How the Catholic Church Survived Two Thousand :: Essays Papers

How the Catholic perform Survived dickens Thousand IntroductionOn theDay of Pardon in the Year of Jubilee, 2000 long time after the birth of saviorChrist, Pope John Paul II and some(prenominal) other high members of the Catholic Churchperformed a prayer of forgiveness and confession, apologizing for each(prenominal) thewrongdoings of the Church. The Pope said later that they had been preparing todo this for several courses, but had chosen the year 2000 Further, the Popeactually apologizing for the wrongdoings of the Church poses several questionsWhy did the Pope need to apologize what ills did the Church, itsofficials and it chase commit that required the Pope to publicly clear hisconscience by apologizing for them? Further, to what terminus did the Churchembody both human and divine e lements in the past, and to what extent does ittoday? To realise the Catholic Church today it is essential tounderstand the society it was born into and how the finale and administration o f thepast 2000 years have shaped the Church and the Bible itself. aft(prenominal) oneacknowledges the behavior and dogma that dominated the papacy in theChurchs narration (including the papal infallibility clause stating thatthe Pope being beau ideals phonate on earth, can do no wrong), one can wait on howrevolutionary these speeches really were. TheEarly ChurchEffectivelyunderstanding the Catholic Church today requires one to unders tand how theculture and politics of the Roman Empire shaped the structure of the Church andthe Bible itself. Jesus lived in what is modern day Palestine, which was partof the Roman Empire. Judaism and Hellenistic Greek traditions were the dominantreligions of the day. some(prenominal) cabals of Jews existed but although they agreed onthe basic tenets of Judaism there is only one God, Gods peopleought to follow certain guidelines and God would fulfill his promisethey spend most of their time bickering over how to serve God. Theearly Ch urch confront several struggles such as maintaining the purity ofChristianity, defining the structure of the Church and surviving the constantattacks on Christians by the Roman Empire. One of the Churchs firststruggles was to define itself vis--vis the Jewish tradition and theRoman World. Both Paul and the Book of Acts herald questions and issues theearly Church wrestled with. For example Should Christianity be its ownreligion or a new sect of Judaism? Which books should be includedin the Bible and which were the works of heretics?