Christianity

> "And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever." Daniel 12:3 (NESV)
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Crohnian Christianity is the future variant of Christianity. It adopts the basic principles of Reformed Christianity from 2020 and extends them with the revelations of the last Apostle, Dr. Tiberius Crohn. On Earth, the church was organized into the Holy Catholic Church before the revelations of the Apostle Tiberius, after which many offshoot "denominations" arose for each planet and system (although all sharing similar theology and general amiability towards each other). In the post-Scream era, these denominations became mostly independent, still generally seeing fit to consider themselves part of the Holy Catholic Church as an entity, but generally simply referring to themselves as Christians, or Crohnian Christians where necessary (as opposed to Terranian Christians, which denounce the canonization of the End Testament and consider the events described therein to be blasphemy).

## Beliefs

### Notable Prophets

* Pope Jerome: unifier of the Holy Catholic Church on Earth (1969 - 2063)
* Dr. Tiberius Crohn: inventor of the spike drive (2078, taken up to heaven)
* Cassius: prophet of the Scream (2609 - 2665)

### Scripture

The collective denominations of Crohnian Christianity agree on a canon of three testaments.

* Old Testament (39 books)
	+ The Council of Tel Aviv (2042) put in place restrictions on Bible translations to bring them in-line with the Tanakh and the original Hebrew (wherever possible, as parts of the Old Testament are not written in Hebrew). This includes revisions such as reversing direction on the Isaiah 7:14 controversy (switching from "virgin" to "maiden").
* New Testament (27 books)
	+ The Council of Tel Aviv (2042) determined certain texts (such as Mark 16:9-20) to be "appended" onto the inspired word and determined that they are "useful for exhortation, but not for doctrine" (lumping them into the same category as the Apocrypha, for which Luther said "these books are not held equal to the Sacred Scriptures, and yet are useful and good for reading."). Per their title as the "Appended Passages", these texts are frequently included in the appendices of the Bibles from which they are omitted.
* End Testament (??? books)
	+ Jerome: On the divine revelation of the reunification of the Christian world and the councils between leaders of the faith that established accepted orthodox Christianity (2025 - 2038)
	+ 1 Tiberius: On the state of the Holy Catholic Church after the birth of the apostle Tiberius, the divine revelation of Tiberius, and the receiving of the laying on of hands and commission
	+ 2 Tiberius: On the construction of the spike drive, the journey to Apollo Centauri, and the ascent of Tiberius into heaven after the example of Elijah
	+ Cassius: On the pride of mankind in the Golden Age of Man, the coming judgment, and the Scream
	+ Terminus: On the Scream, the Silence, the evangelism of alien races, the Great Journey (to reclaim Earth), and the end of days
	+ Song of the Stars: On the majesty of God and the commission to inhabit the stars

### Organization

After the Council of Rome and the end of papal succession on Earth, the Holy Catholic Church represented the vast majority of Christians on Earth. The Holy Catholic Session, a body of renowned elders, deacons, and other faith leaders from churches across the globe, met regularly in Vatican City and exercised oversight over the many regional churches under its governance.

After the second Great Commission, various offshoot denominations emerged in the galaxies that Christianity reached, maintaining affiliation with the Holy Catholic Church back on Earth but establishing new governing bodies for the sake of more local governance. However, even in a very distributed Christianity during the Golden Age of Man, pilgrimages back to Earth and various holy sites (Jerusalem, the Vatican, Tiberius's lab in Greenland, etc).

After the Scream and the loss of connection to Earth, the individual galactic denominations became mostly independent, operating alongside each other but with no common governing body. It is not uncommon for galactic church bodies to fellowship with those of neighboring sectors and galaxies, but such interactions are generally unofficial in nature.

## Doctrine

### Confessions

In addition to being credal (affirming the great historical creeds of the church, such as the Apostles' and Nicene creeds), the Holy Catholic Church is confessional and affirms the Universal Confession of Faith.

#### Eschatology

Crohnian Christianity still believes that the end times will come and Christ will return, but it believes that history will "boomerang" backwards through history first. Just as the line of Jewish kings ended with Christ, who is king forever, so did the succession of popes end with (TODO). Just as God judged the earth through the flood and scattered the nations at the Tower of Babel, so has God done so with the Scream and the Silence.

