Ever since man became intelligent, he began to look for answers to questions about who created everything that exists, about the meaning of his life, and whether he is alone in the Universe. Unable to find an answer, the people of antiquity invented gods, each of which was in charge of his own part of life. Someone was responsible for the creation of the Earth and Sky, the seas were subordinate to someone, someone was the main one in the underworld.
As the knowledge of the surrounding world became more and more gods, but people never found an answer to the question about the meaning of life. Therefore, many old gods were replaced by one God the Father.
The concept of God
Before Christianity appeared, people lived for several thousand years with faith in the Creator, who created everything that surrounds them. It was not a single god, since the consciousness of the people of antiquity could not accept that everything that exists is the creation of one creator. Therefore, in every civilization, regardless of when and on what continent it was born, there was God the Father,whose helpers were his children and grandchildren.
In those days it was customary to humanize the gods, "rewarding" them with character traits characteristic of people. So it was easier to explain natural phenomena and events that took place in the world. A significant difference and a clear advantage of the ancient pagan faith was that God manifests himself in the surrounding nature, in connection with which she was worshiped. At that time, man considered himself one of the many creations created by the gods. In many religions, there was a principle of assigning the earthly incarnations of the gods of the form of animals or birds.
For example, in ancient Egypt, Anubis was depicted as a man with a jackal's head, and Ra - with a falcon's head. In India, the gods were given images of animals living in this country, for example, Ganesha was depicted as an elephant. All religions of antiquity had one feature: regardless of the number of gods and the difference in their names, they were created by the Creator, standing above all, being the beginning of everything and having no end.
The concept of one God
The fact that there is one God the Father was known long before the birth of Christ. For example, in the Indian "Upanishads", created in 1500 BC. e., it is said that in the beginning there was nothing but the Great Brahman.
Among the Yoruba people living in West Africa, the myth of the creation of the world says that in the beginning everything was water Chaos, which Olorun turned into Earth and Heaven, and on the 5th day created people by fashioning them from the earth.
If we turn to the origins of all ancient cultures, then in each of themis the image of God the Father, who created all things together with man. So in this concept, Christianity would not give anything to the new world, if not for one significant difference - God is one, and there are no other gods besides him.
It was difficult to strengthen this knowledge in the minds of people who professed faith in many gods from generation to generation, perhaps that is why in Christianity the Creator has a triune hypostasis: God the Father, and God the Son (his Word), and Spirit (the power of his mouth).
“The Father is the original cause of all that exists” and “The heavens were created by the Word of the Lord, and all their strength is by the Spirit of His mouth” (Ps. 33:6) - this is what the Christian religion says.
Religion
Religion is a form of thinking based on belief in the supernatural, having a set of rules that determine the norm of people's behavior and rituals inherent in it, helping to understand the world.
Regardless of the historical period and its inherent religion, there are organizations that unite people of the same faith. In ancient times, these were temples with priests, in our time - churches with priests.
Religion implies the existence of a subjective-personal perception of the world, that is, a personal faith and an objectively common one, uniting people of one faith in a confession. Christianity is a religion that consisted of three confessions: Orthodoxy, Catholicism and Protestantism.
God the Father in Christianity, regardless of denomination, is the only creator of all things, Light and Love, who created people in his image and likeness. The Christian religion reveals to believers the knowledge of one God, recorded in holy texts. Represents eachthe confession of its clergy, and the unifying organizations are churches and temples.
History of Christianity before Christ
The history of this religion is closely connected with the Jewish people, the founder of which is the chosen one of God - Abraham. The choice fell on this Aramean for a reason, since he independently came to the knowledge that the idols worshiped by his entourage had nothing to do with holiness.
Through reflection and observation, Abraham realized that there is a true and only God the Father, who created everything both on earth and in heaven. He found like-minded people who followed him from Babylon and became the chosen people, called Israel. Thus, an eternal contract was concluded between the Creator and people, the violation of which entailed punishment for the Jews in the form of persecution and wanderings.
Faith in one God by the 1st century AD was an exception, since most of the peoples of that time were pagans. The Jewish holy books about the creation of the world spoke of the Word, with the help of which the Creator created everything, and that the Messiah would come and save the chosen people from persecution.
History of Christianity with the advent of the Messiah
Christianity was born in the 1st century AD. e. in Palestine, which at that time was under the rule of the Romans. Another connection with the people of Israel is the upbringing that Jesus Christ received as a child. He lived according to the laws of the Torah and observed all Jewish holidays.
According to Christian scriptures, Jesus is the incarnation of the Word of the Lord inhuman body. He was conceived immaculately in order to enter the world of people without sin, and after that God the Father revealed himself through him. Jesus Christ was called the consubstantial son of God, who came to atone for human sins.
