wtorek, 24 stycznia 2017

[9] The Abrahamic religions - a brief introduction. Part Five: Chalcedon and the Great Schism

The second schism took place in 451. Sees of Alexandria and Antioch seceded after the Council of Chalcedon under the pretext of very small christological differencies with Rome and Constantinople. Armenian state church took the chance of independence from Rome as well. The so-called Oriental Orthodox Church came into being. Today many Oriental Orthodox Churches now view the Chalcedonian Schism as having resulted from a difference in semantics rather than actual doctrine. But I think that the true reason was imperial politics of Constantinople that wanted to dominate whole eastern part of the Empire.
There is also an interesting fact about the Oriental Orthodoxy. Maybe during your childhood you heard a joke: „How do two popes greet each other?” And if you have said „I don't know” or some like that, the joke teller laughed at you saying „Ha-ha-ha, silly you, there's only one pope in the world”. So, today you will be able to response that it is not true. And not only because of abdication of His Holiness Benedict 16th. There is an another bishop who uses a title of pope. He also resides in the Holy See, but in Alexandria in Egypt. He is the head of Coptic Orthodox Church as well as the whole Oriental Orthodox Church. Other churches within the Oriental Orthodox Communion are: the Armenian Apostolic Church, headed by the Catholicos of All Armenians, the Syriac Orthodox Church, the Malankara Orthodox Church existing in India, the Ethopian Orthodox Church, the Eritrean Orthodox Church. Each of them are autocephalus but recognise the Pope of Alexandria as the first among equals. There are also various small schismatic churches of Oriental Orthodox tradition like for example the Celtic Orthodox Church that claims to have roots in ancient Celtic Christianity in the British Isles.
The story of schism repeated once again in 1054. This event is called the Great Schism. Constantinople rejected to recognise the primate of Roman Pope. The two biggest churches in the world came into being: one called „Roman Catholic Church” and the second one called „Eastern Orthodox Church”.
But there were in ancient times also some churches outside the Empire in the Western Europe. The best example is the mentioned Celtic Christianity that seceded due to geographic isolation and reunited with Rome in the Middle Ages. Today's Anglicanism consider itself to be a succesor of these churches.

sobota, 21 stycznia 2017

[8] The Abrahamic religions - a brief introduction. Part Four: Early Schisms

Catholicism and the Early Schisms
After the First Council of Nicea there were another councils convened in order to condemn several new heresies. Nevertheless, these heresies were short-lived and not very influential, and they slightly differed from the Orthodoxy. In 380 AD, however, a completely new chapter in the history of Christianity began. The Christian Church was established as a state religion of the Roman Empire, and it was the second state church in (the) history (the first was Armenian Church). Afterwards, Christianity became a political issue and, as a result, some problems usually attached to politics aroseA phenomenon of schisms came into existence, a the phenomenon that finally led to the birth of Anglicanism. A schism is an institutional division between two or more churches not caused by the differencies in their faiths, but usually resulting from political and other non-religious reasons such as geographic isolation.
In the 4th and 5th century, the Roman Empire was not the only state where Christianity existed. When it eventually became the state religion of the Empire, Christians began to be regarded as the agents of Rome within the states that had rocky relations with the Empire. I mean here the Sassanid Empire in today's Iran. In 424, local bishops recognised their leader as the patriarch and cut ties with the Roman Church. The Persian Church became later the Church of the East which exists to the present and is one of the main branches of Christianity. During the Middle Ages it formed the second great Christian world beside Christianity in Europe, but it was almost unkown to the Western World. It was present from Persia as far as India and China, but later it declined. Until the twentieth century, it was widespread among hereditary patriarchs (the post passed from uncle to nephew due to celibacy). Another schism took place in the 20th century, however, concerning this and other issues. The Church of the East is now divided into the Assyrian Church of the East and the Ancient Church of the East. Contrary to a popular belief, the doctrine of the Church of the East is not based on Nestorian teachings condemned in the Council of Ephesus. They claim that Nestorianism is a heresy and consider calling them „Nestorians” offensive.
However, the existence of a formal schism between the Roman Church, its successor churches and the Church of the East seems doubtful when we recall a story that happened seven centuries later. A Mongolian monk from the Church of the East arrived on a diplomatic mission to Rome and received the Holy Communion from the hands of the Roman Pope! It is impossible for a person regarded as schismatic to receive the Holy Communion in the Roman Catholic Church. This story has led me to the conclusion that the statement of Persian patriarchs that they were not in the communion with the Roman Church was a lie whose purpose was to avoid persecutions. Real schism took place many years later, mostly due to geographical isolation.
At the very beginning of Christianity as a state religion of the Roman Empire, there were five major episcopal sees: one in Rome, one in Constantinople, one in Alexandria, one in Antioch and the last one in Jerusalem. The bishops of these sees were called patriarchs. Rome, Alexandria and Antioch were already prominent from the time of early Christianity, while Constantinople came to the fore upon becoming the imperial residence in the 4th century. Thereafter, it was ranked consistently just after Rome. Jerusalem received a ceremonial place due to the city's importance in the early days of Christianity. The first four of them were also strong political centers in the Empire; only Jerusalem did not form a separate political entity. The cities were also driven by a desire to dominate each other and it finally led to other schisms.

