Christianity - history and beginings

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Christianity

Christianity is the religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.  Most followers of Christianity, called Christians, are members of one of three major groups--Roman Catholic, Protestant, or Eastern Orthodox.  These groups have different beliefs about Jesus and His teachings.  But all Christians consider Jesus central to their religion.  Most Christians believe that God sent Jesus into the world as the Saviour.  Christianity teaches that humanity can achieve salvation through Jesus.

Jesus lived in Judea (later called Palestine), a Middle Eastern land ruled by the Romans.  The Romans crucified Jesus in about A.D. 30.  Jesus' followers were convinced that He rose from the dead after three days, and they soon spread Christianity to major cities throughout the Roman Empire.  Today, Christians make up the largest religious group in the world.  Christianity has about 11/2 billion followers--about a quarter of the world's population.  Christianity is the major religion in Europe, the Western Hemisphere, and Australia.  Many Christians also live in Africa and Asia.  

Christianity has had an enormous influence on Western civilization, especially on art, literature, and philosophy.  Its teachings have had a lasting effect on the conduct of business, government, and social relations.

Christians believe that there is one God, and that He created the universe and continues to care for it.  The belief in one God was first taught by the Jewish religion.  

Christianity teaches that God sent His Son Jesus into the world as His chosen servant, called the Messiah (Christos in Greek), to help people fulfil their religious duties.  Christianity also teaches that after Jesus' earthly life, God's presence remained on earth in the form of the Holy Spirit, or Holy Ghost.  The belief that in one God there are three Persons --the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit--is known as the doctrine of the Trinity.  Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches and many Protestant churches accept this doctrine as the central teaching of Christianity.  

Some Christians regard Jesus as a great but human teacher.  However, most Christians view Jesus as God incarnate--that is, a divine being who took on the human appearance and characteristics of a man.  They believe that Jesus is the Saviour who died to save humanity from sin.  According to this view, Jesus' death made salvation and eternal life possible for others.  

Christians gather in churches because they believe that God intended them to form special groups for worship.  They also meet in churches to encourage one another to lead upright lives according to God's moral law.  

Two practices important to Christian worship usually take place in churches.  They are (1) baptism and (2) the Eucharist, also called Holy Communion or the Lord's Supper.  Baptism celebrates an individual's entrance into Christianity.  The Eucharist represents the Last Supper, the final meal that Jesus shared with His disciples.  Worshippers share bread and wine in the Eucharist as a sign of their unity with each other and with Jesus.  

Christians see Jesus as continuous with the God of Judaism.  A collection of Christian writings was added to the Jewish scriptures known as the Old Testament, or Hebrew Bible.  The Christian writings, called the New Testament, record the life and teachings of Jesus.  They also describe the development of the early church and explain what faith in Jesus means.  The Christian Bible includes both the Old and New Testaments.  Some Christian groups also accept as part of the Bible a collection of writings called the Apocrypha.

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The followers of Jesus did not accept His death as His end.  They were certain that Jesus came back from the dead and that He later rose to heaven.  Many stories circulated about Jesus' appearance among His disciples after His death.  

Reports of the Resurrection convinced many people that Jesus was the Son of God.  Some followers began to call Jesus the Messiah, the Saviour of the Jewish people promised in the Old Testament.  Followers of Jesus came to believe that they, too, could receive eternal life because of Jesus' Resurrection.  

Jesus had chosen 12 ...

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