GCSE RE - The Church

The Church as people

The Church follow the teachings and direct their life into the light that Jesus came to show; God loves everyone, he wants to forgive our sins if we accept him and life is only the first stage of our exsistance. We gain eternal happiness from Jesus' death and ressurection.

The History

All Christians believe that Jesus is the saviour but there are divisions in the community.

11th Century - Eastern Europe (Russia, Greece etc.) split from Western Europe. These formed the Orthodox Church (East) and the Catholic Church (west).

16th Century - A group of people who didn't agree with the Pope leading the Catholic Church broke away and were called the 'Protestants'. The remaining Christians who still accepted the Pope were called the 'Roman Catholics'.

Orthodox

Orthodox means 'right teaching' and they believe that their interpretation of certain rules is in keeping with the Apostles.

Catholic

The Catholic Church means 'world-wide' and they tried to keep all believers in one body.

Teaching

The teachings in both of these are very similar but Orthodox Churches tend to be a little more elaborate in their services and stress the remoteness of God more.

The Church of England (Anglicans)

They accept the role of the Bishops as leaders but also accept the King or Queen of England as the overall leader.

Baptists

These reject all sacraments apart from Believers Baptism and occassional Communion services. They accept the role of the Bible as their authority.