In 21st century terms, Crohnian Christianity would likely be described as postmillennial due to the belief that several of the prophecies in Revelation have already been fulfilled (prior to the second coming of Christ) and the belief that the return to Earth will usher in the Millennium, after which Christ will return to Earth to gather his people from the stars and create a new order.

### Salvation of Non-Human Life

On the subject of the salvation of sentient life, Crohnian Christianity has two requirements for a creature being eligible for salvation:

* Must be intelligent and functioning enough to be able to credibly profess faith in Jesus Christ
* Must be truly "god-made" (a natural being, not an artificial intelligence)

### Earth

Crohnian Christianity still considers Earth to be a holy planet (as the place where Jesus Christ dwelt, where all of the original two testaments took place, and where the garden still is) and longs to return. Crohnian theologians believe that the end times will be, in part, ushered in by the re-emergence of Earth as a habitable planet.

## History

2026: Pope Francis dies at the age of 89. The College of Cardinals chooses to elect Pope Jerome (in the likeness of Saint Jerome, a late 4th century theologian), a young, conservative pope seeking to undo many of the progressive reforms of Pope Francis.

2031: Pope Jerome receives a divine revelation in a dream. Jerome saw himself in a mighty city with skyscrapers and great influence, upon which fell a great calamity. All of the city's resources and might were not enough to save it from the calamity, but the aid of the weaker surrounding nations ultimately saved the city from destruction. In the final moments of the calamity, the highest tower upon which Jerome stood was struck, and Jerome careened towards the ground. However, an Eastern Orthodox priest, a Southern Baptist preacher, and an Anglican priest caught him. Jerome began to drift awake as the group sang the Gloria.

2032: After months of study and meditation, Pope Jerome meets with the College of Cardinals and several important archbishops to discuss the dissolution of the papacy and the restructuring of the Catholic Church. Later that year, Pope Jerome publicly announces the end of papal succession, permanently dismisses the College of Cardinals, and begins talks with other Christian faith leaders. 2035: After years of discussions and prayer, the Council of Rome convenes with representatives from Catholicism, many Protestant denominations (Anglicans, Lutherans, various Baptists, various Presbyterians: denominations such as Methodists and Charismatics were notably absent), and other independent Christian organizations. The Council of Rome declared the institution of the Holy Catholic Church (taking after the term in the Apostles' Creed, and henceforth known as HCC), drafting the Universal Confession of Faith (drawing inspiration from other notable confessions such as the Westminster Confession of Faith and the London Confession of Faith) and adopting a distributed form of church government (similar to the Presbyterian church, with an emphasis on governing bodies rather than empowered individuals).

2042: On the 10th anniversary of the Council of Rome, the Holy Catholic Church convenes the Council of Tel Aviv to discuss future evangelization and reform within the church. Key takeaways include the decision to prioritize evangelization of the Jews, and to put in place strict requirements on future Bible translations to bring the Old Testament more in line with the Tanakh and to omit "appended passages" (such as the end of the book of Mark).

 2046: Jerome writes a book about the events of the prior decade, titled "Unity of the Spirit" (referencing Ephesians 4:3), which he distributes freely throughout the world. It is critically acclaimed, although the HCC stops short of calling it divinely inspired or adding it to the biblical canon. 2044: Biblical scholars produce the New English Standard Version (NESV) in adherence with the requirements put forth in the Council of Tel Aviv, which quickly becomes the most widely used Bible translation worldwide. The official HCC distribution includes Unity of the Spirit in its entirety as an appendix.

 2058: The Eastern Orthodox church, having originally chosen not to participate in the Council of Rome, is absorbed by the HCC. 2078: Tiberius Crohn is born in Wittenberg, Germany.

2102: Dr. Tiberius Crohn, then a celebrated scientist, receives a special revelation from Christ that he is to prepare the way for the Gospel to be preached throughout the universe, and receives the necessary mathematics and science for the creation of the spike drive.

TODO: Need an opportunity for Crohn to receive the laying on of hands

2108: The apostle Tiberius completes construction of the spike drive. Before taking off, en route for Alpha Centauri, he constructs an altar to God at the site where he received the special revelation.

TODO: Need a second Great Commission event and a sending out

2632: The prophet Cassius begins speaking of a second flood, an event that will both cleanse the universe and scatter the nations, judging them for their pride.

2665: