The Core of Christianity and Its Offspring.
Christianity remains one of the fastest growing and largely followed religions of the world. The credit for its rapid growth is due to its universal message of God's never ending love for mankind and the dedication of its followers who felt it was their duty to spread the message. This article about Christianity, taken from The Illustrated World's Religions, begins with the bonding elements which holds the religion together and then takes a brief look at the differences between its three major offspring: Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Protestantism.
Jesus is undoubtedly the nucleus of Christianity. His incredible life induces others to behave in a manner similar to his and to have an appetite for his knowledge of the Higher Power. Not much is known about the actual details of his life, but a lot is known about the way he lived his life, his teachings, and healing powers. The article notes that Jesus and other prophets relied on the Spirit world to gain power. Jesus used his power in order to help people who were suffering and to change the social order of his time. The turning point in Jesus" life is when his cousin John baptized him. It was then that the Spirit enveloped Jesus and sent him to the desert to pray and fast for forty days. After that experience Jesus was filled with the power of the Spirit. The power given to Jesus enabled him to perform incredulous works. He made blind men see, crippled women walk, and the list continues. .
Besides using his power to heal humanity, Jesus also set out to change social dilemmas. During his time the Romans were continuously persecuting the Jews. Surely revolts were likely to take place. So the Jews divided themselves into four groups. The Sadducees accustomed themselves to the Hellenistic culture and Roman rule. The Essenes withdrew from everyone and formed their own private communities.
