Christianity

Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, professing that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead and is the Son of God,^{[7][8][9][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 2.38 billion followers, comprising around 31.2% of the world population.^[10] Its adherents, known as Christians, are estimated to make up a majority of the population in 157 countries and territories.

Christianity
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, a holy place of Christianity
Classification	Abrahamic
Theology	Monotheistic
Region	Worldwide[1]
Language	Biblical Hebrew, Biblical Aramaic, and Biblical Greek
Territory	Christendom
Founder	Jesus Christ
Origin	1st century AD Judaea, Roman Empire
Separated from	Judaism[note 1]
Number of followers	est. 2.38 billion (referred to as Christians)

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.^[11][12][13]

The six major branches of Christianity are Roman Catholicism (1.3 billion people), Protestantism (625 million-900 million),^{[note 3][15][16][17]} Eastern Orthodoxy (230 million), Oriental Orthodoxy (60 million), Restorationism (35 million),^{[note 4]} and the Church of the East (600,000).^[20] 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 are persecuted in some regions of the world, particularly where they are in minority in the Middle East, North Africa, East Asia, and South Asia.

Etymology

Early Jewish Christians referred to themselves as 'The Way' (Koinē Greek: τῆς ὁδοῦ, romanized: tês hodoû), probably coming from Isaiah 40:3, "prepare the way of the Lord".^{[note 5]} According to Acts 11:26, the term "Christian" (Χρῑστῐᾱνός, Khrīstiānós), meaning "followers of Christ" in reference to Jesus's disciples, was first used in the city of Antioch by the non-Jewish inhabitants there.^[26] The earliest recorded use of the term "Christianity/Christianism" (Χρῑστῐᾱνισμός, Khrīstiānismós) was by Ignatius of Antioch around 100 AD.^[27] The name Jesus comes from Ancient Greek: Ἰησοῦς Iēsous, likely from Hebrew/Aramaic: יֵשׁוּעַ Yēšūaʿ.

History

Main article: History of Christianity

For a chronological guide, see Timeline of Christianity.

Early Christianity

Main article: Early Christianity

Apostolic Age

Main article: Christianity in the 1st century

The Cenacle on Mount Zion in Jerusalem, claimed to be the location of the Last Supper and Pentecost

Christianity developed during the 1st century AD as a Jewish Christian sect with Hellenistic influence^[28] of Second Temple Judaism.^[29][30] An early Jewish Christian community was founded in Jerusalem under the leadership of the Pillars of the Church, namely James the Just, the brother of Jesus, Peter, and John.^[31]

Jewish Christianity soon attracted Gentile God-fearers, posing a problem for its Jewish religious outlook, which insisted on close observance of the Jewish commandments. Paul the Apostle solved this by insisting that salvation by faith in Christ, and participation in his death and resurrection by their baptism, sufficed.^[32] At first he persecuted the early Christians, but after a conversion experience he preached to the gentiles, and is regarded as having had a formative effect on the emerging Christian identity as separate from Judaism. Eventually, his departure from Jewish customs would result in the establishment of Christianity as an independent religion.^[33]

Ante-Nicene period

Main articles: Christianity in the ante-Nicene period and Great Church

A folio from Papyrus 46, an early-3rd-century collection of Pauline epistles

This formative period was followed by the early bishops, whom Christians consider the successors of Christ's apostles. From the year 150, Christian teachers began to produce theological and apologetic works aimed at defending the faith. These authors are known as the Church Fathers, and the study of them is called patristics. Notable early Fathers include Ignatius of Antioch, Polycarp, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria and Origen.

Persecution of Christians occurred intermittently and on a small scale by both Jewish and Roman authorities, with Roman action starting at the time of the Great Fire of Rome in 64 AD. Examples of early executions under Jewish authority reported in the New Testament include the deaths of Saint Stephen^[34] and James, son of Zebedee.^[35] The Decian persecution was the first empire-wide conflict,^[36] when the edict of Decius in 250 AD required everyone in the Roman Empire (except Jews) to perform a sacrifice to the Roman gods. The Diocletianic Persecution beginning in 303 AD was also particularly severe. Roman persecution ended in 313 AD with the Edict of Milan.

While Proto-orthodox Christianity was becoming dominant, heterodox sects also existed at the same time, which held radically different beliefs. Gnostic Christianity developed a duotheistic doctrine based on illusion and enlightenment rather than forgiveness of sin. With only a few scriptures overlapping with the developing orthodox canon, most Gnostic texts and Gnostic gospels were eventually considered heretical and suppressed by mainstream Christians. A gradual splitting off of Gentile Christianity left Jewish Christians continuing to follow the Law of Moses, including practices such as circumcision. By the fifth century, they and the Jewish–Christian gospels would be largely suppressed by the dominant sects in both Judaism and Christianity.

Spread and acceptance in Roman Empire

Main article: Historiography of Christianization of the Roman Empire

See also: Edict of Thessalonica

The Monastery of St. Matthew, located atop Mount Alfaf in northern Iraq, is recognized as one of the oldest Christian monasteries in existence.^[37]

Christianity spread to Aramaic-speaking peoples along the Mediterranean coast and also to the inland parts of the Roman Empire and beyond that into the Parthian Empire and the later Sasanian Empire, including Mesopotamia, which was dominated at different times and to varying extents by these empires.^[38] The presence of Christianity in Africa began in the middle of the 1st century in Egypt and by the end of the 2nd century in the region around Carthage. Mark the Evangelist is claimed to have started the Church of Alexandria in about 43 AD; various later churches claim this as their own legacy, including the Coptic Orthodox Church.^[39][40][41] Important Africans who influenced the early development of Christianity include Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, Origen of Alexandria, Cyprian, Athanasius, and Augustine of Hippo.

The 7th-century Khor Virap monastery in the shadow of Mount Ararat; Armenia was the first state to adopt Christianity as the state religion in the early 4th century AD.^[42][43]

King Tiridates III made Christianity the state religion in Armenia in the early 4th century AD, making Armenia the first officially Christian state.^[42][43] It was not an entirely new religion in Armenia, having penetrated into the country from at least the third century, but it may have been present even earlier.^[44]

Constantine I was exposed to Christianity in his youth, and throughout his life his support for the religion grew, culminating in baptism on his deathbed.^[45] During his reign, state-sanctioned persecution of Christians was ended with the Edict of Toleration in 311 and the Edict of Milan in 313. At that point, Christianity was still a minority belief, comprising perhaps only 5% of the Roman population.^[46] Influenced by his adviser Mardonius, Constantine's nephew Julian unsuccessfully tried to suppress Christianity.^[47] On 27 February 380, Theodosius I, Gratian, and Valentinian II established Nicene Christianity as the State church of the Roman Empire.^[48] As soon as it became connected to the state, Christianity grew wealthy; the Church solicited donations from the rich and could now own land.^[49]

Constantine was also instrumental in the convocation of the First Council of Nicaea in 325, which sought to address Arianism and formulated the Nicene Creed, which is still used by in Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Lutheranism, Anglicanism, and many other Protestant churches.^[50][51] Nicaea was the first of a series of ecumenical councils, which formally defined critical elements of the theology of the Church, notably concerning Christology.^[52] The Church of the East did not accept the third and following ecumenical councils and is still separate today by its successors (Assyrian Church of the East).

In terms of prosperity and cultural life, the Byzantine Empire was one of the peaks in Christian history and Christian civilization,^[53] and Constantinople remained the leading city of the Christian world in size, wealth, and culture.^[54] There was a renewed interest in classical Greek philosophy, as well as an increase in literary output in vernacular Greek.^[55] Byzantine art and literature held a preeminent place in Europe, and the cultural impact of Byzantine art on the West during this period was enormous and of long-lasting significance.^[56] The later rise of Islam in North Africa reduced the size and numbers of Christian congregations, leaving in large numbers only the Coptic Church in Egypt, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church in the Horn of Africa and the Nubian Church in the Sudan (Nobatia, Makuria and Alodia).

Middle Ages

Main article: Christianity in the Middle Ages

Early Middle Ages

Christendom by AD 600 after its spread to Africa and Europe from the Middle East

With the decline and fall of the Roman Empire in the West, the papacy became a political player, first visible in Pope Leo's diplomatic dealings with Huns and Vandals.^[57] The church also entered into a long period of missionary activity and expansion among the various tribes. While Arianists instituted the death penalty for practicing pagans (see the Massacre of Verden, for example), Catholicism also spread among the Hungarians, the Germanic,^[57] the Celtic, the Baltic and some Slavic peoples.

Around 500, Christianity was thoroughly integrated into Byzantine and Kingdom of Italy culture^[58] and Benedict of Nursia set out his Monastic Rule, establishing a system of regulations for the foundation and running of monasteries.^[57] Monasticism became a powerful force throughout Europe,^[57] and gave rise to many early centers of learning, most famously in Ireland, Scotland, and Gaul, contributing to the Carolingian Renaissance of the 9th century.

