Christians gloriett m uie M<in.c "' . 'r* - ,
tSw;^'^f ^t ^=/d:^ivirSe3
'cathX' wilhin and the use of ' Nazarene (in %=th^e' ^^K^sage of the. t«^ three j^^^^^^
the norm'^of dristianity. The <p^;:.J^^^:^ well put by Rathbone Greg (Creed ^ih '^^'^^_ vol 1 n xlixf.). The .second point is thu aeii ^U l^^Jon of the muiie,_ as^ -^"^11.^^ sectarianism, by certain '.""■.; ,,.. |i,.„mmond volume of Dr. Ma'-tincau ^ /. / . ''> ."^'^^ ^^ and Upton). And, thir. 1> . ' ^^ from tbe notice that an .^'"J , I,,,;,,,,;., ,,y tSe name of revival of 180|'.^; , „ , ' ,„' u.-st /long), in order 'Christians (1"""'""" "- ' '. indoles to bring out then- '-- -^' . 'X^tithesis to SS,' ^^ var^us^- definitions, practical jr;hi,..,ai« have W ^^ Samuel L, .. N. see \]l q^^^^^„^<^ jteligion of a V ^■" ''■/ , il' vu) and Sir John Seeley .s {'T'' , , ' ';, (i ch. iii.). 'He who can ' il,- L..1.1- ^'niyer sincerely must surely be a
318
CHRISTIANITY
CHRISTIANITY
Christian,' says Kotlie ; while Martineaus defiiii- tion, in reference to a chureli, runs thus: 'im- bued witli Christ's spirit, teaching His religion, worshipping His God and Fatlier, and accepting His law of self-sacrifice.' Perhaps the data of the NT would be covered adequately by the declara- tion that the name ' Christian ' belongs to any one who can call Jesus ' Lord ' in the sense of 1 Co 12^ See, further, tlie following article.
LiTERATrRE —Besides the articles in Hastings' DB i pp 3S4- 386 (Ga\ ford), and Encm B,M. i. 752-763 (Schmiedel), the Conimeiitanea on \< 11-', .and Histoiies of tht Vpostnlm a^^e (» y ), consultLip"-! ! ' r ' ' ' ' ' i h
pp 1-78 , Carr in / I k,
Attsbieitiing rii s <l-
297 (Enj; tr .su I I / \ /',
ii. pp 34 1 i: I / \\ ^liott ~ note
in his/, I " t ^1 I M ) . Li^htfoot,
Apo^tnli / / ] I I I On the later
use and fill tlli vil I (1 v i,), p 465 f ;
Kattenhii^ h /' / n I s i \\ itkins, ' Arisf
Quart hfiipti 1 ji 47f , Kamsa\ , ' fti/yt// in houian Empire (Index, » 1, ), banda\ in Chun.h limts (June 21), 1901, and Leslie Stephen, An Agnostic's Apologijivof ed ), 130
James RIoffatt.
CHRISTIANITY is the name given to the lehyion founded by Jesus of Nazareth, which is professed by more than one-fourth of the human race, in- cluding the foremost nations of the world. As an abstract name for a fully developed religion, it was not, and could not be, in use from the begin- ning. Only gradually, as the Christian community reached self-consciousness, and more especially as need arose from without of distinguishing its ad- herents from those of other religions, was a dis- tinctive name adopted.
It is not the object of this article to sketch in otitline tlie history of Christianity, to rehearse it- doctrines, describe its triumjihs, or vindicate it- claims. But in a Dictionaiy of this kind it seem- desirable to inquire into (1) the history of the name itself ; (2) the proper connotation of the name and the best mode of ascertaining it ; hence (3) the significance of the changes which have jiassed over Christianity in the process of its development ; and (4) the essential character of the religion named after Christ and portrayed in tlie Gospels.
i. History of the namf,.— This is fully dis- cussed in the preceding article.
ii. Connotation of the name. —The diffi- culties which arise when we attempt to mark out the correct connotation of the word are obvious, and the reason why some of them are insuperable is not far to seek. A definition should be simple, comprehensive, accurate ; whereas Christianity is a coraple.\ multiform jihenomenon, one which it is impossible to survey from all sides at the same time, and accuracy cannot be attained when a word is employed in many difi'erent senses, and when that Avhich is to be defined is regarded from so many subjective, diversified, and sometimes in- compatible points of view. The essence of a great liistorical religion — with a record extending over some two thousand years, taking difi'erent shapes in many diverse n.iti.iiKilitirs, itself developing and altering its Inn- .nnl . Ii:iiacter, if not its sub- stance, in succt^-M i _' 111 I u lulls — cannot easily be summed up in ;i -.nti n.,.. Whilst, if an attempt be made to describe that element of permanent vitality and validity in the religion which has re- mained the same through ages of growth, un- altered amidst the widest e.xtemal and internal modifications and changes, the character of such a description obviously depends upon the viewpoint of the observer.
A religion may be viewed from without or from within, and an estimate made accordingly either of its institutions and formularies and ceremonies, or of its dominant ideas and prevailing iirinciples. To the Koman Catholic— who represents the most
widely spread and influential of the sections of modern Christianity — Its essence consists in sub- mission to the authority of a supematurally en- dowed Church, to which, with the Pope at its head, the power has been committed by Christ of infallibly determining the Christian creed, and of finally directing Christian life and worship in all its details. The Catholic Church, according to RIohler and the modern school, is a prolongation of the Incarnation. To the Orthodox Cliurch <if the East, the paramount claim of the community on the allegiance of the faithful depends on its