第7章 宗教和信仰

I. Explain the following:

1. Christianity

Key: (1)Christianity refers to all doctrines and religious groups based on the teaching of Jesus Christ. It was founded in the 1st century in Palestine.

(2)Jesus Christ is accepted by Christians as the son of God, and his teaching is contained in the Bible, the holy book of Christianity.

(3)In Europe, Christianity is divided into three major groups, Roman Catholic Church, Protestant Church and Orthodox Eastern Church.

2. Jesus Christ

Key: (1)Jesus Christ was a Jew who lived in Palestine 2000 years ago and is accepted by Christians as the son of God.

(2)He was born to a virgin named Mary.

(3)His teaching was based on love: love of God, and love of our neighbour.

(4)His teaching and accounts of his life are contained in the New Testament of the Bible.

3. The Bible

Key: (1)The Bible is the holy book of Christianity. It consists of two testaments.

(2)The Old Testament contains the Jewish writings before the coming of Christ.

(3)The much shorter New Testament contains four accounts (“gospel”) of the life of Christ, followed by the writings of the early Christians, of whom St Paul was the greatest.

4. The Church of England

Key: (1)Also called Anglican Church, it is one of the many “Protestant” sects which broke away from Roman Catholic Church during the Religious Reformation.

(2)It is an established Church, which means that it represents the official state religion, having certain duties towards the state, and receiving certain privileges from it.

(3)Its temporal head is the Queen, and twenty-six of its highest priests sit in the House of Lords.

5. Roman Catholic Church

Key: (1)It refers to the Christian Church headed by the Pope in Rome.

(2)All members of the Church accept gospel of Christ and the teaching of the Bible.

(3)Roman Catholics throughout the world recognize the supreme holy authority of Pope in Rome and of the Church or priesthood in general.

6. Protestant Reformation

Key: (1)A religious movement started in 1517, when the German monk Martin Luther posted for debate a series of theses that challenged Roman Catholic teaching.

(2)Many Protestant sects broke away from the central organization of Roman Catholic Church.

(3)Most of the Protestants stressed the Bible as the source and the norm of their teaching instead of the Pope as a source of authority.

II. Fill in the blanks:

1. In Europe, Christianity is divided into two major groups, _____ and _____.

Key: The Catholic Church; The Protestant Church

2. The Bible consists of two parts, _____ and _____.

Key: The Old Testament; The New Testament

3. _____ is the non-priestly head of the Church of England and _____ is the spiritual leader of the Church of England.

Key: The Queen, The Pope

4. The Trinity, according to the Christian doctrine as developed by St Paul and the early Church, refers to the three aspects of the same one God, _____ and _____.

Key: Jesus; Holy Spirit

5. The Church of Scotland in organization is _____.

Key: presbyterian

6. _____ is the supreme holy authority of the Roman Catholic.

Key: The Pope

7. Point out five major Protestant sects that are mentioned in the text: _____, _____, _____, _____ and _____.

Key: The Church of England, presbyterian organisations, the Methodist Church, the Congregational, Baptist Churches.

8. According to Darwin's theory of evolution, man has evolved extremely slowly from _____.

Key: humbler forms of life

III. Answer the questions:

1. What are some of the differences between the Catholic Church and the Church of England?

Key: In spiritual matters, the Church of England has no strong central authority; Roman Catholics throughout the world recognize the supreme holy authority of the Pope in Rome and of the Church or priesthood in general, but the Anglican Church relies more on the Bible, which is not always easy to interpret, and leaves many questions to individual consciences.

2. What are some of the characteristics of the Protestant sects?

Key: The Puritans were originally an extreme Protestant sect, determined to ‘purify' the English Church of all the corruption and ceremonial pomp of the Roman Church of that time. As an attitude of mind, puritanism indicates stern simplicity and strict morality. Puritanical people are for instance very keen to protect the Sabbath, or the Lord's Day (Sunday) (19) against sacrilege like work, commerce, games and entertainment. They form ‘temperance societies' to combat the evils of strong drink, for they are strict teetotallers, and some even disapprove of smoking and dancing. All forms of gambling are forbidden, including football pools and national lotteries. They believe in plain food and plain clothing: women should not wear high-heeled shoes, or too much make-up, or clothes which expose their bodies. Puritans have a reputation for absolute honesty, but they are often lacking in humor and warmth of heart, and are often condemned as ‘kill-joys'.

3. Why has religion declined in Britain during the present century?

Key: The successes of modern science are partly responsible for this, the prime example being the development of Darwin's famous theory of evolution, which shows to the satisfaction of most thinking people (including Church leaders) that man, far from being separately created by God as a unique being, has evolved extremely slowly from humbler forms of life. Science seems to be taking the mystery, and therefore the holiness, out of the universe (24). Then, too, the general improvement in social conditions and the variety of modern entertainment have made religion appear rather irrelevant.

4. Cite a few examples from the text to show that there are many relics of superstition in modern Britain.

Key: It is unlucky, for instance, to walk under a ladder, or to spill salt, or break a mirror, or to have anything to do with number 13; whereas a horseshoe brings good luck, and people jokingly ‘touch wood' to prevent the return of a past misfortune. There are still many strange country remedies against sickness which are obviously superstitious. Most striking of all, there is still a surprising amount of interest in fortune-telling, e.g. in the form of ‘horoscopes' in newspapers and women's magazines-though for most people this is nothing more than an amusement, which they may well be slightly ashamed of.