In the 7th century, Muslims conquered Syria (including Jerusalem), North Africa, and Spain, converting some of the Christian population to Islam, including some of the Christian populations in pre-Islamic Arabia, and placing the rest under a separate legal status. Part of the Muslims' success was due to the exhaustion of the Byzantine Empire in its decades long conflict with Persia.^[59] Beginning in the 8th century, with the rise of Carolingian leaders, the Papacy sought greater political support in the Frankish Kingdom.^[60]

The Middle Ages brought about major changes within the church.^{[61][62][63][64]} Pope Gregory the Great dramatically reformed the ecclesiastical structure and administration.^[65] In the early 8th century, iconoclasm became a divisive issue, when it was sponsored by the Byzantine emperors. The Second Ecumenical Council of Nicaea (787) finally pronounced in favor of icons.^[66] In the early 10th century, Western Christian monasticism was further rejuvenated through the leadership of the great Benedictine monastery of Cluny.^[67]

High and Late Middle Ages

An example of Byzantine pictorial art, the Deësis mosaic at the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople

Pope Urban II at the Council of Clermont, where he preached the First Crusade. Illustration by Jean Colombe from the Passages d'outremer, c. 1490.

In the West, from the 11th century onward, some older cathedral schools became universities (see, for example, University of Oxford, University of Paris and University of Bologna). Previously, higher education had been the domain of Christian cathedral schools or monastic schools (Scholae monasticae), led by monks and nuns. Evidence of such schools dates back to the 6th century AD.^[68] These new universities expanded the curriculum to include academic programs for clerics, lawyers, civil servants, and physicians.^[69] The university is generally regarded as an institution that has its origin in the Medieval Christian setting.^[70][71][72]

Accompanying the rise of the "new towns" throughout Europe, mendicant orders were founded, bringing the consecrated religious life out of the monastery and into the new urban setting. The two principal mendicant movements were the Franciscans^[73] and the Dominicans,^[74] founded by Francis of Assisi and Dominic, respectively. Both orders made significant contributions to the development of the great universities of Europe. Another new order was the Cistercians, whose large, isolated monasteries spearheaded the settlement of former wilderness areas. In this period, church building and ecclesiastical architecture reached new heights, culminating in the orders of Romanesque and Gothic architecture and the building of the great European cathedrals.^[75]

Christian nationalism emerged during this era in which Christians felt the desire to recover lands in which Christianity had historically flourished.^[76] From 1095 under the pontificate of Urban II, the First Crusade was launched.^[77] These were a series of military campaigns in the Holy Land and elsewhere, initiated in response to pleas from the Byzantine Emperor Alexios I for aid against Turkish expansion. The Crusades ultimately failed to stifle Islamic aggression and even contributed to Christian enmity with the sacking of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade.^[78]

The Christian Church experienced internal conflict between the 7th and 13th centuries that resulted in a schism between the Latin Church of Western Christianity branch, the now-Catholic Church, and an Eastern, largely Greek, branch (the Eastern Orthodox Church). The two sides disagreed on a number of administrative, liturgical and doctrinal issues, most prominently Eastern Orthodox opposition to papal supremacy.^[79][80] The Second Council of Lyon (1274) and the Council of Florence (1439) attempted to reunite the churches, but in both cases, the Eastern Orthodox refused to implement the decisions, and the two principal churches remain in schism to the present day. However, the Catholic Church has achieved union with various smaller eastern churches.

In the thirteenth century, a new emphasis on Jesus' suffering, exemplified by the Franciscans' preaching, had the consequence of turning worshippers' attention towards Jews, on whom Christians had placed the blame for Jesus' death. Christianity's limited tolerance of Jews was not new—Augustine of Hippo said that Jews should not be allowed to enjoy the citizenship that Christians took for granted—but the growing antipathy towards Jews was a factor that led to the expulsion of Jews from England in 1290, the first of many such expulsions in Europe.^[81][82]

Beginning around 1184, following the crusade against Cathar heresy,^[83] various institutions, broadly referred to as the Inquisition, were established with the aim of suppressing heresy and securing religious and doctrinal unity within Christianity through conversion and prosecution.^[84]

Modern era

Main article: Christianity in the modern era

Protestant Reformation and Counter-Reformation

Main articles: Reformation and Counter-Reformation

See also: European wars of religion and Renaissance Papacy

Martin Luther initiated the Reformation with his Ninety-five Theses in 1517.

The 15th-century Renaissance brought about a renewed interest in ancient and classical learning. During the Reformation, Martin Luther posted the Ninety-five Theses 1517 against the sale of indulgences.^[85] Printed copies soon spread throughout Europe. In 1521 the Edict of Worms condemned and excommunicated Luther and his followers, resulting in the schism of the Western Christendom into several branches.^[86]

Other reformers like Zwingli, Oecolampadius, Calvin, Knox, and Arminius further criticized Catholic teaching and worship. These challenges developed into the movement called Protestantism, which repudiated the primacy of the pope, the role of tradition, the seven sacraments, and other doctrines and practices.^[85] The Reformation in England began in 1534, when King Henry VIII had himself declared head of the Church of England. Beginning in 1536, the monasteries throughout England, Wales and Ireland were dissolved.^[87]

Thomas Müntzer, Andreas Karlstadt and other theologians perceived both the Catholic Church and the confessions of the Magisterial Reformation as corrupted. Their activity brought about the Radical Reformation, which gave birth to various Anabaptist denominations.

Michelangelo's 1498–99 Pietà in St. Peter's Basilica; the Catholic Church was among the patronages of the Renaissance.^[88][89][90]

Partly in response to the Protestant Reformation, the Catholic Church engaged in a substantial process of reform and renewal, known as the Counter-Reformation or Catholic Reform.^[91] The Council of Trent clarified and reasserted Catholic doctrine. During the following centuries, competition between Catholicism and Protestantism became deeply entangled with political struggles among European states.^[92]

Meanwhile, the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus in 1492 brought about a new wave of missionary activity. Partly from missionary zeal, but under the impetus of colonial expansion by the European powers, Christianity spread to the Americas, Oceania, East Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

Throughout Europe, the division caused by the Reformation led to outbreaks of religious violence and the establishment of separate state churches in Europe. Lutheranism spread into the northern, central, and eastern parts of present-day Germany, Livonia, and Scandinavia. Anglicanism was established in England in 1534. Calvinism and its varieties, such as Presbyterianism, were introduced in Scotland, the Netherlands, Hungary, Switzerland, and France. Arminianism gained followers in the Netherlands and Frisia. Ultimately, these differences led to the outbreak of conflicts in which religion played a key factor. The Thirty Years' War, the English Civil War, and the French Wars of Religion are prominent examples. These events intensified the Christian debate on persecution and toleration.^[93]

In the revival of neoplatonism Renaissance humanists did not reject Christianity; quite the contrary, many of the greatest works of the Renaissance were devoted to it, and the Catholic Church patronized many works of Renaissance art.^[94] Much, if not most, of the new art was commissioned by or in dedication to the Church.^[94] Some scholars and historians attribute Christianity to having contributed to the rise of the Scientific Revolution.^[95] Many well-known historical figures who influenced Western science considered themselves Christian such as Nicolaus Copernicus,^[96] Galileo Galilei,^[97] Johannes Kepler,^[98] Isaac Newton^[99] and Robert Boyle.^[100]

Post-Enlightenment

A depiction of Madonna and Child in a 19th-century Kakure Kirishitan Japanese woodcut

In the era known as the Great Divergence, when in the West, the Age of Enlightenment and the scientific revolution brought about great societal changes, Christianity was confronted with various forms of skepticism and with certain modern political ideologies, such as versions of socialism and liberalism.^[101] Events ranged from mere anti-clericalism to violent outbursts against Christianity, such as the dechristianization of France during the French Revolution,^[102] the Spanish Civil War, and certain Marxist movements, especially the Russian Revolution and the persecution of Christians in the Soviet Union under state atheism.^{[103][104][105][106]}

Especially pressing in Europe was the formation of nation states after the Napoleonic era. In all European countries, different Christian denominations found themselves in competition to greater or lesser extents with each other and with the state. Variables were the relative sizes of the denominations and the religious, political, and ideological orientation of the states. Urs Altermatt of the University of Fribourg, looking specifically at Catholicism in Europe, identifies four models for the European nations. In traditionally Catholic-majority countries such as Belgium, Spain, and Austria, to some extent, religious and national communities are more or less identical. Cultural symbiosis and separation are found in Poland, the Republic of Ireland, and Switzerland, all countries with competing denominations. Competition is found in Germany, the Netherlands, and again Switzerland, all countries with minority Catholic populations, which to a greater or lesser extent identified with the nation. Finally, separation between religion (again, specifically Catholicism) and the state is found to a great degree in France and Italy, countries where the state actively opposed itself to the authority of the Catholic Church.^[107]

