Differences between Christianity and other Monotheistic Religions

• In Christianity, one God exists as three forms: the Holy Spirit, Father God, and God's Son, whereas God appears only in one form in Judaism and Islam.

• Christianity appeared after Judaism and before Islam 

• In the Islamic faith, Muslims believe that Mohammed was the only true prophet and that Jesus was only human. Jewish people believed that Jesus was a false Messiah. In Christianity, they believe that Jesus was divine and a form of God.

• Islamic and Jewish people both believe that to attain salvation was to be good to others and help everyone. In Christianity, they believe that as well, but mainly believe that keeping faith in Jesus will help someone reach salvation

• This video clip shows several religious scholars explaining about how their monotheistic religions are different from one another.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLnMNfd1Iwo

Traditions and Rituals

1.Baptism- dipping a baby in holy water to remove sins and purify them. This ritual used to be done only on adults, but now it is mainly done on newborn.





2.Eucharist-also known as communion, it is when Christians share bread and wine to symbolize Jesus' Last Supper and his sacrifice he made for his followers.






3.Confirmation- when a person confesses his or her sins in front of a priest and cleanses themselves of sins.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               









Nowadays, people get baptized when they are born

The Place of Worship and Major Features

Place of Worship: Church/Cathedral

Major Features:

• Have stain glass decorations depicting various pictures
• Romanesque, neo-classical, or gothic styles
• some Churches have no idols 
• some are plainly decorated and whitewashed
• other churches are beautifully decorated with ingenious architecture
• Have a cross in the center

 
This church shows the simplicity of a Protestant Church

Holy Book: Bible

Holy Days:

• Lent- Traditionally used to fast forty days. This was to develop self examination and historically unified people who could buy meat with those who could not.
• Palm Sunday- Used to glorify Jesus' entry into Jerusalem. People celebrate the day by listening to worship services in a triumphant manner.

• This video clip shows Lent and Palm Sunday being celebrated

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-ZBxgEKXU0

Differences between Protestantism and other Christian Religions

There are three main fundamental aspects that make Protestantism different from other Christian religions:

•  First Principle: Protestants refer to the bible as being the only source of authority in a church. The Bible has full power and is read very strictly. Protestants reject the doctrines of apostolic succession which means they do not believe in the idea of a Bishop lineage dating all the back to the true Apostles.

Protestants strongly believe in the Bible

• Second Principle: Protestants believe the only way to rid of sins are to faithfully believe in God and be a good person.

• Third Principle: Protestants believe people should not only take part in the Church, but also the government and affairs of the Church. This made sure that the priests were not the sole people in charge pf the Church, but the person who connects people to God.

Development of Branch

HOW: When Martin Luther saw Catholic Churches "selling salvation" he was perturbed at how the Bible never mentioned any of this. Several people decided to follow him as they moved away from the "different" ways of the Catholic Church. Protestantism bloomed in the 16th-century.

WHERE: This branch developed in the Holy Roman Empire (Present-day Germany)

This map shows the areas in Europe that are more Protestant

Demographics

• Mainly people of Western European descent, African Americans, Africans, some Hispanics and Asians.

•  It is hard to count the exact number of Protestants because of the difficulty in classifying which denominations are Protestant. An estimate would be that the world is 11% Protestant. 

A pie-chart depicting the percentage of Protestants in the U.S.