英美文化05-British-Religion-and-Beliefs.doc

英美社会与文化
British Religion and Beliefs

I. Christianity
1. The British are Christians—in name at least.
2. Jesus Christ (also called Jesus of Galilee [5^AlE7li]加利利,巴勒斯坦北部地区 or  Jesus of Nazareth [5nAzEriW]巴勒斯坦地区北部古城,拿撒勒)was a Jew who lived in Palestine 2,000 years ago and is accepted by Christians as the son of God. He was miraculous conceived by a virgin called Mary. His teachings conflicted with orthodox Jewish laws and doctrines and at 33 he was executed by crucifixion. It believed that he rose from dead, ascended into Heaven, and sent his spirit into the hearts of his twelve apostles to inspire them to spread his teaching.
3. Christ’s teaching was based on love: love of God and of our neighbor (our fellow-men regardless of race). Love, humility, repentance and prayer lead to everlasting happiness in Heaven.
4. The Bible (the holy book of Christianity) consists of the Old Testament (39 books) and the New Testament. (27 books) The Old Testament contains the Jewish writings before the coming of Christ and the New Testament contains four accounts (“gospels” 福音书) of the life of Christ followed by the writings of the early Christians, of whom St. Paul was the greatest. Christian doctrine as developed by St. Paul and the early Church states that Jesus Christ was in fact God in the form of a man, and that God (Holy Father), Jesus (Holy Son) and the Holy Spirit are three aspects of the same God (the Trinity). Jesus took upon himself the punishment of the sins of men and his death saves us from sin and proves that God love us.
II. Christianity in Britain
1. The Church of England, or the Anglican Church is one of the many Protestant sects that broke away from the early Roman Catholic Church during the Religious Reformation. It is an “established” Church, which means that it represents the official state religion. Its temporal (non-priestly) head is the Crown, and 26 of its highest bishops and Archbishops in Canterbury and York (after their retirement) sit in the House of Lords. Roman Catholics recognize (admit) the supreme holy authority of the Pope in Rome and of the church or priesthood in general, but the Anglican Church relies more on the Bible. Concerning the Holy Communion, 圣餐礼Roman Catholics believe that the bread and wine actually become the body and blood of Christ, whereas most Anglicans think they are merely representations. (Roman Catholics do not admit the validity of other churches.)
2. Scotland has its own established Church, the Church of Scotland (Calvinistic Presbyterianism [7prezbi5tiEriEn]基督教长老会).
3. The Church of England is only a minority. There are several million Roman Catholics in Britain, and more members of the free or nonconformist (不信奉英国国教的)churches including the Presbyterian organizations, the Methodist Church(卫理公会, 循道宗), the Congregational Churches, 公理会and the Baptist churches. 浸信会，浸礼教
4. Some nonconformist Churches are nominated as “Puritanism” by the Anglican Church, such as the Methodist, the Presbyterian and especially the “Quakers”. The Puritans were originally an extreme Protestant sect. They determined to “purify” the Anglican Church the corruption and ceremonial pomp inherited from Roman Catholicism. The Puritans were characterized by stern simplicity and strict morality. (They are often condemned as “kill-joys.”)
III. Other Beliefs
1. The Christian Scientists believe in faith-healing, i.e., healing the sick by faith through prayer.
2. The Seventh-Day Adventists基督复临安息日会and the Jehovah’s Witnesses 耶和华见证会believe in an imminent “second coming” of Christ to earth when the forces of evil will be finally defeated.
3. Latter-Day Saints (or Mormons) 后期圣徒(指美国基督教新教摩门教徒) had their own religious system and scriptures. And all these three 4 sects originated in 19th century America.
4. Spiritualists(唯灵论者,招魂术士，招魂灵派)claim to be able to summon the spirits of the dead and comfort the sad the bereaved (丧失亲属的人).
5. A large proportion of people in Britain are not really interested in religion at all. During the 19th century religion (Christianity) was very popular; during the 20th century it has seriously declined, and today only a minority go to any kind of church regularly. Most the large majority who do not go to church still believe in God and Heaven in a confused sort of way. They like to get married in church and have their children christened in church and they like to have a Christian funeral when they die.
