Christianity
Christianity originated in the first century AD, apparently from the teachings of Jesus Christ. According to Acts 11:19 and 11:26 in the Christian New Testament, Christ's followers were first called Christians by non-Christians in the city of Antioch, where they had fled and settled after early persecutions in Palestine. After Jesus' death, early Christian doctrine was established by Paul of Tarsus.
Relative peace and good roads throughout the Roman Empire allowed Christianity to spread quickly over the next three centuries, but more important was the conversion of Emperor Constantine in 312. Combined with his Edict of Milan in 313, Constantine's conversion effectively made Christianity the favored religion of the Empire, and he organized the first of several ecumenical councils for resolving doctrinal issues. Between about 410 and 1050, missionaries from Constantinople, Ireland (from about 450), and elsewhere evangelized Christianity throughout Europe, translating the Bible into local languages and sometimes incorporating elements of local pagan religions into Christian doctrine (see for example Easter: Symbolism of Easter, Halloween: Christianizing the Celtic Samhain).
In the second millennium, Christianity spread worldwide but experienced accelerating divisions. The Great Schism of 1054 split Roman Catholicism and the Eastern Orthodoxy. In the European Reformation of the 1520s, Protestantism and numerous similar churches developed as rivals to Catholicism, sparking a vigorous struggle for European converts. Protestantism arrived in North America (and later Australasia) with European settlement, but split into many denominations (see Restorationism). Christianity was taken to South America and Africa by European colonists, especially in the 16th to 19th centuries. In the 19th and 20th centuries, many Christian-dominated nations (especially in Europe) became more secular (and most communist states were officially, if not practically, atheist). Adherents to Fundamentalist Christianity, particularly in the United States, also perceived threats from new scientific findings about the age of the Earth and evolution of life.
For more, see:
According to a 1993 estimate, Christianity was the world's most widely accepted religion, with 2.1 billion adherents (followed by Islam with 1.1 billion and Hinduism with 1.05 billion). Of these, 1 billion were Catholics, 500 million Protestants, 240 million Orthodox, and 275 million were of other denominations.
Christianity has many branches, including Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and the various religious denominations of Protestantism. Other forms of Christianity have arisen that claim a separate history, such as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Not all people identified as Christians accept all, or even most, of the theological positions that their particular church mandates. Like the Jewish people, Christians in the West were greatly affected by The Enlightenment in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Perhaps the most significant change for them was total or effective separation of Church and State, thus ending the state-sponsored Christianity that existed in so many European countries. Now one could be a free member of society and disagree with one's church on various issues, and one could even be free to leave the church altogether. Millions did take these paths, further developing belief systems such as Humanism, Atheism, Agnosticism, and Deism; others created liberal wings of Protestant Christian theology, and the Unitarian trend in Christianity became an acceptable choice for some. The Enlightenment had a much less profound impact on the Eastern Churches of Eastern and Oriental Orthodoxy.
In the United States and Europe, many secularized Christians have long since stopped participating in traditional religious duties, attending churches only on a few particular days per year or not at all. Many of them recall having highly religious grandparents, but grew up in homes where Christian theology was no longer a priority. They have developed ambivalent feelings towards their religious duties. On the one hand they cling to their traditions for identity reasons; on the other hand, the influence of the secular Western mentality, the demands of daily life, and peer pressure tear them away from traditional Christianity. Marriage between Christians of different denominations, or between a Christian and a non-Christian, was once taboo, but has become commonplace.
In Eastern Europe and Russia, a different trend is taking place. After decades of Communism and atheism, there is widespread renewed interest in Christianity, as well as religion in general. Many Orthodox churches and monasteries are being rebuilt and restored, filled beyond capacity; protestants of many denominations are pouring in to evangelize and plant churches; and the Catholic church is revealing once secret dioceses and undertaking other steps to support Catholic churches more openly.
The changes to society brought about by The Enlightenment have triggered many responses within the Christian community. These include the development of literally thousands of Christian Protestant denominations, traditionalist splinter groups of the Catholic Church that do not recognize the legitimacy of many reforms the Catholic Church has undertaken, and the growth of hundreds of fundamentalist groups that interpret the entire Bible in a characteristically literal fashion.
The advent of Modernism in the late 19th century encouraged new forms of thought and expression that did not follow traditional lines; this brought with it a large-scale rejection of Christian belief altogether, often in favour of philosophies such as Communism, Humanism or Atheism.
As Modernism developed into Consumerism during the second half of the 20th century the Megachurch phenomenon developed – catering for skeptical non-Christians by providing "seeker sensitive" presentations of Christian belief. The Alpha Course can be viewed as an example one such presentation of Christianity.
Since the development of Postmodernism with its rejection of universally accepted belief structures in favour of more personalised and experiential truth, organized Christianity has found itself increasingly incompatible with peoples' desire to express faith and spirituality in a way that is authentic to them. What has thus far been known as the Emerging Church is a by-product of this trend, as many people who broadly accept Christianity seek to practice that faith while avoiding established Church institutions.