środa, 11 stycznia 2017

[7] The Abrahamic religions - a brief introduction. Part Three: Christianity and the early heresies

Christianity and the early heresies

Christianity came into existence as a sect within Ancient Judaism and its split with Judaism took place in the time of the Rejection of Jesus by Jews (circa 33 AD) or in the time of the Council of Jerusalem (circa 50 AD), when the Apostles rejected the most of Jewish religious laws such as male circumcision. The first divisions within Christianity arose probably in these times. The first controversions included: rejecting or maintaining the Jewish law, accepting the divinity of Jesus or treating him as a prophet and accepting or rejecting the conception of the Holy Trinity. Numerous sects seceded from that? some scholars call „Pauline Christianity,based on recognizing Paul the Apostle as the greatest missionary in the history, or „Proto-Orthodox Christianity”. Some of these sects are quite important for understanding the history of the Abrahamic religions, which is why I have mentioned them before, but the majority of them was short-lived. What is more, we do not know much/ a lot about them since Christianity was illegal and persecuted by the Roman Empire up to 313 AD, when it was eventually legalised.

Demographically, the biggest sect was Arianism, and it was probably the only one that survived in the Roman Empire up to the legalisation. It is also of considerable importance for some doctrines that emerged later during the Reformation. Beside Gnosticism, Arianism was the most important Non-Trinitarian doctrine. Its father, bishop Arius of Alexandria denied the true divinity of Jesus and stated that he was only the son of God and was created by Him. Do you know who was his mortal enemy? Lucifer. Saint Lucifer, bishop of Cagliary, known for his passionate opposition to Arianism. How was it possible that he bore such a name? In these times the word „Lucifer” meant simply „light-bringing” and it would be connected with the chief of the fallen angels much later. Returning to the subject at hand, Arianism had a great impact on the mentioned Proto-Orthodox Christianity. In order to regain the unity of all Christedom, the First Council of Nicea was convened by the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great, who (had) converted shortly before. The Council codified the most important doctrines of the Christian faith in the Nicene Creed, which is believed to be the simplest definition of Christianity. Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodoxes, Oriental Orthodoxes, Lutherans, Anglicans, Calvinists, Methodists and many others fight the Arianism every time when they recite „We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of all things visible and invisible; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only-begotten of his Father, of the substance of the Father, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father.” 

I have emphasised the most important fragments of the text that are meant directly against Arianism. The followers of Arianism and other Non-Trinitarian doctrines were among the most hated during the whole history of Christianity. Their denying of the divinity of Jesus was considered as a blasphemy against God. This was also one of the reasons of the exile of the Polish Brethen, the only banned denomination in the history of independent Poland. Even today, the acceptance of the dogma of the Holy Trinity is the first condition to join the World Council of Churches, which simply means that Non-Trinitarians are basically regarded as non-Christians by the mainstream Christianity.


[6] The Abrahamic religions - a brief introduction. Part Two: from Simon the Magician to the Holy Prophet

Mandaeans and Gnostics
Ancient Judaism has given birth to numerous religions that have dominated the modern world. The most important to us and the biggest is Christianity, which has its beginnings in an ancient sect within Judaism, but we know this story. However, I think that the Mandeaens are almost unknown in the Western societies. They are also called the Christians of the Saint John because they recognise John the Baptist as one of their most important teachers, and claim direct descent from the prophet Noah. However, calling them „Christians” is quite incorrect because, despite their respect for John, they maintain that Jesus was a false messiah. They also consider the Holy Spirit that is mentioned in the Bible to be an evil being, and Abraham and Moses to be false prophets. As you can see, even recognising them as an „Abrahamic religion” may be very controversial despite their descent. Moreover, they are believed to be the only Gnostic sect surviving from the late antiquity to the present. The Gnostics have never formed a single religion. This term is rather used to describe a number of traditions that have similar features such as dualism and antimaterialism beside many differences, and have been united in the teaching that humans are divine souls trapped in the material world created by an imperfect god, the demiurge, who is frequently identified with the Abrahamic God. They had roots in the early Christianity with strong influences of Zoroastrianism, an ancient Iranian religion, the Neo-Platonic philosophy and Greco-Roman mystery religions such as Hermetism. In the Christian tradition, Simon the Magician mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles is believed to be the founder of Gnosticism. Gnosticism was ancestral to several medieval heresies such as Catharism, destroyed by the crusades.

