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Maddie Ile

Frances McCue

Honors 205

8 November 2017

Difficult Concepts Explained: Christianity

Once there was a fourth grader named Sarah. She was a very curious person, and loved to

learn new things. Sarah lived in the diverse city of New York, which she really enjoyed because

she got to meet a lot of people who werent like her. Meeting people with different backgrounds

meant that she got to learn about other cultures and points of view through them. Her three best

friends named Melanie, Jared, and Sylvia gave her a great opportunity to learn about other

religions when they started talking about church one day at lunch.

Sarah, what church do you go to? Melanie asked.

My family isnt religious, so we dont go to church.

Oh, Melanie replied, I go to the Lutheran church.

I go to the Catholic church! added Jared.

Sylvia chimed in, I belong to the Episcopal church!

This confused Sarah. She had heard Melanie, Jared, and Sylvia refer to themselves as

Christians in the past, but now they were saying that they all have different religions. How could

they all be Christian and belong to different churches?

When Sarah got home from school, she asked her mom what the difference is between

Catholics, Lutherans, and Episcopalians.

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Wow, thats a pretty big question. Why dont I take you to the history museum? Your

question could be answered pretty well by looking at European history, her mom replied.

Sarah was really interested now. Her favorite subject in school was history! She had no

idea that the history of Europe was so closely related to religion. She imagined what the

connection might be.

That night, Sarah dreamed about a king who started his own religion. He lived in a fancy

castle, and had servants waiting on him who did whatever he asked them to do. Sarah woke up

before she could find out where the king was from, or why he would want to start his own

church.

That morning, Sarah and her mom were off to the museum.

The first exhibit that they visited was about Rome. Sarah knew that Rome is a city in

Italy, and that it is really famous for some of its old buildings-many of which were included in

this museum. She was surrounded by beautiful paintings of these old buildings. Sarah stopped in

front of a painting of a white building with a big dome on it, and two little domes right next to

the big one. There was writing on the front of the building, but Sarah couldnt understand what it

meant. This painting was labelled St. Peters Basilica.

Mom, what is St. Peters Basilica?

Its a very big, fancy church inside a place called Vatican City. Vatican City is a tiny

country inside Rome, and it is where the leader of the Catholic church lives. This leader is called

the pope. There have been popes for thousands of years, and our current pope became the pope

in 2013.
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How does somebody become the pope? It seems like a pretty big deal to suddenly

become the leader of all Catholics, Sarah said.

Catholics believe that the first pope was appointed by Jesus. But today, a very different

process is used to elect the pope. In order to be considered for the pope, a person would need to

be a Catholic man. This person should also be what is called a cardinal. Look, theres a picture of

a cardinal!

Sarahs mom pointed to a painting of an old man wearing a long, crimson red robe and

hat.

I like his fancy clothes!

I do too, said Sarahs mom, and you can remember that they are called cardinals

because they are dressed in red, like cardinal birds!

How does somebody become a cardinal? Sarah asked.

Well Sarah, the Catholic church has a ranking of the important people in it. The

cardinals are right underneath the pope-pretty much at the top. In order to become a cardinal, a

person has to climb the ladder from the bottom of the ranking.

At the very bottom of the ladder is a regular Catholic man. That Catholic man would

have to become a priest if he wanted to climb the ladder. He would need to go to college for

years and get special degrees.

So being a priest is a job? Sarah inquired.

Yes, exactly! The next step to becoming the pope is to become what is called a bishop.

That is pretty tricky to do. It requires being selected by current bishops and passing an interview
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with a man called the apostolic nuncio. If a man was approved by the apostolic nuncio, then the

pope would need to approve of him as well to officially make that person a bishop.

That kind of reminds me of how a bill becomes a law. We learned in class that a bill has

to go through different sections of Congress in order to be signed into law, Sarah said.

Youre right, it is a bit similar to that process. The pope can veto a bishop too, just like

the president can veto a bill. A veto is basically a rejection. If the pope vetoes a potential bishop,

then the process is slowed down, because the apostolic nuncio has to interview more priests.