The combined factors of the formation of nation states and ultramontanism, especially in Germany and the Netherlands, but also in England to a much lesser extent,^[108] often forced Catholic churches, organizations, and believers to choose between the national demands of the state and the authority of the Church, specifically the papacy. This conflict came to a head in the First Vatican Council, and in Germany would lead directly to the Kulturkampf.^[109]

Ordination of new pastors in Cameroon, 2014

Christian commitment in Europe dropped as modernity and secularism came into their own,^[110] particularly in the Czech Republic and Estonia,^[111] while religious commitments in America have been generally high in comparison to Europe. Changes in worldwide Christianity over the last century have been significant, since 1900, Christianity has spread rapidly in the Global South and Third World countries.^[112] The late 20th century has shown the shift of Christian adherence to the Third World and the Southern Hemisphere in general,^[113][114] with the West no longer the chief standard bearer of Christianity. Approximately 7 to 10% of Arabs are Christians,^[115] most prevalent in Egypt, Syria and Lebanon.^[116]

Beliefs

While Christians worldwide share basic convictions, there are differences of interpretations and opinions of the Bible and sacred traditions on which Christianity is based.^[117]

Creeds

Main articles: Christian creed and List of Christian creeds

An Eastern Christian icon depicting Emperor Constantine and the Fathers of the First Council of Nicaea (325) as holding the Niceno–Constantinopolitan Creed of 381

Concise doctrinal statements or confessions of religious beliefs are known as creeds. They began as baptismal formulae and were later expanded during the Christological controversies of the 4th and 5th centuries to become statements of faith. "Jesus is Lord" is the earliest creed of Christianity and continues to be used, as with the World Council of Churches.^[118]

The Apostles' Creed is the most widely accepted statement of the articles of Christian faith. It is used by a number of Christian denominations for both liturgical and catechetical purposes, most visibly by liturgical churches of Western Christian tradition, including the Latin Church of the Catholic Church, Lutheranism, Anglicanism, and Western Rite Orthodoxy. It is also used by Presbyterians, Methodists, and Congregationalists.

This particular creed was developed between the 2nd and 9th centuries. Its central doctrines are those of the Trinity and God the Creator. Each of the doctrines found in this creed can be traced to statements current in the apostolic period. The creed was apparently used as a summary of Christian doctrine for baptismal candidates in the churches of Rome.^[119] Its points include:

• Belief in God the Father, Jesus Christ as the Son of God,^{[note 2]} and the Holy Spirit
• The death, descent into hell, resurrection and ascension of Christ
• The holiness of the Church and the communion of saints
• Christ's second coming, the Day of Judgement and salvation of the faithful

The Nicene Creed was formulated, largely in response to Arianism, at the Councils of Nicaea and Constantinople in 325 and 381 respectively,^[120][121] and ratified as the universal creed of Christendom by the First Council of Ephesus in 431.^[122]

The Chalcedonian Definition, or Creed of Chalcedon, developed at the Council of Chalcedon in 451,^[123] though rejected by the Oriental Orthodox,^[124] taught Christ "to be acknowledged in two natures, inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably": one divine and one human, and that both natures, while perfect in themselves, are nevertheless also perfectly united into one person.^[125]

The Athanasian Creed, received in the Western Church as having the same status as the Nicene and Chalcedonian, says: "We worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity; neither confounding the Persons nor dividing the Substance".^[126]

Most Christians (Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Protestant alike) accept the use of creeds and subscribe to at least one of the creeds mentioned above.^[51]

Certain Evangelical Protestants, though not all of them, reject creeds as definitive statements of faith, even while agreeing with some or all of the substance of the creeds. Also rejecting creeds are groups with roots in the Restoration Movement, such as the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), the Evangelical Christian Church in Canada, and the Churches of Christ.^{[127][128]: 14–15 [129]: 123}

Jesus

Main articles: Jesus in Christianity and Christ (title)

See also: Incarnation (Christianity) and Jesus in comparative mythology

Various depictions of Jesus

The central tenet of Christianity is the belief in Jesus as the Son of God^{[note 2]} and the Messiah (Christ).^[130][131] Christians believe that Jesus, as the Messiah, was anointed by God as savior of humanity and hold that Jesus's coming was the fulfillment of messianic prophecies of the Old Testament. The Christian concept of messiah differs significantly from the contemporary Jewish concept. The core Christian belief is that through belief in and acceptance of the death and resurrection of Jesus, sinful humans can be reconciled to God, and thereby are offered salvation and the promise of eternal life.^[132]

While there have been many theological disputes over the nature of Jesus over the earliest centuries of Christian history, generally, Christians believe that Jesus is God incarnate and "true God and true man" (or both fully divine and fully human). Jesus, having become fully human, suffered the pains and temptations of a mortal man, but did not sin. As fully God, he rose to life again. According to the New Testament, he rose from the dead,^[133] ascended to heaven, is seated at the right hand of the Father,^[134] and will ultimately return^[135] to fulfill the rest of the Messianic prophecy, including the resurrection of the dead, the Last Judgment, and the final establishment of the Kingdom of God.

According to the canonical gospels of Matthew and Luke, Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born from the Virgin Mary. Little of Jesus's childhood is recorded in the canonical gospels, although infancy gospels were popular in antiquity.^[136] In comparison, his adulthood, especially the week before his death, is well documented in the gospels contained within the New Testament, because that part of his life is believed to be most important. The biblical accounts of Jesus's ministry include: his baptism, miracles, preaching, teaching, and deeds.

Death and resurrection

Main articles: Crucifixion of Jesus and Resurrection of Jesus

Crucifixion, representing the death of Jesus on the Cross, painting by Diego Velázquez, c. 1632

Christians consider the resurrection of Jesus to be the cornerstone of their faith (see 1 Corinthians 15) and the most important event in history.^[137] Among Christian beliefs, the death and resurrection of Jesus are two core events on which much of Christian doctrine and theology is based.^[138] According to the New Testament, Jesus was crucified, died a physical death, was buried within a tomb, and rose from the dead three days later.^[139]

The New Testament mentions several post-resurrection appearances of Jesus on different occasions to his twelve apostles and disciples, including "more than five hundred brethren at once",^[140] before Jesus's ascension to heaven. Jesus's death and resurrection are commemorated by Christians in all worship services, with special emphasis during Holy Week, which includes Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

The death and resurrection of Jesus are usually considered the most important events in Christian theology, partly because they demonstrate that Jesus has power over life and death and therefore has the authority and power to give people eternal life.^[141]

Christian churches accept and teach the New Testament account of the resurrection of Jesus with very few exceptions.^[142] Some modern scholars use the belief of Jesus's followers in the resurrection as a point of departure for establishing the continuity of the historical Jesus and the proclamation of the early church.^[143] Some liberal Christians do not accept a literal bodily resurrection,^[144][145] seeing the story as richly symbolic and spiritually nourishing myth. Arguments over death and resurrection claims occur at many religious debates and interfaith dialogues.^[146] 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".^[147][148]

Salvation

Main article: Salvation in Christianity

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life".

— John 3:16, NIV^[149]

The Law and the Gospel by Lucas Cranach the Elder (1529); Moses and Elijah point the sinner to Jesus for salvation.

Paul the Apostle, like Jews and Roman pagans of his time, believed that sacrifice can bring about new kinship ties, purity, and eternal life.^[150] For Paul, the necessary sacrifice was the death of Jesus: Gentiles who are "Christ's" are, like Israel, descendants of Abraham and "heirs according to the promise"^[151][152] The God who raised Jesus from the dead would also give new life to the "mortal bodies" of Gentile Christians, who had become with Israel, the "children of God", and were therefore no longer "in the flesh".^[153][150]

Modern Christian churches tend to be much more concerned with how humanity can be saved from a universal condition of sin and death than the question of how both Jews and Gentiles can be in God's family. According to Eastern Orthodox theology, based upon their understanding of the atonement as put forward by Irenaeus' recapitulation theory, Jesus' death is a ransom. This restores the relation with God, who is loving and reaches out to humanity, and offers the possibility of theosis c.q. divinization, becoming the kind of humans God wants humanity to be. According to Catholic doctrine, Jesus' death satisfies the wrath of God, aroused by the offense to God's honor caused by human's sinfulness. The Catholic Church teaches that salvation does not occur without faithfulness on the part of Christians; converts must live in accordance with principles of love and ordinarily must be baptized.^[154] In Protestant theology, Jesus' death is regarded as a substitutionary penalty carried by Jesus, for the debt that has to be paid by humankind when it broke God's moral law.^[155]

Christians differ in their views on the extent to which individuals' salvation is pre-ordained by God. Reformed theology places distinctive emphasis on grace by teaching that individuals are completely incapable of self-redemption, but that sanctifying grace is irresistible.^[156] In contrast Catholics, Orthodox Christians, and Arminian Protestants believe that the exercise of free will is necessary to have faith in Jesus.^[157]

