CHRISTIAN CHURCH 



1367 



CHRISTIANIA 



(see SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN). In the latter part 

 of his reign a liberal government was estab- 

 lished in the kingdom. He was a man of high 

 character, winning not only the affection of 

 his subjects but the respect of all the other 

 rulers of Europe. On his death his son, Fred- 

 erick VIII, succeeded him, and ruled for six 

 years. 



Christian X (1870- ), son of Frederick 

 VIII, was crowned in May, 1912. He came to 

 the throne with considerable experience in 

 the affairs of government, for during his 

 father's numerous absences he was frequently 

 called upon to act as king. His first speech, 

 promising his people to guard their lib'erty 

 and happiness, was an auspicious beginning of 

 his reign, and he has since proved himself a 

 capable and liberal-spirited ruler. 



CHRISTIAN CHURCH. See DISCIPLES OF 

 CHRIST. 



CHRIS 'TI AN ENDEAVOR, YOUNG PEO- 

 PLE'S SOCIETY OF, an organization of the young 

 people of evangelical Protestant churches for 

 Christian service and the promotion of the 

 spiritual life, founded by Rev. Francis E. Clark 

 at Portland, Me., in 1881. The idea originated 

 with Dr. Clark's experience in his own Church, 

 the Congregational, where he had successfully 

 brought the young people together for a weekly 

 meeting for prayer and consecration, to which 

 literary and social work had been added. The 

 results were so encouraging that soon other 

 churches took it up, and the movement spread 

 rapidly all over the United States and Canada. 

 Crossing the ocean, it was taken up by England 

 and all its colonies, and by China, Japan, 

 India and all countries where Christian mis- 

 sions were established. 



The society has for its motto "For Christ 

 and the Church," and it has done splendid 

 work in employing the activities of the young 

 people of the Churches in Christian service. 

 The organization is interdenominational, each 

 society being closely affiliated with its own 

 Church. The United Societies of Christian 

 Endeavor was organized in 1885, and holds 

 biennial conventions. In 1905 a World's Chris- 

 'tian Endeavor Union was formed, which holds 

 a world's convention every four years. In 

 1916 there were over 77,000 local chapters with 

 more than 4,000,000 members. 



The Methodist Episcopal denomination is 

 the only one that officially has no part in the 

 Christian Endeavor work, as the young people's 

 society of that Church, known as the Epworth 

 League, is a distinct organization (see EP- 



WORTH LEAGUE). The Christian Endeavor So- 

 ciety is recognized by all the other branches 

 of Methodism, and by all the other evangelical 

 denominations in their denominational unions 

 or departments of young people's work. Chris- 

 tian Endeavor societies in the Baptist Church 

 have the same rights and privileges as the 

 branch societies in the Baptist Young People's 

 Union (which see). w.s. 



CHRISTIAN ERA, the period of time be- 

 ginning, with the birth of Christ, extending 

 to the present date and to continue indefinitely. 

 In the sixth century, a monk named Dionysius 

 introduced the custom of reckoning the years 

 from the birth of Christ; this method is now 

 employed almost universally in Christian coun- 

 tries, although the practice did not become 

 general until the fifteenth century. The year 

 was often taken to begin on December 25, and 

 for a while on various dates between December 

 25 and March 25. <r But now January 1 'marks 

 the beginning of the year in almost all coun- 

 tries. It is believed that Dionysius made a 

 mistake of about four years in his reckoning 

 and that Christ was born about four years 

 before the Christian Era. See CHRONOLOGY. 



CHRISTIANIA, kris ti ah' ne ah, or KRISTI- 

 ANIA, the capital of Norway, the most im- 

 portant port of that country and the center 

 of its business interests. It is situated at the 

 head of a long and narrow gulf called the 

 Christiania, about sixty miles from the Skager- 

 rak, an arm of the North Sea. The city was 

 established in 1624 on the site of an older 

 town, called Oslo. The modern city is well 

 built and has rapidly growing suburbs. Many 

 of the buildings of the former city still remain, 

 among them being churches which date from 

 the twelfth century. Christiania forms a sepa- 

 rate governmental district, as does Washington, 

 in the United States, and is officially adminis- 

 tered by a burgomaster and two councilmen. 



The royal palace, residence of the king and 

 queen of Norway, is not an imposing building, 

 but has beautiful gardens. The university, 

 established in 1813, is a strong school with a 

 library of 495,000 volumes and an enrollment 

 of 1,600 students. The manufactures consist 

 chiefly of cloth, ironware, tobacco, paper, 

 leather, soap, spirits and glass. Half of the 

 imports of Norway pass through the port of 

 Christiania, which also distributes over one- 

 fifth of the exports. By means of special ice 

 breakers the deep and commodious harbor is 

 kept open for shipping throughout the winter. 

 Population, in 1912, 247,588. 



