastern Christian icon depicting Emperor Constantine and the Fathers of the First Council of Nicaea (325) as holding the Niceno–Constantinopolitan Creed of 381 The Apostles' Creed remains the most popular statement of the articles of Christian faith which are generally acceptable to most Christian denominations that are creedal. It is widely used by a number of Christian denominations for both liturgical and catechetical purposes, most visibly by liturgical Churches of Western Christian tradition, including the Latin Church of the Catholic Church, Lutheranism, Anglicanism, and Western Rite Orthodoxy. It is also used by Presbyterians, Methodists, and Congregationalists. This particular creed was developed between the 2nd and 9th centuries. Its central doctrines are those of the Trinity and God the Creator. Each of the doctrines found in this creed can be traced to statements current in the apostolic period. The creed was apparently used as a summary of Christian doctrine for baptismal candidates in the churches of Rome.[30] Its main points include: belief in God the Father, Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the Holy Spirit the death, descent into hell, resurrection, and ascension of Christ the holiness of the Church and the communion of saints Christ's second coming, the Day of Judgement and salvation of the faithful. The Nicene Creed, largely a response to Arianism, was formulated at the Councils of Nicaea and Constantinople in 325 and 381 respectively[31][32] and ratified as the universal creed of Christendom by the First Council of Ephesus in 431.[33] The Chalcedonian Definition, or Creed of Chalcedon, developed at the Council of Chalcedon in 451,[34] though rejected by the Oriental Orthodox Churches,[35] taught Christ "to be acknowledged in two natures, inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably": one divine and one human, and that both natures, while perfect in themselves, are nevertheless also perfectly united into one person.[36] The Athanasian Creed, received in the Western Church as having the same status as the Nicene and Chalcedonian, says: "We worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity; neither confounding the Persons nor dividing the Substance."[37] Most Christians (Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Protestants alike) accept the use of creeds, and subscribe to at least one of the creeds mentioned above.[38] Jesus Various depictions of Jesus Main articles: Christ, Christian views of Jesus and Christology See also: Jesus Christ in comparative mythology The central tenet of Christianity is the belief in Jesus as the Son of God and the Messiah (Christ). Christians believe that Jesus, as the Messiah, was anointed by God as savior of humanity, and hold that Jesus' coming was the fulfillment of messianic prophecies of the Old Testament. The Christian concept of the Messiah differs significantly from the contemporary Jewish concept. The core Christian belief is that through belief in and acceptance of the death and resurrection of Jesus, sinful humans can be reconciled to God and thereby are offered salvation and the promise of eternal life.[39] While there have been many theological disputes over the nature of Jesus over the earliest centuries of Christian history, generally Christians believe that Jesus is God incarnate and "true God and true man" (or both fully divine and fully human). Jesus, having become fully human, suffered the pains and temptations of a mortal man, but did not sin. As fully God, he rose to life again. According to the Bible,God raised him from the dead,[40] he ascended to heaven, is seated at the right hand of the Father[41] and will ultimately return[Acts 1:9–11] to fulfill the rest of Messianic prophecy such as the Resurrection of the dead, the Last Judgment and final establishment of the Kingdom of God. According to the canonical gospels of Matthew and Luke, Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born from the Virgin Mary. Little of Jesus' childhood is recorded in the canonical Gospels, however infancy Gospels were popular in antiquity. In comparison, his adulthood, especially the week before his death, is well documented in the Gospels contained within the New Testament, because that part of his life was believed to be most important. The Biblical accounts of Jesus' ministry include: his baptism, miracles, preaching, teaching, and deeds. Death and resurrection Main articles: Crucifixion of Jesus and Resurrection of Jesus Crucifixion, representing the death of Jesus on the Cross, painting by Diego Velázquez, 17th century Christians consider the resurrection of Jesus to be the cornerstone of their faith (see 1 Corinthians 15) and the most important event in history.[42] Among Christian beliefs, the death and resurrection of Jesus are two core events on which much of Christian doctrine and theology is based.[43][44] According to the New Testament Jesus was crucified, died a physical death, was buried within a tomb, and rose from the dead three days later.[Jn. 19:30–31] [Mk. 16:1] [16:6] The New Testament mentions several resurrection appearances of Jesus on different occasions to his twelve apostles and disciples, including "more than five hundred brethren at once",[1Cor 15:6] before Jesus' Ascension to heaven. Jesus' death and resurrection are commemorated by Christians in all worship services, with special emphasis during Holy Week which includes Good Friday and Easter Sunday. The death and resurrection of Jesus are usually considered the most important events in Christian theology, partly because they demonstrate that Jesus has power over life and death and therefore has the authority and power to give people eternal life.[45] Christian churches accept and teach the New Testament account of the resurrection of Jesus with very few exceptions.[46] Some modern scholars use the belief of Jesus' followers in the resurrection as a point of departure for establishing the continuity of the historical Jesus and the proclamation of the early church.[47] Some liberal Christians do not accept a literal bodily resurrection,[48][49] seeing the story as richly symbolic and spiritually nourishing myth. Arguments over death and resurrection claims occur at many religious debates and interfaith dialogues.[50] Paul the Apostle, an early Christian convert and missionary, wrote, "If Christ was not raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your trust in God is useless."[1Cor 15:14] [51] Salvation Main article: Salvation (Christianity) Paul the Apostle, like Jews and Roman pagans of his time, believed that sacrifice can bring about new kinship ties, purity, and eternal life.[52] For Paul the necessary sacrifice was the death of Jesus: Gentiles who are "Christ's" are, like Israel, descendants of Abraham and "heirs according to the promise".[Gal. 3:29] [53] The God who raised Jesus from the dead would also give new life to the "mortal bodies" of Gentile Christians, who had become with Israel the "children of God" and were therefore no longer "in the flesh".[Rom. 8:9,11,16] [52] Modern Christian churches tend to be much more concerned with how humanity can be saved from a universal condition of sin and death than the question of how both Jews and Gentiles can be in God's family. According to both Catholic and Protestant doctrine, salvation comes by Jesus' substitutionary death and resurrection. The Catholic Church teaches that salvation does not occur without faithfulness on the part of Christians; converts must live in accordance with principles of love and ordinarily must be baptized.[54][55] Martin Luther taught that baptism was necessary for salvation, but modern Lutherans and other Protestants tend to teach that salvation is a gift that comes to an individual by God's grace, sometimes defined as "unmerited favor", even apart from baptism. Christians differ in their views on the extent to which individuals' salvation is pre-ordained by God. Reformed theology places distinctive emphasis on grace by teaching that individuals are completely incapable of self-redemption, but that sanctifying grace is irresistible.[56] In contrast Catholics, Orthodox Christians and Arminian Protestants believe that the exercise of free will is necessary to have faith in Jesus.[57] Trinity Main article: Trinity The Trinity is the belief that God is one God in three persons: the Father, the Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit Trinity refers to the teaching that the one God[1] comprises three distinct, eternally co-existing persons; the Father, the Son (incarnate in Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit. Together, these three persons are sometimes called the Godhead,[58][59][60] although there is no single term in use in Scripture to denote the unified Godhead.[61] In the words of the Athanasian Creed, an early statement of Christian belief, "the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, and yet there are not three Gods but one God".[62] They are distinct from another: the Father has no source, the Son is begotten of the Father, and the Spirit proceeds from the Father. Though distinct, the three persons cannot be divided from one another in being or in operation.[63] The Trinity is an essential doctrine of mainstream Christianity. From earlier than the times of the Nicene Creed, 325 CE, Christianity advocated[64] the triune mystery-nature of God as a normative profession of faith. According to Roger E. Olson and Christopher Hall, through prayer, meditation, study and practice, the Christian community concluded "that God must exist as both a unity and trinity", codifying this in ecumenical council at the end of the 4th century.[65] [66] According to this doctrine, God is not divided in the sense that each person has a third of the whole; rather, each person is considered to be fully God (see Perichoresis). The distinction lies in their relations, the Father being unbegotten; the Son being begotten of the Father; and the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father and (in Western Christian theology) from the Son. Regardless of this apparent difference, the three "persons" are each eternal and omnipotent. Other Christian religions including Unitarian Universalism, Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormonism and others do not share those views on the Trinity. The word trias, from which trinity is derived, is first seen in the works of Theophilus of Antioch. He wrote of "the Trinity of God (the Father), His Word (the Son) and His Wisdom (Holy Spirit)".[67] The term may have been in use before this time. Afterwards it appears in Tertullian.[68][69] In the following century the word was in general use. It is found in many passages of Origen.[70] Trinitarians Main article: Trinitarianism Trinitarianism denotes those Christians who believe in the concept of the Trinity. Almost all Christian denominations and Churches hold Trinitarian beliefs. Although the words "Trinity" and "Triune" do not appear in the Bible, theologians beginning in the 3rd century developed the term and concept to facilitate comprehension of the New Testament teachings of God as Father, God as Jesus the Son, and God as the Holy Spirit. Since that time, Christian theologians have been careful to emphasize that Trinity does not imply three gods, nor that each member of the Trinity is one-third of an infinite God; Trinity is defined as one God in three Persons.[71] Nontrinitarians Main article: Nontrinitarianism Nontrinitarianism refers to theology that rejects the doctrine of the Trinity. Various nontrinitarian views, such as adoptionism or modalism, existed in early Christianity, leading to the disputes about Christology.[72] Nontrinitarianism later appeared again in the Gnosticism of the Cathars in the 11th through 13th centuries, and by groups with Unitarian theology in the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century,[73] and in the Age of Enlightenment of the 18th century, and in some groups arising during the Second Great Awakening of the 19th century. Scriptures Main articles: Bible and Development of the Christian Biblical canon The Bible is sacred in Christianity Christianity, like other religions, has adherents whose beliefs and biblical interpretations vary. Christianity regards the biblical canon, the Old Testament and the New Testament, as the inspired word of God. The traditional view of inspiration is that God worked through human authors so that what they produced was what God wished to communicate. The Greek word referring to inspiration in 2 Timothy 3:16 is theopneustos, which literally means "God-breathed".[74] Some believe that divine inspiration makes our present Bibles inerrant. Others claim inerrancy for the Bible in its original manuscripts, although none of those are extant. Still others maintain that only a particular translation is inerrant, such as the King James Version.[75][76][77] Another closely related view is Biblical infallibility or limited inerrancy, which affirms that the Bible is free of error as a guide to salvation, but may include errors on matters such as history, geography or science. The books of the Bible accepted by the Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant churches vary somewhat, with Jews accepting only the Hebrew Bible as canonical; there is however substantial overlap. These variations are a reflection of the range of traditions, and of the councils that have convened on the subject. Every version of the Old Testament always includes the books of the Tanakh, the canon of the Hebrew Bible. The Catholic and Orthodox canons, in addition to the Tanakh, also include the Deuterocanonical Books as part of the Old Testament. These books appear in the Septuagint, but are regarded by Protestants to be apocryphal. However, they are considered to be important historical documents which help to inform the understanding of words, grammar and syntax used in the historical period of their conception. Some versions of the Bible include a separate Apocrypha section between the Old Testament and the New Testament.