The custom of baptism appeared only at the end of the 5th century.

From the very beginning of its development, the Christian faith was persecuted by the authorities of the Roman Empire, people were condemned to slavery for professing Christianity, and to death for serving a cult. Thus, in the 3rd century, one of the two main currents, the Montanist movement, was annihilated; its adherents considered the most terrible sin to be violating the oath, and the highest good to be martyrdom.

As a result, a rival current survived, whose priests had the moral right to renounce their faith during interrogation, condemning the Montanists for asceticism uncharacteristic of the Greco-Roman mentality. Over time, the World (Catholic) Church grew out of it. In 313, deciding to use the anti-Semitic orientation of Christianity and the potential possibility of combining secular and spiritual power, the Roman emperor Constantine proclaimed it the state religion, and himself – the head of the church (later the Pope).

However, in the 8th century, the Papal Church created a false charter known as the "Gift of Constantine" which for many centuries became the basis for asserting the superiority of spiritual authority over secular.

The Council of Nicaea of ​​the 325th century finally approved the formation of the World Roman Apostolic Church, the founding father of which was proclaimed the Apostle Peter. The official historian of this church, Eusebius of Caesarea, almost in vain invented its history and genealogy, according to which it comes directly from Jesus, crucified in 33 AD. Controversies of 4-5 centuries completed the process of creating a dogma that became the basis of the Christian religion that still exists.

Having taken the place of the state religion, Greco-Roman Christianity, which in itself was a former heresy of Judaism, began a fierce struggle against heresies that lasted fourteen centuries.

Martyrology – biographies of martyrs and saints of the Christian church – comes directly from pagan myths. Eusebius of Caesarea, in creating the official history of the Catholic Church, added to it the list of martyrs, bishops and saints, which is obviously fictional. "Fathers of the Church" he proclaims influential statesmen of his time Ambrose, Jerome (author of the Latin version of the Bible), John Chrysostom (founder of the Christian justification of anti-Semitism), Augustine (introduced into the dogma of Christianity the concept of superiority of men over women).

God the Father of Christians – a projection of the North Palestinian and the oldest of the Jewish good deities Elohim (literally "gods").

Jewish hell, to which all the unclean fall after death (according to the religious laws of Judaism), was transformed by Christianity into a kind of scarecrow, which was to force believers to pay tithes to the church. Tithing is a Jewish custom that was imposed by Christians in favor of church authorities.

The second epistle to the Thessalonians explicitly states that hell is the fate of all who do not obey the will of the church. The main angels and demons of Judaism, who had the status of lower gods (the ending -el, present in the names of all archangels, means "god"), were adopted by Christianity as asexual messengers of God. Yahweh, the Jewish god, was identified with the God of Evil (the Demiurge) in the early stages of Christianity.

The concept of sin was also derived around 150; the early Christians did not have it, because only God could judge human actions. In the 4th century, based on the statement of the Gospel of Matthew that Jesus gave Peter the right to forgive sins, the primary institution of indulgence was introduced.

The concept of "grace," a God-given grace to which Catholicism attaches the highest truth, is the result of a controversy between Augustine, the "church father" and the Gnostic Pelagius, who argued that knowledge in itself is the way to salvation …

The Mother of Christ Mary is first mentioned only in 150 in one of the antignostic https://123helpme.me/write-my-lab-report/ works of Justin. The cult of Mary was condemned in the 4-5 century, because, according to theologians, God can not be born of a woman.

Only in opposition to the persecution of this cult in Byzantium did the Catholic Church accept the Mother of God as the object of deification. The cult of the cross was also established only in 336, and it took a century to impose it on all Christian communities, as historically it did not play a major role. The custom of baptism appeared only at the end of the 5th century.

The asceticism of the Jesse sects grew into monasticism in the 4th century: Anthony of Egypt, a hermit who gained immense popularity through early Christian works, became a symbol of a solitary righteous life.

The suffering of Jesus is also the fruit of later philosophical interpretations of the original idea that God’s messenger came to earth in human form. For Christians of the 1-2 century, suffering had a figurative character, they actually consisted in the acquisition by the Holy Spirit (Wisdom) of a material shell.

Believers in the Holy Trinity (God the Father, God the Son and the Holy Spirit) do not know that this dogma was approved only at the Second Council of Constantinople in 553, contrary to the official dogmas of the Roman Church, and only later adopted by Catholics. The image of the Trinity – peace, spirit and word – appeared in the works of the Gnostics of the 2nd century.

