Christianity

Christianity
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, the holiest Christian site
ClassificationAbrahamic
TheologyMonotheistic
RegionWorldwide[1]
LanguageBiblical Hebrew, Biblical Aramaic, Koine Greek, and Classical Latin
TerritoryChristendom
FounderJesus Christ
Origin1st century AD
Judaea, Roman Empire
Separated fromJudaism[note 1]
SeparationsUnitarian Universalism[7]
Number of followersest. 2.4 billion Increase (referred to as Christians)
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Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, professing that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead and is the Son of God,[8][9][10][note 2] whose coming as the Messiah was prophesied in the Hebrew Bible (called the Old Testament in Christianity) and chronicled in the New Testament. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with over 2.4 billion followers, comprising around 31.2% of the world population.[11] Its adherents, known as Christians, are estimated to make up a majority of the population in 157 countries and territories.

Christianity remains culturally diverse in its Western and Eastern branches, and doctrinally diverse concerning justification and the nature of salvation, ecclesiology, ordination, and Christology. The creeds of various Christian denominations generally hold in common Jesus as the Son of God[note 2]—the Logos incarnated—who ministered, suffered, and died on a cross, but rose from the dead for the salvation of humankind; and referred to as the gospel, meaning the "good news". The four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John describe Jesus's life and teachings as preserved in the early Christian tradition, with the Old Testament as the gospels' respected background.

Christianity began in the 1st century, after the death of Jesus, as a Judaic sect with Hellenistic influence in the Roman province of Judaea. The disciples of Jesus spread their faith around the Eastern Mediterranean area, despite significant persecution. The inclusion of Gentiles led Christianity to slowly separate from Judaism (2nd century). Emperor Constantine I decriminalized Christianity in the Roman Empire by the Edict of Milan (313), later convening the Council of Nicaea (325) where Early Christianity was consolidated into what would become the state religion of the Roman Empire (380). The Church of the East and Oriental Orthodoxy both split over differences in Christology (5th century), while the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church separated in the East–West Schism (1054). Protestantism split into numerous denominations from the Catholic Church in the Reformation era (16th century). Following the Age of Discovery (15th–17th century), Christianity expanded throughout the world via missionary work, evangelism, immigration and extensive trade. Christianity played a prominent role in the development of Western civilization, particularly in Europe from late antiquity and the Middle Ages.[12][13][14]

