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Christian beliefs
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Overview: Historical Christian religious beliefs
Sponsored link.
See also our essay on historical Christian creeds.
Historical beliefs
The Christian Church has held many of the following historical beliefs for centuries. Conservative Christians generally follow these beliefs today. Liberal Christians often deviate from them. Not all of these beliefs are equal in importance. A subset of these beliefs, often called key or cardinal doctrines are considered essential.
Most of the many thousands of denominations, para-church groups, and other Christian organizations publish a statement of beliefs. One web site has collected many dozens of these statements. 1
Historical Christian beliefs:
There are literally tens of thousands of individual Christian denominations, sects, and independent churches who hold a wide diversity of beliefs concerning deity, humanity and the rest of the universe. The following discussion does not necessarily match all groups.
 | Creation: God created the universe and the first couple, Adam and Eve. Liberal Christians tend to interpret the beginnings of the Book of Genesis as mythical truth rather than a precise description of real events. | ||||||||||
| The Fall of humanity: Adam and Eve were seduced by Satan into disobeying God's instructions and eating forbidden fruit. That act brought sin into the world, which has been inherited by all of humanity. Again, liberals generally regard this story as mythical and disagree with the concept of "original sin". Some believe that the story in Genesis actually records the rise of humanity, not its fall. | ||||||||||
| Ancient Israelites: The ancient Israelites were God's chosen people, to whom he gave a complete set of laws to govern their behavior until the arrival of Jesus. Christians have various conflicting beliefs about the status of God's covenants with the Jewish people today. Some feel that Jews and Christians have separate paths to salvation. Others believe in supercessionism: that when Jews rejected Jesus as the Messiah and the Son of God, they lost their special status; God's promises were then transferred to the Christian church who became the new chosen people. | ||||||||||
| Salvation: Almost all Christians agree that everyone
has eternal life. However, Christianity had traditionally taught that the destiny of most
people is to go to Hell for endless torture because of their sins, without any hope of mercy or an end to their
suffering. Only that very small minority who have achieved salvation
before death will live forever in heaven. Whether one has been saved is thus a topic of
great importance - more important to a conservative Christian than any other factor in
life.
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| The Bible: Conservative Christians generally believe that the original writings of the Bible, were inerrant (without error). God inspired its authors. Liberals tend to view the Bible as a collection of writings describing a gradual evolution of religious thought. They see material in the Bible that reflects the pre-scientific knowledge of its authors: the Earth as the center of the universe, a solid firmament in the sky that separates heaven from the earth, mental illness caused by demonic possession, a talking snake and donkey, etc. They see laws derived from the tribal culture of the Bible's authors which are considered profoundly immoral today. They see other text that was incorporated from nearby Pagan cultures. | ||||||||||
| Jesus' Birth: The Christian Church has traditionally taught that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was a virgin at the time of Jesus' conception. Roman Catholics believe that she remained a virgin all her life. Most liberals regard this as a myth, based upon an ancient mistranslation of the Book of Isaiah, and on the life stories of many god-men saviors from Pagan religions. | ||||||||||
| Atonement: This is the concept that, through Jesus' life -- and particularly his death -- the relationship between God and Man (which had been damaged by Adam and Eve's sin) can now be restored through the process of salvation. Different denominations have explained how the atonement works in different ways. | ||||||||||
| Resurrection: This is the teaching that after Jesus' death and burial, he arose again on the third day. | ||||||||||
| Ascension: Luke's gospel describes how Jesus bodily ascended from Bethany, into the clouds towards heaven on a Monday circa 30 CE, three days after his execution. Acts, which was also written by Luke, describes Jesus ascension, but places it on the Mount of Olives about 42 days after his execution. This is a curious discrepancy, since both books were written by the same author. | ||||||||||
| Second coming: Many Christians have expected Christ's imminent return to earth ever since the 1st century CE. About one in four American adults expects him to return during their own lifetime. A substantial number expected the second coming during the year 2000. More details. | ||||||||||
| Incarnation: Christians believe that God appeared on earth in human form as Jesus. | ||||||||||
| Justification: An act of God in which any person who accepts that they have sinned and who believes in the atonement of Christ is forgiven of their sins and brought into a close relationship with God . | ||||||||||
| Rapture: This involves the resurrection of all saved Christians who have died in the past. Both they and currently living, saved Christians will rise towards Jesus Christ in the sky. This is a relatively new belief within Christianity and is almost solely believed by conservative Protestants. It is rejected as myth by liberal Christians. | ||||||||||
| Regeneration of the spirit: The belief that a new believer undergoes a spiritual rebirth. | ||||||||||
| Inspiration: The belief that the authors of the Bible were inspired by the Holy Spirit so that their writings were free of error. | ||||||||||
| Deity: God is a single deity who exists as a Trinity of three separate persons: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit | ||||||||||
| Satan is regarded by conservatives as a created being, who was once an angel but is now an all-evil tormentor of humanity. Liberals generally regard Satan as a symbol of evil with no existence as a living entity. | ||||||||||
| Heaven and Hell: Conservative Christians believe that these are locations which are places of reward and punishment. Liberal beliefs are varied. |
Related essays on this website:
| Holy days: A list of seasonal days of celebration and remembrance. |
| Divisions among Protestant denominations: There are at least two groups of Protestant faith groups. |
| Differences between Roman Catholicism and conservative Protestantism: There are major gaps; and they are growing. |
| How Christians interpret the Bible: Their beliefs differ because of how they view the Bible. |
| The Bible: inerrant or errant? |
Reference
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"Official creeds and statement of faith from original sources," at: http://www.bible.ca/indexchurches.htm They list the statements and creeds of dozens of faith groups.
Copyright © 1996 to 2007 by Ontario Consultants on
Religious Tolerance
Originally written: 1996-OCT-23
Latest update: 2007-APR-25
Author: B.A. Robinson
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