There have been many bearers of the good news of Jesus Christ in our day and age, such as Martin Luther King Jr., an American Baptist civil rights activist and an eloquent preacher in Atlanta, Georgia; Desmond Tutu, a South African Anglican Archbishop, who helped his people combat apartheid; and Mother Teresa, a saintly Albanian Roman Catholic nun, who served the poorest of the poor in their daily struggle for survival in the slums of Calcutta (Kolkota). But, above all, Christianity is about ordinary people invited to live with the spirit of Jesus, the Galilean healer, which, in the words of the prophet Micah, calls people to “see that justice is done, let mercy be (their) first concern, and humbly obey ( their) God” (Micah 6: 8).

Often Christianity is experienced by those outside it in what I consider some of its most negative manifestations: an idealistic Teutonic theology; an antiquated ecclesial hierarchical system aping the Roman Empire; or a mishmash worldview of Hellenized instant salvation propagated by disingenuous evangelists who often prey on the gullible and vulnerable seekers of hope, or as pre-colonialist sly tactics as mission to woo the natives of distant shores in order to pillage their way of life and plunder their resources in the name of religion.

When did the Christian faith begin? Some might suggest it began when the badgering prophet, John the Baptist, called the powerful Pharisees and Sadducees “you bunch of snakes” (Matthew 3:8) and summoned them to the Jordan River to be baptized. Others might say it is even earlier, as noted in the Gospel of Luke, when we encounter the Virgin Mary’s Song of Praise, commonly known in the English-speaking world as the Magnificat ( from its first word in Latin ‘magnificat’ or magnify). A response to the promise of the advent of Jesus, it offered a radical hope to those who existed on the margins of society and, admittedly, a painful transformation to those who flourished at the center of power, prestige and wealth. The angel Gabriel is telling Mary that she will bear the holy child and Mary rushes to her cousin Elizabeth who is already six months pregnant with John the Baptist, and is surprised by Mary’s news; as the child moves in Elizabeth’s womb, Mary bursts into her song of praise:

My soul magnifies the Lord,
And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
For He has regarded the low estate of His handmaiden,
For behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
For He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name. And His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with His arm:
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
and exalted those of low degree.
He has filled the hungry with good things;
and the rich He has sent empty away.
He has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy;
As He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to His posterity forever.

Mary’s Canticle of Prayer was the good news (or Gospel) in a nutshell. The Virgin Mary, Mother of God (Theotokos) is adored and emulated by the Orthodox and Roman Catholic denominations, while she is ignored by most of the reformed denominations of Western Christianity, despite the fact that the reformers like Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Knox and Huldrych Zwingli did not disregard the important role which the Virgin Mary was called upon to play.

The word for Gospel in Greek is evangelion, a word that was used for an urgent report brought by a messenger to a Greek city-state about a victory won away from home or the birth of a royal successor, assuring the future. The term Gospel is derived from an old English word, goodspell, meaning good news. Christian, or christianos ( one who believes in Christ) is from Christos (Greek, derived from the Hebrew messiah from masiah) which means anointed. The word originally referred to the anointing of a king with oil at his coronation. It was first applied to the disciples in Antioch (Acts of the Apostles 11:26)

The life, death, resurrection and ascension of a young Jewish carpenter named Jesus (God saves), born ad raised in the Roman territory of Palestine about 2,000 years ago, are the very foundation of this faith. The Gospel according to Matthew states that Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary; her husband was a carpenter named Joseph of Nazareth. There is little information about Jesus’ childhood except his escape from the ruthless King Herod to Egypt and his visit to Jerusalem for the annual Passover celebrations.

At about age thirty Jesus joined his cousin, John the Baptist, in the Judean desert. John baptized him in the Jordan River and Jesus was then led by the Holy Spirit into the desert where he was tested by Satan. As recorded in the Synoptic Gospels, Jesus passed the tests and returned to Nazareth in order to officially embark on his public ministry; he read the following words from the Book of Isaiah on the Sabbath in the synagogue (Luke 4) and began teaching the emergence of the reign of God. He outlined his vision of God’s reign in his Sermon on the Mount, known to millions over the centuries both inside and outside the church, containing the Beatitudes. He invited those who needed the ‘good news’ with these words: “Come unto me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Prayer, reflection and silence were the ingredients of his lifestyle. He chose twelve ordinary men as his disciples; they later came to known in the early as Apostles. After about three years of ministry, Jesus was executed by the Roman authorities using their traditional device of a cross. In the days and weeks after his death his followers began to meet with the Risen or Resurrected Christ; they continued to be inspired by presence even after his ascension.