Trinity

Main article: Trinity

The Trinity is the belief that God is one God in three persons: the Father, the Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit.^[158]

Trinity refers to the teaching that the one God^[159] comprises three distinct, eternally co-existing persons: the Father, the Son (incarnate in Jesus Christ) and the Holy Spirit. Together, these three persons are sometimes called the Godhead,^{[160][161][162]} although there is no single term in use in Scripture to denote the unified Godhead.^[163] In the words of the Athanasian Creed, an early statement of Christian belief, "the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, and yet there are not three Gods but one God".^[164] They are distinct from another: the Father has no source, the Son is begotten of the Father, and the Spirit proceeds from the Father. Though distinct, the three persons cannot be divided from one another in being or in operation. While some Christians also believe that God appeared as the Father in the Old Testament, it is agreed that he appeared as the Son in the New Testament and will still continue to manifest as the Holy Spirit in the present. But still, God still existed as three persons in each of these times.^[165] However, traditionally there is a belief that it was the Son who appeared in the Old Testament because, for example, when the Trinity is depicted in art, the Son typically has the distinctive appearance, a cruciform halo identifying Christ, and in depictions of the Garden of Eden, this looks forward to an Incarnation yet to occur. In some Early Christian sarcophagi, the Logos is distinguished with a beard, "which allows him to appear ancient, even pre-existent".^[166]

The Trinity is an essential doctrine of mainstream Christianity. From earlier than the times of the Nicene Creed (325) Christianity advocated^[167] the triune mystery-nature of God as a normative profession of faith. According to Roger E. Olson and Christopher Hall, through prayer, meditation, study and practice, the Christian community concluded "that God must exist as both a unity and trinity", codifying this in ecumenical council at the end of the 4th century.^[168][169]

According to this doctrine, God is not divided in the sense that each person has a third of the whole; rather, each person is considered to be fully God (see Perichoresis). The distinction lies in their relations, the Father being unbegotten; the Son being begotten of the Father; and the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father and (in Western Christian theology) from the Son. Regardless of this apparent difference, the three "persons" are each eternal and omnipotent. Other Christian religions including Unitarian Universalism, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Mormonism, do not share those views on the Trinity.

The Greek word trias^{[170][note 6]} is first seen in this sense in the works of Theophilus of Antioch; his text reads: "of the Trinity, of God, and of His Word, and of His Wisdom".^[174] The term may have been in use before this time; its Latin equivalent,^{[note 6]} trinitas,^[172] appears afterwards with an explicit reference to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, in Tertullian.^[175][176] In the following century, the word was in general use. It is found in many passages of Origen.^[177]

Trinitarianism

Main article: Trinitarianism

Trinitarianism denotes Christians who believe in the concept of the Trinity. Almost all Christian denominations and churches hold Trinitarian beliefs. Although the words "Trinity" and "Triune" do not appear in the Bible, beginning in the 3rd century theologians developed the term and concept to facilitate apprehension of the New Testament teachings of God as being Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Since that time, Christian theologians have been careful to emphasize that Trinity does not imply that there are three gods (the antitrinitarian heresy of Tritheism), nor that each hypostasis of the Trinity is one-third of an infinite God (partialism), nor that the Son and the Holy Spirit are beings created by and subordinate to the Father (Arianism). Rather, the Trinity is defined as one God in three persons.^[178]

Nontrinitarianism

Main article: Nontrinitarianism

Nontrinitarianism (or antitrinitarianism) refers to theology that rejects the doctrine of the Trinity. Various nontrinitarian views, such as adoptionism or modalism, existed in early Christianity, leading to disputes about Christology.^[179] Nontrinitarianism reappeared in the Gnosticism of the Cathars between the 11th and 13th centuries, among groups with Unitarian theology in the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century,^[180] in the 18th-century Enlightenment, among Restorationist groups arising during the Second Great Awakening of the 19th century, and most recently, in Oneness Pentecostal churches.

Eschatology

Main article: Christian eschatology

The end of things, whether the end of an individual life, the end of the age, or the end of the world, broadly speaking, is Christian eschatology; the study of the destiny of humans as it is revealed in the Bible. The major issues in Christian eschatology are the Tribulation, death and the afterlife, (mainly for Evangelical groups) the Millennium and the following Rapture, the Second Coming of Jesus, Resurrection of the Dead, Heaven, (for liturgical branches) Purgatory, and Hell, the Last Judgment, the end of the world, and the New Heavens and New Earth.

Christians believe that the second coming of Christ will occur at the end of time, after a period of severe persecution (the Great Tribulation). All who have died will be resurrected bodily from the dead for the Last Judgment. Jesus will fully establish the Kingdom of God in fulfillment of scriptural prophecies.^[181][182]

Death and afterlife

Most Christians believe that human beings experience divine judgment and are rewarded either with eternal life or eternal damnation. This includes the general judgement at the resurrection of the dead as well as the belief (held by Catholics,^[183][184] Orthodox^[185][186] and most Protestants) in a judgment particular to the individual soul upon physical death.

In the Catholic branch of Christianity, those who die in a state of grace, i.e., without any mortal sin separating them from God, but are still imperfectly purified from the effects of sin, undergo purification through the intermediate state of purgatory to achieve the holiness necessary for entrance into God's presence.^[187] Those who have attained this goal are called saints (Latin sanctus, "holy").^[188]

Some Christian groups, such as Seventh-day Adventists, hold to mortalism, the belief that the human soul is not naturally immortal, and is unconscious during the intermediate state between bodily death and resurrection. These Christians also hold to Annihilationism, the belief that subsequent to the final judgement, the wicked will cease to exist rather than suffer everlasting torment. Jehovah's Witnesses hold to a similar view.^[189]

Practices

Main articles: Christian worship and Church service

See also: Mass (liturgy), Reformed worship, and Contemporary worship

Christmas Eve Midnight Mass at a Catholic parish church in Woodside, New York City, U.S.

Old Order Anabaptist and Conservative Anabaptist women, for modesty, wear cape dresses and head coverings, the latter of which is taught as a church ordinance.^[190]

Depending on the specific denomination of Christianity, practices may include baptism, the Eucharist (Holy Communion or the Lord's Supper), prayer (including the Lord's Prayer), confession, confirmation, burial rites, marriage rites and the religious education of children. Most denominations have ordained clergy who lead regular communal worship services.^[191]

Christian rites, rituals, and ceremonies are not celebrated in one single sacred language. Many ritualistic Christian churches make a distinction between sacred language, liturgical language and vernacular language. The three important languages in the early Christian era were: Latin, Greek and Syriac.^{[192][193][194]}

Communal worship

Services of worship typically follow a pattern or form known as liturgy.^{[note 7]} Justin Martyr described 2nd-century Christian liturgy in his First Apology (c. 150) to Emperor Antoninus Pius, and his description remains relevant to the basic structure of Christian liturgical worship:

And Sundays, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things. Then we all rise together and pray, and, as we before said, when our prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought, and the president in like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings, according to his ability, and the people assent, saying Amen; and there is a distribution to each, and a participation of that over which thanks have been given, and to those who are absent a portion is sent by the deacons. And they who are well to do, and willing, give what each thinks fit; and what is collected is deposited with the president, who succours the orphans and widows and those who, through sickness or any other cause, are in want, and those who are in bonds and the strangers sojourning among us, and in a word takes care of all who are in need.^[196]

Thus, as Justin described, Christians assemble for communal worship typically on Sunday, the day of the resurrection, though other liturgical practices often occur outside this setting. Scripture readings are drawn from the Old and New Testaments, but especially the gospels.^{[note 8][197]} Instruction is given based on these readings, in the form of a sermon or homily. There are a variety of congregational prayers, including thanksgiving, confession, and intercession, which occur throughout the service and take a variety of forms including recited, responsive, silent, or sung.^[191] Psalms, hymns, worship songs, and other church music may be sung.^[198][199] Services can be varied for special events like significant feast days.^[200]

Nearly all forms of worship incorporate the Eucharist, which consists of a meal. It is reenacted in accordance with Jesus' instruction at the Last Supper that his followers do in remembrance of him as when he gave his disciples bread, saying, "This is my body", and gave them wine saying, "This is my blood".^[201] In the early church, Christians and those yet to complete initiation would separate for the Eucharistic part of the service.^[202] Some denominations such as Confessional Lutheran churches continue to practice 'closed communion'.^[203] They offer communion to those who are already united in that denomination or sometimes individual church. Catholics further restrict participation to their members who are not in a state of mortal sin.^[204] Many other churches, such as Anglican Communion and the Methodist Churches (such as the Free Methodist Church and United Methodist Church), practice 'open communion' since they view communion as a means to unity, rather than an end, and invite all believing Christians to participate.^{[205][206][207]}

Sacraments or ordinances

Main article: Sacrament

See also: Sacraments of the Catholic Church, Lutheran sacraments, Anglican sacraments, and Ordinance (Christianity)

Further information: Rite (Christianity) and Pre-Tridentine Mass

2nd-century description of the Eucharist

And this food is called among us Eukharistia [the Eucharist], of which no one is allowed to partake but the man who believes that the things which we teach are true, and who has been washed with the washing that is for the remission of sins, and unto regeneration, and who is so living as Christ has enjoined. For not as common bread and common drink do we receive these; but in like manner as Jesus Christ our Savior, having been made flesh by the Word of God, had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so likewise have we been taught that the food which is blessed by the prayer of His word, and from which our blood and flesh by transmutation are nourished, is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was made flesh.

