In terms of the number of adherents, Christianity is by far the largest religion in the world and the most active of all faiths with 1.9 billion Christians spread across the world. Christianity originated in Israel, on the birth of its founder, Jesus of Nazareth in Bethlehem. Jesus, born of the Virg...

Jesus Christ founded the Roman Catholic Church early in the first century A.D. The basic organization of the Church was also put in place during this time, but the organization is something that has evolved, and continues to evolve, throughout the past two thousand years. Yet to say that the Roman...

First off, Natural Law is demonstrated in the Natural Law Matrix. (This is at the end of this essay.) But Natural Law is basically a system to make sure that the law is king instead of the king being the law. It starts out with God, whom is the creator of all things and is in charge. Basically, ever...

Recognition of past mistakes has led the church to better practices and pastoral care. The events of the Second Vatican Council have shown that the church is willing to look at its problems and past mistakes and then attempt to solve them. By recognizing that what they were doing was alienating thei...

After a string of wars, poverty, and social unrest the people of the Renaissance error were in search of peace and guidance. Most turned to religion but found no solace in the corrupt Romanist empire, thus there was a need for a new religious path among the people. Protestantism spread rapidly thro...

What authority does the prince hold if ruled by a power other than god himself? In Martin Luther's writings "Against the Authority of the Catholic Church", he rejects the Popes claims that religious authority is superior to secular authority and provides the argument for Germany to s...

The Eucharist is a sacrament and a sacrifice. In the Holy Eucharist, in the symbols of bread and wine, the Lord Christ is contained, offered, and received. The Eucharist goes beyond being a sacrament. It represents the body and blood of Christ: to God, Himself, made man. Jesus gave the Eucharist fo...

The Crusades began formally on Tuesday, November 27, 1095, in a field just outside the walls of the French city of Clermont-Ferrand. On that day Pope Urban II preached a speech to crowds of laypeople attending a Church council at Clermont. In his speech, the pope outlined a plan for a Crusade and ca...

Music has been a great influence in the lives of many people for many years and is constantly changing. Music has been divided into six periods: Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, and Twentieth Century.The Medieval period was the longest and most distant period of musical history and consist...

Heading into the sixteenth century, the Roman Catholic Church was undoubtedly the dominating religious power in Europe. But this dominance throughout Europe would not extend to the next one hundred years. This was the time before the great Protestant Reformation begun by theologian Martin Luther t...

When discussing the sociology of religion, you are forced to think about what groups are present throughout. As with any organized group, there has to be a presence of leadership (Johnstone). The leaders are those looked upon by the group or society for advice, reassurance and social norms. Leade...

In the file The name of the Rose, the monks who run the Benedictine Order Abbey recognize that knowledge can be a very dangerous thing. Knowledge can be dangerous if it says that the truth is different from what the ruling authority says is the truth. Then such knowledge can become part of a revol...

 THE HERESY OF GALILEOGalileo was condemned by the Inquisition, not for his own brilliant theories, but becausehe stood up for his belief in Copernicus's theory that the earth was not, as the Church insisted, thecenter of the universe, but that rather, the universe is hel...

Medieval society, as characterized by Adalbero of Laon, can be said to have contained three social orders, "those who worked, those who fought, and those who prayed." In theory, and during the period in which it was stated, this could be a reasonable assertion, although reality probably painted a sl...

SAINT MARY'S CHURCH On Saturday September Twenty Second I attended a mass at Saint is located in the down area of Saint Mary's Pennsylvania. The church is connected to a convent with a local elementary school across the street. It stands to be the biggest and oldest church in Saint Mary's. Sain...

What were the reasons for the decline of Catholicism in America since 1945 (oral)Picture this if you will. In the beginning (being 1945) god created a shepherd (the Catholic Church) in which we the sheep followed blindly. Everywhere the shepherd took us, we would follow without complaint. A sheep da...

Truman's decision to drop the bombThe assessments of western civilization and culture has in one way or another affected virtually every aspect of life on the globe. The changes and ideas of this way of thinking have gradually evolved over the past six centuries and are still incredibly visible, dom...