Christianity

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Christianity (十字教（じゅうじきょう）, Juuji Kyou^?, lit. "Religion of the Cross", Yen Press: Crossism) is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of the Son of God.

Christianity is the most represented and largest religion in the Toaru Majutsu no Index universe, and represents the greater part of the magic side. Most notably, Index is a Christian of the Anglican Church denomination.

Etymology

The Greek word Χριστιανός (Christianos)—meaning "follower of Christ"—comes from Χριστός (Christos)—meaning "anointed one" —with an adjectival ending borrowed from Latin to denote adhering to, or even belonging to, as in slave ownership.

However, the regular characters used for Christianity (キリスト教, Christianity^?), which when spoken, directly refers to "Christian Religion" is not used by the author in the series, instead using the cross (十字, Jūji^?) character and the doctrine (教, Kyō^?) character, which can be translated as Cross Church or Religion of the Cross.

Principles

The Christian cross, a symbol of Jesus Christ's Passion.

Being a monotheistic religion, the various sects and denominations of Christianity worship a single God, considered to be the one true God, the creator and the Supreme Being of the universe. Attributes ascribed to God include immortality, transcendence, omniscience (i.e., knows everything that has ever transpired or will transpire, past, present, and future), omnipotence (i.e., capable of doing anything He desires to), and omnibenevolence (i.e., He loves everyone and everything). The doctrine of the Trinity defines God as being one deity in three persons; the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, all the same God.

More specifically, Christianity is based on the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, a preacher whose followers identified as the Messiah promised in the Jewish Old Testament, and no less than the Son of God as well as being an aspect of God Himself. He was executed by the Roman and Judean authorities for supposedly presenting Himself as such, but returned from the dead 3 days later. His words and miracles were recorded by the Apostles in what would become known as the New Testament and compiled with the Old Testament to form the Christian Bible.

History

For Christianity's history in relation to the events in-universe see the Story Timeline.

Regardless of the fact that the Christianity originated as a single religion, according to Index, since politics have entered the religion, divisions began to appear in the religion, eventually culminating in several different factions with their own beliefs and paths, even though they worship the same God. Different interpretations and views of the Bible are also known causes for the schisms.

Because of this rift, the churches lost their connection with each other and evolved in their own ways, and attained their own personalities, based on the country's attributes and various other conditions.

Christianity is the current age that dominates the world of Toaru Majutsu no Index, however, it has been predicted that once Aleister Crowley's Book of the Law is used, the age of the Religion of the Cross will end.

Denominations

Christianity in the Toaru Majutsu no Index universe can broadly divided between the old and new forms of Catholicism and Protestantism, with Catholicism made up of three major religious denominations and organizations, each with their apparent purpose:

• Roman Catholic Church - manages and administrates the world. The largest and relatively most powerful Christian sect in the Toaru Majutsu no Index universe, consisting of two billion followers in the entire world.
• Russian Orthodox Church - investigates and exterminates the occult phenomena.
• Anglican Church - specializes in inquisitions and anti-magic.

Minor denominations and sects

Other than the three, there are several denominations mentioned during the course of the story.

• Amakusa-Style Remix of Church: A distinct Catholic-based domination, formed by Japanese during Christianity in Japan was banned in the country under the threat of death. Most notable for incorporating various beliefs and cultures of other religions and countries, resulting in a unique style of their own, such as using European medieval weapons and using Shinto concepts to attack gods.
• Spanish Astrological Sect: A Spanish Catholic-based church under the Roman Catholic Church.
• Catholics (旧教 ( カトリック) , Katorikku^?) (to distinguish from the Roman Catholic Church, or Roman Rite)
• Protestants (新教 (プロテスタント) , Purotesutanto^?)
  • Lutherans
• Nestorians (ネストリウス派, Nesutoriusu-ha^?)
• Athanasians (アタナシウス派, Atanashiusu-ha^?)
• Gnostics (グノーシス派, Gunōshisu-ha^?)

Uses of Christianity in the story

Figures & Individual Beings

Name	Description	Usage in the world of Toaru Majutsu no Index
Abaddon	An angel or demon of "the bottomless pit", who, in the Book of Revelations, is said to command an army of locusts that will torment people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads for five months at the end of days.	Marian Slingeneyer uses Dáinsleif to summon Abaddon by cutting away the Heaven Phase.
Adam and Eve	The first man and woman, created by God.	Itsuwa makes use of the legend of Adam and Eve as the base for a life-force concentration spell.
Beast of the Apocalypse	Also called the Beast from the Sea, the First Beast, or the Beast, from the Book of Revelations, it is a seven-headed, ten-horned monstrosity who represents the Devil on Earth as the Antichrist and wields all of his authority, bestowing on his followers his mark, the number 666.	Aleister Crowley's magic name is Beast666, a deliberate reference.
Cain	The son of Adam and Eve who was cursed by God as a punishment for murdering his brother Abel.	Christian magicians refer to vampires as the descendants of Cain.
Salome	Name in Christian tradition of the stepdaughter of Herod Antipas, who would be the one to cause John the Baptist's death by asking for his head after dancing for Herod.	The non-blood-related younger sister of Kamisato Kakeru and member of the Kamisato Faction bears the name Salome.
The Twelve Apostles	The twelve disciples of Jesus, the Son of God.	Pope Matthai Reese uses a spell that uses the symbol of the twelve apostles, as well as that of the traitorous apostle Judas Iscariot, in an unsuccessful attempt to restraint Fiamma of the Right and condemn him to the same darkness that Judas felt after his betrayal, reducing him to a hollow existence. One of the twelve apostles was noted as having used a miracle to temporarily revive a dead body so it could walk around once more, during a reference to how Christianity has no shortage of legends about miraculous healing of injuries or disease.
Virgin Mary	The mother of Jesus, the Son of God.	God's Right Seat use the basis that Virgin Mary's original sin disappeared from being deeply touched by the Holy Spirit for their method of diluting their original sin.

