The word church is traditionally related to the place where all the rites established in a particular religion are carried out, especially in Christianity. The term comes from the Greek word “ἐκκλησία” (ekklēsía) and is mentioned in the Christian Bible as that location in which the Holy Trinity and all the saints and martyrs present should be worshiped as figures of spiritual power in their beliefs, citing the Apostle Paul "The church is the body of Christ."
What is church
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Its definition can be seen on the one hand, as a group of parishioners who come together by the same religious faith and come together to celebrate their doctrines. And on the other, as the infrastructure or building manufactured to consecrate God and dedicate worship to him.
Its concept is applied to a diversity of aspects in which Christianity has been divided, such as: the Orthodox Church, the Catholic, Anglican, Greek, Maronite, etc. According to their institution and constitution, these became an important part of society and represent a system of dogmatic precepts, beliefs and rites.
For some religions this term is not just a denomination or building. According to what is written in the Bible, it is about the Body of Christ and is in all those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ for salvation.
In sociology, the church is a group of institutionalized and organized religious, its members represent a sacred world and its relations with the rest of the world, seen by them as profane.
It is one of the most important locations for most practitioners, although in some religions their temple of "worship" is not known as a church, as they say it does not correspond to this because, according to them, the same person is the church.
Origin of the church
Jesus Christ founded not only a “Christianity” religion, but also a Church. Also called the " new People of God " it was constituted in the form of a visible community of salvation, to which men are incorporated through baptism. The constitution of the Church was consummated on the day of Pentecost, the day the Holy Spirit descends on the disciples and, from then on, its history begins correctly.
The historical beginning of The Church is found in the calling by Christ of the twelve Apostles to begin the ministry of the preaching of repentance for salvation and which was confirmed by the baptism of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, after the resurrection of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem, and his subsequent ascension.
The change in attitude that the Apostles would suffer after the resurrection and Pentecost would initiate the evangelization of all nations starting with the nearby cities or villages, Bethlehem, Caesarea, and then with Paul in Damascus, Ephesus, Antioch, Corinth, Thessalonica, Alexandria, Rome, in addition to establishing the relationship between the Christians from the people of Israel, who, together with the new Gentiles, would be considered children of Abraham, by faith, not by genetics and tradition.
This work of the Primitive Church will lead to the establishment of the Greek Orthodox churches mentioned and the Latin Roman, better known as the Catholic Church, but these would be challenged by the Protestant reform that would follow the Biblical Path that Rome had left in pursuit of its traditions.
What is the Catholic Church
It is the largest in the world and a congregation of the faithful to Christianity, brings together more than 1.1 billion faithful throughout the world. For Catholicism, the church is basically the religious body, the Pope being the highest authority over it, since he controls all the rites and information corresponding to the religious entity.
However, in earlier times, "church" was used to describe the meetings that were held within the community that followed Jesus Christ; With time and the announcement that Jesus gave to Peter (in which he told him that he would control all the people who believed in him), it was believed that this should be a building that will house all the parishioners, so that they can praise to God.
Jesus the great Lord, created the only church with the purpose of continuing his redemption and reconciliation of men until the end of the world. He gave his apostles divine power to preach the Gospel, sanctify men, and rule them with the order of eternal salvation.
This church is also the Mystical Body of Christ, this is because referring to a human body, Christ is the head, the baptized are the members of the body and the Holy Spirit is the soul that unites and sanctifies them with his grace. For this reason it is also considered as the Temple of the Holy Spirit.
The new catechism of the Catholic Church is a monumental work approved by Pope John Paul II, although it took several years to draft with experts from all continents and consult its content with all the Bishops of the world. The request for amendment made being finally approved. The idea of this work is based on collecting and explaining the Catholic faith in an organized way adapted to modernity.
This book is presented as a journey, which in four stages, allows us to capture and explain the dynamics of the Catholic faith:
- The first part is dedicated to the “ Creed ” where the support of the Bible for the truths of the faith is explained and where it is expressed who God is.
- In the second part, the sacraments are explained, each and every one of them on their effect that the Christian life grants, through their rites and traditions.
- The third part is dedicated to the Decalogue, explaining each of the ten commandments, as they should be understood in the light of Christ.
- The fourth part is dedicated to Christian prayer, in particular to the Our Father, the most important prayer of this religion, which contains the greatest and spiritual truths of the Christian life.
Catholic church classes
At present it is made up of 24 autonomous churches, distributed in 23 eastern and 1 western. The western one is represented by the traditional Catholic, Apostolic and Roman Church and is called in this way because of its geographical location in Rome. The rest of the 23 Orientals have their faithful scattered throughout the world and for historical reasons, they are strongly present in the places where they arose. Their cultural, theological and liturgical traditions are different, as are their structure and territorial organization, but they all profess a single Catholic doctrine and faith, keeping in full communication with the Holy See.