Justin Martyr^[196]

In Christian belief and practice, a sacrament is a rite, instituted by Christ, that confers grace, constituting a sacred mystery. The term is derived from the Latin word sacramentum, which was used to translate the Greek word for mystery. Views concerning both which rites are sacramental, and what it means for an act to be a sacrament, vary among Christian denominations and traditions.^[208]

The most conventional functional definition of a sacrament is that it is an outward sign, instituted by Christ, that conveys an inward, spiritual grace through Christ. The two most widely accepted sacraments are Baptism and the Eucharist; however, the majority of Christians also recognize five additional sacraments: Confirmation (Chrismation in the Eastern tradition), Holy Orders (or ordination), Penance (or Confession), Anointing of the Sick, and Matrimony (see Christian views on marriage).^[208]

Taken together, these are the Seven Sacraments as recognized by churches in the High Church tradition—notably Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Independent Catholic, Old Catholic, some Lutherans and Anglicans. Most other denominations and traditions typically affirm only Baptism and Eucharist as sacraments, while some Protestant groups, such as the Quakers, reject sacramental theology.^[208] Certain denominations of Christianity, such as Anabaptists, use the term "ordinances" to refer to rites instituted by Jesus for Christians to observe.^[209] Seven ordinances have been taught in many Conservative Mennonite Anabaptist churches, which include "baptism, communion, footwashing, marriage, anointing with oil, the holy kiss, and the prayer covering".^[190]

In addition to this, the Church of the East has two additional sacraments in place of the traditional sacraments of Matrimony and the Anointing of the Sick. These include Holy Leaven (Melka) and the sign of the cross.^[210] The Schwarzenau Brethren Anabaptist churches, such as the Dunkard Brethren Church, observe the agape feast (lovefeast), a rite also observed by Moravian Church and Methodist Churches.^[211]

Liturgical calendar

Main article: Liturgical year

See also: Calendar of saints

Catholics, Eastern Christians, Lutherans, Anglicans and other traditional Protestant communities frame worship around the liturgical year.^[212] The liturgical cycle divides the year into a series of seasons, each with their theological emphases, and modes of prayer, which can be signified by different ways of decorating churches, colors of paraments and vestments for clergy,^[213] scriptural readings, themes for preaching and even different traditions and practices often observed personally or in the home.

Western Christian liturgical calendars are based on the cycle of the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church,^[213] and Eastern Christians use analogous calendars based on the cycle of their respective rites. Calendars set aside holy days, such as solemnities which commemorate an event in the life of Jesus, Mary, or the saints, and periods of fasting, such as Lent and other pious events such as memoria, or lesser festivals commemorating saints. Christian groups that do not follow a liturgical tradition often retain certain celebrations, such as Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost: these are the celebrations of Christ's birth, resurrection, and the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Church, respectively. A few denominations such as Quaker Christians make no use of a liturgical calendar.^[214]

Symbols

Main article: Christian symbolism

An early circular ichthys symbol, created by combining the Greek letters ΙΧΘΥΣ into a wheel, Ephesus, Asia Minor

Most Christian denominations have not generally practiced aniconism,^[215] the avoidance or prohibition of devotional images, even if early Jewish Christians, invoking the Decalogue's prohibition of idolatry, avoided figures in their symbols.^[216]

The cross, today one of the most widely recognized symbols, was used by Christians from the earliest times.^[217][218] Tertullian, in his book De Corona, tells how it was already a tradition for Christians to trace the sign of the cross on their foreheads.^[219] Although the cross was known to the early Christians, the crucifix did not appear in use until the 5th century.^[220]

Among the earliest Christian symbols, that of the fish or Ichthys seems to have ranked first in importance, as seen on monumental sources such as tombs from the first decades of the 2nd century.^[221] Its popularity seemingly arose from the Greek word ichthys (fish) forming an acrostic for the Greek phrase Iesous Christos Theou Yios Soter (Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, Θεοῦ Υἱός, Σωτήρ),^{[note 9]} (Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior), a concise summary of Christian faith.^[221]

Other major Christian symbols include the chi-rho monogram, the dove and olive branch (symbolic of the Holy Spirit), the sacrificial lamb (representing Christ's sacrifice), the vine (symbolizing the connection of the Christian with Christ) and many others. These all derive from passages of the New Testament.^[220]

Baptism

Main article: Baptism

Infant baptism by effusion in a Catholic Church in Venezuela

Believer's baptism of adult by immersion, Northolt Park Baptist Church, in Greater London, Baptist Union of Great Britain

Baptism is the ritual act, with the use of water, by which a person is admitted to membership of the Church. Beliefs on baptism vary among denominations. Differences occur firstly on whether the act has any spiritual significance. Some, such as the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, as well as Lutherans and Anglicans, hold to the doctrine of baptismal regeneration, which affirms that baptism creates or strengthens a person's faith, and is intimately linked to salvation. Baptists and Plymouth Brethren view baptism as a purely symbolic act, an external public declaration of the inward change which has taken place in the person, but not as spiritually efficacious. Secondly, there are differences of opinion on the methodology (or mode) of the act. These modes are: by immersion; if immersion is total, by submersion; by affusion (pouring); and by aspersion (sprinkling). Those who hold the first view may also adhere to the tradition of infant baptism;^{[222][223][224][225]} the Orthodox Churches all practice infant baptism and always baptize by total immersion repeated three times in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.^[226][227] The Lutheran Church and the Catholic Church also practice infant baptism,^{[228][229][230]} usually by affusion, and using the Trinitarian formula.^[231] Anabaptist Christians practice believer's baptism, in which an adult chooses to receive the ordinance after making a decision to follow Jesus.^[232] Anabaptist denominations such as the Mennonites, Amish and Hutterites use pouring as the mode to administer believer's baptism, whereas Anabaptists of the Schwarzenau Brethren and River Brethren traditions baptize by immersion.^{[233][234][235][236]}

Prayer

Main article: Christian prayer

See also: Christian meditation and Canonical hours

"... 'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil'".

— The Lord's Prayer, Matthew 6:9–13, EHV^[237]

In the Gospel of Saint Matthew, Jesus taught the Lord's Prayer, which has been seen as a model for Christian prayer.^[238] The injunction for Christians to pray the Lord's prayer thrice daily was given in the Didache and came to be recited by Christians at 9 am, 12 pm, and 3 pm.^[239][240]

In the second century Apostolic Tradition, Hippolytus instructed Christians to pray at seven fixed prayer times: "on rising, at the lighting of the evening lamp, at bedtime, at midnight" and "the third, sixth and ninth hours of the day, being hours associated with Christ's Passion".^[241] Prayer positions, including kneeling, standing, and prostrations have been used for these seven fixed prayer times since the days of the early Church.^[242] Breviaries such as the Shehimo and Agpeya are used by Oriental Orthodox Christians to pray these canonical hours while facing in the eastward direction of prayer.^[243][244]

The Apostolic Tradition directed that the sign of the cross be used by Christians during the minor exorcism of baptism, during ablutions before praying at fixed prayer times, and in times of temptation.^[245]

Intercessory prayer is prayer offered for the benefit of other people. There are many intercessory prayers recorded in the Bible, including prayers of the Apostle Peter on behalf of sick persons^[246] and by prophets of the Old Testament in favor of other people.^[247] In the Epistle of James, no distinction is made between the intercessory prayer offered by ordinary believers and the prominent Old Testament prophet Elijah.^[248] The effectiveness of prayer in Christianity derives from the power of God rather than the status of the one praying.^[249]

The ancient church, in both Eastern and Western Christianity, developed a tradition of asking for the intercession of (deceased) saints, and this remains the practice of most Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic, and some Lutheran and Anglican churches.^[250] Apart from certain sectors within the latter two denominations, other Churches of the Protestant Reformation, however, rejected prayer to the saints, largely on the basis of the sole mediatorship of Christ.^[251] The reformer Huldrych Zwingli admitted that he had offered prayers to the saints until his reading of the Bible convinced him that this was idolatrous.^[252]

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church: "Prayer is the raising of one's mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God".^[253] The Book of Common Prayer in the Anglican tradition is a guide which provides a set order for services, containing set prayers, scripture readings, and hymns or sung Psalms.^[254] Frequently in Western Christianity, when praying, the hands are placed palms together and forward as in the feudal commendation ceremony. At other times the older orans posture may be used, with palms up and elbows in.