For more, see:
Christians adopted many ideas and practices from Judaism, including monotheism, the belief in a messiah (or Christ, which means "anointed one"), certain forms of worship (such as prayer, and reading from religious texts), a priesthood, and the idea that worship on Earth is modelled on worship in heaven.
The central belief of Christianity is that by faith in the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, individuals are saved from death both spiritual and physical by Redemption from their sins (i.e. faults, misdeeds, disobedience, rebellion against God). By faith, repentance, and obedience men and women are reconciled to God through sanctification or theosis and returned to their place with God in Heaven.
Crucial beliefs in Christian teaching are Jesus' incarnation, atonement, crucifixion, death and resurrection to redeem humankind from sin and death; the belief that the New Testament is a new part of the Bible; and supersessionism. Supersessionism is the belief that the Jews' chosenness found its ultimate fulfillment through the message of Jesus; Jews who remain non-Christian are no longer considered to be chosen, since they reject Jesus as the messiah and son of God.
The emphasis on God giving his son for the sake of humanity is an essential difference between Christianity and other religions, where the emphasis is instead placed solely on humans working for salvation.
The most uniform and broadly accepted tradition of doctrine, with the longest continuous representation, repeatedly reaffirmed by official Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant definitions (although not without dissent, as noted below) asserts that specific beliefs are essential to Christianity, including but not limited to:
The following is a list of beliefs within Christianity that have been called heresies.
Adoptionism -- Albigensians -- Apollinarism -- Arianism -- Cathars -- Docetism -- Donatism -- Lollardy -- Mandaeans -- Manicheanism -- Monarchianism -- Montanism -- Nestorianism -- Patripassianism -- Pelagianism -- Priscillianism -- Psilanthropism -- Sabellianism -- Unitarianism -- Universalism
In Classical times, Gnosticism exchanged ideas and symbolism with Christianity.
Some modern self-proclaimed Christian movements hold beliefs that more closely resemble these ancient heresies.
For more information on the relationship between Christianity and other world religions over the years, see the Wikipedia article on Christianity and World Religions\.
See:
Messianic Judaism refers to a group of evangelical Christian religious movements, self-identified as Jewish, who believe that Jesus is the Messiah. Contrary to Judaism, they are trinitarians, professing that Jesus is God, incarnate. Even though many Messianic Jews are ethnically Jewish, they are not considered part of the Jewish community by mainstream Jewish groups.
Groups denominated Christian have been both the victims of persecution and the perpetrators of persecution (see Persecution of Christians).
Christians have at times persecuted, tortured and killed others for refusing to believe in Christianity or for believing in a different type of Christianity. Protestants, Catholics and other Christians have persecuted each other in the name of Jesus, sometimes for having different beliefs. In the second half of the 20th Century Roman Catholics and Protestants have been killing each other in Northern Ireland. To commit violence in such a way is believed to be antithetical to Christ's teaching. An example was Father Lawrence Jenco, whose health was nearly broken by almost two years held as a hostage in Lebanon. When asked about his feelings toward his Hezbollah captors, he replied that he had to forgive them. Modern Christianity appears, for the most part, to have adopted a position of freedom or tolerance rather than persecution.
For a list of the various kinds of culturally different Christian churches around the world today see the List of Christian denominations. For information about the various "super-bodies" of churches which many individual congregations or in some cases bishoprics of these churches associate under see full communion.
History
Christianity today
Doctrine
Christianity is considered by Christians to be the continuation or fulfilment of the Jewish faith. However, many Christian organizations throughout history have had varying ideas about the basic tenets of the Christian faith, from ancient sects such as Arians and Gnostics, to modern groups such as Jehovah's Witnesses (who have a different theological understanding of Jesus, God and the Bible), The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who believe that in 1829 God restored the apostolic priesthood to their leader Joseph Smith, Jr, making possible continuing revelation (including additional teachings and scripture), and the Unification Church. While various groups may differ in their approach to the specifics of Christ's role, ministry, and nature (some calling him a god or Gods, and others calling him a man), Christ is generally assumed to have cosmic importance. Some of these groups number themselves among the Christian churches, or believe themselves to be the only true Christian church. Furthermore, present-day liberal Protestant Christians do not define Christianity as necessarily including belief in the deity of Jesus, the virgin birth, the Trinity, miracles, the resurrection, the ascension of Christ, or the personality or deity of the Holy Spirit. Liberals may or may not recommend belief in such things, but differentiate themselves from Fundamentalist Christians by defining as included within genuine Christianity anyone who explains their views or teachings principally by appeal to Jesus. It is common for those who hold the more traditional tenets of faith described in the paragraph above to assert that some or all of these groups are not part of Christianity.Christian heresies
Christianity's relationship with other faiths
Christianity and Judaism
Christianity and persecution
Christian churches worldwide
See also