Cathedral
This is where the Bishop of the diocese lives. In general, they are large, have huge stained glass windows and huge spiers, very common in Gothic cathedrals.
Regarding the jurisdictional organization of the temples, each city has a cathedral, which fulfills the function of the main location, then there are the dioceses, archdioceses, apostolic vicariates, among others.
Basilica
They are considered the temples of greatest spiritual and historical importance, both for the church and for its parishioners, since in these temples they usually guard and preserve very important relics.
Sanctuary
They are temples where prodigious events have occurred, some martyrdom, miracles or Marian apparitions, they are also called the Sanctuary. These are very popular with many faithful who attend to worship or venerate a saint or to hold worship to the invocation of Jesus.
Parish
They are territorial divisions belonging to the Catholic Church, there is a priest called the parish priest who is responsible for it and its faithful. In a colloquial way they call it the rectory or parish church.
Chapel
They are smaller in architecture or structure, those of this type usually have a very small altar, in addition, they can be inside a larger or independent one.
Other churches of the world
Among other churches of Christianity are:
Protestant church
When asked what a Protestant church is, it can be said that it is one of the most important in Christianity, it is said that it has more than 800 million followers around the world. Martin Luther is considered the father of this religion, when he officially dissociated himself from the Catholic Church in 1517.
The followers of this religion do not accept the sacraments such as baptism and the Eucharist, in addition to this they do not know the authority of the Pope, because for them only Christ is the leader and the Bible is the only teaching text of God. Nor do they believe in what they call the sale of indulgences, since they think that people's salvation depends on faith and not on the works they perform.
Coptic Church
The Coptic Orthodox Church is the largest in Egypt and the Middle East, it is estimated that it has approximately 10 million parishioners worldwide. Although the Coptic community is mostly in this country, there are groups of them in Ethiopia, Syria, Sudan. According to this doctrine, Jesus Christ possessed a human but not divine nature.
The Coptic has preserved its liturgy in the Egyptian Coptic language and, despite having inserted itself into the Islamic world and having suffered persecution, has managed to survive in Cairo, where the Patriarch of Alexandria resides, who leads an austere life and with the seven sacraments.
Coptic churches lack images and pray seven times a day. Among the precepts it is forbidden to eat pork and the liturgical rite of Saint Basil must be respected. For general matters, they have adopted the Arabic language and their followers are three million faithful.
Anglican church
It was founded and practiced in England and in some cities in the United States. It is a fraternity, defined as the faith, practice and spirit of the churches that make up the well-known Anglican Communion. This fraternity is broad, made up of more than 40 autonomous provinces of mutual dependence.
What the Anglican church means to its parishioners is the representation of a form of Protestantism without the founding figures, such as John Calvin and Martin Luther, it is also a non-papal Catholicism. It is considered a part of the so-called Christian, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic and Reformed church.
They reject the adoration and worship of all images and all their bishops have the same rank, in this way they share the leadership of the church. Its clergy can marry and accept the Bible, but with a free interpretation.
Episcopal Church
This church is part of the World Anglican Communion and has some 70 million followers around the world. They remain united behind the belief in Holy Scripture that contains the very essence of the Christian faith. Throughout ancient and modern stories, these are connected to Jesus and his teachings.
They celebrate the presence of God through the worship of Bread and Wine. His faith is based on baptism into the body of Christ in the name of the power of the Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
The Episcopal Church is also apostolic, in regards to apostolic succession and in the sense of bringing God's word to the world. All members of the council are called to be ministers, not just the ordained. The Book of Common Prayer makes it clear that lay ministry comes first and that the ordained are there to support lay members in their work. Anglicans / Episcopalians believe that the church is a community of people coming together to worship and serve God in the church and in the world.
Unified Church of Christ
The Unified Church of Christ was created in 1957 by joining the Christian Congregational and the Reformed and Evangelical. It currently has approximately 1.7 million believers distributed in 6,400 congregations.
It has its roots in Congregationalism and in the teachings of the 16th century reformers Ulrich Zwingli and Martin Luther. They reaffirm Jesus Christ as the head of the church, reclaim their historic faith, through ancestral creeds, redeem the knowledge of the Protestant Reformers, and affirm the church's responsibility to make faith and worship unique from generation to generation..
It is based on the local church, which guarantees autonomy and freedom to make decisions. Despite having gospel freedom, each legal member, whether of the local church or conference, must make decisions in light of the gospel and with a sense of responsibility to the community at large.
Seventh-day Adventist Church
Seventh-day Adventism is a sect of Christianity, which considers, among other things, that worship services should take place on the “ seventh day ” (Saturday) and not on Sundays. It is said that there are different conditions of Seventh-day Adventism, some Seventh-day Adventists base their beliefs identically to Orthodox Christians, in addition to those of the Sabbath celebration. However, others go far beyond their misguided doctrine.
