CHRISTIANITY  Christianity (from the Ancient Greek word Khristos, "Christ", literally "anointed one") is a monotheistic religion based

on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings.    Adherents of the Christian faith are known as Christians. Christianity is a religion that believes there is only one God Christianity is based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus was killed by being nailed to a cross (called crucifixion), under Pontius Pilate, the local Roman governor at the time  The New Testament, a section of a book known as the Bible, tells about Jesus. Many Christians see the Bible, both the Old Testament and New Testament as sacred  People who believe in Christianity are called Christians. They believe in one God, and they also believe that Jesus was born the Son of God and the Messiah. Christians believe that Jesus' birth was foretold in the Old Testament. Christians think of Jesus Christ as a teacher, an example of how to live, and a revealer of what the Christian God teaches. Christians also believe that Jesus is the savior of all people. According to Christian belief, Jesus suffered, died, and was raised from the dead to save people from sin.  They believe that Jesus went up into heaven. Most Christian groups (denominations) believe that Jesus will come back to Earth and judge everybody, both alive and dead, giving everlasting to certain Christians. Christians call the message of Jesus Christ the Gospel or "The Good News". The first four books of New Testament are called the gospels because of this   Just like Judaism and Islam, Christianity is an Abrahamic religion. Christianity started out as a Jewish sect. in the eastern Mediterranean. It quickly grew in number of believers and influence over a few decades, and by the 4th century had become the dominant religion in the Roman Empire. During the middle Ages, the rest of Europe mostly was Christianized. At that time, Christians were mostly a religious minority in the Middle East, North Africa, and parts of India.

Following the Age of Discovery, through missionary work and colonization, Christianity spread to the Americas and the rest of the world. Christianity has been an important part of the shaping of Western civilization, at least since the 4th century. As of the early 21st century, Christianity has between 1.5 billion and 2.1 billion followers, which is about a quarter of all people of Earth.

WORSHIP  Worship is thought by most Christians to be a very important part of Christianity all through its history. Many Christian theologians have called humanity homo adorans, which means "worshipping man," and so the worship of God is at the very center of what it means to be human. This would mean that because God created all humanity, then Christians should worship and give praise to God. SACRAMENTS

In Catholic belief and practice, a sacrament is a religious symbol or often a rite which shows divine grace, blessing, or sanctity for the Christian who does it. Examples of sacraments would be Baptism and the Mass. The word is taken from the Latin word sacramentum, which was used to translate the Greek word for mystery. The two most regularly used sacraments are Baptism and Eucharist (communion). Most Catholics use seven Sacraments: Baptism, the ritual immersion of a candidate to welcome them into the church; Confirmation the sealing of the Covenant; the Eucharist, a ritual where consecrated bread (discs of unleavened, toasted bread) and wine representing Jesus' body and blood are consumed; Holy Orders, Reconciliation of a Penitent (confession), Anointing of the Sick, and Marriage. Some Christian denominations prefer to call them ordinances. These are the Orders from Christ to all believers found in the New Testament

 

LITURGICAL CALENDAR Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Eastern Christians, and traditional Protestant groups center their worship around a liturgical calendar. Some events that are part of this calendar are the "holy days", such as solemnities which honor an event in the life of Jesus or the saints, times of fasting such as Lent, and other events, such as memoria. Christian groups that do not follow a liturgical tradition often keep some celebrations, such as Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost. A few churches do not use a liturgical calendar. SYMBOLS


Alpha and Omega - The Greek letters Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. Alpha and Omega is a reference to God, who calls himself "Alpha and Omega" (the first and the last letter of the Greek alphabet) in the Book of Revelation. Chi - The Greek letter Chi is the first letter of 'Christ' in Greek: Christos. Chi Rho - The Greek letters Chi and Rho are the first two letters of 'Christ' in Greek: Christos. Usually the long stem of Rho ( ) runs up and down through the cross of the Chi ( ). Christian cross - The cross is the most common symbol of Christianity. Christians believe that their savior Jesus Christ was crucified by the Romans. The cross is important because Jesus died as a sacrifice for the sins of believers. It represents God's love for humanity. Crucifix - The crucifix is a cross with the body of Jesus still hanging on it. It is a more popular symbol with Catholics and Eastern Orthodox. It has the same meaning as the cross. Christians may have strong differences in preference for crucifixes and empty crosses. Some Christians like to show Jesus still on the cross, and some like to see an empty cross to remember that Jesus has come back from the dead and is now in heaven with God. Dove - The dove is a bird and a symbol of the Holy Spirit. When Jesus was baptized, the Holy Spirit came to him as a dove and rested on him. Ichthys - In Greek, the word ichthys /iktheews/ means 'fish', and forms an acronym meaning "Jesus Christ, God's Son, Savior" in Greek. INRI - INRI is an acronym in Latin "Iesus Nazoream Rex Iudaeorum" meaning "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews." This is the message that was put on the cross as being the crime for which he was being punished. Christians now use it as a symbol that Jesus is the Messiah, or King of all kings.