[78] The New Testament, originally written in Koine Greek, contains 27 books which are agreed upon by all churches. Modern scholarship has raised many issues with the Bible. While the Authorized King James Version is held to by many because of its striking English prose, in fact it was translated from the Erasmus Greek Bible which in turn "was based on a single 12th Century manuscript that is one of the worst manuscripts we have available to us".[79] Much scholarship in the past several hundred years has gone into comparing different manuscripts in order to reconstruct the original text. Another issue is that several books are considered to be forgeries. The injunction that women "be silent and submissive" in 1 Timothy 12[80] is thought by many to be a forgery by a follower of Paul, a similar phrase in 1 Corinthians 14,[81] which is thought to be by Paul, appears in different places in different manuscripts and is thought to originally be a margin note by a copyist.[79] Other verses in 1 Corinthians, such as 1 Corinthians 11:2–16 where women are instructed to wear a covering over their hair "when they pray or prophesies",[82] contradict this verse. A final issue with the Bible is the way in which books were selected for inclusion in the New Testament. Other Gospels have now been recovered, such as those found near Nag Hammadi in 1945, and while some of these texts are quite different from what Christians have been used to, it should be understood that some of this newly recovered Gospel material is quite possibly contemporaneous with, or even earlier than, the New Testament Gospels. The core of the Gospel of Thomas, in particular, may date from as early as 50 AD, and if so would provide an insight into the earliest gospel texts that underlie the canonical Gospels, texts that are mentioned in Luke 1:1–2. The Gospel of Thomas contains much that is familiar from the canonical Gospels—verse 113, for example ("The Father's Kingdom is spread out upon the earth, but people do not see it"),[83] is reminiscent of Luke 17:20–21[84][85]—and the Gospel of John, with a terminology and approach that is suggestive of what was later termed Gnosticism, has recently been seen as a possible response to the Gospel of Thomas, a text that is commonly labelled proto-Gnostic. Scholarship, then, is currently exploring the relationship in the Early Church between mystical speculation and experience on the one hand and the search for church order on the other, by analyzing new-found texts, by subjecting canonical texts to further scrutiny, and by an examination of the passage of New Testament texts to canonical status. Catholic and Orthodox interpretations St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City, the largest church in the world and a symbol of the Catholic Church. In antiquity, two schools of exegesis developed in Alexandria and Antioch. Alexandrine interpretation, exemplified by Origen, tended to read Scripture allegorically, while Antiochene interpretation adhered to the literal sense, holding that other meanings (called theoria) could only be accepted if based on the literal meaning.[86] Catholic theology distinguishes two senses of scripture: the literal and the spiritual.[87] The literal sense of understanding scripture is the meaning conveyed by the words of Scripture. The spiritual sense is further subdivided into: the allegorical sense, which includes typology. An example would be the parting of the Red Sea being understood as a "type" (sign) of baptism.[1Cor 10:2] the moral sense, which understands the scripture to contain some ethical teaching. the anagogical sense, which applies to eschatology, eternity and the consummation of the world Regarding exegesis, following the rules of sound interpretation, Catholic theology holds: the injunction that all other senses of sacred scripture are based on the literal[88][89] that the historicity of the Gospels must be absolutely and constantly held[90] that scripture must be read within the "living Tradition of the whole Church"[91] and that "the task of interpretation has been entrusted to the bishops in communion with the successor of Peter, the Bishop of Rome".[92] Protestant interpretation Protestants believe Martin Luther's basic beliefs against the Catholic Church: Sola scriptura (by Scripture alone), Sola fide (by faith alone), Sola gratia (by grace alone), Solus Christus (through Christ alone), and Soli Deo gloria (glory to God alone) Clarity of Scripture Protestant Christians believe that the Bible is a self-sufficient revelation, the final authority on all Christian doctrine, and revealed all truth necessary for salvation. This concept is known as sola scriptura.[93] Protestants characteristically believe that ordinary believers may reach an adequate understanding of Scripture because Scripture itself is clear (or "perspicuous"), because of the help of the Holy Spirit, or both. Martin Luther believed that without God's help Scripture would be "enveloped in darkness".[94] He advocated "one definite and simple understanding of Scripture".[94] John Calvin wrote, "all who refuse not to follow the Holy Spirit as their guide, find in the Scripture a clear light."[95] The Second Helvetic Confession, composed by the pastor of the Reformed church in Zürich (successor to Protestant reformer Zwingli) was adopted as a declaration of doctrine by most European Reformed churches.[96] Original intended meaning of Scripture Protestants stress the meaning conveyed by the words of Scripture, the historical-grammatical method.[97] The historical-grammatical method or grammatico-historical method is an effort in Biblical hermeneutics to find the intended original meaning in the text.[98] This original intended meaning of the text is drawn out through examination of the passage in light of the grammatical and syntactical aspects, the historical background, the literary genre as well as theological (canonical) considerations.[99] The historical-grammatical method distinguishes between the one original meaning and the significance of the text. The significance of the text includes the ensuing use of the text or application. The original passage is seen as having only a single meaning or sense. As Milton S. Terry said: "A fundamental principle in grammatico-historical exposition is that the words and sentences can have but one significance in one and the same connection. The moment we neglect this principle we drift out upon a sea of uncertainty and conjecture."[100] Technically speaking, the grammatical-historical method of interpretation is distinct from the determination of the passage's significance in light of that interpretation. Taken together, both define the term (Biblical) hermeneutics.[98] Some Protestant interpreters make use of typology.[101] Eschatology Main article: Christian eschatology The 7th-century Khor Virap monastery in the shadow of Mount Ararat. Armenia was the first state to adopt Christianity as the state religion, in AD 301.[102] The end of things, whether the end of an individual life, the end of the age, or the end of the world, broadly speaking is Christian eschatology; the study of the destiny of humans as it is revealed in the Bible. The major issues in Christian eschatology are the Tribulation, death and the afterlife, the Rapture, the Second Coming of Jesus, Resurrection of the Dead, Heaven and Hell, Millennialism, the Last Judgment, the end of the world, and the New Heavens and New Earth. Christians believe that the second coming of Christ will occur at the end of time after a period of severe persecution (the Great Tribulation). All who have died will be resurrected bodily from the dead for the Last Judgment. Jesus will fully establish the Kingdom of God in fulfillment of scriptural prophecies.[103][104] Death and afterlife Most Christians believe that human beings experience divine judgment and are rewarded either with eternal life or eternal damnation. This includes the general judgement at the resurrection of the dead as well as the belief (held by Roman Catholics,[105][106] Orthodox[107][108] and most Protestants) in a judgment particular to the individual soul upon physical death. In Roman Catholicism, those who die in a state of grace, i.e., without any mortal sin separating them from God, but are still imperfectly purified from the effects of sin, undergo purification through the intermediate state of purgatory to achieve the holiness necessary for entrance into God's presence.[109] Those who have attained this goal are called saints (Latin sanctus, "holy").[110] Some Christian groups, such as Seventh-day Adventists, hold to mortalism, the belief that the human soul is not naturally immortal, and is unconscious during the intermediate state between bodily death and resurrection. These Christians also hold to Annihilationism, the belief that subsequent to the final judgement, the wicked will cease to exist rather than suffer everlasting torment. Jehovah's Witnesses hold to a similar view.[111] Worship Main article: Christian worship See also: Mass (liturgy), Reformed worship and Contemporary worship Samples of Catholic religious objects—The Bible, a Crucifix, and a Rosary Justin Martyr described 2nd-century Christian liturgy in his First Apology (c. 150) to Emperor Antoninus Pius, and his description remains relevant to the basic structure of Christian liturgical worship: And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things. Then we all rise together and pray, and, as we before said, when our prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought, and the president in like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings, according to his ability, and the people assent, saying Amen; and there is a distribution to each, and a participation of that over which thanks have been given, and to those who are absent a portion is sent by the deacons. And they who are well to do, and willing, give what each thinks fit; and what is collected is deposited with the president, who succours the orphans and widows and those who, through sickness or any other cause, are in want, and those who are in bonds and the strangers sojourning among us, and in a word takes care of all who are in need. —?Justin Martyr[112] Thus, as Justin described, Christians assemble for communal worship on Sunday, the day of the resurrection, though other liturgical practices often occur outside this setting. Scripture readings are drawn from the Old and New Testaments, but especially the gospel accounts. Often these are arranged on an annual cycle, using a book called a lectionary. Instruction is given based on these readings, called a sermon, or homily. There are a variety of congregational prayers, including thanksgiving, confession, and intercession, which occur throughout the service and take a variety of forms including recited, responsive, silent, or sung. The Lord's Prayer, or Our Father, is regularly prayed. A modern Protestant worship band leading a contemporary worship session Some groups depart from this traditional liturgical structure. A division is often made between "High" church services, characterized by greater solemnity and ritual, and "Low" services, but even within these two categories there is great diversity in forms of worship. Seventh-day Adventists meet on Saturday, while others do not meet on a weekly basis. Charismatic or Pentecostal congregations may spontaneously feel led by the Holy Spirit to action rather than follow a formal order of service, including spontaneous prayer. Quakers sit quietly until moved by the Holy Spirit to speak. Some evangelical services resemble concerts with rock and pop music, dancing, and use of multimedia. For groups which do not recognize a priesthood distinct from ordinary believers the services are generally led by a minister, preacher, or pastor. Still others may lack any formal leaders, either in principle or by local necessity. Some churches use only a cappella music, either on principle (for example, many Churches of Christ object to the use of instruments in worship) or by tradition (as in Orthodoxy). Nearly all forms of churchmanship celebrate the Eucharist (Holy Communion), which consists of a consecrated meal. It is reenacted in accordance with Jesus' instruction at the Last Supper that his followers do in remembrance of him as when he gave his disciples bread, saying, "This is my body", and gave them wine saying, "This is my blood".[113] Some Christian denominations practice closed communion. They offer communion to those who are already united in that denomination or sometimes individual church. Catholics restrict participation to their members who are not in a state of mortal sin. Most other churches practice open communion since they view communion as a means to unity, rather than an end, and invite all believing Christians to participate. Worship can be varied for special events like baptisms or weddings in the service or significant feast days. In the early church, Christians and those yet to complete initiation would separate for the Eucharistic part of the worship. In many churches today, adults and children will separate for all or some of the service to receive age-appropriate teaching. Such children's worship is often called Sunday school or Sabbath school (Sunday schools are often held before rather than during services). Sacraments Main article: Sacrament See also: Sacraments of the Catholic Church, Anglican sacraments and Lutheran sacraments 2nd-century description of the Eucharist And this food is called among us Eukaristia [the Eucharist], of which no one is allowed to partake but the man who believes that the things which we teach are true, and who has been washed with the washing that is for the remission of sins, and unto regeneration, and who is so living as Christ has enjoined. For not as common bread and common drink do we receive these; but in like manner as Jesus Christ our Savior, having been made flesh by the Word of God, had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so likewise have we been taught that the food which is blessed by the prayer of His word, and from which our blood and flesh by transmutation are nourished, is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was made flesh. Justin Martyr[112] In Christian belief and practice, a sacrament is a rite, instituted by Christ, that mediates grace, constituting a sacred mystery. The term is derived from the Latin word sacramentum, which was used to translate the Greek word for mystery. Views concerning both what rites are sacramental, and what it means for an act to be a sacrament vary among Christian denominations and traditions.