Religion Vocabulary, Christianity: citing your sources:

• Gospel -- pertains to one of the first four books of the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), or refers more generally to the life and teachings of Jesus (Babylon)

• parable -- a "symbolic story" that teaches a moral or religious lesson (Babylon)

• baptism -- initiation into Christianity via ritual submergence in water (Babylon)

• trinity -- group of three; in Christianity, referring particularly to the theological trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost (Babylon)

• creed -- belief, usually religious; personal faith (Babylon)

• eucharist or communion -- Christian ceremony commemorating the Last Supper (Babylon)

• ecumenical -- referring to the Church, worldwide or universal nature (Babylon)

• bishop -- "church official who oversees a number of Christian churches," (Babylon)

• heresy -- beliefs that contrast with the established religion (Babylon)

• schism -- faction or division, generally into two "opposing parties," as in the East-West schism of the Church (Babylon)

• Catholicism -- related to the Roman Catholic Church

• Protestantism -- related to various Christian denominations that broke from the Roman Catholic Church based on the teachings of Martin Luther (Babylon)

• Orthodox Christianity -- "a group of independent churches including the Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, Serbian Orthodox and other churches. Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism officially split from each other in 1054," (Religious Tolerance)

• The Reformation -- started by Martin Luther in the 16th century,...

Basic tenets and beliefs of Christianity:
There is only one God, but God is a trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit). God is omniscient and omnipotent (Fairchild, n.d.). Jesus was born to a virgin mother, and was His Father's only begotten Son. Jesus is therefore both human and divine (Fairchild, n.d.). Jesus died as a form of spiritual sacrifice for the sins of humanity, that human beings may ultimately be saved, forgiven, and able to achieve eternal life (Fairchild, n.d.).

• Basic practices of the faith:

Although the practices of the faith differ depending on the denomination, they almost always include prayer and reading of scripture. There are several rites, rituals, and religious holidays (holy days) that are integral to Christian worship. Those holidays generally follow and commemorate the life of Jesus Christ.

A reaction to the holy text assigned for the reading

• For Christianity, the Gospel of Luke:

The Gospel of Luke is one of the four main New Testament texts, and refers to the life and teachings of Jesus. The author details the life of Jesus starting with the birth of John the Baptist and the foretelling of the birth of Jesus. Luke also talks about the baptism of Jesus…