 

Interlocking rings - Three interlocking rings are a symbol of the Trinity. Each ring is a complete circle, representing each complete person of the Trinity. But each ring is locked with the other two rings, showing that each divine person can not be separated from the Trinity. Lamb - A lamb may be a symbol of Jesus himself or, less often, God taking a soul of a dead person to heaven. Shepherd - A shepherd is also a symbol of Jesus himself and is used in the earliest Christian art. In the Bible, Jesus calls himself the good shepherd who cares for his sheep.

CREEDS Creeds (from Latin credo meaning "I believe") are direct doctrinal statements or confessions, usually of religious beliefs. They started as formulas used when someone was baptized. During the Christological controversies of the 4th and 5th centuries they became statements of faith. Some of the main Christian creeds are:
 The Apostles' Creed (Symbolum Apostolorum)  The Nicene Creed  The Chalcedonian Creed  The Athanasian Creed

Most Christians (Roman Catholics, Protestants, and so on) accept the use of creeds, and often use at least one of the creeds given above. A smaller number of Protestants, notably [Restorationists, a movement formed in the wake of the Second Great Awakening in the19th century of the 19th century United States, oppose the use of creeds.

JESUS CHRIST

     

 

The most basic part of Christianity is the belief in Jesus as the Son of God and Messiah (Christ). The title "Messiah" comes from the Hebrew word (m i ) meaning anointed one. The Greek translation (Christos) is the source of the English word "Christ". Christians believe that, as the Messiah, Jesus was anointed by God as ruler and savior of all people. Christians also believe that Jesus' coming was the fulfillment of messianic prophecies of the Old Testament. The Christian belief of the Messiah is much different than the contemporary Jewish concept. The main Christian belief is that, through the death and resurrection of Jesus, sinful humans can be reconciled to God. Through this, they believe they are given salvation and the promise of eternal. There have been many theological disagreements over the nature of Jesus over the first centuries of Christian history. But Christians generally believe that Jesus is God incarnate and "true God and true man." Jesus, having become fully human, suffered the pain and temptations of a mortal man, but he did not sin. As fully God, he defeated death and came back to life again. According to the Bible, "God raised him from the dead," he ascended to heaven, is "seated at the right hand of the Father" and will return again to fulfill the rest of Messianic prophecy such as the Resurrection of the Dead, the Last Judgment and the final creation of the Kingdom of God. The Matthew and the Luke say the Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born from the Virgin Mary. Only little of Jesus' childhood is written in the canonical Gospels, but infancy Gospels were popular in antiquity. However, the time of Jesus' adulthood the week before his death are written much about in the Gospels. Some of the Biblical writings of Jesus' ministry are: his baptism, miracles, preaching, teaching, and deeds.

DEATH AND RESURRECTIO OF JESUS  Christians believe the resurrection of Jesus to be the main part of their faith (and the most important event in human history, because it would show that Jesus has power over death and has the authority to give people eternal life. Among Christian beliefs, the death and resurrection of Jesus are two main events of Christian doctrine and theology. From what the New Testament says, Jesus was crucified, died a physical death, was buried in a tomb, and came back from the dead three days later. The New Testament writes that several times Jesus appeared many times before his Twelve Apostles and disciples, and one time before "more than five hundred brethren at once," before Jesus' Ascension to heaven. Jesus' death and resurrection are remembered by Christians in their worship services, and most commonly during Holy Week, which has Good Friday and Easter Sunday in the week. Most Christian churches teach the New Testament description of the resurrection of Jesus. Some liberal Christians do not accept that Jesus came back from the dead, as they believe it to be a good symbolic and spiritual myth. Arguments over the death and resurrection of Jesus are very common at many religious debates and interfaith dialogues. Paul the Apostle, an early Christian convert and missionary, wrote, "If Christ was not raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your trust in God is useless." The Unitarian church is one of the few denominations where the resurrection of Jesus is not taught.

