What has Christianity changed?

Answer 1

Christianity appears to have already been changing even during the apostolic era, and has continued to evolve, to this day. The early Christians believed that there were seven heavens, one physically above the other, with an anthropomorphic God enthroned in the highest heaven. The voice of God came out of the sky at the baptism of Jesus and during the transfiguration, because that is where God was. The heavenly throne is mentioned, for example, at Revelation 4:2. The notion of "up there" and the pearly gates still remain in popular imagination, but modern Christianity generally regards heaven as a spiritual domain that can not be physically located. God is now perceived as omni-present, rather than enthroned in the highest heaven.

St Paul, writing in the forties or fifties of the first century, differed in some important ways from the teachings of the early Jerusalem church, as well as from the teachings of the gospel authors who wrote later in the same century. Paul even warned his followers of those who taught "a different Christ".

• Paul taught that Gentile converts need not follow Jewish dietary laws nor be circumcised, while the Church in Jerusalem, under James, initially taught that they must accept Jewish rules including circumcision.
• Paul taught that salvation came from faith alone, while the Epistle of James says that salvation comes from good works.
• In 1 Corinthian 15:5-6, Paul says that the risen Jesus was seen by Cephas, then the twelve, then James, then all the apostles, then finally by more than 500 brethren. By the time of the gospels, Cephas was included in the twelve. The gospels also say that by the time of the resurrection there were really only eleven disciples.

The author of 1 Peter does not seem to have believed in a physical resurrection, since verse 3:18 speaks of Jesus put to death in flesh but made alive in spirit. This is reflected by Paul, who saw the resurrection and ascension to heaven as being the same event - in which case the appearances mentioned by Paul were probably meant to be spiritual rather than physical.

Christian belief can even be seen as evolving from the earliest Gospel, that of Mark, through the Gospels of Matthew, Luke and John. For example, the account of the appearances by the risen Jesus evolved from one gospel to the next:

• Mark's Gospel, believed to have been written around the year 70 CE, did not originally mention appearances by the resurrected Jesus, although a resurrection is implied. Some scholars say that the "longer ending" (verses 16:9-20) was added clumsily by a later author, to bring this Gospel more or less into line with the Gospels of Matthew and Luke.
• Matthew's Gospel, believed to have been written in the 80s, says the women who had gone to the tomb saw Jesus while on the way to tell the disciples of their experience. The eleven disciples went to a mountain in Galilee and saw Jesus. Or at least some of them believed they did and worshipped Jesus, while others doubted it was Jesus.
• Luke's Gospel, written some time later, records that Jesus appeared to two men, Cleopas and (presumably) Peter, on the road near Jerusalem but they did not recognise him, until they were together at dinner. In Jerusalem, he appeared once more to the disciples before being drawn up into heaven.
• In John's Gospel, Mary Magdalene saw Jesus but did not recognise him. Jesus next appeared amongst the disciples, except Thomas, showed them his wounds and breathed the Holy Ghost upon them. Eight days later, Jesus appeared again to all the disciples in Jerusalem. Finally, Jesus appeared to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberius.

The early Christian movement was divided, with the two major groupings, being one later to be known as the proto-Catholic-Orthodox Church, and the Gnostics. Within this framework, there were other sects, such as the Ebionites and Marcionites. In some ways, the beliefs of the Gnostic Christians differed dramatically from those of the Catholic-Orthodox Christians, however they are necessarily outside the scope of this question.

Favour by Emperor Constantine gave the proto-Catholic-Orthodox Church the upper hand, and the Gnostics soon faded from history. However, the Arians, a breakaway group from the Catholic-Orthodox Church, had substantial influence for some time.

The Council of Nicaea, called and chaired by Emperor Constantine in 325 CE, put in place some important doctrines, such as the concept of the Holy Trinity, as well as defining many church practices.

The Great Schism of 1054 changed the Christian Church forever, with at least two centres of power and doctrine.

The Protestant Reformation, which began in the 16th century, meant that many Christians abandoned important doctrines, theological opinions and disciplines of the Catholic Church - such as purgatory, limbo, indulgences, confession to a priest, and even some deuterocanonical books of The Bible.

The Mormon Church (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints), founded in the early 1800s, initially championed the practice of polygamy. It also re-introduced the concept of more than one god.

Answer 2

No. Christianity should go merely by the word of God. (The Bible)

Human customs change over time and these may change minor aspects of what denominations believe and sometimes split and change denominations.

But the plain fact is, Christianity, the message of salvation, has not changed:

If you declare with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Romans 10:9

Answer 3

A:God is now 3 in 1

Begotten word is used instead of born of

Early Arab Christians used Allah as their word for God.

B:The first big change in Christianity was the admission of non-Jews as Christians, without requiring them to adopt the Jewish laws. This happened first when Peter baptised Cornelius. It was a big upheaval, and it took a while for it to be widely accepted (Acts 10-12, 15).

The second big change follows on from the first, and it relates to actively taking the gospel to non-Jews. This first happened in Antioch in Syria, and was continued with the missionary journeys of Paul and his companions, and others not specifically recorded (Acts 13 onwards).

The third big change came when the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed in AD 70. This meant that Jewish Christians, who had kept up temple worship, had to think about what they were going to do now that there was no longer a temple. The book of Hebrews talks about that.

The next truly significant crisis came in the early fourth century, when a Christian presbyter in Egypt, Arius, challenged the idea that Jesus was of the same "substance" as the Father. He thought that Father and Son were quite different from each other, and that Jesus could not know the Father in the way that was generally understood (e.g. as discussed in John 5:19-30). This dispute had at its foundations a philosophical question, and is connected to the idea of whether or not God can suffer. This latter question was not resolved, but Arius' teachings were considered to be offensive and were rejected. The Nicene Creed is the result.

The last fundamental change, which resulted in a split of the Church in the West, was the Protestant reformation. Martin Luther emphasises Paul's teaching that we are saved by God's grace, and not through obedience to the teachings and practices of the (Catholic) Church.

Answer 4

By the spreading of the word of God and his son Jesus

Answer 5

it has made us think about things (10 commandments) we use these as a guideline to our life. Jesus has inspired us to be lie him.

Answer 6

Yes