Islam
Some scholars believe Islam to be a child of early Nontrinitarian sects within Christianity as well. I personally consider Islam to be descended from the Ebionites, a group that rejected the divinity of Jesus and were present in Arabia during the ancient times. According to modern mainstream Islam, the Ebionites were the group who was faithful to the original teachings of Jesus, unlike the mainstream Christianity, who abandoned the pure monotheism of Jesus by adopting the dogma of the Holy Trinity. The main evidence supporting the idea that Muslims originate from Christians is their recognition of Jesus as a prophet and a belief in the virginity of Mary, the mother of Jesus. On the other hand, one of the first men to believe in the prophethood of Muhammad according to the Holy Quran was an Ebionite monk, a distant cousin of the prophet.

Islam has various branches and schools which often consider each other to be unbelievers. Nowadays, there the major branches include the Sunni, Shia and Ibadi, who are are divided into many schools. The Sufis, who are organised in mystical orders, originate from Sunni Islam, as well as the Salafis do, who are responsible for Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism, and are despised by traditional Muslims as heretics. The both of them are mortal enemies to each other. Next, Quranism, a radical school that holds that the Quran must be the only source of the Islamic faith and rejects the authority of Hadith, has emerged from Sunni Islam as well. What is more, the Alawites, the Druzes of Shia origin and the Ahmadiyya movement consider themselves Muslims, but they hold belief in various new prophets, messiahs, or even God incarnations after Muhammad. There is still another group, the Babists and Bahaists, who also have their own prophets, but emphasize their separation from Islam. Furthermore, so-called Black Islam came into being among black nationalists and separatists in the USA, which is a separate branch of Islam.

A representation of Melek Taus, the Peacock Angel

Native Kurdish religions such as Yarsanism, Chinarism and Yazidism have their roots predominantly in Islam and Zoroastrianism. Yazidis have a reputation as devil worshippers due to their belief that the fallen angel repented, redeemed himself and now he is the ruler of the world. They call him „Melek Taus,” which means „the peacock angel”.


[5] The Abrahamic religions - a brief introduction. Part One: Judaism(s)

Judaism(s)
The oldest and ancestral to other Abrahamic traditions is Ancient Judaism, also referred to as Mosaism by some scholars. Contrary to a popular belief, the religion that we know from the Old Testament is no longer in existence. It disappeared after the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD, although various minor sects have more or less justified claims to call themselves its true heirs.

Today's mainstream Judaism is also called the Rabbinic Judaism or Talmudism, and it is directly descended from Pharisees that were regarded as heretics in the ancient times. The Rabbinic Judaism rejected priesthood and was based more on the Talmud than on the Bible. The Talmud was written and added to the tradition of Judaism after the birth of Christ, so. Thus we can assume that it is quite distinct from Ancient Judaism. The Rabbinic Judaism is divided into several denominations (or schools) such as the Reform, Conservative and Orthodox Judaism and into numerous Jewish ethnic subdivisions, having distinct liturgical traditions such as the Sephardic and Ashkenazic Jews. These categories also include various groups of converts, some of whom can appear as strange to us such as the Inca Jews or the Amazonian Jews, who have Amerindian racial descent. Furthermore, the Orthodox Judaism should not be confused with the Orthodox Christianity, which is another example of the use of the term „orthodox” in English.

However, (as I have said), there are also other groups that are non-Talmudic, but they are relatively small. The oldest, and mentioned in the Bible, is the Samaritans. They assert that their faith is the true religion of the ancient Israelites (prior to the Babylonian Exile), preserved by those who remained in the Land of Israel after the Babylonian Exile, as opposed to the mainstream Judaism, which they claim is a related, but altered and amended religion, brought back by those returning from the Babylonian Exile. Nevertheless, the truth is that the Samaritans are descended from both the Jews that were not exiled by the Assyrians and from the various groups of colonists that were by force settled in the Land of Israel during the Assyrian occupation. Additionally, the Samaritans maintain priesthood.

Next, there is Karaism, which is as well present in Poland. The Karaites are descended from the group of Jews that rejected the Talmud and Rabbinic teachings, but maintained priesthood. They also claim to be the heirs of the original Judaism, going back to the destruction of the Temple. However, they have adopted various non-Jewish customs in their liturgy such as the Lord's Prayer, which may prove Christian influences.

There are also various Jewish groups claiming to be the descendants of the so-called Lost Tribes of Israel. They live in the South Africa and in the Far East. They did not know the Talmud because of the geographical isolation. Some of them recognise Jesus as the Messiah or as a prophet, and they maintain priesthood. The most important group is the Ethiopian Jews, but the Igbo Jews of Nigeria, the Lemba people from South Africa, the reviving Kaifeng Jews of China and others also exist to the present.

We can also add to our tree some modern and quite new Jewish denominations that have origins in the Rabbinic Judaism, but have seceded from it. Today, there exist the Messianic Jews, who recognise Jesus as the Messiah or even as God. There is still another group, the Sabbateans, who believe that Rabbi Sabbatai Zevi was the true long-awaited Jewish Messiah.