Western Christianity

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Western Christianity is a term used to cover the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church, the Churches of the Anglican Communion, and Protestant Churches, which share common attributes that can be traced back to their medieval Roman Catholic heritage. The term is used by contrast to Eastern Christianity. It developed and came to be predominant in most of Western, Northern, and Southern Europe, parts of Eastern Europe, much of Southern Africa, and throughout Australia and the Western Hemisphere.

Some of the principal respects in which Western Christianity differs from Eastern Christianity are:

• Western Christianity's doctrine of original sin. Some people attribute Western Christianity's holding this doctrine to the influence of Saint Augustine.

• Most Western Christians use an amended version of the Nicene Creed that states that the Holy Spirit "proceeds from the Father and the Son". This is considered heretical by most Eastern Christians, who use the Creed as originally promulgated by the Council of Nicaea, saying that the Holy Spirit "proceeds from the Father" (See Filioque clause).

• The date of Easter usually differs between Western and Eastern Christianity.

Today, the geographical distinction between Western and Eastern Christianity is considerably less absolute than it formerly was, due to the great migrations of Europeans across the globe, as well as the spread of missionaries worldwide over the past five centuries.

[edit] See also

• Holy Roman Empire
• List of Christian denominations
• Protestant Reformation

ar:مسيحية غربية cs:Západní církev is:Vesturkirkjan ml:പാശ്ചാത്യ ക്രിസ്തുമതം nl:Westers christendom ja:西方教会 pt:Cristianismo ocidental sv:Västlig kristendom vi:Kitô giáo Tây phương