Scriptures

Main articles: Bible, Biblical canon, Development of the Christian biblical canon, and Religious text

The Bible is the sacred book in Christianity.

Christianity, like other religions, has adherents whose beliefs and biblical interpretations vary. Christianity regards the biblical canon, the Old Testament and the New Testament, as the inspired word of God. The traditional view of inspiration is that God worked through human authors so that what they produced was what God wished to communicate. The Greek word referring to inspiration in 2 Timothy 3:16 is theopneustos, which literally means "God-breathed".^[255]

Some believe that divine inspiration makes present Bibles inerrant, while others claim inerrancy for the Bible in its original manuscripts, although none of those are extant. Still others maintain that only a particular translation is inerrant, such as the King James Version.^{[256][257][258]} Another closely related view is biblical infallibility or limited inerrancy, which affirms that the Bible is free of error as a guide to salvation, but may include errors on matters such as history, geography, or science.

The canon of the Old Testament accepted by Protestant churches, which is only the Tanakh (the canon of the Hebrew Bible), is shorter than that accepted by the Orthodox and Catholic churches which also include the deuterocanonical books which appear in the Septuagint, the Orthodox canon being slightly larger than the Catholic;^[259] Protestants regard the latter as apocryphal, important historical documents which help to inform the understanding of words, grammar, and syntax used in the historical period of their conception. Some versions of the Bible include a separate Apocrypha section between the Old Testament and the New Testament.^[260] The New Testament, originally written in Koine Greek, contains 27 books which are agreed upon by all major churches.

Some denominations have additional canonical holy scriptures beyond the Bible, including the standard works of the Latter Day Saints movement and Divine Principle in the Unification Church.^[261]

Catholic interpretation

Main article: Catholic theology of Scripture

St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City, the largest church in the world and a symbol of the Catholic Church

In antiquity, two schools of exegesis developed in Alexandria and Antioch. The Alexandrian interpretation, exemplified by Origen, tended to read Scripture allegorically, while the Antiochene interpretation adhered to the literal sense, holding that other meanings (called theoria) could only be accepted if based on the literal meaning.^[262]

Catholic theology distinguishes two senses of scripture: the literal and the spiritual.^[263]

The literal sense of understanding scripture is the meaning conveyed by the words of Scripture. The spiritual sense is further subdivided into:

• The allegorical sense, which includes typology. An example would be the parting of the Red Sea being understood as a "type" (sign) of baptism.^[264]
• The moral sense, which understands the scripture to contain some ethical teaching.
• The anagogical sense, which applies to eschatology, eternity and the consummation of the world.

Regarding exegesis, following the rules of sound interpretation, Catholic theology holds:

• The injunction that all other senses of sacred scripture are based on the literal^[265][266]
• That the historicity of the Gospels must be absolutely and constantly held^[267]
• That scripture must be read within the "living Tradition of the whole Church"^[268] and
• That "the task of interpretation has been entrusted to the bishops in communion with the successor of Peter, the Bishop of Rome".^[269]

Protestant interpretation

Qualities of Scripture

Many Protestant Christians, such as Lutherans ^[270] and the Reformed, believe in the doctrine of sola scriptura—that the Bible is a self-sufficient revelation, the final authority on all Christian doctrine, and revealed all truth necessary for salvation;^[271][272] other Protestant Christians, such as Methodists and Anglicans, affirm the doctrine of prima scriptura which teaches that Scripture is the primary source for Christian doctrine, but that "tradition, experience, and reason" can nurture the Christian religion as long as they are in harmony with the Bible.^[271][273] Protestants characteristically believe that ordinary believers may reach an adequate understanding of Scripture because Scripture itself is clear in its meaning (or "perspicuous"). Martin Luther believed that without God's help, Scripture would be "enveloped in darkness".^[274] He advocated for "one definite and simple understanding of Scripture".^[274] John Calvin wrote, "all who refuse not to follow the Holy Spirit as their guide, find in the Scripture a clear light".^[275] Related to this is "efficacy", that Scripture is able to lead people to faith; and "sufficiency", that the Scriptures contain everything that one needs to know to obtain salvation and to live a Christian life.^[276]

Original intended meaning of Scripture

Protestants stress the meaning conveyed by the words of Scripture, the historical-grammatical method.^[277] The historical-grammatical method or grammatico-historical method is an effort in Biblical hermeneutics to find the intended original meaning in the text.^[278] This original intended meaning of the text is drawn out through examination of the passage in light of the grammatical and syntactical aspects, the historical background, the literary genre, as well as theological (canonical) considerations.^[279] The historical-grammatical method distinguishes between the one original meaning and the significance of the text. The significance of the text includes the ensuing use of the text or application. The original passage is seen as having only a single meaning or sense. As Milton S. Terry said: "A fundamental principle in grammatico-historical exposition is that the words and sentences can have but one significance in one and the same connection. The moment we neglect this principle we drift out upon a sea of uncertainty and conjecture".^[280] Technically speaking, the grammatical-historical method of interpretation is distinct from the determination of the passage's significance in light of that interpretation. Taken together, both define the term (Biblical) hermeneutics.^[278] Some Protestant interpreters make use of typology.^[281]

Demographics

Main articles: Christianity by country and Christian population growth

See also: Christendom and Christian state

With around 2.8 billion adherents according to a 2022 estimation by World History Encyclopedia,^{[282][283][10][284][285][286][287]} split into three main branches of Catholic, Protestant, and Eastern Orthodox, Christianity is the world's largest religion.^[288] High birth rates and conversions in the global South were cited as the reasons for the Christian population growth.^[289][290] For the last hundred years, the Christian share has stood at around 33% of the world population. This masks a major shift in the demographics of Christianity; large increases in the developing world have been accompanied by substantial declines in the developed world, mainly in Western Europe and North America.^[291] According to a 2015 Pew Research Center study, within the next four decades, Christianity will remain the largest religion; and by 2050, the Christian population is expected to exceed 3 billion.^[292]: 60

A Christian procession in Brazil, the country with the largest Catholic population in the world^[288]

Trinity Sunday in Russia; the Russian Orthodox Church has experienced a great revival since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, a country that had a policy of state atheism.^[293]

Show on the life of Jesus at City Church in São José dos Campos, affiliated with the Brazilian Baptist Convention

According to some scholars, Christianity ranks at first place in net gains through religious conversion.^[294][295] As a percentage of Christians, the Catholic Church and Orthodoxy (both Eastern and Oriental) are declining in some parts of the world (though Catholicism is growing in Asia, in Africa, vibrant in Eastern Europe, etc.), while Protestants and other Christians are on the rise in the developing world.^{[296][297][298]} The so-called popular Protestantism^{[note 10]} is one of the fastest growing religious categories in the world.^{[299][300][301]} Nevertheless, Catholicism will also continue to grow to 1.63 billion by 2050, according to Todd Johnson of the Center for the Study of Global Christianity.^[302] Africa alone, by 2015, will be home to 230 million African Catholics.^[303] And if in 2018, the U.N. projects that Africa's population will reach 4.5 billion by 2100 (not 2 billion as predicted in 2004), Catholicism will indeed grow, as will other religious groups.^[304] According to Pew Research Center, Africa is expected to be home to 1.1 billion African Christians by 2050.^[292]

In 2010, 87% of the world's Christian population lived in countries where Christians are in the majority, while 13% of the world's Christian population lived in countries where Christians are in the minority.^[1] Christianity is the predominant religion in Europe, the Americas, Oceania, and Sub-Saharan Africa.^[1] There are also large Christian communities in other parts of the world, such as Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Indian subcontinent.^[1] In Asia, it is the dominant religion in Armenia, Cyprus, Georgia, East Timor, and the Philippines.^[305] However, it is declining in some areas including the northern and western United States,^[306] some areas in Oceania (Australia^[307] and New Zealand^[308]), northern Europe (including Great Britain,^[309] Scandinavia and other places), France, Germany, Canada,^[310] and some parts of Asia (especially the Middle East, due to the Christian emigration,^{[311][312][313]} and Macau^[314]).

