Christianity

Main article: Religion in the world

The Number of Christians in the World

2019:33% of the world's population profess Christianity

Most studies note that for 2019, 33% of the world's population professes some form of Christianity:

• Europe 558 824 000 man;

• Latin America 542 670 000;

• Africa 474 836 000;

• Asia 354 254 000;

• North America 231 032 000;

• Oceania 23,975,000.

2013: Forecast of the change in the number of Christians by regions of the world

Dogma

Borrowing through Judaism the Egyptian notion of God as an invisible spirit that fills the world

Main article: Judaism

Coincidence of images of Yahweh as a bird with giant wings and the Egyptian Choir in the form of a falcon

Egyptologist M.A. Korostovtsev drew attention to another point confirming the influence of Egyptian views on the Bible: in Deuteronomy (32, 11-12), in the book of Exodus (19, 4), in a number of psalms (14, 8; 57, 2; 61, 5-6; 63, 8; 91, 4), the book of Ruth (2, 12) speaks of the "wings" of the god Yahweh. "Here clearly stands the idea of ​ ​ Yahweh as a bird with giant wings," as the embodiment of the heavenly deity. A similar idea of ​ ​ the Egyptian god of heaven, Khora, is well known to Egyptologists.

Magic: Borrowing the Egyptian concept of the word, as god's tools for the creation of the world

As M.A. Korostovtsev wrote, it is important to compare the methods of creation of the world in the Hebrew Bible and in Egyptian cosmogonies (in Egypt, as you know, there were several cosmogonies).

In a number of Egyptian cosmogonies, the instrument of the deity in the process of creation of the world is the divine word demiurga. In its developed form, this idea is contained by the well-known Egyptologists "Monument to Memphis Theology," preserved in the text of the times of the XXV dynasty (VІІI century BC. e.), but dating back to the original of the Old Kingdom. Thus, the idea of the divine word as a creative tool of the demiurge was not accidental, not transient, it was deeply rooted in the religious consciousness of the ancient Egyptians.

The text of the "Monument to Memphis Theology" tells how the demiurge Pta "thinks in his heart" (the Egyptians considered the heart "the seat of thought") the act of creation, and then "pronounces words" (wd mdw), which translate thought into reality, into being. It should be emphasized that this concept of the universe raises one of the principles of magic - the creative power of the word - to the level of a theological system.

Belief in the creative power of the word demiurge is not a specific feature of Memphis cosmogony alone - it is also found in other Egyptian cosmogonies. The Bremner-Rind papyrus says: "All existences existed after I (the god Ra) did, and many beings came out of my mouth" (26, 22).

M.A. Korostovtsev compared Egyptian cosmogonies with biblical ones from this angle of view.

"And God said, Let there be light, and light become" (Genesis, 1, 3);

"And God said, Let there be hardness in the midst of water, and let it separate water from water" (Genesis 1, 6).

The further process of the universe is similar. The appearance of plants on earth is preceded by the words: "And God said" (Genesis, 1, 11), just as the appearance of a light in heaven (Genesis, 1, 14).

Of the luminaries, it is said: "The light is greater for the control of the day, and the light is smaller for the control of the night" (Genesis 1, 16), that is, essentially, the same idea is expressed as in the Egyptian Book of Cows, where Ra orders him to be replaced in heaven by the night of the moon god Thoth. The biblical god creates by the power of the word reptiles, fish, birds (Genesis, 1, 20-22), commands that the beasts of the earth exist (Genesis, 1, 24-25).

From the above data, an objective observer can draw only one conclusion: the Egyptian demiurge (in this case, the god Pta) and the biblical creator of the world Yahweh created the world using the same method and using the same tool of the divine word. This similarity, undoubtedly, is not accidental.

The doctrine of "logos," that is, about "word" or "speech" as an instrument of creativity and revelation, is contained in the philosopher of the І century BC. e. Philo, who lived in Alexandria, whose works had a serious impact on the formation of early Christianity. For more on this, see Shabaki Stone.

You should pay attention to another very interesting detail. "And God said, Let there be hardness in the midst of water, and let it separate water from water" (Genesis, 1.6). Here we encounter a purely Egyptian idea of ​ ​ the structure of the world: the sky is the water on which luminaries swim on the navels, and the earth separates it from the primitive ocean of Nuna.

Borrowing through Judaism the image of a pot god creating a man on a pottery wheel

The Old Testament repeatedly refers to god Yahweh as a potted man:

• the book of the Prophet Isaiah (29, 15-16; 45, 9; 64, 8),
• the book of the Prophet Jeremiah (18. 2-4),
• the book of Job (10, 8-9).

The book of Wisdom of Jesus, the son of Sirachov (33, 13), says: "Just as the clay of the potted man is in his hand and all its fate is in his arbitrariness, so the people are in the hands of the one who created them, and he will give them his judgment." Approximately the same idea is expressed in the book of Wisdom Solomon (15, 7), and in the "Epistle of Paul to the Romans" (9, 21).