[114] The most conventional functional definition of a sacrament is that it is an outward sign, instituted by Christ, that conveys an inward, spiritual grace through Christ. The two most widely accepted sacraments are Baptism and the Eucharist (or Holy Communion), however, the majority of Christians also recognize five additional sacraments: Confirmation (Chrismation in the Orthodox tradition), Holy orders (ordination), Penance (or Confession), Anointing of the Sick, and Matrimony (see Christian views on marriage).[114] Taken together, these are the Seven Sacraments as recognized by churches in the High Church tradition—notably Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Independent Catholic, Old Catholic, many Anglicans, and some Lutherans. Most other denominations and traditions typically affirm only Baptism and Eucharist as sacraments, while some Protestant groups, such as the Quakers, reject sacramental theology.[114] Christian denominations, such as Baptists, which believe these rites do not communicate grace, prefer to call Baptism and Holy Communion ordinances rather than sacraments. A Methodist minister celebrating the Holy Eucharist Infant baptism in the Lutheran tradition Ordination of a priest in the Eastern Orthodox tradition Liturgical calendar Main article: Liturgical year See also: Calendar of saints A depiction of the Nativity with a Christmas tree backdrop. Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Eastern Christians, and traditional Protestant communities frame worship around the liturgical year. The liturgical cycle divides the year into a series of seasons, each with their theological emphases, and modes of prayer, which can be signified by different ways of decorating churches, colours of paraments and vestments for clergy,[115] scriptural readings, themes for preaching and even different traditions and practices often observed personally or in the home. Western Christian liturgical calendars are based on the cycle of the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church,[115] and Eastern Christians use analogous calendars based on the cycle of their respective rites. Calendars set aside holy days, such as solemnities which commemorate an event in the life of Jesus or Mary, the saints, periods of fasting such as Lent, and other pious events such as memoria or lesser festivals commemorating saints. Christian groups that do not follow a liturgical tradition often retain certain celebrations, such as Christmas, Easter and Pentecost: these are the celebrations of Christ's birth, resurrection and the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Church, respectively. A few denominations make no use of a liturgical calendar.[116] Symbols Main article: Christian symbolism The cross and the fish are two common symbols of Jesus Christ. The letters of the Greek word ??T?S Ichthys (fish) form an acronym for "??s??? ???st??, Te?? ????, S?t??", which translates into English as "Jesus Christ, God's Son, Savior". Christianity has not generally practiced aniconism, or the avoidance or prohibition of types of images, even if the early Jewish Christians sects, as well as some modern denominations, preferred to some extent not to use figures in their symbols, by invoking the Decalogue's prohibition of idolatry. The cross, which is today one of the most widely recognized symbols in the world, was used as a Christian symbol from the earliest times.[117][118] Tertullian, in his book De Corona, tells how it was already a tradition for Christians to trace repeatedly on their foreheads the sign of the cross.[119] Although the cross was known to the early Christians, the crucifix did not appear in use until the 5th century.[120] Among the symbols employed by the primitive Christians, that of the fish or Ichthys seems to have ranked first in importance. From monumental sources such as tombs it is known that the symbolic fish was familiar to Christians from the earliest times. The fish was depicted as a Christian symbol in the first decades of the 2nd century.[121] Its popularity among Christians was due principally, it would seem, to the famous acrostic consisting of the initial letters of five Greek words forming the word for fish (Ichthys), which words briefly but clearly described the character of Christ and the claim to worship of believers: Iesous Christos Theou Yios Soter (??s??? ???st??, Te?? ????, S?t??), meaning, Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior.[121] Other major Christian symbols include the chi-rho monogram, the dove (symbolic of the Holy Spirit), the sacrificial lamb (symbolic of Christ's sacrifice), the vine (symbolizing the necessary connectedness of the Christian with Christ) and many others. These all derive from writings found in the New Testament.[120] Baptism Francesco Albani's The Baptism of Christ Baptism is the ritual act, with the use of water, by which a person is admitted to membership of the Church. Beliefs on baptism vary among denominations. Differences occur firstly, on whether the act has any spiritual significance, some churches hold to the doctrine of Baptismal Regeneration, which affirms that baptism creates or strengthens a person's faith, and is intimately linked to salvation, this view is held by Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches as well as Lutherans and Anglicans, while others simply acknowledge it as a purely symbolic act, an external public declaration of the inward change which has taken place in the person. Secondly, there are differences of opinion on the methodology of the act. These methods being: Baptism by Immersion; if immersion is total, Baptism by Submersion; and Baptism by Affusion (pouring) and Baptism by Aspersion (sprinkling). Those who hold the first view may also adhere to the tradition of Infant Baptism;[122] the Orthodox Churches all practice infant baptism and always baptize by total immersion repeated three times in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.[123][124] Prayer Main article: Prayer in Christianity Jesus' teaching on prayer in the Sermon on the Mount displays a distinct lack of interest in the external aspects of prayer. A concern with the techniques of prayer is condemned as 'pagan', and instead a simple trust in God's fatherly goodness is encouraged.[Mat. 6:5–15] Elsewhere in the New Testament this same freedom of access to God is also emphasized.[Phil. 4:6][Jam. 5:13–19] This confident position should be understood in light of Christian belief in the unique relationship between the believer and Christ through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.[125] In subsequent Christian traditions, certain physical gestures are emphasized, including medieval gestures such as genuflection or making the sign of the cross. Kneeling, bowing and prostrations (see also poklon) are often practiced in more traditional branches of Christianity. Frequently in Western Christianity the hands are placed palms together and forward as in the feudal commendation ceremony. At other times the older orans posture may be used, with palms up and elbows in. Intercessory prayer is prayer offered for the benefit of other people. There are many intercessory prayers recorded in the Bible, including prayers of the Apostle Peter on behalf of sick persons[Acts 9:40] and by prophets of the Old Testament in favor of other people.[1Ki 17:19–22] In the New Testament book of James no distinction is made between the intercessory prayer offered by ordinary believers and the prominent Old Testament prophet Elijah.[Jam 5:16–18] The effectiveness of prayer in Christianity derives from the power of God rather than the status of the one praying.[125] The ancient church, in both Eastern Christianity and Western Christianity, developed a tradition of asking for the intercession of (deceased) saints, and this remains the practice of most Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and some Anglican churches. Churches of the Protestant Reformation however rejected prayer to the saints, largely on the basis of the sole mediatorship of Christ.[126] The reformer Huldrych Zwingli admitted that he had offered prayers to the saints until his reading of the Bible convinced him that this was idolatrous.[127] According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church: "Prayer is the raising of one's mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God."[128] The Book of Common Prayer in the Anglican tradition is a guide which provides a set order for church services, containing set prayers, scripture readings, and hymns or sung Psalms. History Main articles: History of Christianity and Origins of Christianity Early Church and Christological Councils Chapel of Saint Ananias, Damascus, Syria, an early example of a Christian house of worship; built in the 1st century AD An early circular ichthys symbol, created by combining the Greek letters ??T?S into a wheel. Ephesus, Asia Minor. Kadisha Valley, Lebanon, home to some of the earliest Christian monasteries in the world. Main articles: Early Christianity and First seven Ecumenical Councils Christianity began as a Jewish sect in the Levant of the middle east in the mid-1st century. Other than Second Temple Judaism, the primary religious influences of early Christianity are Zoroastrianism and Gnosticism.[note 3][10][11] John Bowker states that Christian ideas such as "angels, the end of the world, a final judgment, the resurrection, and heaven and hell received form and substance from ... Zoroastrian beliefs".[129] Its earliest development took place under the leadership of the Twelve Apostles, particularly Saint Peter and Paul the Apostle, followed by the early bishops, whom Christians consider the successors of the Apostles. According to the Christian scriptures, Christians were from the beginning subject to persecution by some Jewish and Roman religious authorities, who disagreed with the apostles' teachings (See Split of early Christianity and Judaism). This involved punishments, including death, for Christians such as Stephen[Acts 7:59] and James, son of Zebedee.[Acts 12:2] Larger-scale persecutions followed at the hands of the authorities of the Roman Empire, first in the year 64, when Emperor Nero blamed them for the Great Fire of Rome. According to Church tradition, it was under Nero's persecution that early Church leaders Peter and Paul of Tarsus were each martyred in Rome. Further widespread persecutions of the Church occurred under nine subsequent Roman emperors, most intensely under Decius and Diocletian. From the year 150, Christian teachers began to produce theological and apologetic works aimed at defending the faith. These authors are known as the Church Fathers, and study of them is called Patristics. Notable early Fathers include Ignatius of Antioch, Polycarp, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, and Origen. However, Armenia is considered the first nation to accept Christianity in 301 AD.[102][130][131] End of Roman persecution under Emperor Constantine (313 AD) An example of Byzantine pictorial art, the Deësis mosaic at the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. State persecution ceased in the 4th century, when Constantine I issued an edict of toleration in 313. On 27 February 380, Emperor Theodosius I enacted a law establishing Nicene Christianity as the state church of the Roman Empire.[132] From at least the 4th century, Christianity has played a prominent role in the shaping of Western civilization.[133] Constantine was also instrumental in the convocation of the First Council of Nicaea in 325, which sought to address the Arian heresy and formulated the Nicene Creed, which is still used by the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, Anglican Communion, and many Protestant churches.[38] Nicaea was the first of a series of Ecumenical (worldwide) Councils which formally defined critical elements of the theology of the Church, notably concerning Christology.[134] The Assyrian Church of the East did not accept the third and following Ecumenical Councils, and are still separate today. The presence of Christianity in Africa began in the middle of the 1st century in Egypt, and by the end of the 2nd century in the region around Carthage. Mark the Evangelist started the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria in about 43 AD.[135][136][137] Important Africans who influenced the early development of Christianity includes Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, Origen of Alexandria, Cyprian, Athanasius and Augustine of Hippo. The later rise of Islam in North Africa reduced the size and numbers of Christian congregations, leaving only the Coptic Church in Egypt, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church in the Horn of Africa, and the Nubian Church in the Sudan (Nobatia, Makuria, and Alodia). In terms of prosperity and cultural life, the Byzantine Empire was one of the peaks in Christian history and Orthodox civilization,[138] and Constantinople remained the leading city of the Christian world in size, wealth, and culture.