Christianity

WIP especially around organization

But here’s an older writeup I had on this.

Core Beliefs

Christians believe in a single God who created the world and everything in it. Due to man’s sinfulness, mankind fell away from the worship of God and the world was corrupted.

God manifested Himself¹² during the reign of Emperor Augustus in the form of a child, the Son of God, named Jesus of Nazareth - born to the Virgin Mary in a small town in Judea. Jesus, also called the Christ, spent a short time as a wandering teacher attended by his selected followers called the apostles.

When the time came, Jesus allowed Himself to be tortured and nailed to a cross, dying for the sake of forgiveness for all mankind. He was buried in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, but three days later He rose miraculously from the dead and met briefly again with His followers before ascending to Heaven - this is celebrated in the holiest days of the liturgical calendar: Paschal³

Fifty days after the first Paschal, the Holy Ghost descended upon the apostles on a day now celebrated as Pentecost (another important liturgical day) and gave them the gift of tongues, after which time they went around the world teaching about the miracle of Christ’s death and resurrection (which Christians call the Gospel, or “good news”).

The Saints

Christianity is a monotheistic religion, but from an outsider’s view it can be easy to be confused by the presence of many “saints” who are remembered with reverence and special festivals.

Saints are Christians dead or living who are recognized as having exceptional holiness and present valuable examples to follow in living out the virtues and teachings of the faith. Technically they are split between the martyrs (who suffered death for their faith) and confessors (who did not). They are usually recognized posthumously through a process called canonization⁴ that assigns an official feast day to remember them during.

In practice in the peripheries like Britain, there are many holy men and women who are called “saint” and treated with the same reverence⁵.

Some popular saints in Arthurian Britain include:

Name	Notes
St Mary Mother of Jesus	More often simply called The Blessed Virgin or Mother of God or just Our Lady. Perhaps the most important of the saints, called on as a catch-all intercessor, though she’s also sought after for specific reasons, especially by mothers and women generally.
St Mary Magdalene	A follower of Jesus during His life. Often associated with an unnamed “sinful woman” mentioned in the gospel accounts - i.e. a (previous) prostitute - which makes her a patron of outcasts and women generally.
St Joseph the Carpenter	The husband of Mary - not the most commonly venerated, but called upon by craftsmen. Not to be confused with Joseph of Arimathea.
St Joseph of Arimathea	The buriers of Jesus’ body and founder of the church in Britain - called on when taking care of the dead and dealing with the mysteries of the faith.
St Helen	The mother of Emperor Constantine, the patron of widows and mothers and a native Briton
St Catherine	A martyr called on by virgins and those seeking healing.
St Margaret of Antioch	A martyr called on for protection during childbirth
St Brigid of Kildare	A living saint, abbess in Ireland and a patron of poets and monastics
St Dwynwen of Wales	Guiodel princess in Wales and patron of lovers
St Christopher	A martyr and patron of travelers
St Sebastian	A Roman martyr called on by those suffering plague or endeavoring in athletic feats
St Constans the High King	Former High King of the Britons after the saintly monk was torn from his monastery to be put on the throne, and later was betrayed. Seen as a patron of Britain
St Luke the Evangelist	Apostle to Jesus and one of the writers of the Bible and a patron of artists, doctors and smiths. The other gospel writers Mark, Matthew and John are also common patrons.
St George the Dragonslayer	A Greek soldier and early exemplar of knighthood before he was made a martyr. Also called on for matter of love.
St Maurice and the Theban Legion	An entire legion martyred as a group for refusing to give up their faith, called on by soldiers.
St Ninian the Apostle to the Picts	One of the first preachers to the isolated northern parts of Britain, and a patron of missionaries
St Dismas the Penitent Thief	One of two bandits who were crucified next to Jesus, where he repented - leading to his invocation by repentant sinners (especially thieves) and prisoners
St Michael the Archangel	Yes, he is an angel but he still counts as a Saint for… reasons? Called the protector of the church and leader of the army of God. Two other archangels, Gabriel (patron of messengers) and Raphael (patron of healers) are often called on as saintly patrons.