Christian priests, like the Essenes, were "archons" – leaders, and therefore in their definition appeared the word "shepherd" ("pastor"). The head of the community, the leader, had the priority right to be a priest.

Thus the experience of ancient denominations, oriental cults, dubious Hellenistic literary works, folk customs and superstitions, combined with the pragmatic interests of the church leadership and formed the basis of the Christian religion. The book that is now considered sacred, the Bible, has been rewritten and corrected many times by different people, not to mention different readings of the same passages.

In fact, the subject of the cult was a book collected from diverse, created at different times pieces, reduced to one style, but far from documentary. The image of the main Christian deity, Jesus Christ, has undergone an amazing evolution, becoming an angel man.

The myth of him developed a hundred years after the hypothetical death of the Messiah; at that time this period was more than enough for oral translations and distortions of scribes to change history completely. In the twentieth century, religious propaganda repeatedly tossed the media a sensation of some scientific confirmation of the historical existence of Christ; in fact, it was never found.

06/12/2011

The founder of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra is St. Anthony. Abstract

Anthony, the Reverend Pechersky, was born about 983 in Lyubech in the Chernihiv region during the reign of the Apostle Vladimir, educator and baptizer of Kievan Rus

Lyubech is one of the oldest cities in our country. During the reign of Oleg, it was among the main cities where his "great princes" sat. Later, Lyubech lost its important socio-political significance and became a full-time town.

The picturesque northern land, endless dreamy magical spaces awakened in the child’s soul the desire for the incomprehensible mysteries of life. Undoubtedly, in addition to God’s higher calling, the example of pious parents was decisive for the formation of the worldview and character of little Antipas (namely, the name given to him from birth). The bourgeois-peasant family, having accepted Christianity, was marked by special piety.

The seeds of faith, having fallen on the fertile ground of the soul, very soon gave their seed. Even at a very young age, hearing about the monastic life, he dug a cave for Antipas, in the dark crowds of which he was going to harden his will, preparing to perform feats. But he, in the end, was destined for another path of holiness.

As a boy, at the behest of his heart, he goes to the Greek land, Mount Athos. Getting acquainted with these sacred places, visiting the monasteries, he marveled and admired the life of their holy fathers, who, being in earthly existence, exalted themselves above the flesh, human nature, resembling angels, their disembodied deeds.

The atmosphere of holiness, high spirituality conquered the young man. The fiery fire of faith, ignited with new force, completely captivated the soul. Sincerely wanting to become like the life of these fathers, he fervently begged the abbot to elevate to him the angelic rank of a monk.

The consent of the abbot to the vows can be explained by the guidance of the future ascetic life of the monk. Apparently, it was no coincidence that he was given the name Anthony. It is possible that this expressed the desire for Anthony to become for Kievan Rus what Anthony the Great, the father of Eastern monasticism, was for Egypt.

In a short time, with his godly life on Mount Athos, he surprised even the old monks. In a constant desire for inner improvement, having spent a long time here, Anthony finally received advice from the abbot to return home, "to be here for the benefit and support of many."

Returning to Kyiv, the monk went around the monastic monasteries in order to choose a place where he could settle. But the monasteries founded by Greek monks did not have the rank and statute that would satisfy Anthony. On Mount Athos, he became accustomed to a different monastic life.

The search led him to the suburban village of Berestove. Here, among the forested hills, he found a cave in which he settled.

After the death of the pious Prince Volodymyr, the power was taken over by the godless and cruel Sviatopolk, who seized the Grand Ducal throne in Kyiv.

To get rid of rivals for power, he kills his brothers Boris and Gleb.

Not wanting to put up with such atrocities, St. Anthony returns to the holy Mount Athos.

Soon after defeating Sviatopolk, Prince Yaroslav took over power in Kyiv. According to the chronicles, Yaroslav was extremely fond of church statutes, loved priests, and especially monks. He was a very educated man and sought knowledge. The chronicler noted about his church-educational activity: "If someone plows the land, another sows it, so does this one (Yaroslav): his father Volodymyr enlightened by baptism, the same one sowed the hearts of faithful people with book words."

And just then, being in the monastery of his vows, Anthony again receives advice and blessings from the abbot to return to his native land.

Now he settles in a cave, where the pious Hilarion, who would later be elected Metropolitan of Kyiv, used to perform the feat of fasting and.

In the cave, St. Anthony spent all his time in the constant work of the clergy.