The Twelve Apostles, (somebody sent forth/sent out) were men who, according to the Synoptic Gospels and Christian tradition, were chosen from among the disciples (students) of Jesus Christ for a mission. Judaism had an office known as apostle (שליח)".
The Gospel of Mark states that Jesus Christ initially sent out these twelve in pairs, to towns in Galilee.
According to the list occurring in each of the Synoptic Gospels (, , ), the Twelve chosen by Jesus near the beginning of his ministry, those whom "also He named Apostles", were
It should also be noted that while the "Twelve Apostles" refer to the twelve who followed Jesus during his lifetime (and later Matthias in place of Judas Iscariot), Paul (formerly Saul of Tarsus) can be considered as another apostle. Notably, he begins many of his epistles with "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus", or some variant. The original twelve were apostles sent out to the Jews, whereas Paul has the unique role of being the apostle to the gentiles after Christ's resurrection and ascent.
The identity of the other apostle of the twelve, traditionally called St. Jude, varies between the Synoptic Gospels and also between ancient manuscripts of each gospel:
The Gospel of John, unlike the Synoptic Gospels, does not offer a formal list of apostles, but does refer to the "Twelve" in , , and . The following nine apostles are identified by name:
The individual that the Gospel of John names as Nathanael is traditionally identified as the same person that the Synoptic Gospels call Bartholomew, and most would agree that the "sons of Zebedee" is likely to be a reference to James and John, while "Judas (not Iscariot)" probably refers to Thaddaeus, also known as St. Jude. Noticeably missing from the Gospel of John are James, son of Alphaeus, Matthew, and Simon the Canaanite/Zealot.
Oriental Orthodoxy
Oriental Orthodoxy means the group of Eastern Christian Churches that accept only the first three ecumenical councils — the First Council of Nicaea, the First Council of Constantinople and the Council of Ephesus — and do not accept the dogmatic definitions of the Council of Chalcedon. These Churches are also called Old Oriental Churches. Oriental Orthodox churches are different from the churches that call themselves Eastern Orthodoxy.
The Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria is the spiritual leader of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. This is because the Pope of Alexandria is also Patriarch of all Africa on the Holy See of St. Mark the Apostle.
The spiritual leadership is not understood in the same sense as among the Eastern Orthodox Churches to the Church of Constantinople. It is in the spirit of respect and honour for the Apostolic Throne of Alexandria. It does not give any special rights to the Church of Alexandria.
The schism (division) between "Great Church Orthodox and Catholic" and the "Oriental Orthodox Churches" happened in the 5th century after the Council of Chalcedon.
Dogma
A dogma is something that should not be disputed or doubted. Most often, this means the basic beliefs and doctrines of a religion. What a majority of followers of an ideology or any kind of organization believe in can also be a dogma.
In the context of religion, the term has a neutral meaning. Outside of religion for most people the term means something negative, because it accepts only a particular point of view. If someone disputes a religious dogma, they can be accused of heresy.
In Christianity, the Resurrection of Jesus is a basic dogma.
Dogma (disambiguation)
Dogma is belief accepted by a religion or ideology as the only correct one.
Dogma could also mean:
State religion
A state religion (also called an official religion, establish
is a religious group or creed officially accepted by the state.
The term "state church" is used in context with Christianity, and is sometimes used for a specific national branch of Christianity.
The following states recognize some form of Christianity as their state or official religion (by denomination):
Jurisdictions which recognize Roman Catholicism as their state or official religion:
Jurisdictions which recognize an Old Catholic church as their state religion:
Jurisdictions which recognize one of the Eastern Orthodox Churches as their state religion:
Jurisdictions which recognize a Reformed church as their state religion:
Countries which recognize Islam as their official religion:
Governments which recognize Buddhism as their official religion:
There are no Hindu countries presently, all Hindu majority countries are secular, with Hinduism not listed as the state religion. Nepal was the world's only kingdom state with Hindu monarch, but the Constitution of Nepal 2015 constitution clearly states it is a secular country. Nepal also declared cow as national animal with advanced animal protection rights such as cats and dogs, cow slaughter is also forbidden.
The concept of state religions was known as long ago as the empires of Egypt and Sumer, when every city state or people had its own god or gods.
Zoroastrianism was the state religion of the Sassanid dynasty which lasted from from 226 till651.
Many of the Greek city-states also had a 'god' or 'goddess' associated with that city.
When in Rome, the office of "Pontifex Maximus" was reserved for the emperor, failure to worship him as a god was sometimes punished by death, as the Roman government sought to link emperor worship with loyalty to the Empire. Many Christians and Jews were persecuted, because it was against their beliefs to worship the emperor.
Catholic Christianity, as opposed to Arianism and other heretical and schismatic groups, was declared to be the state religion of the Roman Empire on February 27, 380 by the decree "De Fide Catolica" of Emperor Theodosius I.
In China, the Han Dynasty (206 BC -- 220 AD) advocated Confucianism as the de facto state religion, establishing tests based on Confucian texts as an entrance requirement into government service.
These states do not profess any state religion. Countries which officially decline to establish any religion include:
In 1967, the Albanian government made atheism the "state religion". This designation remained in effect until 1991.
Finland's State Church was the Church of Sweden until 1809.
In France the Concordat of 1801 made the Roman Catholic, Calvinist and Lutheran churches state-sponsored religions, as well as Judaism.
In Hungary the constitutional laws of 1848 declared five established churches on equal status: the Roman Catholic, Calvinist, Lutheran, Eastern Orthodox and Unitarian Church. In 1868 the law was ratified again after the Ausgleich. In 1895 Judaism was also recognized as the sixth established church. In 1948 every distinction between the different denominations were abolished.
The Church in Wales was split from the Church of England in 1920 by Welsh Church Act 1914; at the same time becoming disestablished.
In several colonies, the establishment ceased to exist in practice at the Revolution, about 1776; this is the date of legal abolition.
in 1789 the Georgia Constitution was amended as follows:
"Article IV. Section 10. No person within this state shall, upon any pretense, be deprived of the inestimable privilege of worshipping God in any manner agreeable to his own conscience, nor be compelled to attend any place of worship contrary to his own faith and judgment; nor shall he ever be obliged to pay tithes, taxes, or any other rate, for the building or repairing any place of worship, or for the maintenance of any minister or ministry, contrary to what he believes to be right, or hath voluntarily engaged. To do. No one religious society shall ever be established in this state, in preference to another; nor shall any person be denied the enjoyment of any civil right merely on account of his religious principles."