In the Semitic or Abrahamic faith traditions, the Holy Scriptures play a vital role. The early church rearranged the order of the Hebrew Scriptures to form the Christian Old Testament. The New Testament contains the Gospels, early church history, pastoral letters and the Book of Revelation. A number of interpretations of the Christian message that came from the teachings of Jesus existed in the Mediterranean basin, which was dominated by Roman culture during the first century. With the conversion of the former persecutor Saul following his Damascus Road experience, who adopted as his new name Paul, the Apostle, Christianity spread all over the known world, throughout Southern and Western Europe, Northern Africa and Southwest Asia, where the church was born. Paul, the great missionary, who had never known Jesus during his life, was highly influenced by his Greek training. He preached the good news of Jesus even in Athens, the cultural and educational center of ancient Europe. Most of Paul’s letters were written to various church communities to refute the teachings of heretics. Although little known about the ministry of Peter outside Palestine, he is believed to have helped John Mark to write the very first Gospel. In the first century, some of the apostles began to write down the teachings of Jesus and stories about him. The Epistles were written before the Gospels.

Soon after the Day of Pentecost, services were held on the day of resurrection which consisted of scripture and prayer as well as two sacraments or ordinances-the outward and tangible signs of inward and invisible realities-namely Baptism and the Holy Supper / Communion. Baptism is a metaphor for one’s entrance into the faith community and partaking the elements of bread and wine/grape juice symbolize Jesus’ sacrificial death. Thus the worshippers are connected to the body of Jesus Christ, the church.

European Christianity owes its existence to Roman emperor Constantine, who elevated it as the official religion of his empire. The best known early Christian theologian, Augustine was Bishop of Hippo Regius. He became a prominent defender of the faith in the early church largely because of Pelagianism, which taught that human beings could initiate salvific efforts on their own without or apart from Divine Grace. Augustine’s autobiographical Confessions is an integral part of Christian theology. Another celebrated work is his City of God. The early church faced distortions and controversies between Judaic and Hellenistic Jews and heresies such as Adoptionism, Arainism, Nestorianism, Docetism, Marcianism, Montanism etc. Christianity was resourced in many ancient cities such as Constantinople, Antioch, Alexandria and Jerusalem in the East and Rome in the West. The patriarch of Constantinople was given the title ‘the ecumenical Patriarch’ and the patriarch of Rome was called ‘the Pope’. The monastic movement began in Egypt and quickly spread into much of the Christian world. Monasteries became centers for missionary work and learning; they were also used for orphanages, hospitals and way houses. However, in 1054 CE, the Great Schism took place between the Eastern Orthodox and Western Catholic churches, fracturing Christendom forever as forty years later the Crusades compounded this split and reconciliation became impossible. Following the ill-fated Crusades, the infamous attempt to recapture the Holy Land from the Muslims, undertaken by the European Church in the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries, the papacy ( office of the Pope) lost some of its luster due to a number of factors. Pope Boniface V111 (1303 CE) was imprisoned for a period of time; England and France proceeded on their road toward freedom form Rome.

The Protestant Reformation, a family feud within European Christianity, created a division within Western Christianity. Martin Luther, a German monk questioned the supremacy of the Pope, followed by John Calvin, a French priest and scholar, well known for his Reformation classic, The Institutes of the Christian Religion. During the 18th century some Anglican clerics reacted against what they saw as the formalism and sterility of the Church of England. John and Charles Wesley were especially concerned about the faith and lives of agricultural laborers and those worked in the mines and mills that developed with the Industrial Revolution; in fact in 1739 CE in London, John Wesley formed the first Methodist Society, splitting away from the Church of England.

It is interesting that both Buddhism and Christianity emerged from two distinct ancient traditions; the former originated in India and spread to Sri Lanka, Thailand, China, Japan, Mynamar, Malaysia etc. and the latter began in Palestine and reached out to Malabar, Alexandria, Athens, Corinth, Damascus, Istanbul, Rome, Geneva and so forth. In fact, over 2, 000 years later, this faith community is preserved liturgically, resourced theologically and nurtured intellectually in tens of hundreds of ancient and modern independent denominations, traditions, and centers of learning and research all over the world.

