This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.
This web site reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
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History of Religions
History of the 3 Monotheistic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) and of the main different Christianity confessions (Roman Catholicism, Eastern Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, Anglicanism and Protestantism)
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Pedagogical Approaches
New pedagogical approaches to teach history of religion
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Role of Religions in Civilization
How to didactically promote among students of different confessions, the capacity of a critical analysis and understanding of the role played by religions in the history of mankind
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Interreligious Students’ Competences
Set of teaching contents, to be used by teachers to highlight and valorize the universal values of tolerance and universalisms that all Monotheistic religions and religious texts contain to promote and sustain mutual understanding among students
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Managing Multi-Religious Classes
Teaching Sources to help teachers dealing with multicultural and multi-religious classes
Map
An interactive didactical map interactive didactical map giving access to sites with a religious relevance.-
Introduction
A comparative review of the liturgical celebrations, ceremonies and dietary rules existing in the different religions.
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Celebrations
Description and comparative analysis of the celebrations of different religions and confessions
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Ceremonies
Description and comparative analysis of the ceremonies of different religions and confessions
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Dietary Rules
Description and comparative analysis of the dietary rules of different religions and confessions
Events
The Pathway through Religions project has been promoted trough conferences and articles.
Conferences
The Pathway through Religions project was presented in a number of events in order to report about the activities carried out and the results achieved
Press Review
The Pathway through Religions project partnership made contacts with web sites focusing on the fields of educationPartnership
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Contractual Partners
From this section it is possible to access to a description of each contractual partner of the Pathway through Religions project.
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Schools
From this section it is possible to access to the information about the schools involved in the Pathway through Religions Project in the European countries involved.
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Associated Partners
As a result of the exploitation activity a number of associated partners officially joined the project in order to contribute to the improvement of the project impact on their target groups and to ensure the project sustainability by continuing using the project deliverables in the next years.
This section of the Pathway through Religions portal provides administrative information for the project contractual partners and for the European Commission and it is password protected.
History of Religions
Homepage > Teachers’ Guide > History of Religions
History of the 3 Monotheistic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) and of the main different Christianity confessions (Roman Catholicism, Eastern Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, Anglicanism and Protestantism)
History and Philosophy of Religions
3. Christianity
Christianity is a religion which was born in the Middle East, within Judaism, in the 1st century. D.C. It recognizes in Jesus the Messiah promised and proclaimed by the Prophets, the son of God, and hence God Himself, but in contrast from Judaism, it has a universal nature, since Jesus’ s preaching is addressed to all peoples, not only to the Jewish people.
Christianity is considered an Abrahamic religion, together with Judaism and Islam, because it recognizes in Abraham a common father in faith; it is currently the most widespread religion with more than 2.5 billion believers in the world.
Christians derived their Holy Scriptures from Judaism, then called the Old Testament, and some fundamental doctrines such as monotheism, the faith in a Messiah, priesthood and some forms of worship, but from the first century onward they began to stand out for the addition of new sacred texts (the New Testament) concerning the preaching of Jesus and the activity of the Apostles, and above all for the exclusion of some fundamental precepts of Judaism.
Christianity immediately enjoyed a great development, and at the end of the first century it was organized around five seats, namely Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem. Persecution of Christians ended only in the fourth century, and Christianity even became the official religion of the Roman Empire.
Christianity has a hierarchical organization with a consecrated priesthood, and a liturgical worship which is celebrated inside buildings erected for this purpose. Over time, it has known many internal divisions, and nowadays it can be stated that the main currents of Christianity can be identified in Catholicism, Orthodoxy (movement which dates back to 1054) and Protestantism (since 1517), which maintain a common reference to the preaching of Jesus and to the sacred texts of the early centuries, but each one claims to be the faithful guardian of the Christian message. In the last few decades, the Ecumenical Movement has been working to reunify all Christians
Christianity is considered an Abrahamic religion, together with Judaism and Islam, because it recognizes in Abraham a common father in faith; it is currently the most widespread religion with more than 2.5 billion believers in the world.
Christians derived their Holy Scriptures from Judaism, then called the Old Testament, and some fundamental doctrines such as monotheism, the faith in a Messiah, priesthood and some forms of worship, but from the first century onward they began to stand out for the addition of new sacred texts (the New Testament) concerning the preaching of Jesus and the activity of the Apostles, and above all for the exclusion of some fundamental precepts of Judaism.
Christianity immediately enjoyed a great development, and at the end of the first century it was organized around five seats, namely Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem. Persecution of Christians ended only in the fourth century, and Christianity even became the official religion of the Roman Empire.
Christianity has a hierarchical organization with a consecrated priesthood, and a liturgical worship which is celebrated inside buildings erected for this purpose. Over time, it has known many internal divisions, and nowadays it can be stated that the main currents of Christianity can be identified in Catholicism, Orthodoxy (movement which dates back to 1054) and Protestantism (since 1517), which maintain a common reference to the preaching of Jesus and to the sacred texts of the early centuries, but each one claims to be the faithful guardian of the Christian message. In the last few decades, the Ecumenical Movement has been working to reunify all Christians
Online Resources
- General reference about ChristianityEssential presentation. Also see https://www.britannica.com/topic/Christianity
- Article About the significance of the Cross
- Geometric variablesA short description by geometric point of view
- Images of the CrossHere we can find images of the Cross
Practical Activity
- The Cross GeometryUsing the links suggested at the end of this form, students are invited to check how the fundamental symbol of Christianity has changed over time.