The total Christian population is not decreasing in Brazil and the southern United States,^[315] however, the percentage of the population identifying as Christian is in decline. Since the fall of communism, the proportion of Christians has been largely stable in Central Europe, except in the Czech Republic.^[316] On the other hand, Christianity is growing rapidly in both numbers and percentages in Eastern Europe,^[316][293] China,^[317][288] other Asian countries,^[288][318] Sub-Saharan Africa,^[288][319] Latin America,^[288] North Africa (Maghreb),^[320][319] Gulf Cooperation Council countries,^[288] and Oceania.^[319]

Despite a decline in adherence in the West, Christianity remains the dominant religion in the region, with about 70% of that population identifying as Christian.^[1][321] Christianity remains the largest religion in Western Europe, where 71% of Western Europeans identified themselves as Christian in 2018.^[322] A 2011 Pew Research Center survey found that 76% of Europeans, 73% in Oceania and about 86% in the Americas (90% in Latin America and 77% in North America) identified themselves as Christians.^[288][1] By 2010 about 157 countries and territories in the world had Christian majorities.^[288]

There are many charismatic movements that have become well established over large parts of the world, especially Africa, Latin America, and Asia.^{[323][324][325][326][327][1]} Since 1900, primarily due to conversion, Protestantism has spread rapidly in Africa, Asia, Oceania, and Latin America.^[328] From 1960 to 2000, the global growth of the number of reported Evangelical Protestants grew three times the world's population rate, and twice that of Islam.^[329] According to the historian Geoffrey Blainey from the University of Melbourne, since the 1960s there has been a substantial increase in the number of conversions from Islam to Christianity, mostly to the Evangelical and Pentecostal forms.^[330] A study conducted by St. Mary's University estimated about 10.2 million Muslim converts to Christianity in 2015;^[320][331] according to the study significant numbers of Muslim converts to Christianity can be found in Afghanistan,^[320][332] Azerbaijan,^[320][332] Central Asia (including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and other countries),^[320][332] Indonesia,^[320][332] Malaysia,^[320][332] the Middle East (including Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey,^[333] and other countries),^[320][332] North Africa (including Algeria, Morocco,^[334][335] and Tunisia^[336]),^[320][332] Sub-Saharan Africa,^[320][332] and the Western World (including Albania, Belgium, France, Germany, Kosovo, the Netherlands, Russia, Scandinavia, United Kingdom, the United States, and other western countries).^[320][332] It is also reported that Christianity is popular among people of different backgrounds in Africa and Asia; according to a report by the Singapore Management University, more people in Southeast Asia are converting to Christianity, many of them young and having a university degree.^[318] According to scholar Juliette Koning and Heidi Dahles of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam there is a "rapid expansion" of Christianity in Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, and South Korea.^[318] According to scholar Terence Chong from the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, since the 1980s Christianity is expanding in China, Singapore,^[337] Indonesia, Japan,^[338][339] Malaysia, Taiwan, South Korea,^[1] and Vietnam.^[340]

In most countries in the developed world, church attendance among people who continue to identify themselves as Christians has been falling over the last few decades.^[341] Some sources view this as part of a drift away from traditional membership institutions,^[342] while others link it to signs of a decline in belief in the importance of religion in general.^[343] Europe's Christian population, though in decline, still constitutes the largest geographical component of the religion.^[344] According to data from the 2012 European Social Survey, around a third of European Christians say they attend services once a month or more.^[345] Conversely, according to the World Values Survey, about more than two-thirds of Latin American Christians, and about 90% of African Christians (in Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa and Zimbabwe) said they attended church regularly.^[345] According to a 2018 study by the Pew Research Center, Christians in Africa and Latin America and the United States have high levels of commitment to their faith.^[346]

Christianity, in one form or another, is the sole state religion of the following nations: Argentina (Catholic),^[347] Costa Rica (Catholic),^[348] the Kingdom of Denmark (Lutheran),^[349] England (Anglican),^[350] Greece (Greek Orthodox),^[351] Iceland (Lutheran),^[352] Liechtenstein (Catholic),^[353] Malta (Catholic),^[354] Monaco (Catholic),^[355] Norway (Lutheran),^[356] Samoa,^[357] Tonga (Methodist), Tuvalu (Reformed), and Vatican City (Catholic).^[358]

There are numerous other countries, such as Cyprus, which although do not have an established church, still give official recognition and support to a specific Christian denomination.^[359]

Demographics of major traditions within Christianity (Pew Research Center, 2020 data)^[360]

Tradition	Followers	% of the Christian population	% of the world population	Follower dynamics	Dynamics in- and outside Christianity
Roman Catholic Church	1,329,610,000	50.1	15.9	Growing	Growing
Protestantism	900,640,000	36.7	11.6	Growing	Growing
Eastern Orthodox Church	220,380,000	11.9	3.8	Growing	Declining
Other Christianity	28,430,000	1.3	0.4	Growing	Growing
Christianity	2,382,750,000	100	31.7	Growing	Stable

Christians (self-described) by region

(Pew Research Center, 2010 data)^[288][1]

Region	Christians	% Christian
Europe	558,260,000	75.2
Latin America–Caribbean	531,280,000	90.0
Sub-Saharan Africa	517,340,000	62.9
Asia–Pacific	286,950,000	7.1
North America	266,630,000	77.4
Middle East–North Africa	12,710,000	3.7
World	2,173,180,000	31.5

Regional median ages of Christians compared with overall median ages (Pew Research Center, 2010 data)^[288]

	Christian median age in region (years)	Regional median age (years)
World	30	29
Sub-Saharan Africa	19	18
Latin America–Caribbean	27	27
Asia–Pacific	28	29
Middle East–North Africa	29	24
North America	39	37
Europe	42	40

The global distribution of Christians: Countries colored a darker shade have a higher proportion of Christians.^[361]

• 
  Countries with 50% or more Christians are colored purple; countries with 10% to 50% Christians are colored pink.
• 
  Nations with Christianity as their state religion are in blue.
• 
  Distribution of Catholics
• 
  Distribution of Protestants
• 
  Distribution of Eastern Orthodox
• 
  Distribution of Oriental Orthodox
• 
  Distribution of other Christians

Churches and denominations

Further information: List of Christian denominations, List of Christian denominations by number of members, and Schism in Christianity

See also: Ecclesiology

World Christianity by tradition in 2024 as per World Christian Database^[362]

  Catholic (48.6%)

  Protestant (39.8%)

  Orthodox (11.1%)

  Other (0.5%)

Christianity can be taxonomically divided into six main groups: Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, Oriental Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodoxy, the Church of the East, and Restorationism.^[363][364] A broader distinction that is sometimes drawn is between Eastern Christianity and Western Christianity, which has its origins in the East–West Schism (Great Schism) of the 11th century. Recently, neither Western nor Eastern World Christianity has also stood out, for example, in African-initiated churches. However, there are other present^[365] and historical^[366] Christian groups that do not fit neatly into one of these primary categories.

There is a diversity of doctrines and liturgical practices among groups calling themselves Christian. These groups may vary ecclesiologically in their views on a classification of Christian denominations.^[367] The Nicene Creed (325), however, is typically accepted as authoritative by most Christians, including the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and major Protestant, such as Lutheran and Anglican denominations.^[368]

Major denominational families in Christianity:

This box:

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Western Christianity

Eastern Christianity

Protestantism

Anabaptism

Anglicanism

Lutheranism

Reformed

(Latin Church)

Catholic Church

(Eastern Catholic Churches)

Eastern Orthodox Church

Oriental Orthodox Churches

Church of the East

Schism (1552)

Assyrian Church of the East

Ancient Church of the East

Protestant Reformation

(16th century)

Great Schism

(11th century)

Council of Ephesus (431)

Council of Chalcedon (451)

Early Christianity

Great Church

(Full communion)

(Not shown are ante-Nicene, nontrinitarian, and restorationist denominations.)

Catholic Church

Main article: Catholic Church

Pope Francis, the current leader of the Catholic Church

The Catholic Church consists of those particular Churches, headed by bishops, in communion with the pope, the bishop of Rome, as its highest authority in matters of faith, morality, and church governance.^[369][370] Like Eastern Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church, through apostolic succession, traces its origins to the Christian community founded by Jesus Christ.^[371][372] Catholics maintain that the "one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church" founded by Jesus subsists fully in the Catholic Church, but also acknowledges other Christian churches and communities^[373][374] and works towards reconciliation among all Christians.^[373] The Catholic faith is detailed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.^[375][376]

Of its seven sacraments, the Eucharist is the principal one, celebrated liturgically in the Mass.^[377] The church teaches that through consecration by a priest, the sacrificial bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ. The Virgin Mary is venerated in the Catholic Church as Mother of God and Queen of Heaven, honoured in dogmas and devotions.^[378] Its teaching includes Divine Mercy, sanctification through faith and evangelization of the Gospel as well as Catholic social teaching, which emphasizes voluntary support for the sick, the poor, and the afflicted through the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. The Catholic Church operates thousands of Catholic schools, universities, hospitals, and orphanages around the world, and is the largest non-government provider of education and health care in the world.^[379] Among its other social services are numerous charitable and humanitarian organizations.

Canon law (Latin: jus canonicum)^[380] is the system of laws and legal principles made and enforced by the hierarchical authorities of the Catholic Church to regulate its external organisation and government and to order and direct the activities of Catholics toward the mission of the church.^[381] The canon law of the Latin Church was the first modern Western legal system,^[382] and is the oldest continuously functioning legal system in the West.^[383][384] while the distinctive traditions of Eastern Catholic canon law govern the 23 Eastern Catholic particular churches sui iuris.