The Bible

The fundamental stories and doctrines of Christianity are written down in a collection of texts called the Bible, which is painstakingly copied and disseminated by the literate clergy.

In Britain this is typically written in Latin, though in other parts of the world Gothic, Greek and many other scripts are used.

Core Practices & Rituals

Religious worship services, called Mass, are observed regularly each Sunday within buildings called churches⁶. Additional Masses may be held for special occasions and holy days or by especially pious people.

The most important rituals of the faith are called the Sacraments which include the following:

• Baptism, by which a new believer is symbolically washed with water (usually by the pouring of water over their head) to mark their reborn life.
• Confirmation, by which a baptized person is initiated as a member of the church and a Soldier of Christ.
• Penance, in which the penitent are absolved of sins and reconciled with God by the confession of their sins and carrying out sincere repentant actions.
• Eucharist or Communion, the central ritual of Mass, celebrated with the eating of bread and wine.
• Matrimony, which blesses marriage. While common-law and secular marriages are common, the church holds that this blessing is an essential element of marriage free from carnal sin.
• Holy Orders, by which individuals are appointed into the clergy.
• Extreme Unction, given at death to ease a person’s journey to Heaven.

Holy Days

The Christian liturgical calendar is filled with feast days - the most important are:

• Christmas: in the deep of winter, Christmas or “Christ Mass” celebrates the arrival of Jesus Christ on earth. It is led up to by a several week season called Advent and followed by the twelve days of Christmastide, culminating in the celebration of Twelfth Night and the Epiphany.
• Paschal: the holiest day in the liturgical calendar, held in the spring celebrating the resurrection of Jesus. It is led up to by a several month season called Lent and a series of remembrances known as the Holy Week. It is followed fifty days later by…
• Pentecost: which falls in the later spring or early summer, celebrating the arrival of the Holy Spirit.

The Clergy

The most basic clergy of the Christian church are called priests who guide and lead in a small regional area called a parish, and are typically celibate⁷ men⁸ who are overseen and appointed by bishops who exert a regional control over a bishopric from a larger church called a cathedral, which in turn have archbishops in archbishoprics above them. There are three archbishoprics in Britain⁹.

Certain bishops and archbishops are also made cardinals who live in Rome and oversee important church business, including electing new Popes when the pope dies. The pope is the Archbishop of Rome, but claims primacy over the other archbishops, as the final authority on earth for the church.

This authority is not universally acknowledged¹⁰.

Outside of that hierarchy - the “ordained clergy” - some Christians separate themselves from the world, either as individual hermits or anchorites who live alone or as monks and nuns in communities of similar practitioners (called abbeys in general, but typically monasteries or nunneries depending on who lives there; smaller ones are called priories). Some of these also arrange to travel through the world as friars, living lives of poverty and service in structured orders like the abbeys but more involved in the wider world.

Footnotes

1. It is customary to capitalize pronouns referring to God, as well as to capitalize the word God. ↩

2. The exact form of this manifestation - how fully God and fully man it was - is the source of significant debate and discussion these days. ↩

3. You would probably recognize this better as Easter but that’s very much the Saxon name for it that will come later. ↩

4. For those characters who might be interested, it would generally involve an investigation of claims of their deeds - including 3 miracles in life and 3 after passing away. ↩

5. Even many who are still living, known as the Living Saints. ↩

6. The communities or societies of Christians are also often called churches or “the Church” (when talking about it as a universal phenomenon), which can be confusing. ↩

7. Though regional practices differ on whether this is a norm or a rule. In Britain, it tends to be looser. ↩

8. Again, regional practices may differ or may have other similar roles that blur the lines. ↩

9. London, Caerlion-on-the-Usk, and Eburacum. ↩

10. Complete breaks from the Papacy in Rome are more common in other parts of the former Empire, and especially in regions which never were part of it - but in Britain, it’s typically more of a stance of ignoring Rome’s decrees while still ostensibly following them. ↩