[139] There was a renewed interest in classical Greek philosophy, as well as an increase in literary output in vernacular Greek.[140] Byzantine art and literature held a pre-eminent place in Europe, and the cultural impact of Byzantine art on the west during this period was enormous and of long lasting significance.[141] Early Middle Ages With the decline and fall of the Roman Empire in the west, the papacy became a political player, first visible in Pope Leo's diplomatic dealings with Huns and Vandals.[142] The church also entered into a long period of missionary activity and expansion among the various tribes. While Arianists instituted the death penalty for practicing pagans (see Massacre of Verden as example), Catholicism also spread among the Germanic peoples,[142] the Celtic and Slavic peoples, the Hungarians, and the Baltic peoples. Christianity has been an important part of the shaping of Western civilization, at least since the 4th century.[19][20][133] Around 500, St. Benedict set out his Monastic Rule, establishing a system of regulations for the foundation and running of monasteries.[142] Monasticism became a powerful force throughout Europe,[142] and gave rise to many early centers of learning, most famously in Ireland, Scotland and Gaul, contributing to the Carolingian Renaissance of the 9th century. In the 7th century Muslims conquered Syria (including Jerusalem), North Africa and Spain. Part of the Muslims' success was due to the exhaustion of the Byzantine empire in its decades long conflict with Persia.[143] Beginning in the 8th century, with the rise of Carolingian leaders, the papacy began to find greater political support in the Frankish Kingdom.[144] The Middle Ages brought about major changes within the church. Pope Gregory the Great dramatically reformed ecclesiastical structure and administration.[145] In the early 8th century, iconoclasm became a divisive issue, when it was sponsored by the Byzantine emperors. The Second Ecumenical Council of Nicaea (787) finally pronounced in favor of icons.[146] In the early 10th century, Western Christian monasticism was further rejuvenated through the leadership of the great Benedictine monastery of Cluny.[147] Hebraism, like Hellenism, has been an all-important factor in the development of Western Civilization; Judaism, as the precursor of Christianity, has indirectly had had much to do with shaping the ideals and morality of western nations since the Christian era.[20] High and Late Middle Ages Pope Urban II at the Council of Clermont, where he preached the First Crusade. In the west, from the 11th century onward, older cathedral schools developed into universities (see University of Oxford, University of Paris, and University of Bologna.) The traditional medieval universities—evolved from Catholic and Protestant church schools—then established specialized academic structures for properly educating greater numbers of students as professionals. Prof. Walter Rüegg, editor of A History of the University in Europe, reports that universities then only trained students to become clerics, lawyers, civil servants, and physicians.[148] Originally teaching only theology, universities steadily added subjects including medicine, philosophy and law, becoming the direct ancestors of modern institutions of learning.[149] The university is generally regarded as an institution that has its origin in the Medieval Christian setting.[150][151] Prior to the establishment of universities, European higher education took place for hundreds of years in Christian cathedral schools or monastic schools (Scholae monasticae), in which monks and nuns taught classes; evidence of these immediate forerunners of the later university at many places dates back to the 6th century AD.[152] Kato Tomosaburo – June August Military Navy Kato To — Died in office of natural causes During this interval Foreign Minister Uchida Kosai ?? ?? Uchida Kosai was the Acting Prime Minister Yamamoto Gonnohyoe ?? ??? Yamamoto Gonnohyoe – September January Military Navy Yamamoto II — Kiyoura Keigo ?? ?? Kiyoura Keigo – January June None Kiyoura Kato Takaaki ?? ?? Kato Takaaki – June August Kenseikai Kato Ta — August January Resigned after the “Grand Coalition of the Three Pro Constitution Parties” collapsed Kato was then reinvited by the Prince Regent to form a new government with his own party Kenseito Today however his second term is generally regarded as continuation of his first Died in office of natural causes During this interval Interior Minister Wakatsuki Reijiro ?? ??? Wakatsuki Reijiro was the Acting Prime Minister Wakatsuki Reijiro ?? ??? Wakatsuki Reijiro – January April Kenseikai Wakatsuki I — Prime Ministers during the Showa period – edit Under the Showa Emperor ? Prime Minister Term of office Political Party Government Elected Ref Portrait Name Took Office Left Office Days Tanaka Giichi ?? ?? Tanaka Giichi – April July Rikken Seiyukai Tanaka G Osachi Hamaguchi ?? ?? Hamaguchi Osachi – July April Rikken Minseito Hamaguchi Incapacitated due to serious wound from assassination plot on November Foreign Minister Shidehara Kijuro served as Deputy Prime Minister until Hamaguchi s return to the office on March Wakatsuki Reijiro ?? ??? Wakatsuki Reijiro – April December Rikken Minseito Wakatsuki II — Inukai Tsuyoshi ?? ? Inukai Tsuyoshi – December May Rikken Seiyukai Inukai Assassinated During this interval Finance Minister Takahashi Korekiyo ?? ?? Takahashi Korekiyo was the Acting Prime Minister Saito Makoto ?? ? Saito Makoto – May July Military Navy Saito — Keisuke Okada ?? ?? Okada Keisuke – July March Military Navy Okada Thought to be killed by renegade soldiers during the February Incident Interior Minister Goto Fumio served as Deputy Prime Minister until Okada was found alive on February Koki Hirota ?? ?? Hirota Koki – March February None Hirota — Senjuro Hayashi ? ??? Hayashi Senjuro – February June Military Army Hayashi Fumimaro Konoe ?? ?? Konoe Fumimaro – June January None Konoe I — Hiranuma Kiichiro ?? ??? Hiranuma Kiichiro – January August None Hiranuma — Nobuyuki Abe ?? ?? Abe Nobuyuki – August January Military Army Abe N — Mitsumasa Yonai ?? ?? Yonai Mitsumasa – January July Military Navy Yonai — Fumimaro Konoe ?? ?? Konoe Fumimaro – July July Taisei Yokusankai Konoe II — July October Konoe III — Hideki Tojo ?? ?? Tojo Hideki – October July Taisei Yokusankai Tojo Kuniaki Koiso ?? ?? Koiso Kuniaki – July April Military Army Koiso — Kantaro Suzuki ?? ??? Suzuki Kantaro – April August Taisei Yokusankai Suzuki K — Higashikuni Naruhiko ???? ?? ? Higashikuni no miya Naruhiko o – August October Imperial Family Higashikuni — The only member of the Imperial Family to serve as Prime Minister Kijuro Shidehara ?? ??? Shidehara Kijuro – October May None Shidehara — Shigeru Yoshida ?? ? Yoshida Shigeru – May May Japan Liberal Yoshida I Prime Ministers during the Showa period – edit Under the Showa Emperor ? Prime Minister Term of office Political Party Government Elected Ref Portrait Name Took Office Left Office Days Gen Coun Tetsu Katayama ?? ? Katayama Tetsu – Rep for Kanagawa rd May March JSP Nihon Shakaito Katayama JSP–DP–PCP Under Allied Occupation The first Prime Minister and the first socialist to serve as Prime Minister of Japan Member of Diet from to Formed a coalition government with the Democratic Party and the People s Cooperative Party Hitoshi Ashida ?? ? Ashida Hitoshi – Rep for Kyoto nd March October DP Minshuto Ashida DP–JSP–PCP — — Under Allied Occupation Ashida s cabinet resigned after seven months in office due to alleged ministerial corruption in the Showa Electric scandal Shigeru Yoshida ?? ? Yoshida Shigeru – Rep for Kochi At large October February DLP Minshu Jiyuto Yoshida II DLP — — February October Liberal Jiyuto Yoshida III Reshuffle DLP Lib –DP October May Yoshida IV Liberal — May December Yoshida V Liberal Under Allied Occupation until the Treaty of San Francisco came into force on April Developed the Yoshida Doctrine prioritising economic development and reliance on United States military protection Ichiro Hatoyama ?? ?? Hatoyama Ichiro – Rep for Tokyo st December March JDP Nihon Minshuto Hatoyama I I JDP — — March November Hatoyama I II JDP — November December LDP Jiminto Hatoyama I III LDP — — Rebuilt diplomatic ties with the Soviet Union Favored parole for some of the Class A war criminals who had been sentenced to life imprisonment at the Tokyo Trial Tanzan Ishibashi ?? ?? Ishibashi Tanzan – Rep for Shizuoka nd December February LDP Jiminto Ishibashi LDP — Incapacitated due to minor stroke on January Foreign Minister Kishi Nobusuke served as Deputy Prime Minister until February Nobusuke Kishi ? ?? Kishi Nobusuke – Rep for Yamaguchi st February June LDP Jiminto Kishi I Reshuffle LDP — — June July Kishi II Reshuffle LDP Hayato Ikeda ?? ?? Ikeda Hayato – Rep for Hiroshima nd July December LDP Jiminto Ikeda I LDP — — December December Ikeda II Reshuffle LDP December November Ikeda III Reshuffle LDP — Eisaku Sato ?? ?? Sato Eisaku – Rep for Yamaguchi nd November February LDP Jiminto Sato I Reshuffle LDP — February January Sato II Reshuffle LDP January July Sato III Reshuffle Kakuei Tanaka ?? ?? Tanaka Kakuei – Rep for Niigata rd July December LDP Jiminto Tanaka K I LDP — — December December Tanaka K II Reshuffle LDP — Takeo Miki ?? ?? Miki Takeo – Rep for Tokushima At large December December LDP Jiminto Miki Reshuffle LDP — Takeo Fukuda ?? ?? Fukuda Takeo – Rep for Gunma rd December December LDP Jiminto Fukuda T Reshuffle LDP Masayoshi Ohira ?? ?? Ohira Masayoshi – Rep for Kagawa nd December November LDP Jiminto Ohira I LDP — — November June Ohira II LDP — Died in office of natural causes During this interval Chief Cabinet Secretary Masayoshi Ito ?? ?? Ito Masayoshi was the Acting Prime Minister Zenko Suzuki ?? ?? Suzuki Zenko – Rep for Iwate st July November LDP Jiminto Suzuki Z Reshuffle LDP Yasuhiro Nakasone ??? ?? Nakasone Yasuhiro – Rep for Gunma rd November December LDP Jiminto Nakasone I LDP — — December July Nakasone II Reshuffle LDP–NLC July November Nakasone III LDP Noboru Takeshita ?? ? Takeshita Noboru – Rep for Shimane At large November June LDP Jiminto Takeshita Reshuffle LDP — — Prime Ministers during the Heisei period –present edit Under Emperor Akihito ? Prime Minister Term of office Political Party Government Elected Ref Portrait Name Took Office Left Office Days Gen Coun Sosuke Uno ?? ?? Uno Sosuke – Rep for Shiga At large June August LDP Jiminto Uno LDP — Soon after he was elected Prime Minister allegations arose that he had an extramarital relationship with a geisha which damaged his reputation and his party s performance in the House of Councillors election for which he resigned He died in Served as Minister of Defense Chief of the Science and Technology Agency – Chief of the Civil Administration Agency – Minister of Economy Trade and Industry and Minister for Foreign Affairs – Member of the Diet from to Toshiki Kaifu ?? ?? Kaifu Toshiki – Rep for Aichi rd August February LDP Jiminto Kaifu I LDP — — February November Kaifu II Reshuffle LDP — Defeated in he was the longest serving member of the lower house of the Diet and he was also the first former prime minister to be defeated at a re election since Served as Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary – Minister of Education – – Member of the Diet from to Kiichi Miyazawa ?? ?? Miyazawa Kiichi – Rep for Hiroshima rd November August LDP Jiminto Kiichi Reshuffle LDP — Originally a bureaucrat in the Treasury Ministry he accompanied Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida at the Treaty of San Francisco A firm critic of the revision of the constitution he advocated peace throughout his political career After his party s stunning defeat in the general election he was forced to resign the Prime Ministership but became Minister of Finance in the cabinet of Keizo Obuchi and Yoshiro Mori from to He died in Served as Minister of Economy Trade and Industry – – – – Chief Cabinet Secretary – Minister of Finance – Minister of Posts and Telecommunications and Minister of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries Member of the House of Councillors – Symbols Flag Coat of Arms Notable people Gallery See also References External links History edit The city of Yauco was named after the river Yauco which was originally known as coayuco by the Taínos meaning "yucca plantation" The area of Yauco was considered as the capital of "Boriken" Taíno name of Puerto Rico and was governed by Agüeybana the most powerful Taíno "cacique" chief in the island All the other Caciques were subject to and had to obey Agüeybaná even though they governed their own tribes Upon Agüeybaná s death in his nephew Güeybaná also known as Agüeybaná II became the most powerful Cacique in the island Agüeybaná II had his doubts about the "godly" status of the Spaniards He came up with a plan to test these doubts he and Urayoán cacique of Añasco sent some of their tribe members to lure a Spaniard by the name of Diego Salcedo into a river and drown him They watched over Salcedo s body to make sure that he would not resuscitate Salcedo s death was enough to convince him and the rest of the Taíno people that the Spaniards were not gods This in turn led to the failed Taíno rebellion of In the Spanish settlers of the region built a small chapel and named it "Nuestra Señora del Santísimo Rosario" Our Lady of the Rosary The settlers sent Fernando Pacheco as their representative to the Spanish Government to request the establishment of a municipality since one of the requisites to such a request the establishment of a place of worship had been met On February the King of Spain granted the settlers their request and the town of Yauco was established Fernando Pacheco was named