WHAT VARIETIES OF CHRISTIANITY BESIDES 'ROMAN CATHOLIC' CAN YOU NAME?
In addition to Roman Catholic, there are Eastern Orthodox (Greek Orthodox and Russian Orthodox in Bulgaria, Macedonia, Serbia, Ukraine, Byelorus, Russia;) The Coptic Christians of Egypt; and Ethiopian Orthodox. Anglicanism gave rise to Episcopal. Protestantism gave rise to: Adventist, e.g. Seventh Day Adventists, Anabaptists such as Mennonite, Amish, Hutterites. Baptist; Calvinist (including Huguenot); Christadelphian; Evangelical and Methodist and their combined forms; United Methodist; Lutheran; Mormon; Pentacostal; Presbyterian; Quaker; Reformed; Shaker; Unitarian, etc. A few years ago there were more than 260 sects of Christianity.
What do you know about the following people in the Bible? These are all often mentioned in the West, so this is very worth while your knowing.
The Wise Men * Judas * Joseph and Mary * Please note: many Christians believe all of these stories to be literally true and all of the people to be historical figures who lived. Others don't think about whether they are true or not. Most people know the stories, though. Some scholars say some are not historically true because they don't find evidence of them in (for instance) Egyptian records which were meticulously kept. I believe some are filled with symbolic wisdom, while others are historically true. I have marked the ones I think are historically true with a *. Moses*: I think He was a historical person. He led the Jews out of slavery in Egypt, according to the Bible. Parted the Red Sea; received the Law on Mount Sinai. Part of this story is historic, some other parts may be symbolic.
Noah*: I think He was a historical person. The story has much that seems symbolic. What is literally true I don't know. Built an ark and saved much of His family and a male-female pair of every animal during the great Biblical flood.
Adam & Eve: the first Man and Woman; kicked out of Eden for eating the fruit of knowledge of good and evil. Symbolic.
John the Baptist*: ascetic Essene; cousin of Jesus; baptized Jesus; executed by Herod Antipas for his daughter Salome; treated baptism in the Jordan River as a symbolic cleansing and repentence from the foulness of sin, in preparation for the Messiah's coming.
Samson & Delilah: Samson was a strong man whose power resided in his long hair; when he told his lover of this, she cut it off during the night and Samson was captured and blinded. He pulled down the pillars to which he had been chained.
Joseph* & Mary*: father and mother of Jesus. Joseph was a carpenter, as was Jesus.
Judas* the disciple who betrayed Jesus with a kiss which identified Him to the Romans who arrested Him and then paid Judas with a bag of coins. It is said that Judas Iscariot hanged himself later because of grief about his part in Jesus' death.
the Wise Men*: they are called The Three Kings of the Orient, however it is thought they were Zoroastrian priests who could read the stars and observed a phenomenon which was prophesied to appear in the sky when the One also promised to them in their religion as well, was born.
Abel & Cain: the children of Adam and Eve. Cain killed his brother Abel.
Also: the twelve disciples*: followers of Jesus, also known as apostles. Representing the twelve tribes of Israel: Simon (= Peter*), Andrew* (Simon's brother), James*, John*, Philip&, Bartholomew*, Matthew*, Thomas*, James* (son of Alphaeus) and Simon*=Zelotes, and Judas*, brother of James*, and Judas* Iscariot (the traitor). Iscariot was the name of his home place.) Three of the Christian gospels bear the name of his disciples: John, James, and Matthew; Luke came later. The Gospels were written down a hundred years or more after Jesus when it was decided that His return wasn't going to happen immediately, as originally thought, so they had better record the history of what He taught.
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