6. Vague notions of belief: It is unlucky to walk under a ladder, or to spill salt, or break a mirror, or to have anything to do with number 13; a horseshoe brings good luck, and people “touch wood” to prevent the return of a past misfortune. There are still many strange superstitious country remedies against sickness, and many people believe in fortune-telling.

IV. Complementary material:
1. Christ was not originally a name but a title derived from the Greek word christos, which translates the Hebrew term meshiah (Messiah), meaning “the anointed one.” 涂油神圣化的, 基督, 救世主Jesus' followers believed him to be the anointed son of King David, whom some Jews expected to restore the fortunes of Israel. According to Mark 6:3, Jesus also became a carpenter following his legal father Joseph.
2. Jesus was born in the time of Herod ([5herEd]希律王)who was a Jewish king and who was loyal to the Roman Empire. When Herod died shortly after Jesus' birth, his kingdom was divided into five parts. In the New Testament, Antipas (Herod Antipas is son of Herod.) is somewhat confusingly called Herod, as in Luke 23:6–12; apparently the sons of Herod took his name, just as the successors of Julius Caesar were commonly called Caesar. On a day-to-day basis Jerusalem was governed by the high priest. Assisted by a council, he had the difficult task of mediating between the remote Roman prefect (supported by a small army of 3,000 men) and the local populace, which was hostile toward pagans and wanted to be free of foreign interference. Thus, at the time of Jesus' public career, Galilee was governed by the tetrarch (小领主, 一省四个分区之一)Antipas, who was sovereign within his own domain, provided that he remained loyal to Rome and maintained peace and stability within his borders. Judaea (including Jerusalem) was nominally governed by Pilate, (Pontius Pilate彼拉多钉死耶稣的古代罗马的犹太总督) but the actual daily rule of Jerusalem was in the hands of Caiaphas ([`kaIEfAs]该亚法,主审耶稣的犹太人大祭司) and his council.
3. Gospel: any of four biblical narratives covering the life and death of Jesus Christ. Written, according to tradition, respectively by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (the four evangelists), they are placed at the beginning of the New Testament and make up about half the total text. The word gospel is derived from the Anglo-Saxon term god-spell, meaning “good story,” a rendering of the Latin and the Greek (“good news” or “good telling.” )Since the late 18th century the first three have been called the Synoptic Gospels, 对观福音书because the texts, set side by side, show a similar treatment of the life and death of Jesus Christ.
4. Presbyterianism: one of the major representative groups of classical Protestantism that arose in the 16th-century Reformation. Generally speaking, the modern Presbyterian churches trace their origins to the Calvinist churches of the British Isles, the Continental counterparts of which came to be known by the more inclusive designation Reformed. The term Presbyterian denotes a collegiate type of church government by pastors and lay leaders called elders, or presbyters. Strictly speaking, all Presbyterian churches are a part of the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition, although not all Reformed churches are Presbyterian in their form of government.
5. The first Christian church in Scotland was founded about 400 by St. Ninian. In the 6th century, Irish missionaries included St. Columba, who settled at Iona about 563.
6. Methodism: Methodism is marked by an acceptance of the doctrines of historical Christianity; by an emphasis on doctrines that indicate the power of the Holy Spirit to confirm the faith of believers and to transform their personal lives; by an insistence that the heart of religion lies in a personal relationship with God; by simplicity of worship; by the partnership of ordained ministers and laity in the worship and administration of the church; by a concern for the underprivileged and the improvement of social conditions; and (at least in its British form) by the formation of small groups for mutual encouragement and edification.
All Methodist churches accept the Scriptures as the supreme guide to faith and practice. Most welcome the findings of modern biblical scholarship, though the fundamentalist groups among them do not. The churches follow the historical creeds and believe that they are part of the tradition of the Protestant Reformation. They emphasize the teaching of Christian perfection, interpreted as “perfect love,” which is associated with John Wesley, who held that every Christian should aspire to such perfection with the help of the Holy Spirit.