Weapons & Artifacts

Name	Description	Usage in the world of Toaru Majutsu no Index
The Shroud of Turin	A linen cloth bearing the image of the face of a man who appears to be wounded, believed by some to be Jesus, the Son of God.	Index's Walking Church is specifically designed to replicate the shroud, granting it Pope-class defensive capabilities.
Lance of Longinus	The spear used to pierce the side of the Son of God during the crucifixion	The concept of the spear is used in the fictitious anti-Saint magical artifact Stab Sword. The Thirteen Knights of the Roman Catholic Church are said to have been trying to mass-produce replicas of the spear. Durandal is said to have been made from a shard of the spear.

Other

Name	Description	Usage in the world of Toaru Majutsu no Index
Book of Exodus	The second book of the Bible. It narrates the story of the Exodus, in which the Israelites leave slavery in Biblical Egypt through the strength of Yahweh, who has chosen them as his people.	In historical usage of the book, pre-Golden magicians extracted text from it and created temporary angels by adding '-el'/'-yah' to the end of that text - a simple way of extracting specific meaning from the full text. In Neoka Norito's adaptation of a sanctifying vocalization, he adds '-el' onto the end of a German word relating to the effect he wishes to produce to make the angel's name.
Book of Revelation	The last book of the New Testament, prophecizing events at the end of the world, culminating in God's Final Judgment of humanity.	A passage from the book was spoken when the Thirteen Knights of the Roman Catholic Church used the Gregorian Chant to bombard the Misawa Cram School. Telenor used an earthquake spell based on the earthquake of John's Book of Revelation. A sulfur fire bomb using a misinterpretation of Revelation was set up in the Russian shopping center. Some of the spiritual items rigged up to defend the Dover coastline during the Crowley's Hazard invasion were based on instruments featured in the events of the Book of Revelation.
Calming of Storms	There are a number of Christian stories involving storms at sea being calmed to protect ships. There are stories of this type involving the Son of God and Saint Nicholas.	Vento of the Front makes uses of these stories to partially interfere with water and water-based spells, using the nature of sea storms as a mix of water and wind, the element she rules over. Tsushima makes use of traditions relating to water and ships, these stories among them, to momentarily heighten waves crashing into her ship to slow it, using them as makeshift brakes.
Cross	The symbol of the cross on which the Son of God was crucified, and a chief symbol of Christianity.	The symbol of the Cross is used in many different types of Magic associated with Christianity.
Fish	An aquatic creature which has symbolic meaning in Christianity, notably in the form of the ichthys.	Fish of the Supper is a spell used by the Roman Catholic Church.
House of Loreto	A moving house said to have once been home to the Virgin Mary	A spell based on the House of Loreto was used in the Eurotunnel bombing.
Manger	A manger is said to have been used as a bed for the newborn Son of God, born in a stable in the town of Bethlehem	The manger and swaddling clothes of the Son of God form the basis for the Divine Mother-style Ex Voto shelters used by the Agnese Forces.
Mass	The Christian religious service, accompanied by the Eucharist, in which wine served to the faithful represents the Blood of Christ and bread represents the Flesh of Christ.	Terra of the Left uses Mass-related symbolism in his Execution of Light. Itsuwa makes use of the symbol of cutting bread at Mass, representing the body of the Son of God, in an attempt to safely cut away Freadia Strikers' armor.
Nails	Nails, soaked in blood, said to have been used to nail the Son of God to the cross, with many similar nails mass-produced across the world and presented as the genuine article.	Vento of the Front uses her piercings to symbolize the nails, in order to mimic the Son of God during the crucifixion for her Divine Punishment. Flack Anchors makes use of hints relating to the bloody nails to camouflage the principles of his Magic from enemies.
Original Sin	A concept involving the first sin, committed by Adam and Eve in eating the forbidden fruit of knowledge, said to be passed down to the rest of humanity.	The concept of "original sin" plays a key role in the techniques of God's Right Seat, who use methods to dilute theirs in order to use spells beyond a normal person at the cost of being unable to use normal magic. The GD Tarot, a reinterpretation of the Tarot through Kabbalah by the Golden Dawn, was apparently an attempt to remove a person's "original sin".
The Seven Deadly Sins	A classification of vices, usually said to be comprised of wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy and gluttony.	A spell based on the Seven Deadly Sins is used by Krans R. Tsarskiy.
Star of Bethlehem	A star which signaled the birth of the Son of God and led the Magi to Bethlehem	Fiamma of the Right's flying fortress is named after and based on the star, and likewise meant to signal a new beginning.
Stigmata	Stab wounds of unknown origins, appearing in the same places (hands, feet, side) as the ones the Son of God received on the cross.	The bodily characteristics that grant a Saint their power are inaccurately referred to as Stigmata. Flack Anchors makes use of hints relating to the Stigmata to camouflage the principles of his Magic from enemies.
Trinity	A central doctrine defining God in three persons; the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.	The elemental attacks of Brunhild Eiktobel's Gungnir use different combinations of fire, ice and frost symbols, forming a trinity, likely due to Brunhild's nature as a Saint creeping in.

External Links

• Christianity (Wikipedia article)