Islam - The Summit of Religious Evolution — Page 13
13 Greek converts quickly gave up many Jewish customs such as animal sacrifice, circumcision and the observing of the Sabbath and the Law. The accession of Constantine the Great as the Roman Emperor in 313 AD was the turning point in the history of Christianity. Christianity became the official religion of the Eastern Roman Empire; this proclamation brought it great respect and prestige. Armed with this powerful political backing and supported by Greek intellectualism, Christianity started spreading rapidly among the tribes of northern and Western Europe. Consequently, the number and influence of the Greek Christians increased, and the fundamental beliefs and practices of this new faith started to undergo significant changes. The concept of God changed from the personal, loving God of the Israelites to an impersonal, supreme deity, palatable to the Greek philosophical rationalism. Similarly, while the Hebrew Christians were ingrained in the strong monotheism of the Old Testament and could only accept Jesus as the Son of God only in a metaphorical sense as their other prophets, the Greeks having no such reservation, took the words literally. The Greeks used to believe in many gods and deities and had no intellectual hurdle in transforming a prophet into a god. It was during this Hellenistic period, therefore, that the divinity of Jesus Christ and his resurrection after crucifixion became popular Christian beliefs. It was also in the same period that the terminology of Trinity came into existence to explain the combination of God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. THE ESSENTIAL BELIEFS OF CHRISTIANITY Although there are over 250 sects of the Christians today, some essential beliefs are shared by all of them. These basic beliefs are: 1. Belief in God, Almighty, Creator of all things. 2. Belief in Jesus as the Messiah, and the (literal) Son of God. 3. Belief in Trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. 4. Belief in eternal sin (that man is born a sinner). 5. Belief that Jesus Christ came down to earth from heaven for the salvation of mankind. 6. Belief that the Bible (both Old and New Testaments) is the only proper guidance for mankind. 7. Belief in baptism as a remission of sin. 8. Belief that sins can be forgiven through repentance. 9. Belief in life after death. 10. Belief that those who repent and follow Jesus Christ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The Christians not only believe that Jesus Christ is alive and accessible, but also that he is directing the affairs of the Church from his seat in heaven and that one day he will return to this world to establish the Kingdom of God. Except for a small minority of Unitarians and Universalists, all Christians worship Jesus Christ in one form or another.