A similar view of God and his authority over humans is displayed in the famous Egyptian "Teachings of Amenemope" 24, 13-18): "After all, man is clay and straw, and the god is his creator. He (i.e. god.) destroys and creates daily, he creates thousands of poor people daily at will, he creates a thousand overseers at his hour (i.e. at the moment of creation). "

And finally, in Genesis (2, 7), the same thought was expressed somewhat differently: "And the Lord God created man out of the dust of the earth and blew into his face the breath of life, and became a living soul of man."

Egyptian and biblical literary images of the potted god and the creator god ultimately go back to the Egyptian mythological image of the god Hnum, who created people on the potter's wheel. For the cult of Hnum in Esna and on Elephantine, see Aswan.

Embalming the bodies of Jacob and his son Joseph according to an Egyptian ritual

The Jews who lived in Egypt did not disdain the burial rites of the Egyptians at all, as explicitly stated in the Bible. The account of Joseph's history in Genesis ends with a description of his death: "And Joseph died a hundred and ten years. And they embalmed it and put it in the ark in Egypt "(50, 26).

Thus, one of the positive faces of biblical history, Joseph, was buried in Egypt according to Egyptian custom. One hundred and ten years, according to the Egyptians, the ideal duration of human life.

Embalming was not traditional for patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) who were buried in caves. However, Joseph held the highest office in Egypt, and this procedure was part of the local funeral rite for the nobility, aimed at preserving the body.

Earlier, the same chapter describes the embalming of Joseph's father, Jacob (Israel).

Birth of Christ

The Egyptian concept of "double parenthood," which the pharaohs used to strengthen their power (see Luxor), penetrated mythology and early Christianity. She is present in one of the Coptic apocrypha (the story of the carpenter Joseph). In complete contradiction with the canonical gospels, Christ speaks of his two fathers - the "beloved father Joseph" "the father of the flesh," and the "good father in heaven."

The same concept is reflected in the Coptic novel of Alexander the Great by Pseudo-Callisthenes (2nd-3rd centuries), which explicitly states: "King Alexander, son of the god Amun and Olympiad..." (І, 21). The Olympiad was the historic, earthly mother of the Macedonian conqueror. G. Maspero, of course, is right, arguing that all this is an echo of the Egyptians' ideas about the birth of the pharaoh, embodied in images and inscriptions on the walls of temples.

Brothers of Christ

There is no unity among Catholics and Orthodox Christians on the question of how to interpret the line of the Gospel about the "brothers" of Jesus.

The Orthodox tradition is dominated by the opinion of Eusebius that Jacob, Josiah, Judah and Simon are the children of Joseph from the first marriage, not mentioned in Scripture.

There are several hypotheses about the degree of their kinship with Christ in flesh:

• According to Origen, Clement of Alexandria, St. Epiphany of Cyprus Jesus' brothers were the children of Joseph the Betrothal from his first marriage.

• Christ's brothers were children of Mary, a relative of the Blessed Virgin or Joseph, and were cousins or second cousins to Christ.

• According to the hypothesis of Renan and A.P. Lebedev, Cleopa was the brother of Joseph the Betrothed and therefore their wives (Mother of God and Mary Cleopova) were called sisters. Jacob the Righteous and his brother Judah were the children of Joseph from his first marriage, and Jacob the Lesser, Josiah, Simon, and the "sisters" of Jesus were the children of Cleopa and Mary.

In the Catholic Church, Jerome Stridon's judgment prevailed that all four were cousins of Jesus, probably children of Mary Cleopova, sister of the Virgin Mary (see in. 19:25) and thus as nephews of Our Lady were Christ's cousins in the flesh.

Childhood of Christ

The famous English Egyptologist F. Griffis owns the translation of the manuscript, first published by him under the title "Tales of the High Priests of Memphis." There are two narratives in "Tales":

• in the first, related to the ІІ century. BC e., tells about the eldest son of Ramesses ІІ Satni-Haemuas, the high priest of the god Pt, and his extraordinary adventures;
• in the second, relating to 46-47 AD. e., - about the son of Satni-Haemuas, Sa-Osiris (translated this name means "son of Osiris").

We are interested in the second narrative. At the very beginning, it is reported that Satni-Haemuas and his wife Mehit-Ushet, after many years of childlessness, had a boy. In accordance with the prophetic dream, he was called Sa-Osiris. In conclusion, the tale says that this boy was none other than the famous sorcerer and magician who died one and a half thousand years ago, again sent to live on earth by the king of the dead, the god Osiris.