SALVATION Protestantism teaches that eternal salvation is a gift that is given to a person by God's grace. It is sometimes called "unmerited favor." This would mean that Salvation is God bringing humans into a right relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ. It is the belief that one can be saved (rescued) from sin and forever death. Many Protestants believe in the "assurance of salvation"that God can put confidence in a believer that he has truly received salvation from Jesus Christ. Catholicism teaches that although in most cases someone must be baptized a Catholic to be saved, it is sometimes possible for people to be saved who have not fully joined the Catholic Church. Catholics normally believe in the importance of works and sacraments in getting salvation. The Catholic Church teaches that faith is important, but it also believes

that salvation also requires good works and piety, such as obedience to commands, taking the sacraments, going to church, doing penance and giving alms, saying prayers, and other things, to receive eternal life. The formal study of theology of salvation is Soteriology. Different denominations and traditions of Christianity believe in forms divine grace. Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy teach the complete importance of the free will to work together with grace. Reformed theology teaches the importance of grace by teaching that a person is completely incapable of self-redemption, but the grace of God overcomes even the unwilling heart. Arminianism believes in a synergistic view, while Lutheran and most other Protestant denominations teach justification by grace through faith alone.[3

TRINITY Trinity is the teaching that God is three different beings; the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit. In the words of the Athanasian Creed, "the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, and yet there are not three Gods but one God." There are some different ideas about the Trinity, among others:
   

God adopted Jesus during baptism (known as Sabellianism) Jesus was all God, and only appeared to be human (Docents) The three lived together like a family (Tritheism) Only God the Father is the true God, the Son and the Holy Spirit are not. This position was popular with Arians

Trinitarianism is the group of Christians who believe in the Trinity. Today, almost all Christian denominations and Churches believe this. Nontrinitarianism is the beliefs systems that do not believe in the Trinity. Many different nontrinitarian views, such as adoptionism or modalism,existed in early Christianity, leading to the disputes about Christology.

SCRIPTURES  Christianity uses the Bible, many canonical books in two parts, the Old Testament and the New Testament. It is believed by Christians that they were written by people who were inspired by the Holy Spirit, and therefore it is most often believed to be the word of God. There are some differences in Bible versions and editions throughout Christianity. BELIEF WHERE THE DIFFEENT GROUP DISAGREE Christians have different ways to talk about the purpose of Jesus' coming:
  

to learn the best way to live and to follow his example to pay the price of sin in our lives by being the perfect sacrifice, without sin. (John 3:16) to tell people that their mistakes and sins will be forgiven, if they repent (turn around/change) and are baptized Mark 16 v 16 ,"Peter (said) to them, "Repent and be baptized"" Acts 2 Verse 38 , 1 John 3,1 John 3 v 7 and 8) to teach people to forgive each other and repent of their own sin through grace. (Matthew 6:14) to "destroy the devil's work" (1 John 3 v 8) to help people share in his life through the gift of God's Spirit.

 

Other differences:


Churches have different teachings about the Trinity. Some say the Spirit comes only from the Father. Others say the Spirit comes both from the Father and the Son. This is known as filioque. Groups have different ideas on the nature of God. The pope is the leader of all Roman Catholics, but not all Catholics. Other churches have leaders similar to the pope. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, these are called Patriarchs. Some Christians say that women may not become priests. Some Christians say married people may not become priests. Some Christians say that priests can forgive sins by conveying the forgiveness of God, others say that only God can do this. The idea of the Trinity led to some debates. Certain groups rejected this idea. These included Arians and Cathars, which have no followers today. Some more recent movements, inspired by Christianity also reject this idea. Among these are Mormons, Iglesia ni Cristo,

 

  

and Jehovahs. Christians who believe in the Trinity do not all agree about whether those who do not are fully Christians.

TYPE OF CHRISTIANITY  People who call themselves Christians may show or live their faith in different ways. They may also believe different things. Through history the three main groups or "denominations" of Christianity have been the Orthodox, the Catholic and the Protestant churches. Not all Christians use these titles. Some believe Christianity is bigger and includes others. Some believe Christianity is smaller and does not include all these churches HISTORY  Christianity has large history from the time of Jesus and his apostles to the present time. Christianity began in the 1st century AD as a Jewish sect but quickly spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Although it was originally persecuted under the Roman Empire, it became the state religion in the end. In the middle Ages it spread into Northern Europe and Russia. During the Age of Exploration, Christianity expanded throughout the world, and is now the largest religion of the world. The religion had schisms and theological disputes that had as result three main branches: the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox churches, and Protestant churches