The most important dogma of the Christian Church is the posthumous resurrection of Christ and his subsequent ascension to heaven.
This was predicted by numerous Jewish prophets many centuries before the birth of the Messiah. The resurrection of Jesus after death is a confirmation of the promise of eternal life and the incorruptibility of the human soul, which God the Father gave to people. In Christianity, his son has many names in holy texts:
- Alpha and Omega - means that he was the beginning of everything and is its end.
- Light of the world - means that he is the same Light that comes from his Father.
- Resurrection and life, which should be understood as salvation and eternal life for those who profess the true faith.
Many names were given to Jesus both by the prophets and by his disciples and the people around him. All of them corresponded to either his deeds or the mission for which he ended up in a human body.
The development of Christianity after the execution of the Messiah
After Jesus was crucified, his disciples and adherents began to spread the doctrine of him, first in Palestine, but as the number of believers increased, they went far beyond its borders.
The very concept of "Christian" began to be used 20 years after the death of the Messiah and came from the inhabitants of Antioch, who called it thatfollowers of Christ. The apostle Paul played a major role in spreading the teachings of Jesus. It was his sermons that brought numerous adherents to the new faith from the pagan peoples.
If before the 5th century AD. e. the deeds and teachings of the apostles and their disciples spread within the borders of the Roman Empire, then they went further - to the Germanic, Slavic and other peoples.
Prayer
Appeal to the gods with requests is a ritual characteristic of believers at all times and regardless of religion.
One of the significant deeds of Christ during his lifetime was that he taught people how to pray correctly, and revealed the secret that the Creator is triune and represents the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit - the essence of God is one and indivisible. Due to the limited consciousness, people, although they talk about one God, still divide it into 3 separate personalities, as their prayers speak about. There are those who are turned only to God the Father, there are those who are addressed only to God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
Prayer to God the Father "Our Father" sounds like a request directed directly to the Creator. By this, people, as it were, singled out its originality and significance in the Trinity. However, even manifesting in three persons, God is one, and this must be recognized and accepted.
Orthodoxy is the only Christian denomination that has preserved the faith and teachings of Christ unchanged. This also applies to turning to the Creator. Prayer to the Lord God the Father in Orthodoxy speaks of the Trinity as its only hypostasis: “I confess to you the Lord my God and Creator, in the Holy Trinity the One, glorified and worshiped by the Father, and the Son, andHoly Spirit, all my sins….”
Holy Spirit
In the Old Testament, the concept of the Holy Spirit is not often found, but the attitude towards it is completely different. In Judaism, he is considered the "breath" of God, and in Christianity - one of his indivisible three hypostases. Thanks to him, the Creator created everything that exists and communicates with people.
The concept of the nature and origin of the Holy Spirit was considered and adopted at one of the councils in the IV century, but long before that, Clement of Rome (I century) combined all 3 hypostases into a single whole: “God lives, and Jesus lives Christ, and the Holy Spirit, the faith and hope of the elect. So God the Father in Christianity officially found the trinity.
It is through him that the Creator acts in man and in the Temple, and in the days of creation he actively participated in them, helping to create the worlds visible and invisible: “In the beginning God created heaven and earth. The earth was formless and empty, and darkness was over the abyss, and the Spirit of God hovered over the waters.”
Names of God
As paganism was replaced by a religion that glorified the one God, people began to be interested in the name of the Creator in order to be able to refer to him in prayer.
Based on the information given in the Bible, God personally gave his name to Moses, who wrote it down in Hebrew. Due to the fact that this language later became dead, and only consonants were written in the names, it is not known exactly how the name of the Creator is pronounced.
The four consonants YHVH stand for the name of God the Father and are the verb form ha-wah, meaning "become." In various translationsIn the Bible, different vowels are substituted for these consonants, which gives completely different meanings.
In some sources, he is mentioned as the Almighty, in others - Yahweh, in the third - Hosts, and in the fourth - Jehovah. All names denote the Creator who created all the worlds, but at the same time they have different meanings. For example, Sabaoth means "Lord of Hosts", although he is not a god of war.
Disputes about the name of the Heavenly Father are still ongoing, but most theologians and linguists are inclined to believe that the correct pronunciation is Yahweh.
Yahweh
This name literally means "Lord" and also "to be". In some sources, Yahweh is associated with the concept of "God Almighty".
Christians either use this name or replace it with the word "Lord".
God in Christianity today
Christ and God the Father, as well as the Holy Spirit in the modern Christian religion are the basis of the trinity of the indivisible Creator. More than 2 billion people adhere to this faith, making it the most widespread in the world.
