Field Trip Report: Christianity, Monotheism, and Religious Comparisons

This report details a field trip to the Avenue Road Church in Toronto, focusing on observations of the Christian religion and culture. The report highlights the church's Norman-Gothic structure and its denomination to the United Church of Canada. It discusses the significance of the Holy Trinity, the importance of confession and forgiveness, and the emphasis on faith and understanding within Christianity. The report also explores theological and cultural features, including the openness of Christians to other cultures. Furthermore, it compares and contrasts monotheistic and polytheistic religious expressions, with examples from Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam. The similarities between Christianity and Islam are also examined, particularly their shared roots and monotheistic beliefs. The report concludes with a reflection on the interesting aspects of Christian culture and theology.

Running head: WORLD RELIGIONS
World Religions
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Abstract
The purpose of the following report is to discuss about the field trip to a Christian church. The
church that has been selected here is the Avenue Road Church at Toronto in Canada. The various
significant aspects about the Christian church and the Christian culture has been discussed in this
paper. The learning experiences after visiting the church have been highlighted to show the
crucial features of the church. The personal reflection on the comparison and contrast between
the monotheism and polytheism has been given an overview as well. Apart from that the
comparisons and contrasts have been made between Christianity and Islam as well.

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Part 1................................................................................................................................................3
Observations about the Christian religion.......................................................................................3
Part 2................................................................................................................................................6
Self reflection...............................................................................................................................6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................7
References........................................................................................................................................8

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Introduction
The following paper will be based on the field trip to a church in Toronto that will record
the different feelings relating to the important factors of Christianity. The services of the church
will be discussed as the chosen religion for this paper is Christianity. The several things learnt
from the field trip will be discussed since the Christian religion is something different from that
to which I belong. I will also discuss the relevant things from this religion in a number of ways.
The theological and cultural features of this religion will be featured as well. In the second part
i.e. the reflection part will be discussed the theoretical forms of expression between the
monotheistic and polytheistic ones. The similarities of Christianity with other religions will be
highlighted in the paper as well.
Part 1
Observations about the Christian religion
I have always been very much enthusiastic about the religious cultures of Christianity.
The Church I went this time is the Avenue Road Church in Toronto. The Church is located at
Roxborough in Canada. The structure of the Church is the Norman-Gothic type. The Church is
presently denominated to the United Church of Canada. I was very much excited about my trip
to the church. I felt that this trip would help me to get much insight about the important things in
the Christian religion. I have always been impressed by this Christian religion. I believe that the
followers of Christianity are always dedicated to the customs of their religion.
There are certain aspects about the Christianity. The Holy Trinity consisting of the God,
His Son- Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. This communion is considered to be the base of the

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religion. According to this religion, the human beings are designed in the diving image of God
Himself. God is the father of the universe and the Jesus Christ is considered as His Son. All the
things in this universe are directed by the omnipotent God.
I have learnt several things from the practices of this religion. I have learnt that the all the
human beings have committed the sins in his or her life. I saw the confession box in the Church
i.e. dedicated to the people who come to confess their sins. I came to know from the priest of
Church that Jesus Christ always pardons the sinners if they confess their sins. After I talked with
the other Christians there, I got to learn that Jesus advised the human beings to know their
mission of life and work accordingly. I also came to know that forgiving the sins is a very
important aspect for the Christians. The faith on the God is very crucial to live a peaceful life for
the Christian people.
There are some practical things that could not be learned from the textbook. An example
could be given in this context. I came to learn that Jesus had always advised to go an extra mile
in all things in the life. That may be regarding the career, the personal relationships, the
magnitude of loving people and everything. I did not know of this fact in the textbook. The
people present there also told me to be patient and be careful in keeping the promises. It has been
very much relevant for my learning experience.
The theological and cultural features in the Christian religion are very significant. The
Christian people are always very much open minded and they embrace the other cultures,
theological views, the other languages, art, music and other aspects. The cross cultural impacts
on the Christianity are very much predominant in some cases as well. The Bible has been
translated in numerous languages over the times. The worship ceremony that I attended in the

