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The First Council of Nicaea, held in Nicaea in Bithynia (present-day Iznik in Turkey), convoked by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in 325, was the first Ecumenical council of the early Christian Church, and most significantly resulted in the first uniform Christian doctrine, called the Nicene Creed. With the creation of the creed, a precedent was established for subsequent 'general (ecumenical) councils of Bishops' (Synods) to create statements of belief and canons of doctrinal orthodoxy— the intent being to define unity of beliefs for the whole of Christendom.
The purpose of the council was to resolve disagreements in the Church of Alexandria over the nature of Jesus in relationship to the Father; in particular, whether Jesus was of the same substance as God the Father or merely of similar substance. St. Alexander of Alexandria and Athanasius took the first position; the popular presbyter Arius, from whom the term Arian controversy comes, took the second. The council decided against the Arians overwhelmingly (of the estimated 250-318 attendees, all but 2 voted against Arius). Another result of the council was an agreement on when to celebrate the resurrection (Pascha in Greek; Easter in modern English), the most important feast of the ecclesiastical calendar. The council decided in favour of celebrating the resurrection on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the vernal equinox, independently of the Hebrew Calendar (see also Quartodecimanism). It authorized the Bishop of Alexandria (presumably using the Alexandrian calendar) to announce annually the exact date to his fellow bishops.
The Council of Nicaea was historically significant because it was the first effort to attain consensus in the church through an assembly representing all of Christendom. "It was the first occasion for the development of technical Christology." Further, "Constantine in convoking and presiding over the council signaled a measure of imperial control over the church." Further, a precedent was set for subsequent general councils to create creeds and canons.
The long-term effects of the Council of Nicaea were significant. For the first time, representatives of many of the bishops of the Church convened to agree on a doctrinal statement. Also for the first time, the Emperor played a role, by calling together the bishops under his authority, and using the power of the state to give the Council's orders effect.
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Kirishitan (吉利支丹, 切支丹, キリシタン?), from Portuguese cristão, referred to Roman Catholic Christians in Japanese and is used as a historiographic term for Roman Catholics in Japan in the 16th and 17th centuries. Christian missionaries consisted of "fathers", or bateren from the Portuguese word “padre”, and "brothers", or iruman from the Portuguese word "irmão".
Catholic missionary activities in Japan began in 1549, exclusively performed by Portuguese-sponsored Jesuits until Spanish-sponsored mendicant orders, such as the Franciscans and Dominicans, gained access to Japan. Francisco Xavier, Cosme de Torres (a Jesuit priest), and Father John Fernandez were the first, who arrived to Kagoshima with hopes to bring Christianity and Catholicism to Japan. Catholicism was subsequently repressed in several parts of the country and ceased to exist publicly in the 17th century.
However, there are some historians who state that there is enough archaeological evidence to suggest that Nestorian (Assyrian Church) missionaries first landed in Japan in AD 199, believing that they travelled through India, China and Korea before the Tang Dynasty. It has also been estimated that the first churches were fully established by the end of the 4th century especially at Nara in central Japan.
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Within the body of Christian beliefs, the death and resurrection of Jesus are two core events on which much of Christian doctrine and theology depend. According to The New Testament, Jesus, the central figure of Christianity, was crucified, died, buried within a tomb, and resurrected three days later (John 19:30–31, Mark 16:1, Mark 16:6). The New Testament also mentions several resurrection appearances of Jesus on different occasions to his twelve apostles and disciples, including "more than five hundred brethren at once" (1 Cor. 15:6), before Jesus' Ascension. These two events are essential doctrines of the Christian faith, and are commemorated by Christians during Good Friday and Easter, particularly during the liturgical time of Holy Week.
As Paul the Apostle, an early front runner of Christianity, contended, "If Christ was not raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your trust in God is useless" (1 Cor. 15:14) The death and resurrection of Jesus are the most important events in Christian Theology, as they form the point in scripture where Jesus gives his ultimate demonstration that he has power over life and death, thus he has the ability to give people eternal life. According to the Bible, "God raised him from the dead," he ascended to heaven, to the "right hand of God," and will return again to fulfill the rest of Messianic prophecy such as the Resurrection of the dead, the Last Judgment and establishment of the Kingdom of God, see also Messianism and Messianic Age.
The following passage is Paul the Apostle's apologetic (defense) of the resurrection of Christ:
| “ | For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. — 1 Corinthians 15:16-19 (KJV) | ” |
Most Christians accept the New Testament story as a historical account of some kind of resurrection, which is central to their faith. Some modern scholars use the belief of Jesus' followers in the resurrection as a point of departure for establishing the continuity of the historical Jesus and the proclamation of the early church. Some liberal Christians do not accept a literal bodily resurrection, seeing the story as richly symbolic and spiritually nourishing myth. Also, a group known as the Gnostics argued against its singular importance, as they had differing views as to how the passages should be interpreted, many believing Jesus was never a human and so could not have died (see: Docetism).
