Rival Interpretations of Christianity: I. Catholicism
Christianity is the name commonly given to the religion that came into existence through the career of Jesus of Nazareth and professedly preserves his character to this day. Christianity is a religion; that is, the name stands for a way in which men seek unitedly to come into communion with the eter...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
University of Chicago Press
1917
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| In: |
The biblical world
Year: 1917, Volume: 49, Issue: 1, Pages: 12-24 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (JSTOR) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Christianity is the name commonly given to the religion that came into existence through the career of Jesus of Nazareth and professedly preserves his character to this day. Christianity is a religion; that is, the name stands for a way in which men seek unitedly to come into communion with the eternal and invisible, a way in which they attempt to enter into happy relations with the Supreme Being. It is a historical religion; that is, it had its beginnings at a definite period of human life in this world and the course of its progress from age to age is traceable. It is a religion whose votaries aim at honoring the worth of him from whom it sprang by calling themselves by a name that designates his supreme place among men-Christ, Anointed of God, Sent of Heaven, King of their hearts-Christians, Christ-ones. When the historian unfolds before our eyes the manner in which this mighty spiritual movement has spread throughout the world and continued through the centuries, our attention is transfixed and our thought is challenged. What is it? What does it mean? Its phenomena are so vast and so varied and its followers have differed so much among themselves that at times one is tempted to say that there is often little or nothing more than the name in common. Yet even the possession of a common name is significant. The name may supply the clue to the true interpretation of its character. At any rate, for the intelligent man the attempt to interpret it is inevitable. The interpretation of Christianity is not exclusively the work of the scholar and philosopher. For the home of this religion has not been mainly in the highplaces of human life but more especially in the lives of the common people. They have given the most abundant interpretation of it. The conscious interpretation of it by the professional thinker is dependent on the popular, half-involuntary, half-conscious interpretation that is offered in the ways of the masses of believers-their spontaneous religious speech, acts of worship, songs, prayers, modes of conduct, customs of assembly, and methods of organization. The thinker must try to account for these things. The interpretations of Christianity that have appeared are numerous. In our survey it will be necessary to pass by many that are of only minor interest and limit our study to the great outstanding types. We shall select five-Catholicism, Mysticism, Protestantism, Rationalism, and Evangelicism. These overlap and mingle, of course, but they are sufficiently distinct to stand apart in our study. |
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| Contains: | Enthalten in: The biblical world
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1086/475674 |