The Christian Religious Belief System

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses religious belief systems and briefly compares them to other belief systems. First, the paper discusses the series of core beliefs that make up a religious belief system for Christianity. Next, the paper then looks at the Christian belief system of the Middle Ages and Renaissance and how the religious belief systems are learned. The paper then examines the religious structures which exist in Christianity around the world.

From the Paper:

"In considering how Christian belief systems are learned, it is necessary to look at the religious structures which exist in Christianity: firstly, in the Western world, Christianity is often the official religion - in many European countries, it was mandatory until the end of the 18th Century, and dissenters were imprisoned or even killed for criticizing the official faith. Even in a nation such as America, founded on the freedom of human beings, Christianity is still a major force. So the first method of acquiring Christianity as a belief system is to be born into a Western or Christian society. 2) Within that society, in modern times, it is possible to learn a number of Christian faiths. These are taught at Churches, during Religious Education at school, and also through the media. If a person is born into a particular kind of Christianity, say Catholicism, then it would be expected that they would learn this form of belief system from an early age - through attending Catholic ceremonies, being taught in a Catholic-funded school or receiving outside tuition, and through the influence of parents, friends, and neighbors. In a similar fashion, one could expect to find the religious belief systems of Protestantism being taught through church meetings, school lessons, the influence of parents and peers, and also through the media, which discusses religious news on a daily basis."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Carson, D.A. "Maintaining Scientific and Christian Truths in a Postmodern World" Science & Christian Belief Vol. 14, No 2. October 2002.
• Gledhill, Ruth and Owen, Richard "Pope's Gay Priest Ruling is Hailed by Moderates" Times Online November 30, 2005. Retrieved 4/02/2008 from http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,13509-1897264,00.html
• Hexar "The benefits of Christianity" (2008) retrieved 04/02/2008 from http://www.hexar.net/viewarticle.php?id=20
• Kaster, Steven Todd "The role of Tradition in Islam" (1999) retrieved 04/02/2008 from http://www.geocities.com/apotheoun/paper02b
• Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance "Our Statements of Beliefs" (2007) retrieved 4/02/2008 from http://www.religioustolerance.org/statbelief.htm

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