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Noah's Ark was a large vessel built at God's command to save Noah, his family, and a core stock of the world's animals from the Great Flood. The story is told in chapters 6-9 of the book of Genesis.
Genesis 6-9 tells how God decided to destroy the world because of the wickedness of mankind, selecting Noah, a man "righteous in his generation", instructing him to build an ark and take on board his family and representatives of all the animals and birds. God's flood then destroys all life on earth, but at the height of the deluge "God remembered Noah", and the waters abate and the dry land reappears. The story ends with God entering into a covenant with Noah and his descendants.
The story of Noah's Ark, according to chapters 6 to 9 in the Book of Genesis, begins with God observing mankind's evil behaviour and deciding to flood the earth and destroy all life. However, God found one good man, Noah, "a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time", and decided that he would carry forth the lineage of man. God told Noah to make an ark, and to bring with him his wife, and his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and their wives. Additionally, he was told to bring examples of all animals and birds, male and female. In order to provide sustenance, he was told to bring and store food.
Noah and his family and the animals entered the Ark, and "the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened, and the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights". The flood covered even the highest mountains to a depth of more than 6 metres (20 feet), and all creatures died; only Noah and those with him on the Ark were left alive. The Flood story is considered by many modern scholars to consist of two slightly different interwoven accounts, hence the apparent uncertainty regarding the duration of the flood (40 or 150 days) and the number of animals taken on board Noah's Ark (2 of each kind, or 7 pairs of some kinds).
Eventually, the Ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. The waters continued to recede, and the hilltops emerged. Noah sent out a raven which "went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth". Next, Noah sent a dove out, but it returned having found nowhere to land. After a further seven days, Noah again sent out the dove, and it returned with an olive leaf in its beak, and he knew that the waters had subsided. Noah waited seven days more and sent out the dove once more, and this time it did not return. Then he and his family and all the animals left the Ark, and Noah made a sacrifice to God, and God resolved that he would never again curse the ground because of man, and never again would He destroy all life on it in this manner.
In order to remember this promise, God put a rainbow in the clouds, saying, "Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth".
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The Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church (ICAB - Igreja Católica Apostólica Brasileira) is an independent Catholic church established in 1945 by Brazilian Bishop Dom Carlos Duarte Costa, a former Roman Catholic bishop of Botucatu.
The denomination has 48 dioceses and claims 500,000-700,000 members. Its current head is Patriarch Dom Luis Fernando Castillo Mendez, with Dom Josivaldo Pereira de Oliveira serving as President of the National Council. It is the mother church of the Worldwide Communion of Catholic Apostolic National Churches (ICAN -Igrejas Católicas Apostólicas Nacionais), a loose communion of churches in 14 countries.
The Church accepts the Nicene, Apostles', and Athanasian creeds, and observes seven sacraments (baptism, Eucharist, confirmation, penance, unction, ordination, and matrimony). ICAB practices open communion for all Christians who acknowledge the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. The Church acknowledges divorce as a reality of life and permitted in Holy Scripture, and will marry divorced persons and baptize the children of divorced or single parents or someone else.
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The Ten Commandments, or Decalogue, are a list of religious and moral imperatives which, according to Biblical tradition, were written by God and given to Moses on Mount Sinai in the form of two stone tablets. They feature prominently in Judaism and Christianity. The phrase "Ten Commandments" generally refers to the very similar passages in Exodus 20:2-17 and Deuteronomy 5:6-21. Some distinguish between this "Ethical Decalogue" and a series of ten commandments in Exodus 34 that are labelled the "Ritual Decalogue".
The commandments passage in Exodus contains more than ten imperative statements, totalling 14 or 15 in all. However, the Bible itself assigns the count of "10", using the Hebrew phrase ʻaseret had'varim—translated as the 10 words, statements or things. Various religions divide the commandments differently.
In Biblical Hebrew language, the commandments are termed עשרת הדברים (translit. Aseret ha-Dvarîm) and in Rabbinical Hebrew עשרת הדברות (translit. Aseret ha-Dibrot), both translatable as "the ten statements." The name "Decalogue" is derived from the Greek name δεκάλογος or "dekalogos" ("ten statements") found in the Septuagint (Exodus 34:28, Deuteronomy 10:4), which is the Greek translation of the Hebrew name.
According to Biblical text, the commandments represent the utterances of God on Mount Sinai. There are biblical passages that also refer to ten commandments being written by God on stone, which he gave to Moses. Moses then gave them to the people of Israel in the third month after their Exodus from Egypt. After receiving the commandments and returning to Mount Sinai, Moses saw that the Israelites had "defiled themselves", and that his brother, Aaron, had made a Golden Calf and an altar in front of it. Moses, in terrible anger, broke the tablets. God later had Moses carve two other tablets, to replace the ones he smashed. God himself appears as the writer. This second set, brought down from Mount Sinai by Moses, was placed in the Ark of the Covenant, hence designated as the "Ark of the Testimony."
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