9781422276563

There are many denominations, or types, of Christianity throughout the world. There are differences in the way Christianity is practiced between the Western and Eastern Churches and between the Roman Catholic and Protestant faiths. Because of these distinctions, there are many ways of observing Lent. By the 11th century, Christianity had spread in its various forms throughout most of the Western world as well as some way into the Far East. In 1054, however, a group of Christians based in what is present-day Turkey rejected the authority of the Roman Catholic Church over Eastern patriarchs. The pope forced this group to leave the Church. They kept hold of their beliefs and became known as the Eastern Orthodox Church. The Catholic Church began to identify itself as the “Western” Church because for most of the medieval period (from approximately 500 to 1500) the center of its leadership was in Rome, one of the largest cities in western Europe. It was also known simply as the Roman Catholic Church, a name it retains to this day. In 1517 there was another division within the Roman Catholic Church. A group of reformers led by the German theologian Martin Luther advocated drastic changes within the structure of the Church. Among these was the rejection of the way the pope and certain priests could become wealthy and powerful. They saw this as going directly against the teachings of Jesus. Those who agreed with Martin Luther and his fellow reformers separated from the Roman Catholic Church and began the Protestant Church. Members of each of these Churches currently live all over the world. Eastern Orthodoxy is the second-largest Christian denomination after Roman Catholicism, and includes the Greek and Russian Orthodox Churches. The Western Churches include the original Roman Catholic Church and various Protestant denominations such as the Anglican Communion, and the Methodist and Presbyterian Churches. ■ The Council of Nicea and the First Mention of Lent The word Lent is an Anglo-Saxon word meaning “spring.” Anglo-Saxon, also known as Old English, is a Germanic language that was spoken in the British Isles from the fifth through the 11th centuries. It gradually evolved into modern English between the 11th and 17th centuries. The practice of Lent is much older than the English word for the season. In the early days of Christianity, Lent was called tessarakoste, “fortieth” in Greek, or quadragesima , “fortieth day” in Latin. The first mention of the word tessarakoste appears in documents from a meeting church leaders held in the year 325 called the Council of Nicea (at which the Nicene Creed, or statement of beliefs, was developed). It is based on the Greek word pentekoste , or “fiftieth,” which was the

Origins and Observations of Lent n

13