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past is that of my community i.e. Islam. I found unlike us they worship a figure like Jesus Christ.
However, some of their rituals are exactly as same as ours. They have complete faith in their
religion and God but they are not rigid like some of other religions.
I got the chance to talk with two of the Christian people there on that day. The faith
system is very important for the understanding about the concepts of the Christianity. I ask those
people about some of things that I thought about seriously.
Person 1: Are you people comfortable with other cultures?
Answer: Yes sure. As long as they do not have any problem with us, we do not have any
problem either. If the other religions can embrace our culture we will also do the same with
them. We have always extended our hands for over a thousand years.
Person 2; Do you people believe in the faith seeking understanding?
Answer: Yes sir. We always have the utmost belief in the faith seeking understanding. We
believe that Jesus Christ is the ultimate creator of the world and He has sacrificed His life for the
salvation of our sins.
As per the belief system is concerned I must tell that we have the utmost faith in God and
the fact that God controls the human beings. Generally I did not have such biases before coming
to this service properly. This learning experience has changed our perception of the faith. I have
learned that God should be considered as the ultimate and omnipotent force in this world.

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Part 2
Self reflection
1) There are some basic differences in the polytheistic and monotheistic religions
expressions. The polytheistic religious expression means the religions who have faith in a
collection of gods and goddesses. Hinduism is such an example. All these gods are presented in a
number of shapes and sizes. The gods can come in several shapes like the animalistic shapes,
human figures or even natural forces. Most of the religions are considered to be polytheistic
(Anderson, 2014).
However, the aspects of monotheism consist of one god only. The Christianity and Islam
are the two most significant examples of this tradition. The believers of polytheism believe in the
fact that the world is divided into many domains. It has been seen that the polytheists end up
with the conflict between the Gods as mentioned in the Greek mythology. On the other hand the
believers of monotheism believe in one God who is the controller of all the things in the world.
Both the believers of the monotheism and polytheism have their own religious texts and the
important issues to be understood by their believers. The followers have the faith in the gods as
well.
2) There are several similarities found between Christianity and Islam. Both the religions
had their routes from the same region. Both these religions are monotheist religions. The mention
of some of the figures of the Bible has been found in the Quran as well. It has also been
mentioned that both these religions believe that the children of their believers are the children of
Abraham. It can also be argued that Abraham and Ibrahim are the same persons who appear in
the religious texts of the Christians and Islam respectively (Anderson, 2014).

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Conclusion
According to the above discussion the conclusion can be drawn that the Christian cultures
and theological aspects are very much interesting from a number of aspects. This is why many
people have converted into Christianity over the long span of time. The believers of Christianity
have embraced the other religions and cultures. This impact has been very much inspiring for the
several people in the world. The faith seeking understanding has also been an influential factor in
this regard.

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References
Anderson, J. A. (2014). Renewing Christian theology: Systematics for a global Christianity.
Baylor University Press.
Emery, G. (2012). The Trinity: an introduction to Catholic doctrine on the Triune God. The
Catholic University of America Press.
Gorringe, T. J. (2017). Furthering humanity: a theology of culture. Routledge.
Lazarus-Yafeh, H. (2014). Intertwined worlds: medieval Islam and Bible criticism (Vol. 200).
Princeton University Press.
McGrath, A. E. (2016). Christian theology: An introduction. John Wiley & Sons.
McGrath, A. E. (2016). The Christian theology reader. John Wiley & Sons.
Migliore, D. L. (2014). Faith seeking understanding: An introduction to Christian theology.
Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing.
Miller-McLemore, B. J. (2012). Christian theology in practice: Discovering a discipline. Wm.
B. Eerdmans Publishing.
Placher, W. C., & Nelson, D. R. (2013). A History of Christian Theology: An Introduction.
Westminster John Knox Press.
Wood, S. A. (2012). Christian criticisms, Islamic proofs: Rashid Rida's modernist defence of
Islam. Oneworld Publications.