Sarah was starting to understand. So the first step to becoming the pope is to be a

Catholic man, then a priest, and then a bishop! After that, do bishops become cardinals?

Yes, they do! Once a person becomes a bishop, then they can become a cardinal. This is

like being a bishop, but with more responsibility. A man can only become cardinal if the pope

appoints him as one. There are currently about 200 cardinals. When a pope retires or passes

away, then all of the cardinals get together and vote for a new pope.

Wow, thats a really long process, Sarah said. The two wandered around the exhibit for

a bit longer while Sarah soaked in all of this new information.

So what is it that Catholics believe? Sarah asked.

To explain what Catholics believe, I should start by explaining the difference between

the words Catholic and Christian. A Catholic is a type of Christian, just like a Lutheran is a

type of Christian. There are basic beliefs that all Christians have, and some that are unique to

Catholics. Christians believe that Jesus is the son of God and the Virgin Mary. He was born on

Christmas, was crucified-or killed on a wooden cross-on the Friday before Easter, and rose from
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the dead on Easter Sunday. Catholics believe that Jesus died so the sins of everyone on Earth

would be forgiven.

So thats why Melanie, Jared and Sylvia all celebrate Christmas and Easter even though

they dont go to the same church?

Thats right, Sarah! Jared is a Catholic, right?

Sarah nodded.

There are some things that Jared does at church that are unique to him because he is a

Catholic. For example, Catholics take communion every Sunday. This means that they eat bread

and drink wine, which they believe are the body and blood of Christ. The idea that bread and

wine are converted into the body and blood of Christ is called transubstantiation.

So does that mean that Jared drinks wine every Sunday? Sarah remarked, I thought

only adults could do that!

Yes, but Catholics only drink a little bit of wine at communion. Sarahs mom replied.

As Sarah and her mom were talking about Catholicism, they continued to wander around

the museum. Eventually, they got to a painting of a man who didnt look very happy. He had

brown hair and was wearing a black outfit with a matching black hat. The label next to the

painting said that his name was Martin Luther.

Mom, who was Martin Luther?

Well Sarah, as it turns out, he is related to your question about religion. Martin Luther

started the Lutheran church, as you may have guessed.

How did that happen? asked Sarah.

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Thats another pretty long story, said Sarahs mom, But Ill explain it to you. Martin

Luther was a German monk and priest who was born in 1483. When Martin Luther was alive, the

Catholic church was selling indulgences. That meant that they were making people pay in order

to have their sins forgiven, because then they would be able to get to Heaven. This upset Luther,

so he wrote a document called the 95 Theses, which in addition to criticizing the Catholic

church, included two beliefs of his: that religious authority comes from the Bible (not the

church), and that people achieved salvation through their faith and not their actions.

The Catholic church did not approve of the 95 Theses, and Pope Leo X gave Luther a

chance to recant, or take back, what he had written. Luther did not recant, so he was kicked out

of the Catholic church. Luthers writings inspired what is called the Protestant Reformation,

which is when a lot of Europeans left the Catholic church to become Protestants, or Lutherans.

Can you think of a reason why Lutherans can also be called Protestants?

Well, Protestant has the word protest in it, so is it because they protested against the

Catholic church?

Thats exactly right! affirmed Sarahs mother.

The more Sarah learned about religion, the more curious she got. How do the beliefs of

the Lutherans differ from the Catholics?

A lot of the differences come from the amount of involvement that the church has in a

persons faith. For example, Catholics think that the church should interpret the Bible, while

Protestants leave it to the individual person. Catholics believe that a persons sins are forgiven

through church rituals, while Protestants believe that people need to repent-or express shame of

wrongdoing-by confessing directly to God.

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Melanie is a Lutheran, so she confesses her sins directly to God, right? Whom would

Jared confess his sins to?