Methodist churches affirm infant baptism. They also regularly receive the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, in which they believe Christ to be truly present, though they have no precise definition of the manner of his presence. They believe that they are integral parts of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church and that their ministers are true ministers of Word and sacrament in the church of God.
7. Congregationalism: Throughout their history, Congregationalists have shared the beliefs and practices of the more liberal mainline Evangelical Protestant churches of the English-speaking world. The English historian Bernard Manning once described their position as decentralized Calvinism, in contrast to the centralized Calvinism of Presbyterians. That description contains much truth about their doctrines and outlook through the early 19th century, but it underestimates the Congregational emphasis on the free movement of the Spirit, which links the Congregationalists with the Quakers and partly explains their reluctance to give binding authority to creedal statements. They have not been slow to produce declarations of faith, however. In addition to the Savoy Declaration, the Cambridge Platform, and the Kansas City Creed, lengthy statements have also been made both by the United Church of Christ and by the English Congregationalists. No great authority is claimed for any of these, and in recent generations most Congregationalists have regarded the primitive confession, “Jesus is Lord,” as a sufficient basis for membership.
Similarly, Congregationalists have always stressed the importance of freedom. Even in the days of Cromwell, they were tolerant by the standards of the time. They contributed greatly in the 18th century to the establishment of the rights of minorities in England through the activities of the Protestant Dissenting deputies, who had the right of direct access to the monarch. Both in England and in America, the long-faced and repressive Puritan of tradition owes as much to the caricatures of opponents as to actual fact.
8. Quaker: byname of  Friend,  member of a Christian group (the Society of Friends, or Friends church) that stresses the guidance of the Holy Spirit, that rejects outward rites and an ordained ministry, and that has a long tradition of actively working for peace and opposing war. George Fox, founder of the society in England, recorded that in 1650 “Justice Bennet of Derby first called us Quakers because we bid them tremble at the word of God.” It is likely that the name, originally derisive, was also used because many early Friends, like other religious enthusiasts, themselves trembled in their religious meetings and showed other physical manifestations of religious emotion. Despite early derisive use, Friends used the term of themselves in such phrases as “the people of God in scorn called Quakers.” No embarrassment is caused by using the term to or of Friends today.
Friends (Religious Society of Friends): religious body originating in England in the middle of the 17th cent. under George Fox. The members are commonly called Quakers, originally a term of derision.
Claiming that no theologically trained priest or outward rite is needed to establish communion between the soul and its God, Fox taught that everyone could receive whatever understanding and guidance in divine truth they might need from the "inward light," or "inner light," supplied in their own heart by the Holy Spirit. Many of his early converts were from among groups of separatists Calling themselves Children of Light, Friends in the Truth, and Friends, they eventually agreed upon the name Religious Society of Friends.
The Friends regarded the sacraments of the church as nonessential to Christian life. They refused to attend worship in the established church and to pay tithes. They also resisted the requirement to take oaths and opposed war, refusing to bear arms. Believing in the equality of all men and women, Friends would not remove their hats before their alleged superiors. Consequently, they were subject to persecution until the passage of the Toleration Act of 1689.
Yet the Society of Friends is grounded in the experience of God, out of which philanthropic activities may flow. There have always been Friends whose concerns went well beyond what meetings were willing to adopt. Most Friends were not abolitionists before the American Civil War; they probably did not approve of the Underground Railroad nor share the early feminist views of Lucretia Mott and Susan B. Anthony. (Most of the early suffragist leaders in America were Quakers.) The two American presidents of Quaker background were both Republicans: Herbert Hoover and Richard M. Nixon.

Bibliography
朱永涛.英美文化基础教程.北京：外语教学与研究出版社，1991.
"Friends, Society of." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica 2007 Deluxe Edition. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, 2010.
"Methodism." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica 2007 Deluxe Edition. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, 2010.
"Presbyterian churches." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica 2007 Deluxe Edition. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, 2010.
"Quaker." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica 2007 Deluxe Edition. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, 2010.
"Roman Catholicism, history of." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica 2007 Deluxe Edition. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, 2010.
"Scotland, Church of." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica 2007 Deluxe Edition. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, 2010.
第5页共5页