Christianity ( What Religion Is It?)

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teaching of Jesus of Nazareth. Christianity teaches that Jesus is the Son of God and the Messiah (the savior of humanity foretold in the Torah, the primary scriptural doctrine of the Jewish faith). Christian scripture incorporates both the Torah (referred to by Christians as the Old Testament) with the story of Jesus, his teachings, and those of his contemporaneous disciples (the New Testament). These form the Bible, the central text of the Christian faith. Christianity began in Jerusalem as an outgrowth of Judaism that considered Jesus the Christ (meaning “anointed one”). This idea and its adherents spread rapidly through ancient Judea around the first century CE, then throughout the ancient world.

Christians believe Jesus successfully met and completed all the requirements of the Old Testament laws, took upon himself the sins of the world during his crucifixion, died, and rose to life again so that those who place their faith in him are forgiven their sins, reconciled to God, and granted grace for daily living. Christians maintain that heaven with God awaits them after bodily death, whereas eternal separation from God in hell awaits those who neither received forgiveness for their sins nor acknowledged Jesus as Lord.

Christianity is the largest religion in the world, with roughly 2.4 billion adherents, or 33% of the total population.

Christianity has seen countless reformation movements, which spawned innumerable sects and offshoot denominations. Far too many forms of practice exist to be named in one place, but the faith’s three largest branches are Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Protestantism. Combined, Christianity is the largest religion in the world, with roughly 2.4 billion adherents, or 33% of the total population. Its impact on the shape of world history and on present-day world culture is incalculable.