Little Sa-Osiris grew quickly and was courageous. Given to school, he fabulously quickly surpassed the scribe teacher in his knowledge. Then little Sa-Osiris began to cast spells along with scribes from the "house of life" at the temple of the god Pt, and everyone who heard him was amazed at his wisdom. Then his father began to bring him to the festivities to Pharaoh, where Sa-Osiris competed in knowledge with the sorcerers of Pharaoh and defeated them.

It is interesting to give a parallel from the Gospel of Luke (chap. 2, 46-47): twelve-year-old Christ, who came with his parents to Jerusalem and was lost in the city "three days later found sitting in the temple in the middle of the teachers, listening to them and asking them; all those listening to him marveled at reason and answers. " In the apocryphal Gospel of Thomas, the same plot is developed in more detail.

Ascesis

• Pillars

Demons (demons)

The Afterlife Court

Christians borrowed the idea of ​ ​ an afterlife judgment from the religious concepts of ancient Egypt. For more information on this, see the Afterlife Court.

Borrowing from Egypt the idea of god weighing the soul of man after death

The Bible reflects Egyptian views of the afterlife, in particular ideas about psychostasis. Bible books repeatedly mention weighing as a method (Book of Job, 31, 6; the book of Proverbs of Solomon, 16, 2: "The Lord Weighs Souls," 21, 2: "The Lord Weighs Hearts"). For more information on the Egyptian idea of weighing the heart by gods after a person's death, see the Afterlife Trial.

Borrowing an Egyptian Tale of a Fair Afterlife for the Poor in the Parable of Lazarus in the Gospel of Luke

Main article: Afterlife Court

Churches

Orthodoxy

• Russian Orthodox Church (ROC)
• Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU)

Catholicism

• Catholicism in Russia

• Centralized Religious Organization Catholic Order of Franciscans in Russia

Holidays

• Christmas-tide

Christmas

2025: Movement in some Western countries against crowding out the Christmas holiday

In the first half of the 2020s, Western countries saw a consistent displacement of Christian meanings from public space. Bans on nativity scenes, the replacement of Merry Christmas with impersonal formulas, the cancellation of fairs under the threat of terrorist attacks and increased protection of temples have become the new norm, not the exception.

In a Politico Europe story in December 2025, the Christmas season in Europe was declared a new front for culture wars. According to the publication, the far-right parties "privatized" and stole the holiday, "turned it into the flag of Christian civilization" and put themselves on the last line of defense against the hostile secular left camp.

In the disgrace of the media were Prime Minister Italy George Meloni, the French "National Association," the Spanish Vox and " the German Alternative for." Germany In addition, they were blamed for the support of the president, USA Trump who "returned" the phrase Merry Christmas ("Merry Christmas").

What are the left and right arguing about?

It didn't start with the "far right," but with years of multiplying restrictions. Merry Christmas's congratulatory words, directly referring to the Christian origins of the holiday, were gradually replaced in official and corporate speech with a neutral "fun holidays" so as not to offend anyone's religious feelings.

The Christmas tree has ceased to be called Christmas tree, turning it into a "holiday tree," and the word Christmas itself has become impossible to use - only Xmas.

In schools and city halls, religious elements were cleaned from the holiday, leaving impersonal "winter events."

At the same time, Politico talks very selectively about what is happening.

Europeans are consistently taught to self-censor - to be afraid of each of their words and actions. They have to worry about whether it is possible to put a nativity scene and whether it is worth replacing jewelry with angels with safe snowflakes and asterisks.

Christianity in Europe and North America at this time does not just lose cultural influence - it finds itself in the position of being justified. Any attempt to protect a traditional holiday is immediately branded as "politicisation of faith," "radicalism" or "far-right revenge." As a result, the Christmas cycle itself - which united societies for centuries - turns into the subject of ideological struggle and self-censorship.

Against this background, the Russian context with a fundamentally different approach looks especially contrasting.

As many observers note, the conversation about the "revival of Christianity" ceased to be exclusively theological and acquired a civilizational dimension.

History

2024: Hologram of Jesus with AI for confession appears in church in Switzerland

At the end of November 2024, it became known that the Church of St. Peter in Lucerne (Switzerland) uses an AI-based hologram of Jesus to accept confession from parishioners. The hologram was installed as part of the Deus in Machina art project. Although this installation is temporary, the ministers of St. Peter's Church note that such chatbots will one day be able to take on part of the duties of pastors. Read more here.

1st century: Map of the spread of Christianity by the apostles

A prototype of monasticism in the temples of Egypt before the advent of Christianity

In Ptolemaic times, a category of people constantly living in churches appears in Egypt, but in fact not priests: these are something like hermits who made a lifelong vow to obey the priests of the temple and carry out their assignments in gratitude for patronage and protection. It is possible that these hermits were, as it were, the forerunners of Christian monasticism, which appeared in Egypt earlier than in other countries that converted to Christianity, but not earlier than Ptolemaic ^[1].

Notes