First Lieutenant of War of the new town th century Corsican immigration edit Early Yauco Coffee Plantation Pre Main article Corsican immigration to Puerto Rico The island of Puerto Rico is very similar in geography to the island of Corsica and therefore appealed to the many Corsicans who wanted to start a "new" life Under the Spanish Royal Decree of Graces the Corsicans and other immigrants were granted land and initially given a "Letter of Domicile" after swearing loyalty to the Spanish Crown and allegiance to the Catholic Church After five years they could request a "Letter of Naturalization" that would make them Spanish subjects Hundreds of Corsicans and their families immigrated to Puerto Rico from as early as and their numbers peaked in the s The first Spanish settlers settled and owned the land in the coastal areas the Corsicans tended to settle the mountainous southwestern region of the island primary in the towns of Adjuntas Lares Utuado Ponce Coamo Yauco Guayanilla and Guánica However it was Yauco whose rich agricultural area attracted the majority of the Corsican settlers The three main crops in Yauco were coffee sugar cane and tobacco The new settlers dedicated themselves to the cultivation of these crops and within a short period of time some were even able to own and operate their own grocery stores However it was with the cultivation of the coffee bean that they would make their fortunes Cultivation of coffee in Yauco originally began in the Rancheras and Diego Hernández sectors and later extended to the Aguas Blancas Frailes and Rubias sectors The Mariani family created a machine out of a cotton gin in the s which was used in the dehusking of coffee This represented a significant improvement in Puerto Rico s coffee appearance and an opportunity to stand out in the international coffee market By the s the Corsican settlers were the leaders of the coffee industry in Puerto Rico and seven out of ten coffee plantations were owned by Corsicans Intentona de Yauco edit Flag flown by Fidel Vélez and his men during the "Intentona de Yauco" revoltMain article Intentona de Yauco The second and last major revolt against Spanish colonial rule in Puerto Rico by Puerto Rico s pro independence movement known as the Intentona de Yauco a k a the "Attempted Coup of Yauco" was staged in Yauco The revolt which occurred on of March was organized by Antonio Mattei Lluberas Mateo Mercado and Fidel Vélez and was backed up by leaders of "El Grito de Lares" the first major independence attempt who were in exile in New York City as members of the Puerto Rican Revolutionary Committee

Accompanying the rise of the "new towns" throughout Europe, mendicant orders were founded, bringing the consecrated religious life out of the monastery and into the new urban setting. The two principal mendicant movements were the Franciscans[153] and the Dominicans[154] founded by St. Francis and St. Dominic respectively. Both orders made significant contributions to the development of the great universities of Europe. Another new order were the Cistercians, whose large isolated monasteries spearheaded the settlement of former wilderness areas. In this period church building and ecclesiastical architecture reached new heights, culminating in the orders of Romanesque and Gothic architecture and the building of the great European cathedrals.[155] From 1095 under the pontificate of Urban II, the Crusades were launched.[156] These were a series of military campaigns in the Holy Land and elsewhere, initiated in response to pleas from the Byzantine Emperor Alexios I for aid against Turkish expansion. The Crusades ultimately failed to stifle Islamic aggression and even contributed to Christian enmity with the sacking of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade.[157] Over a period stretching from the 7th to the 13th century, the Christian Church underwent gradual alienation, resulting in a schism dividing it into a so-called Latin or Western Christian branch, the Roman Catholic Church,[158] and an Eastern, largely Greek, branch, the Orthodox Church. These two churches disagree on a number of administrative, liturgical, and doctrinal issues, most notably papal primacy of jurisdiction.[159][160] The Second Council of Lyon (1274) and the Council of Florence (1439) attempted to reunite the churches, but in both cases the Eastern Orthodox refused to implement the decisions and the two principal churches remain in schism to the present day. However, the Roman Catholic Church has achieved union with various smaller eastern churches. Beginning around 1184, following the crusade against the Cathar heresy,[161] various institutions, broadly referred to as the Inquisition, were established with the aim of suppressing heresy and securing religious and doctrinal unity within Christianity through conversion and prosecution.[162] Protestant Reformation and Counter-Reformation Martin Luther started the Protestant Reformation in 1517 with the Ninety-Five Theses, going against the Catholic Church interpretation of the Bible Main articles: Protestant Reformation and Counter-Reformation See also: European wars of religion The 15th-century Renaissance brought about a renewed interest in ancient and classical learning. Another major schism, the Reformation, resulted in the splintering of the Western Christendom into several branches.[163] Martin Luther in 1517 protested against the sale of indulgences and soon moved on to deny several key points of Roman Catholic doctrine.[164] Other reformers like Zwingli, Calvin, Knox and Arminius further criticized Roman Catholic teaching and worship. These challenges developed into the movement called Protestantism, which repudiated the primacy of the pope, the role of tradition, the seven sacraments, and other doctrines and practices.[164] The Reformation in England began in 1534, when King Henry VIII had himself declared head of the Church of England. Beginning in 1536, the monasteries throughout England, Wales and Ireland were dissolved.[165] Thomas Müntzer, Andreas Karlstadt and other theologians perceived both the Roman Catholic Church and the confessions of the Magisterial Reformation as corrupted. Their activity brought about the Radical Reformation, which gave birth to various Anabaptist denominations. Michelangelo's Pietà in St. Peter's Basilica, The Catholic Church were among the patronage of the Renaissance[166][167][168] Partly in response to the Protestant Reformation, the Roman Catholic Church engaged in a substantial process of reform and renewal, known as the Counter-Reformation or Catholic Reform.[169] The Council of Trent clarified and reasserted Roman Catholic doctrine. During the following centuries, competition between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism became deeply entangled with political struggles among European states.[170] Meanwhile, the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus in 1492 brought about a new wave of missionary activity. Partly from missionary zeal, but under the impetus of colonial expansion by the European powers, Christianity spread to the Americas, Oceania, East Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa. Throughout Europe, the divides caused by the Reformation led to outbreaks of religious violence and the establishment of separate state churches in Europe. Lutheranism spread into northern, central and eastern parts of present-day Germany, Livonia and Scandinavia. Anglicanism was established in England in 1534. Calvinism and its varieties (such as Presbyterianism) were introduced in Scotland, the Netherlands, Hungary, Switzerland and France. Arminianism gained followers in the Netherlands and Frisia. Ultimately, these differences led to the outbreak of conflicts in which religion played a key factor. The Thirty Years' War, the English Civil War, and the French Wars of Religion are prominent examples. These events intensified the Christian debate on persecution and toleration.[171] Post-Enlightenment A depiction of Madonna and Child in a 19th-century Kakure Kirishitan Japanese woodcut. In the era known as the Great Divergence, when in the West the Age of Enlightenment and the Scientific revolution brought about great societal changes, Christianity was confronted with various forms of skepticism and with certain modern political ideologies such as versions of socialism and liberalism.[172] Events ranged from mere anti-clericalism to violent outbursts against Christianity such as the Dechristianisation during the French Revolution,[173] the Spanish Civil War, and general hostility of Marxist movements, especially the Russian Revolution. Especially pressing in Europe was the formation of nation states after the Napoleonic era. In all European countries, different Christian denominations found themselves in competition, to greater or lesser extents, with each other and with the state. Variables are the relative sizes of the denominations and the religious, political, and ideological orientation of the state. Urs Altermatt of the University of Fribourg, looking specifically at Catholicisms in Europe, identifies four models for the European nations. In traditionally Catholic countries such as Belgium, Spain, and to some extent Austria, religious and national communities are more or less identical. Cultural symbiosis and separation are found in Poland, Ireland, and Switzerland, all countries with competing denominations. Competition is found in Germany, the Netherlands, and again Switzerland, all countries with minority Catholic populations who to a greater or lesser extent did identify with the nation. Finally, separation between religion (again, specifically Catholicism) and the state is found to a great degree in France and Italy, countries where the state actively opposed itself to the authority of the Catholic Church.[174] The combined factors of the formation of nation states and ultramontanism, especially in Germany and the Netherlands but also in England (to a much lesser extent[175]), often forced Catholic churches, organizations, and believers to choose between the national demands of the state and the authority of the Church, specifically the papacy. This conflict came to a head in the First Vatican Council, and in Germany would lead directly to the Kulturkampf, where liberals and Protestants under the leadership of Bismarck managed to severely restrict Catholic expression and organization. Christian commitment in Europe dropped as modernity and secularism came into their own in Europe,[176] particularly in the Czech Republic and Estonia,[177] while religious commitments in America have been generally high in comparison to Europe. The late 20th century has shown the shift of Christian adherence to the Third World and southern hemisphere in general, with the western civilization no longer the chief standard bearer of Christianity. Some Europeans (including diaspora), Indigenous peoples of the Americas, and natives of other continents have revived their respective peoples' historical folk religions. Approximately 7.1 to 10% of Arabs are Christians[178] most prevalent in Egypt, Syria and Lebanon. Demographics Main articles: Christianity by country, Christian population growth and Christian denominations by membership See also: Christendom Countries with 50% or more Christians are colored purple while countries with 10% to 50% Christians are colored pink Nations with Christianity as their state religion: Orthodox Christianity Protestantism (including Anglicanism) Catholicism The global distribution of Christians: Countries colored a darker shade have a higher proportion of Christians[179] With around 2.4 billion adherents,[5][6][note 5] split into three main branches of Catholic, Protestant and Eastern Orthodox, Christianity is the world's largest religion.[180][181] The Christian share of the world's population has stood at around 33% for the last hundred years, which says that one in three persons on earth are Christians. This masks a major shift in the demographics of Christianity; large increases in the developing world have been accompanied by substantial declines in the developed world, mainly in Europe and North America.[182] Christianity is the predominant religion in Europe, the Americas and Southern Africa. In Asia, it is the dominant religion in Georgia, Armenia, East Timor and the Philippines.[183] However, it is declining in many areas including the Northern and Western United States,[184] Oceania (Australia and New Zealand), northern Europe (including Great Britain,[185] Scandinavia and other places), France, Germany, the Canadian provinces of Ontario, British Columbia, and Quebec, and parts of Asia (especially the Middle East – due to the Christian emigration,[186][187][188] South Korea,[189] Taiwan,[190] and Macau[191]). The Christian population is not decreasing in Brazil, the Southern United States[192] and the province of Alberta, Canada,[193] but the percentage is decreasing. In countries such as Australia[194] and New Zealand,[195] the Christian population are declining in both numbers and percentage. Despite the declining numbers, Christianity remains the dominant religion in the Western World, where 70% are Christians.[8] A 2011 Pew Research Center survey found that 76.2% of Europeans, 73.3% in Oceania, and about 86.0% in the Americas (90% in Latin America and 77.4% in North America) described themselves as Christians.[8][196][197][198] However, there are many charismatic movements that have become well established over large parts of the world, especially Africa, Latin America and Asia.[199][200][201][202][203] A leading Saudi Arabian Muslim leader Sheikh Ahmad al Qatanni reported on Al Jazeera that every day 16,000 African Muslims convert to Christianity. He claimed that Islam was losing 6 million African Muslims a year to becoming Christians,[204][205][206][207][208] including Muslims in Algeria,[209][210] France,[210] Iran,[211] India,[210] Morocco,[210] Russia,[210] and Turkey,[210][212][213][214] Kosovo,[215] Azerbaijan[216][217] and Central Asia.