Religion has no exact date that states its commencement; it has a term of the ancient world. Religion is a vibrant force in the lives of many people around the world . The breaking of the Ten Commandments caused numerous misunderstandings, and people started worshiping their gods and going against the rules offered to them. The origin of Christianity is believed to have started from the preaching of Jesus Christ. He came to show people the right way to follow and stop worshiping the small gods that they had. On the other hand, Islam is from a prophet called Mohammed who Muslims believe to be one of the last prophets after Jesus and Moses. He lived in Mecca as a merchant till the time he started hearing voices that made him start spreading the word of God through a new faith in Medina . The spread of religion is noticeable all over the world because of the influence of the missionaries, religious leaders, slavery, and scholars among the few. This essay will explain factors leading to the development of different branches within Islam and Christianity giving common factors that seem to lead to divisions within world religions.
Evolution of Christianity
The origin of Christianity is belief to have commencement 2000 years ago in Judea with Jesus Christ the leader and his followers being the disciples. Because Jesus was a Jew, he understood the Jewish Law and moved place to place preaching and healing those that are suffering. Though the Jews hated the Roman law, they were under the leadership of the emperor of Rome. In his early thirties, he was challenging established religious authorities making them repent from their self-righteousness and hypocrisy letting them understands the Kingdom of God is at the rootof service and love .Jesus came to show people the right way to follow and stop worshiping the small gods that they had. In the colonial year, the religion started spreading through acts of slavery as colonial masters were in search of laborers and colonies to administer their rule. It later created movements that made the slaves build churches and begin their expansion of the Christian movement advocating acts of harsh treatment as in human.
Branches of Christianity and factors for their formulation the religion hasbroken into numerous branches and they are believed to be ten in number. They further split into two main groups with one considering itself as the principal church and others are not have any formal denomination structure. These branches include; Catholics, Orthodox, Anglicans, Baptists, and Lutherans. In addition the others are; Pietism, Evangelicalism, Pentecostalism, Fundamentalist Christianity, and the Holiness Movement. The rise of debates amongst people led to the formation of other churches. Another reason is legitimate disagreements about secondary areas of belief or practice. The differences in personality, talent, and passions also led to the formation of other branches. Finally, the origin of an individual will lead to a formation of a new church. They have own ways that they worship and express their faith in God. The fragmentation of the main church was due to the separation of the Eastern and Western Christianity when there was a failure to resolve their differences. The formation of branches in Christianity is for the benefit of the group leader and not considering the needs of their followers. The splitting is for a reason to be distinct from the main church that they were serving.
Evolution of Islam
The religion is of the foundation of Prophet Mohammed born in Meccaaround 570 A.D. He is from a Quaraish tribe and working as a merchant for several trade routes in Mecca. A lady called Khadija hired him to ensure safety of her caravans to Syria, later at his forties he married her. He began spreading the word of God after hearing some voices. In 622 A.D, he left fro Medina with his followers for his survival. He continued receiving divine revelations while in Medina and continued spreading the word of God. As conflicts with the Quraish continued, Mecca surrendered, and Muhammed took over the city destroying all the pagan idols and spreading their belief in one God.
breaking of the Islamic religion
After a long period spreading the Islamic faith, the religion split into two broad groups;Sunni and shiite. Currently, there are many branches that came from the Islam movement. But the two main groups are rooted from the Islam history. Members of one group do not recognize others as fellow Muslims because of conventional conflicts between them. The Sunni group is the majority of the divisions of Muslims.
The major factor for the split is when ProphetMuhammed died. The prophet’s death led to the election of two leaders who formed the Sunni and Shiite. Sunni that were the majority wanted Abou Bakr as their leader while the other section wanted Ali Ibn Abou Taleb as their leader. In addition leadership, conflicts caused the split in the religion as all had different ideologies on how to spread the word of God. Choice of descendancy also made the split possible, one group wanted to have decency from Muhammed as the other group wanted to be different and have no decency from the prophet. The establishment of the branches is because of the prophet’s death and struggle to succeed their leader. Similarly, the Islamic branches moved in the course of history and determined, with a host of other sociologically significant factors.
In conclusion, religion is all about worshiping and expressing faith in God but following the cult movement is worshiping other gods. The essay has explained the factors that lead to the development of different branches within Islam and Christianity giving common factors that seem to lead to divisions within world religions. The separations from the main religion are due to the death of the original leaders, struggle for power to succeed the leaders. And lastly, misunderstandings amongst the followers who decided to have different ways of expressing their faith in God. The importance of the topic is to enlighten religion followers on how the various branches came into existence and not to perform similar mistakes that their leaders made. Having differences in matters of religion will bring misunderstandings hence conflicts that may turn bloody.The spread of religion is noticeable all over the world because of the influence of the missionaries, religious leaders, slavery, and scholars among the few.
Work Cited
Dabashi, Hamid. Authority in Islam. New Jersey: Transaction Publishers, 1989:14- 16
Esposito, John L. The Oxford history of Islam. New York: Oxford University Press, cop., 1999:6-14
Fisher, Mary Pat. Living religions. Boston: Pearson, 2014:1- 4
Johnson, Paul. A history of Christianity: [a penetrating and brilliant assessment of 2.000 years of faith]. London: Penguin Books, 1990:36-42
Nash, John F. Christianity: the One, the Many: What Christianity Might Have Been and Could Still Become, Volume 1. Bloomington: Xlibris Corporation, 2008:23-28