There have been a few recent theological trends which have grown out of the 20th century. One of these is Black Theology, which was an unconquerable reaction to slavery primarily in the American Bible-belt southern states and the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s under the non-violent, Mahatma Gandhi-style leadership of Martin Luther King Jr. Liberation Theology challenged the issue of poverty and unemployment in the developing nations during the 1970s. This unconventional and radical shift in focus on obedience to a liberating God who would empower the poor of the world. The Hebrew prophets and the teaching of Jesus, the liberator, inspired this global movement. Feminist Theology emphasized the unquestionable leadership roles and equality of women in an oppressively male-dominated, and hierarchical church. Despite the affluent, Christian Western dominance in the development of the church and its theology for over the past 1,500 years, it is becoming primarily a non-Western, non-White religion centered numerically in Africa, Asia and South America. By 2050 only one Christian in five will be white and non-Latino. Most of the former mainline churches relegated to the sidelines are struggling to survive with relatively expensive urban real estate and shrinking memberships, due to an aging population and demographic shifts.

The World Council of Churches, established in 1948, largely by the Reformed denominations, is a fellowship of 347 denominations ( 2006) in over 120 countries in all continents from every Christian tradition except the roman Catholic denomination. Christianity indisputably has three historic thresholds:

1. Apostolic Christendom : the early church founded by the apostles of Jesus in North Africa, Southwest Europe and Southeast Asia.

2. European / Western Christendom : Constantine’s leftover legacy of official religion of the Roman empire.

3. 21st Century New Christendom : represents a significant stage in the growth of the global church in Latin America, Africa and Asia.

Unquestionably modern Western society was conceived in the womb of the Christian faith. Thanks to Constantine’s political influence and religious vacuum of Europe in the fourth century, it was relatively easy for the new Palestinian religious offshoot of Judaism to spread all over Europe, eventually to the New World and, as it is referred to in the Gospels, “all the nations…to the end of the age ( Matthew 28: 19-20 ). Although as a result of the 18th century European Enlightenment and the rise of individualism, Christian faith and the biblical tradition of community and religious values have been challenged by science, reason and self-interest. It is even more difficult to hold onto the Christian faith in the post-modern world where relativistic ethics prevail.

In Canada where the national government funded Christian denominations to “make the Native children white” in residential schools, the sexually abusive and culturally patronizing behavior of some of the administrators, teachers and other missionary type care-givers towards the Native people has caused utterly irredeemable consternation to the denominations involved: Roman Catholic, Anglican, and United Church of Canada. In some cases litigation threatens to leave a few Anglican and Roman Catholic dioceses bankrupt!

The rights of minorities, especially those of aboriginal and homosexuals, have challenged the Christian churches; some denominations are more involved in these issues than others. It has been noted that the only Christian denominations in Canada and the United States with meaningful signs of growth are the Pentecostals and other fundamentalist groups. In Canada, Christianity, the largest and most commanding religion among the worldwide faith traditions, will be, for the foreseeable future, the principal source for and a powerful factor in shaping the values and lifestyles of its people. But the growth potential of the Christian mainline denominations is undoubtedly limited by several socially and ethically complex issues such as the residential school scandal and subsequent litigation, ordination of homosexuals, same-sex unions etc.

A modest communal way of life of sharing, praying and praising God in order to reconnect with the creator God initiated in Palestine long ago, through the self-effacing sacrificial of Jesus, the Messiah eventually turned out to be many things to many people in many places on this planet with the largest religious adherents. The 21st century version of this fellowship is at present promising as a liminal spiritual way of life in many parts of South East and West Asia in spite of other major faith traditions, an on-going cultural proto-type the Roman Empire in Europe, a religious lifestyle immersed in the native rhythmic celebration in Africa, a prevailing, liberating ecclesial presence in South America, and a largely Protestant and evangelical entrepreneurial enterprise in North America.

References:
1. Alexander, Michael (trans) 2003 Beowulf Penguin Books
2. Bede 1991 The Ecclesiastical History of the English Penguin Classics
3. Ward, Benedicta 1999 High King of Heaven: Aspects of Early English Spirituality Continuum International Publishing Group.
4. Hamer, Richard Frederick Sanger 1975 A Choice of Anglo-Saxon Verse Faber & Faber