[218][219] It is also reported that Christianity is popular among people of different backgrounds in India (mostly Hindus),[220][221] and Malaysia,[222] Mongolia,[223] Nigeria,[224] Vietnam,[225] Singapore,[226] Indonesia,[227][228] China,[229] Japan,[230] and South Korea.[231] In most countries in the developed world, church attendance among people who continue to identify themselves as Christians has been falling over the last few decades.[232] Some sources view this simply as part of a drift away from traditional membership institutions,[233] while others link it to signs of a decline in belief in the importance of religion in general.[234] Christianity, in one form or another, is the sole state religion of the following nations: Argentina (Roman Catholic),[235] Tuvalu (Reformed), Tonga (Methodist), Norway (Lutheran),[236][237][238] Costa Rica (Roman Catholic),[239] Kingdom of Denmark (Lutheran),[240] England (Anglican),[241] Georgia (Georgian Orthodox),[242] Greece (Greek Orthodox),[243] Iceland (Lutheran),[244] Liechtenstein (Roman Catholic),[245] Malta (Roman Catholic),[246] Monaco (Roman Catholic),[247] and Vatican City (Roman Catholic).[248] There are numerous other countries, such as Cyprus, which although do not have an established church, still give official recognition and support to a specific Christian denomination.[249] Major denominations Further information: List of Christian denominations and List of Christian denominations by number of members The three primary divisions of Christianity are Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Protestantism.[29]:14[250] There are other Christian groups that do not fit neatly into one of these primary categories.[251] The Nicene Creed is "accepted as authoritative by the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and major Protestant churches."[252] There is a diversity of doctrines and practices among groups calling themselves Christian. These groups are sometimes classified under denominations, though for theological reasons many groups reject this classification system.[253] A broader distinction that is sometimes drawn is between Eastern Christianity and Western Christianity, which has its origins in the East–West Schism (Great Schism) of the 11th century. In addition to the Lutheran and Reformed (or Calvinist) branches of the Reformation, there is Anglicanism after the English Reformation. The Anabaptist tradition was largely ostracized by the other Protestant parties at the time, but has achieved a measure of affirmation in more recent history. Adventist, Baptist, Methodist, Pentecostal and other Protestant confessions arose in the following centuries. As well as these modern divisions, there were many diverse Christian communities with wildly different Christologies, eschatologies, soteriologies, and cosmologies that existed alongside the "Early Church" which is itself a projected concept to indicate which communities were "proto-orthodox", in that their views would become dominate. In many ways, the first three centuries of Christianity was significantly more diverse than the modern Church.[254] The historical development of major church branches from their roots. Line width has no significance in this diagram. Catholic Main article: Catholic Church Pope Francis, current leader of the Catholic Church The Catholic Church comprises those particular Churches, headed by bishops, in communion with the Pope, the Bishop of Rome, as its highest authority in matters of faith, morality and Church governance.[255][256] Like the Eastern Orthodox, the Roman Catholic Church through apostolic succession traces its origins to the Christian community founded by Jesus Christ.[257][258] Catholics maintain that the "one, holy, catholic and apostolic church" founded by Jesus subsists fully in the Roman Catholic Church, but also acknowledges other Christian churches and communities[259][260] and works towards reconciliation among all Christians.[259] The Catholic faith is detailed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.[261][262] The 2,834 sees[263] are grouped into 24 particular rites, the largest being the Latin Church, each with distinct traditions regarding the liturgy and the administering the sacraments.[264] With more than 1.1 billion baptized members, the Catholic Church is the largest church representing over half of all Christians and one sixth of the world's population.[265][266][267] Various smaller communities, such as the Old Catholic and Independent Catholic Churches, include the word Catholic in their title, and share much in common with Roman Catholicism but are no longer in communion with the See of Rome. Orthodox Main article: Eastern Orthodox Church The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem is shared by Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Roman Catholic Christians. It is regarded as the place of Jesus's crucifixion and resurrection. Eastern Orthodoxy comprises those churches in communion with the Patriarchal Sees of the East, such as the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.[268] Like the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church also traces its heritage to the foundation of Christianity through apostolic succession and has an episcopal structure, though the autonomy of its component parts is emphasized, and most of them are national churches. A number of conflicts with Western Christianity over questions of doctrine and authority culminated in the Great Schism. Eastern Orthodoxy is the second largest single denomination in Christianity, with an estimated 225–300 million adherents.[8][266][269] The Oriental Orthodox Churches (also called Old Oriental Churches) are those eastern churches that recognize the first three ecumenical councils—Nicaea, Constantinople and Ephesus—but reject the dogmatic definitions of the Council of Chalcedon and instead espouse a Miaphysite christology. The Oriental Orthodox communion comprises six groups: Syriac Orthodox, Coptic Orthodox, Ethiopian Orthodox, Eritrean Orthodox, Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (India) and Armenian Apostolic churches.[270] These six churches, while being in communion with each other are completely independent hierarchically.[271] These churches are generally not in communion with Eastern Orthodox Churches with whom they are in dialogue for erecting a communion.[272] Protestant Main article: Protestantism See also: History of Protestantism Protestantism 95Thesen.jpg (The Ninety-Five Theses) The Reformation History Culture Demographics Ecumenism Major branches Adventism Anabaptism Anglicanism Baptist churches Calvinism (Reformed tradition) Lutheranism Methodism Pentecostalism Other Protestant branches Transdenominational movements Evangelicalism Charismatic movement Neo-charismatic churches v t e In the 16th century, Martin Luther, Huldrych Zwingli, and John Calvin inaugurated what has come to be called Protestantism. Luther's primary theological heirs are known as Lutherans. Zwingli and Calvin's heirs are far broader denominationally, and are broadly referred to as the Reformed tradition.[273] The oldest Protestant groups separated from the Catholic Church in the Protestant Reformation, often followed by further divisions.[273] In the 18th century, for example, Methodism grew out of Anglican minister John Wesley's evangelical and revival movement.[274] Several Pentecostal and non-denominational churches, which emphasize the cleansing power of the Holy Spirit, in turn grew out of Methodism.[275] Because Methodists, Pentecostals, and other evangelicals stress "accepting Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior",[276] which comes from Wesley's emphasis of the New Birth,[277] they often refer to themselves as being born-again.[278][279] Estimates of the total number of Protestants are very uncertain, but it seems clear that Protestantism is the second largest major group of Christians after Roman Catholicism in number of followers (although the Eastern Orthodox Church is larger than any single Protestant denomination).[266] Often that number is put at more than 800 million, corresponding to nearly 40% of world's Christians.[280] The majority of Protestants are members of just a handful of denominational families, i.e. Adventists, Anglicans, Baptists, Reformed (Calvinists),[281] Lutherans, Methodists and Pentecostals.[280] Nondenominational, evangelical, charismatic, neo-charismatic, independent and other churches are on the rise, and constitute a significant part of Protestant Christianity.[282] A special grouping are the Anglican churches descended from the Church of England and organised in the Anglican Communion. Some Anglican churches consider themselves both Protestant and Catholic.[283] Some Anglicans consider their church a branch of the "One Holy Catholic Church" alongside of the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches, a concept rejected by the Roman Catholic Church and some Eastern Orthodox.[284][285] While Anglicans, Lutherans and the Reformed branches of Protestantism originated in the Magisterial Reformation, other Protestant groups such as the Anabaptists (including Mennonites and Hutterites), originated in the Radical Reformation and are distinguished by their belief in credobaptism.[286] Some groups of individuals who hold basic Protestant tenets identify themselves simply as "Christians" or "born-again Christians". They typically distance themselves from the confessionalism and/or creedalism of other Christian communities[287] by calling themselves "non-denominational" or "evangelical". Often founded by individual pastors, they have little affiliation with historic denominations.[288] Historical chart of the main Protestant branches Restorationists and others A 19th-century drawing of Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery receiving the Aaronic priesthood from John the Baptist. Latter Day Saints believe that the Priesthood ceased to exist after the death of the Apostles and therefore needed to be restored. The Second Great Awakening, a period of religious revival that occurred in the United States during the early 1800s, saw the development of a number of unrelated churches. They generally saw themselves as restoring the original church of Jesus Christ rather than reforming one of the existing churches.[289] A common belief held by Restorationists was that the other divisions of Christianity had introduced doctrinal defects into Christianity, which was known as the Great Apostasy.[290][291] In Asia, Iglesia ni Cristo is a known restorationist religion that was established during the early 1900s. Some of the churches originating during this period are historically connected to early 19th-century camp meetings in the Midwest and Upstate New York. American Millennialism and Adventism, which arose from Evangelical Protestantism, influenced the Jehovah's Witnesses movement and, as a reaction specifically to William Miller, the Seventh-day Adventists. Others, including the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Evangelical Christian Church in Canada,[292][293] Churches of Christ, and the Christian churches and churches of Christ, have their roots in the contemporaneous Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement, which was centered in Kentucky and Tennessee. Other groups originating in this time period include the Christadelphians and Latter Day Saint movement. While the churches originating in the Second Great Awakening have some superficial similarities, their doctrine and practices vary significantly. Esoteric Christians regard Christianity as a mystery religion,[294][295] and profess the existence and possession of certain esoteric doctrines or practices,[296][297] hidden from the public but accessible only to a narrow circle of "enlightened", "initiated", or highly educated people.[298][299] Some of the esoteric Christian institutions include the Rosicrucian Fellowship, the Anthroposophical Society and the Martinism. Messianic Judaism (or Messianic Movement) is the name of a Christian movement comprising a number of streams, whose members may consider themselves Jewish. It blends elements of religious Jewish practice with evangelical Christianity. Messianic Judaism affirms Christian creeds such as the messiahship and divinity of "Yeshua" (the Hebrew name of Jesus) and the Triune Nature of God, while also adhering to some Jewish dietary laws and customs. Christian culture Further information: Christian culture, Role of the Christian Church in civilization, Protestant culture and Cultural Christian The Marble Church in Copenhagen Set of pictures for a number of famous Christians from various fields Western culture, throughout most of its history, has been nearly equivalent to Christian culture, and many of the population of the Western hemisphere could broadly be described as cultural Christians. The notion of "Europe" and the "Western World" has been intimately connected with the concept of "Christianity and Christendom" many even attribute Christianity for being the link that created a unified European identity.[300] Though Western culture contained several polytheistic religions during its early years under the Greek and Roman empires, as the centralized Roman power waned, the dominance of the Catholic Church was the only consistent force in Europe.[301] Until the Age of Enlightenment,[302] Christian culture guided the course of philosophy, literature, art, music and science.[301][303] Christian disciplines of the respective arts have subsequently developed into Christian philosophy, Christian art, Christian music, Christian literature etc. Christianity had a significant impact on education and science and medicine as the church created the bases of the Western system of education,[304] and was the sponsor of founding universities in the Western world as the university is generally regarded as an institution that has its origin in the Medieval Christian setting.