The six major branches of Christianity are Roman Catholicism (1.3 billion people), Protestantism (625 million),[note 3][16][17][18] Eastern Orthodoxy (230 million), Oriental Orthodoxy (60 million), Restorationism (35 million),[note 4] and the Church of the East (600,000).[21] Smaller church communities number in the thousands despite efforts toward unity (ecumenism). In the West, Christianity remains the dominant religion even with a decline in adherence, with about 70% of that population identifying as Christian. Christianity is growing in Africa and Asia, the world's most populous continents. Christians remain greatly persecuted in many regions of the world, particularly in the Middle East, North Africa, East Asia, and South Asia.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Global Christianity was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Ehrman, Bart D. (2005) [2003]. "At Polar Ends of the Spectrum: Early Christian Ebionites and Marcionites". Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew. Vol. 74. Oxford University Press. pp. 95–112. doi:10.1017/s0009640700110273. ISBN 978-0-19-518249-1. S2CID 152458823. Retrieved 20 January 2021. {{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help)
  3. ^ Hurtado, Larry W. (2005). "How on Earth Did Jesus Become a God? Approaches to Jesus-Devotion in Earliest Christianity". How on Earth Did Jesus Become a God? Historical Questions about Earliest Devotion to Jesus. Grand Rapids and Cambridge: Wm. B. Eerdmans. pp. 13–55. ISBN 978-0-8028-2861-3. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  4. ^ Freeman, Charles (2010). "Breaking Away: The First Christianities". A New History of Early Christianity. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. pp. 31–46. doi:10.12987/9780300166583. ISBN 978-0-300-12581-8. JSTOR j.ctt1nq44w. S2CID 170124789. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
  5. ^ Wilken, Robert Louis (2013). "Beginning in Jerusalem". The First Thousand Years: A Global History of Christianity. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. pp. 6–16. ISBN 978-0-300-11884-1. JSTOR j.ctt32bd7m. S2CID 160590164. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
  6. ^ Lietaert Peerbolte, Bert Jan (2013). "How Antichrist Defeated Death: The Development of Christian Apocalyptic Eschatology in the Early Church". In Krans, Jan; Lietaert Peerbolte, L. J.; Smit, Peter-Ben; Zwiep, Arie W. (eds.). Paul, John, and Apocalyptic Eschatology: Studies in Honour of Martinus C. de Boer. Novum Testamentum: Supplements. Vol. 149. Leiden: Brill. pp. 238–255. doi:10.1163/9789004250369_016. ISBN 978-90-04-25026-0. ISSN 0167-9732. S2CID 191738355. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  7. ^ Willsky-Ciollo, Lydia (2015). "Epilogue: Seeking Authority in Contemporary Unitarian Universalism". American Unitarianism and the Protestant Dilemma: The Conundrum of Biblical Authority. Lanham, MD: Lexington. pp. 241–245. ISBN 978-0-7391-8892-7.[permanent dead link‍]
  8. ^ Jan Pelikan, Jaroslav (13 August 2022). "Christianity". Christianity | Definition, Origin, History, Beliefs, Symbols, Types, & Facts | Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica. ...there is a core of ideas that all New Testament scholars and believers would agree are central to ancient Christian beliefs. One British scholar, James G. Dunn, for example, says they would all agree that "the Risen Jesus is the Ascended Lord." That is to say, there would have been no faith tradition and no scriptures had not the early believers thought that Jesus was "Risen," raised from the dead, and, "Ascended," somehow above the ordinary plane of mortal and temporal experience.
  9. ^ Young, Frances M. (2006). "Prelude: Jesus Christ, foundation of Christianity". In Mitchell, M.; Young, F. (eds.). The Cambridge History of Christianity. Vol. 1. Cambridge University Press. pp. 1–34. doi:10.1017/CHOL9780521812399.002. ISBN 978-1-139-05483-6. The death of Jesus Christ by crucifixion, together with bhis resurrection from the dead, lies at the heart of Christianity.
  10. ^ "Christianity - The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable". Oxford Reference. Oxford University Press. 2005. Retrieved 6 August 2024. The religion based on the person and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, or its beliefs and practices.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference Pew Research Center-1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Perry, Marvin (2012). Western Civilization: A Brief History, Volume I: To 1789. Cengage. p. 33. ISBN 978-1-111-83720-4.
  13. ^ Bokenkotter 2004, Preface.
  14. ^ Hayes, Carlton J. H. (1954). Christianity and Western Civilization. Stanford University Press. p. 2. ISBN 978-0-7581-3510-0.
  15. ^ Melton, J. Gordon (2005). Encyclopedia of Protestantism. Infobase. p. 398. ISBN 978-0-8160-6983-5.
  16. ^ "Status of Global Christianity, 2024, in the Context of 1900–2050" (PDF). Center for the Study of Global Christianity, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Retrieved 23 May 2024. Protestants: 625,606,000; Independents: 421,689,000; Unaffiliated Christians: 123,508,000
  17. ^ Kim, Hyun-Sook; Osmer, Richard R.; Schweitzer, Friedrich (2018). The Future of Protestant Religious Education in an Age of Globalization. Waxmann Verlag. p. 8. ISBN 978-3-8309-8876-2.
  18. ^ Walsham, Alexandra; Cummings, Brian; Law, Ceri; Riley, Karis (4 June 2020). Remembering the Reformation. Routledge. p. 18. ISBN 978-0-429-61992-2.
  19. ^ Lewis, Paul W.; Mittelstadt, Martin William (27 April 2016). What's So Liberal about the Liberal Arts?: Integrated Approaches to Christian Formation. Wipf & Stock. ISBN 978-1-4982-3145-9. The Second Great Awakening (1790-1840) spurred a renewed interest in primitive Christianity. What is known as the Restoration Movement of the nineteenth century gave birth to an array of groups: Mormons (The Latter Day Saint Movement), the Churches of Christ, Adventists, and Jehovah's Witnesses. Though these groups demonstrate a breathtaking diversity on the continuum of Christianity they share an intense restorationist impulse.
  20. ^ Spinks, Bryan D. (2 March 2017). Reformation and Modern Rituals and Theologies of Baptism: From Luther to Contemporary Practices. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-351-90583-1. However, Swedenborg claimed to receive visions and revelations of heavenly things and a 'New Church', and the new church which was founded upon his writings was a Restorationist Church. The three nineteenth-century churches are all examples of Restorationist Churches, which believed they were refounding the Apostolic Church, and preparing for the Second Coming of Christ.
  21. ^ Gao, Ronnie Chuang-Rang; Sawatsky, Kevin (7 February 2023). "Motivations in Faith-Based Organizations". Houston Christian University. Retrieved 29 August 2024. For example, Christianity comprises six major groups: Church of the East, Oriental Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, Protestantism and Restorationism. Gao and Sawatsky refer to Ellwood, Robert S., The Encyclopedia of World Religions, New York: Infobase Publishing (2008) as their source for this taxonomy.


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