To his priest, Sarahs mom replied. There are some other differences between

Catholics and Protestants as well. Protestants dont believe in transubstantiation, which we know

that Catholics do. Catholics believe in a place called Purgatory, where believers go after they die

to be cleansed of their sins before they go to Heaven. Protestants do not believe in such a place.

Finally, Catholics believe that saints are really important, but Protestants do not.

What are saints? Sarah inquired.

They are people who have passed away and have special status in the church because

they did really good things and were faithful to the church when they were alive, Sarahs mom

replied.

Sarah was overwhelmed with all of this new information. They had been wandering

around the museum all morning, and she could feel her stomach start to rumble. Can we go get

lunch?

Of course! Her mother smiled and said, This is a lot of learning for a Saturday. I bet

you need a break!

After they went to the museum cafe and had a bite to eat, Sarah and her mother decided

to look at one more exhibit. This last exhibit was about the history of England.

Look at this painting, said Sarahs mother, gesturing to a picture on the wall. Do you

know who this is?

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Sarah studied the painting carefully. The painting showed a man standing with his hands

on his hips, and he was wearing silly, old fashioned clothes. Sarah almost started laughing at his

tights that reminded her of ballerinas and his fuzzy hat. I have no idea, she replied.

This is King Henry VIII. He was the King of England around the same time that Martin

Luther was alive. He started the Church of England. There is a pretty interesting story that

explains how and why he did it.

Henry VIII was married to a woman named Katherine. He desperately wanted a son, so

he could pass on his royal family name. However, his wife only had one daughter, and she was

unable to give birth to another child. Henry VIII wanted to divorce her, but they were Catholic,

and once you are married in the Catholic church you are married for life. The Catholic church

did not let people get divorced back then. The King asked Pope Clement VII, who was pope at

the time, if he could be an exception to this rule. The pope refused. King Henry VIII then created

his own church, called the Church of England, so he could divorce his wife for another woman.

He made everyone in England join his new church instead of being Catholic.

Thats kind of like the American Revolution! replied Sarah.

How so?

The Americans wanted to change how they were being treated by the British

government, but the King didnt want to change. So the only solution for Americans was to leave

and start their own government!

Thats a really great connection, Sarah! I never thought about it like that before!

Sarah realized that her mom had explained Jared and Melanies religions, but not

Sylvias. Sylvia is Episcopalian. Does the Church of England relate to her?

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It does! When English people started immigrating to America, they called the church the

Episcopal church instead of the Church of England, because they were no longer English. Does

that make sense?

Sarah nodded. Im so glad that I finally understand what my friends mean when they say

that they are Lutheran, Catholic, or Episcopalian. The history of religion is so cool! she gushed.

Im glad you think so! her mom replied.

Sarah and her mom left the museum. Suddenly, Sarah remembered her dream about the

king who started his own church. She couldnt believe that she had been right!

On Monday, Sarah was really excited to tell her friends all about what she had learned.

At lunch, everyone was talking about the things they did outside of school.

So, did you guys do anything fun this weekend? Jared asked.

I went to the park with my cousins! said Melanie.

I saw a movie! replied Sylvia.

I went to the museum with my mom and learned some stuff about the religions that you

guys believe in! said Sarah.

Really? Thats so cool! What did you learn? inquired Melanie.

I learned that the Lutheran church started from the Catholic church, and that there are a

lot of beliefs that they have in common, but a lot that are different as well. I also learned about

the history of the Episcopal church and why it isnt called the Church of England in America.

I should go to that museum, said Melanie, I would love to learn about what makes my

beliefs different from Jareds and Sylvias!.

Ill come with you! Jared exclaimed.

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Dont forget me! said Sylvia.

Sarah was glad that she had learned a lot about religion and history at the same time, and

that she got to understand her friends better. She thought it was so cool that she had helped her

friends become more interested in each other's beliefs as well. Sarah ended up going to the

museum again, this time with Sylvia, Melanie and Jared. They all had a wonderful time.

The End