[150][151] Many clerics throughout history have made significant contributions to science and Jesuits in particular have made numerous significant contributions to the development of science.[305][306][307] The Civilizing influence of Christianity includes social welfare,[308] founding hospitals,[309] economics (as the Protestant work ethic),[310][311] politics,[312] architecture,[313] literature[314] and family life.[315] Eastern Christians (particularly Nestorian Christians) contributed to the Arab Islamic Civilization during the Ummayad and the Abbasid periods by translating works of Greek philosophers to Syriac and afterwards to Arabic.[316][317][318] They also excelled in philosophy, science, theology and medicine.[319][320] Christians have made a myriad contributions in a broad and diverse range of fields, including the sciences, arts, politics, literatures and business.[321][322][323][324][325][326] According to 100 Years of Nobel Prizes a review of 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.[327] Postchristianity[328] is the term for the decline of Christianity, particularly in Europe, Canada, Australia and to a minor degree the Southern Cone, in the 20th and 21st centuries, considered in terms of postmodernism. It refers to the loss of Christianity's monopoly on values and world view in historically Christian societies. Cultural Christians are secular people with a Christian heritage who may not believe in the religious claims of Christianity, but who retain an affinity for the popular culture, art, music, and so on related to it. Another frequent application of the term is to distinguish political groups in areas of mixed religious backgrounds. Ecumenism Christian mythology is the body of myths associated with Christianity. Contents [hide] 1 Christian attitudes 2 Historical development 2.1 Old Testament 2.2 New Testament and early Christianity 2.3 Middle Ages 2.4 Renaissance and Reformation 2.5 Enlightenment 2.6 Modern period 3 Mythical themes and types 3.1 Ascending the mountain 3.2 Axis mundi 3.3 Combat myth 3.4 Descent to the underworld 3.5 Dying god 3.6 Flood myths 3.7 Founding myths 3.8 Hero myths 3.9 Paradise 3.10 Sacrifice 4 Attitudes toward time 5 Legacy 5.1 Concepts of progress 5.2 Political and philosophical ideas 5.3 Christmas stories in popular culture 6 See also 7 Notes 8 References 9 Sources 10 External links Christian attitudes[edit] In ancient Greek, muthos, from which the English word "myth" derives, meant "story, narrative." By the time of Christianity, muthos had started to take on the connotations of "fable, fiction, lie".[1][2] Early Christians contrasted their sacred stories with "myths", by which they meant false and pagan stories.[1][3][4] A number of modern Christian writers such as C.S. Lewis have described elements of Christianity, particularly the story of Christ, as "myth" which is also "true" ("true myth").[5][6][7] Opposition to the term "myth" stems from a variety of sources: the association of the term "myth" with polytheism,[8][9][10] the use of the term "myth" to indicate falsehood or non-historicity,[8][9][11][12][13] and the lack of an agreed-upon definition of "myth".[8][9][13] George Every claims that the existence of "myths in the Bible would now be admitted by nearly everyone", including "probably all Roman Catholics and a majority of Protestants".[14] As examples of Biblical myths, Every cites the creation account in Genesis 1 and 2 and the story of Eve's temptation.[14] Many Christians believe parts of the Bible to be symbolic or metaphorical (such as the Creation in Genesis).[15] Historical development[edit] Old Testament[edit] Destruction of Leviathan. 1865 engraving by Gustave Doré According to Bernard McGinn, "mythic patterns" such as "the primordial struggle between good and evil" appear in passages throughout the Hebrew Bible, including passages that describe historical events.[16] Citing Paul Ricoeur, McGinn argues that a distinctive characteristic of the Hebrew Bible is its "reinterpretation of myth on the basis of history".[16] As an example, McGinn cites the apocalypse in the Book of Daniel, which he sees as a record of historical events[n 1] presented as a prophecy of future events and expressed in terms of "mythic structures", with "the Hellenistic kingdom figured as a terrifying monster that cannot but recall [the Near Eastern pagan myth of] the dragon of chaos".[16] Mircea Eliade argues that the imagery used in some parts of the Hebrew Bible reflects a "transfiguration of history into myth".[17] For example, Eliade says, the portrayal of Nebuchadnezzar as a dragon in Jeremiah 51:34 is a case in which the Hebrews "interpreted contemporary events by means of the very ancient cosmogonico-heroic myth" of a battle between a hero and a dragon.[18] According to scholars including Neil Forsyth and John L. McKenzie, the Old Testament incorporates stories, or fragments of stories, from extra-biblical mythology.[19][20] According to the New American Bible, a Catholic Bible translation produced by the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, the story of the Nephilim in Genesis 6:1-4 "is apparently a fragment of an old legend that had borrowed much from ancient mythology", and the "sons of God" mentioned in that passage are "celestial beings of mythology".[21] The New American Bible also says that Psalm 93 alludes to "an ancient myth" in which God battles a personified Sea.[22] Some scholars have identified the biblical creature Leviathan as a monster from Canaanite mythology.[n 2][n 3] According to Howard Schwartz, "the myth of the fall of Lucifer" existed in fragmentary form in Isaiah 14:12 and other ancient Jewish literature; Schwartz claims that the myth originated from "the ancient Canaanite myth of Athtar, who attempted to rule the throne of Ba'al, but was forced to descend and rule the underworld instead".[23] Some scholars have argued that the calm, orderly, monotheistic creation story in Genesis 1 can be interpreted as a reaction against the creation myths of other Near Eastern cultures.[n 4][n 5] In connection with this interpretation, David and Margaret Leeming describe Genesis 1 as a "demythologized myth",[24] and John L. McKenzie asserts that the writer of Genesis 1 has "excised the mythical elements" from his creation story.[25] Perhaps the most famous topic in the Bible that could possibly be connected with mythical origins[26] is the topic of Heaven (or the sky) as the place where God (or angels, or the saints) resides,[27][28][29][30][31] with stories such as the ascension of Elijah (who disappeared in the sky),[32][33] war of man with an angel, flying angels.[34][35][36][37][38] Even in the New Testament Saint Paul is said to have visited the third heaven,[39][40] and Jesus was portrayed in several books as going to return from Heaven on a cloud, in the same way He ascended thereto.[41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55] The official text repeated by the attendees during Roman Catholic mass (the Apostles' Creed) contains the words "He ascended into Heaven, and is Seated at the Right Hand of God, The Father. From thence He will come again to judge the living and the dead".[56][57] Medieval cosmology adapted its view of the Cosmos to conform with these scriptures, in the concept of celestial spheres[58][59][60] (later attacked, amongst others, by Giordano Bruno). Some famous opponents of religion, including John Lennon[61] and Stephen Hawking,[62] mentioned this in their public works. New Testament and early Christianity[edit] According to a number of scholars, the Christ story contains mythical themes such as descent to the underworld, the heroic monomyth, and the "dying god" (see section below on "mythical themes and types").[63][64][65][66] Some scholars have argued that the Book of Revelation incorporates imagery from ancient mythology. According to the New American Bible, the image in Revelation 12:1-6 of a pregnant woman in the sky, threatened by a dragon, "corresponds to a widespread myth throughout the ancient world that a goddess pregnant with a savior was pursued by a horrible monster; by miraculous intervention, she bore a son who then killed the monster".[67] Bernard McGinn suggests that the image of the two Beasts in Revelation stems from a "mythological background" involving the figures of Leviathan and Behemoth.[68] The Pastoral Epistles contain denunciations of "myths" (muthoi). This may indicate that Rabbinic or gnostic mythology was popular among the early Christians to whom the epistles were written and that the epistles' author was attempting to resist that mythology.[n 6][n 7] The Sibylline oracles contain predictions that the dead Roman Emperor Nero, infamous for his persecutions, would return one day as an Antichrist-like figure. According to Bernard McGinn, these parts of the oracles were probably written by a Christian and incorporated "mythological language" in describing Nero's return.[69] Medieval painting of Death playing chess from Täby Church in Sweden Middle Ages[edit] According to Mircea Eliade, the Middle Ages witnessed "an upwelling of mythical thought" in which each social group had its own "mythological traditions".[70] Often a profession had its own "origin myth" which established models for members of the profession to imitate; for example, the knights tried to imitate Lancelot or Parsifal.[70] The medieval trouveres developed a "mythology of woman and Love" which incorporated Christian elements but, in some cases, ran contrary to official church teaching.[70] George Every includes a discussion of medieval legends in his book Christian Mythology. Some medieval legends elaborated upon the lives of Christian figures such as Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the saints. For example, a number of legends describe miraculous events surrounding Mary's birth and her marriage to Joseph.[n 8] In many cases, medieval mythology appears to have inherited elements from myths of pagan gods and heroes.[71][72] According to Every, one example may be "the myth of St. George" and other stories about saints battling dragons, which were "modelled no doubt in many cases on older representations of the creator and preserver of the world in combat with chaos".[73] Eliade notes that some "mythological traditions" of medieval knights, namely the Arthurian cycle and the Grail theme, combine a veneer of Christianity with traditions regarding the Celtic Otherworld.[70] According to Lorena Laura Stookey, "many scholars" see a link between stories in "Irish-Celtic mythology" about journeys to the Otherworld in search of a cauldron of rejuvenation and medieval accounts of the quest for the Holy Grail.[74] According to Eliade, "eschatological myths" became prominent during the Middle Ages during "certain historical movements".[75] These eschatological myths appeared "in the Crusades, in the movements of a Tanchelm and an Eudes de l'Etoile, in the elevation of Fredrick II to the rank of Messiah, and in many other collective messianic, utopian, and prerevolutionary phenomena".[75] One significant eschatological myth, introduced by Gioacchino da Fiore's theology of history, was the "myth of an imminent third age that will renew and complete history" in a "reign of the Holy Spirit"; this "Gioacchinian myth" influenced a number of messianic movements that arose in the late Middle Ages.[76] Renaissance and Reformation[edit] During the Renaissance, there arose a critical attitude that sharply distinguished between apostolic tradition and what George Every calls "subsidiary mythology"—popular legends surrounding saints, relics, the cross, etc.—suppressing the latter.[77] Unicorn mosaic on a 1213 church floor in Ravenna The works of Renaissance writers often included and expanded upon Christian and non-Christian stories such as those of creation and the Fall. Rita Oleyar describes these writers as "on the whole, reverent and faithful to the primal myths, but filled with their own insights into the nature of God, man, and the universe".[78] An example is John Milton's Paradise Lost, an "epic elaboration of the Judeo-Christian mythology" and also a "veritable encyclopedia of myths from the Greek and Roman tradition".[78] According to Cynthia Stewart, during the Reformation, the Protestant reformers used "the founding myths of Christianity" to critique the church of their time.[79] Every argues that "the disparagement of myth in our own civilization" stems partly from objections to perceived idolatry, objections which intensified in the Reformation, both among Protestants and among Catholics reacting against the classical mythology revived during the Renaissance.[80] Enlightenment[edit] The philosophes of the Enlightenment used criticism of myth as a vehicle for veiled criticisms of the Bible and the church.[81] According to Bruce Lincoln, the philosophes "made irrationality the hallmark of myth and constituted philosophy—rather than the Christian kerygma—as the antidote for mythic discourse. By implication, Christianity could appear as a more recent, powerful, and dangerous instance of irrational myth".[82] Modern period[edit] Some commentators have categorized a number of modern fantasy works as "Christian myth" or "Christian mythopoeia". Examples include the fiction of C.S. Lewis, Madeleine L'Engle, J.R.R. Tolkien, and George MacDonald.[83][n 9] In The Eternal Adam and the New World Garden, written in 1968, David W. Noble argued that the Adam figure had been "the central myth in the American novel since 1830".[78][n 10] As examples, he cites the works of Cooper, Hawthorne, Melville, Twain, Hemingway, and Faulkner.[78] Mythical themes and types[edit] Ascending the mountain[edit] Sermon on the Mount. Painting by Carl Bloch According to Lorena Laura Stookey, many myths feature sacred mountains as "the sites of revelations": "In myth, the ascent of the holy mountain is a spiritual journey, promising purification, insight, wisdom, or knowledge of the sacred".[84] As examples of this theme, Stookey includes the revelation of the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai, Christ's ascent of a mountain to deliver his Sermon on the Mount, and Christ's ascension into Heaven from the Mount of Olives.[84] Axis mundi[edit] Many mythologies involve a "world center", which is often the sacred place of creation; this center often takes the form of a tree, mountain, or other upright object, which serves as an axis mundi or axle of the world.[85][86][87] A number of scholars have connected the Christian story of the crucifixion at Golgotha with this theme of a cosmic center. In his Creation Myths of the World, David Leeming argues that, in the Christian story of the crucifixion, the cross serves as "the axis mundi, the center of a new creation".[85] According to a tradition preserved in Eastern Christian folklore, Golgotha was the summit of the cosmic mountain at the center of the world and the location where Adam had been both created and buried. According to this tradition, when Christ is crucified, his blood falls on Adam's skull, buried at the foot of the cross, and redeems him.[87][88] George Every discusses the connection between the cosmic center and Golgotha in his book Christian Mythology, noting that the image of Adam's skull beneath the cross appears in many medieval representations of the crucifixion.[87] In Creation Myths of the World, Leeming suggests that the Garden of Eden may also be considered a world center.[85] Combat myth[edit] Many Near Eastern religions include a story about a battle between a divine being and a dragon or other monster representing chaos—a theme found, for example, in the Enuma Elish. A number of scholars call this story the "combat myth".[89][90][91] A number of scholars have argued that the ancient Israelites incorporated the combat myth into their religious imagery, such as the figures of Leviathan and Rahab,[92][93] the Song of the Sea,[92] Isaiah 51:9-10's description of God's deliverance of his people from Babylon,[92] and the portrayals of enemies such as Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar.[94] The idea of Satan as God's opponent may have developed under the influence of the combat myth.[92][95] Scholars have also suggested that the Book of Revelation uses combat myth imagery in its descriptions of cosmic conflict.[91][96] Descent to the underworld[edit] The Harrowing of Hell and Demons, depicted in the Petites Heures de Jean de Berry, 14th-century illuminated manuscript According to Christian tradition, Christ descended to hell after his death, in order to free the souls there; this event is known as the harrowing of hell. This story is narrated in the Gospel of Nicodemus and may be the meaning behind 1 Peter 3:18-22.[97][n 11] According to David Leeming, writing in The Oxford Companion to World Mythology, the harrowing of hell is an example of the motif of the hero's descent to the underworld, which is common in many mythologies.[66] Dying god[edit] See also: Jesus Christ in comparative mythology Many myths, particularly from the Near East, feature a god who dies and is resurrected; this figure is sometimes called the "dying god".[65][98][99] An important study of this figure is James George Frazer's The Golden Bough, which traces the dying god theme through a large number of myths.[100] The dying god is often associated with fertility.[65][101] A number of scholars, including Frazer,[102] have suggested that the Christ story is an example of the "dying god" theme.[65][103] In the article "Dying god" in The Oxford Companion to World Mythology, David Leeming notes that Christ can be seen as bringing fertility, though of a spiritual as opposed to physical kind.[65] In his 2006 homily for Corpus Christi, Pope Benedict XVI noted the similarity between the Christian story of the resurrection and pagan myths of dead and resurrected gods: "In these myths, the soul of the human person, in a certain way, reached out toward that God made man, who, humiliated unto death on a cross, in this way opened the door of life to all of us."[104] Flood myths[edit] Many cultures have myths about a flood that cleanses the world in preparation for rebirth.[105][106] Such stories appear on every inhabited continent on earth.[106] An example is the biblical story of Noah.[105][107] In The Oxford Companion to World Mythology, David Leeming notes that, in the Bible story, as in other flood myths, the flood marks a new beginning and a second chance for creation and humanity.[105] Founding myths[edit] According to Sandra Frankiel, the records of "Jesus' life and death, his acts and words" provide the "founding myths" of Christianity.[108] Frankiel claims that these founding myths are "structurally equivalent" to the creation myths in other religions, because they are "the pivot around which the religion turns to and which it returns", establishing the "meaning" of the religion and the "essential Christian practices and attitudes".[108] Tom Cain uses the expression "founding myths" more broadly, to encompass such stories as those of the War in Heaven and the fall of man; according to Cain, "the disastrous consequences of disobedience" is a pervasive theme in Christian founding myths.[109] A chart outlining Joseph Campbell's description of the heroic monomyth. Hero myths[edit] In his influential work The Myth of the Birth of the Hero, Otto Rank argued that the births of many mythical heroes follow a common pattern. Rank includes the story of Christ's birth as a representative example of this pattern.[64] According to Mircea Eliade, one pervasive mythical theme associates heroes with the slaying of dragons, a theme which Eliade traces back to "the very ancient cosmogonico-heroic myth" of a battle between a divine hero and a dragon.[18] He cites the Christian legend of Saint George as an example of this theme.[110] An example from the later Middle Ages is Dieudonné de Gozon, third Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes, famous for slaying the dragon of Malpasso. Eliade writes, "Legend, as was natural, bestowed upon him the attributes of St. George, famed for his victorious fight with the monster. […] In other words, by the simple fact that he was regarded as a hero, de Gozon was identified with a category, an archetype, which […] equipped him with a mythical biography from which it was impossible to omit combat with a reptilian monster."[110] In the Oxford Companion to World Mythology, David Leeming lists Moses, Jesus, and King Arthur as examples of the "heroic monomyth",[111] calling the Christ story "a particularly complete example of the heroic monomyth".[63] Leeming regards resurrection as a common part of the heroic monomyth,[111][112] in which the heroes are resurrected, often as sources of "material or spiritual food for their people"; in this connection, Leeming notes that Christians regard Jesus as the "bread of life".[111] In terms of values, Leeming contrasts "the myth of Jesus" with the myths of other "Christian heroes such as St. George, Roland, el Cid, and even King Arthur"; the latter hero myths, Leeming argues, reflect the survival of pre-Christian heroic values—"values of military dominance and cultural differentiation and hegemony"—more than the values expressed in the Christ story.[63] Pomors often depicted Sirins on the illustrations in the Book of Genesis as birds sitting in paradise trees. 1710 Paradise[edit] Many religious and mythological systems contain myths about a paradise. Many of these myths involve the loss of a paradise that existed at the beginning of the world. Some scholars have seen in the story of the Garden of Eden an instance of this general motif.[113][114] Sacrifice[edit] Christian demonology is the study of demons from a Christian point of view. It is primarily based on the Bible (Old and New Testaments), the exegesis of these scriptures, the scriptures of early Christian philosophers and hermits, tradition and legends incorporated from other beliefs. Contents [hide] 1 Development 2 Nature 2.1 Origins 2.2 Number 2.3 Characteristics 2.4 Appearance 3 Abilities 4 Incarnation 4.1 History 5 Sexuality 6 Diabolical symbols 7 Other views 8 See also 9 Literature 10 References Development[edit] See also: Demonology In monotheistic religions, the deities of other religions are sometimes interpreted or created as demons.[1] The evolution of the Christian Devil and pentagram are examples of early rituals and images that showcase evil qualities, as seen by the Christian churches. Since Early Christianity, demonology has developed from a simple acceptance of demons to a complex study that has grown from the original ideas taken from Jewish demonology and Christian scriptures. Christian demonology is studied in depth within the Roman Catholic Church,[2] although many other Christian churches affirm and discuss the existence of demons.[3][4] Albertus Magnus said of demonology, "A daemonibus docetur, de daemonibus docet, et ad daemones ducit" ("It is taught by the demons, it teaches about the demons, and it leads to the demons").[5] Nature[edit] See also: Demonic possession Origins[edit] Main articles: Fallen angel and Nephilim According to the Book of Enoch (which is currently only canonical in the Eritrean and Ethiopian Orthodox Churches but was referred to by the early Church fathers), the disembodied spirits of the Nephilim are demons. Enoch explains; "And now, the giants, who are produced from the spirits (Angels) and flesh, shall be called evil spirits upon the earth, and on the earth shall be their dwelling. Evil spirits have proceeded from their bodies; because they are born from men and from the holy Watchers is their beginning and primal origin; they shall be evil spirits on earth, and evil spirits shall they be called. [As for the spirits of heaven, in heaven shall be their dwelling, but as for the spirits of the earth which were born upon the earth, on the earth shall be their dwelling.] And the spirits of the giants afflict, oppress, destroy, attack, do battle, and work destruction on the earth, and cause trouble: they take no food, but nevertheless hunger and thirst, and cause offences. And these spirits shall rise up against the children of men and against the women, because they have proceeded from them. From the days of the slaughter and destruction and death of the giants, from the souls of whose flesh the spirits, having gone forth, shall destroy without incurring judgement". (I Enoch 15:8-12, 16:1 R.H. Charles) Number[edit] There are many demons in Christian demonology, many of which were added because some Christian theologians concluded that all pagan deities were demons. In 1467, Alfonso de Spina asserted that the number of demons was 133,316,666. This idea that one third of the angels turned into demons seems to be due to an exegesis of the Book of Revelation 12:3-9. Johann Weyer, in his Pseudomonarchia Daemonum (1583), after a complicated system of hierarchies and calculations, estimated the number of demons as 44,439,622, divided into 666 legions, each legion composed by 6,666 demons, and all of them ruled by 66 hellish dukes, princes, kings, etc. The Lesser Key of Solomon (17th century) copied the division in legions from Pseudomonarchia Daemonum but added more demons, and so more legions. It is suggestive that both Spina and Weyer used 666 and other numbers composed by more than one 6 to calculate the number of demons (133,316,666 demons, 666 legions, 6,666 demons in each legion, 66 rulers). Gregory of Nyssa, in the 4th century, believed in the existence of male and female demons and supported the idea that demons procreated with other demons and with human women. Other scholars supported the idea that they could not procreate and that the number of demons was constant. Characteristics[edit] In Christian tradition, demons are evil angels (Revelation 12:7-9), and have the same characteristics as their good angel counterparts: spiritual, immutable and immortal. Demons are not omniscient, but each one has a specific knowledge (sometimes on more than one subject). Their power is limited to that which God allows, so they are not omnipotent. No reference has been made about omnipresence, so it is as yet unclear if they can be in different places at the same time, but according to the tradition of the medieval witches' Sabbath, two conclusions can be reached: either the Devil can be in different places at the same time,[6] or he sends an emissary in his name.[7] Christian demonology states that the mission of the demons is to induce humans to sin, often by testing their faith in God.[8] Christian tradition holds that temptations come from three sources: the world, the flesh, and the devil. It is also believed that demons torment people during their life or through possession (Matthew 17:15-16), or simply by showing themselves before persons to frighten them, or by provoking visions that could induce people to sin or to be afraid. Demons are also believed to try to tempt people into abandoning the faith, commit heresy or apostasy, remain or turn themselves Pagan or venerate "idols" (the Christian term for cult images), and gain the highest number of "Satans" or adversaries of God. (Ephesians 6:12) In the Gospel of Luke, it is stated that demons walk "arid places", and finding no rest return to their previous home. 24 “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ 25 When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. 26 Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. 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