As the world's oldest and largest continuously functioning international institution,^[385] it has played a prominent role in the history and development of Western civilization.^[386] The 2,834 sees^[387] are grouped into 24 particular autonomous Churches (the largest of which being the Latin Church), each with its own distinct traditions regarding the liturgy and the administering of sacraments.^[388] With more than 1.1 billion baptized members, the Catholic Church is the largest Christian church and represents 50.1%^[1] of all Christians as well as 16.7% of the world's population.^{[389][390][391]} Catholics live all over the world through missions, diaspora, and conversions.

Eastern Orthodox Church

Main article: Eastern Orthodox Church

St. George's Cathedral in Istanbul: It has been the seat of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople whose leader is regarded as the primus inter pares in the Eastern Orthodox Church.^[392]

The Eastern Orthodox Church consists of those churches in communion with the patriarchal sees of the East, such as the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.^[393] Like the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church also traces its heritage to the foundation of Christianity through apostolic succession and has an episcopal structure, though the autonomy of its component parts is emphasized, and most of them are national churches.

Eastern Orthodox theology is based on holy tradition which incorporates the dogmatic decrees of the seven Ecumenical Councils, the Scriptures, and the teaching of the Church Fathers. The church teaches that it is the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church established by Jesus Christ in his Great Commission,^[394] and that its bishops are the successors of Christ's apostles.^[395] It maintains that it practises the original Christian faith, as passed down by holy tradition. Its patriarchates, reminiscent of the pentarchy, and other autocephalous and autonomous churches reflect a variety of hierarchical organisation. It recognizes seven major sacraments, of which the Eucharist is the principal one, celebrated liturgically in synaxis. The church teaches that through consecration invoked by a priest, the sacrificial bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ. The Virgin Mary is venerated in the Eastern Orthodox Church as the Theotokos, meaning God-bearer, and is honoured in devotions.

Eastern Orthodoxy is the second largest single denomination in Christianity, with an estimated 230 million adherents, although Protestants collectively outnumber them, substantially.^[1][396] As one of the oldest surviving religious institutions in the world, the Eastern Orthodox Church has played a prominent role in the history and culture of Eastern and Southeastern Europe, the Caucasus, and the Near East.^[397] The majority of Eastern Orthodox Christians live mainly in Southeast and Eastern Europe, Cyprus, Georgia, and parts of the Caucasus region, Siberia, and the Russian Far East. Over half of Eastern Orthodox Christians follow the Russian Orthodox Church, while the vast majority live within Russia.^[398] There are also communities in the former Byzantine regions of Africa, the Eastern Mediterranean, and in the Middle East. Eastern Orthodox communities are also present in many other parts of the world, particularly North America, Western Europe, and Australia, formed through diaspora, conversions, and missionary activity.^[399]

Oriental Orthodoxy

Main article: Oriental Orthodoxy

Holy Trinity Cathedral in Addis Ababa, the seat of the Ethiopian Orthodox; the largest of the Oriental Orthodox Churches

The Oriental Orthodox Churches (also called "Old Oriental" churches) are those eastern churches that recognize the first three ecumenical councils—Nicaea, Constantinople, and Ephesus—but reject the dogmatic definitions of the Council of Chalcedon and instead espouse a Miaphysite christology.

The Oriental Orthodox communion consists of six groups: Syriac Orthodox, Coptic Orthodox, Ethiopian Orthodox, Eritrean Orthodox, Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (India), and Armenian Apostolic churches.^[400] These six churches, while being in communion with each other, are completely independent hierarchically.^[401] These churches are generally not in communion with the Eastern Orthodox Church, with whom they are in dialogue for erecting a communion.^[402] Together, they have about 62 million members worldwide.^{[403][404][405][406][396]}

As some of the oldest religious institutions in the world, the Oriental Orthodox Churches have played a prominent role in the history and culture of Armenia, Egypt, Turkey, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, Iran, Azerbaijan and parts of the Middle East and India.^{[407][408][409]} An Eastern Christian body of autocephalous churches, its bishops are equal by virtue of episcopal ordination, and its doctrines can be summarized in that the churches recognize the validity of only the first three ecumenical councils.^[410]

Some Oriental Orthodox Churches such as the Coptic Orthodox, Ethiopian Orthodox, Eritrean Orthodox, places a heavier emphasis on Old Testament teachings than one might find in other Christian denominations, and its followers adhere to certain practices: following dietary rules that are similar to Jewish Kashrut,^[411] require that their male members undergo circumcision,^[412] and observes ritual purification.^[413][414]

Church of the East

Further information: Assyrian Church of the East and Ancient Church of the East

A 6th-century Nestorian church, St. John the Arab, in the Assyrian village of Geramon in Hakkari, southeastern Turkey.

The Church of the East, which was part of the Great Church,^[415] shared communion with those in the Roman Empire until the Council of Ephesus condemned Nestorius in 431. Continuing as a dhimmi community under the Rashidun Caliphate after the Muslim conquest of Persia (633–654), the Church of the East played a major role in the history of Christianity in Asia. Between the 9th and 14th centuries, it represented the world's largest Christian denomination in terms of geographical extent. It established dioceses and communities stretching from the Mediterranean Sea and today's Iraq and Iran, to India (the Saint Thomas Syrian Christians of Kerala), the Mongol kingdoms in Central Asia, and China during the Tang dynasty (7th–9th centuries). In the 13th and 14th centuries, the church experienced a final period of expansion under the Mongol Empire, where influential Church of the East clergy sat in the Mongol court.

The Assyrian Church of the East, with an unbroken patriarchate established in the 17th century, is an independent Eastern Christian denomination which claims continuity from the Church of the East—in parallel to the Catholic patriarchate established in the 16th century that evolved into the Chaldean Catholic Church, an Eastern Catholic church in full communion with the Pope. It is an Eastern Christian church that follows the traditional christology and ecclesiology of the historical Church of the East. Largely aniconic and not in communion with any other church, it belongs to the eastern branch of Syriac Christianity, and uses the East Syriac Rite in its liturgy.^[416]

Saint Mary Church; an ancient Assyrian church located in the city of Urmia, Iran

Its main spoken language is Syriac, a dialect of Eastern Aramaic, and the majority of its adherents are ethnic Assyrians, mostly living in Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, India (Chaldean Syrian Church), and in the Assyrian diaspora.^[417] It is officially headquartered in the city of Erbil in northern Iraqi Kurdistan, and its original area also spreads into south-eastern Turkey and north-western Iran, corresponding to ancient Assyria. Its hierarchy is composed of metropolitan bishops and diocesan bishops, while lower clergy consists of priests and deacons, who serve in dioceses (eparchies) and parishes throughout the Middle East, India, North America, Oceania, and Europe (including the Caucasus and Russia).^[418]

The Ancient Church of the East distinguished itself from the Assyrian Church of the East in 1964. It is one of the Assyrian churches that claim continuity with the historical Church of the East, one of the oldest Christian churches in Mesopotamia.^[419] It is officially headquartered in the city of Baghdad, Iraq.^[420] The majority of its adherents are ethnic Assyrians.^[420]

Protestantism

Main articles: Protestantism and Proto-Protestantism

See also: Protestant ecclesiology

In 1521, the Edict of Worms condemned Martin Luther and officially banned citizens of the Holy Roman Empire from defending or propagating his ideas.^[421] This split within the Roman Catholic church is now called the Reformation. Prominent Reformers included Martin Luther, Huldrych Zwingli, and John Calvin. The 1529 Protestation at Speyer against being excommunicated gave this party the name Protestantism. Luther's primary theological heirs are known as Lutherans. Zwingli and Calvin's heirs are far broader denominationally and are referred to as the Reformed tradition.^[422] The Anglican churches descended from the Church of England and organized in the Anglican Communion. Some Lutherans identify as Evangelical Catholics and some but not all Anglicans consider themselves both Protestant and Catholic.^{[423][424][425]} Protestants have developed their own culture, with major contributions in education, the humanities and sciences, the political and social order, the economy and the arts, and many other fields.^[426][427]

Since the Anglican, Lutheran, and the Reformed branches of Protestantism originated for the most part in cooperation with the government, these movements are termed the "Magisterial Reformation". On the other hand, groups such as the Anabaptists, who often do not consider themselves to be Protestant, originated in the Radical Reformation, which though sometimes protected under Acts of Toleration, do not trace their history back to any state church. They are further distinguished by their rejection of infant baptism; they believe in baptism only of adult believers—credobaptism (Anabaptists include the Amish, Apostolic, Bruderhof, Mennonites, Hutterites, River Brethren and Schwarzenau Brethren groups.)^{[428][429][430][431]}

The term Protestant also refers to any churches which formed later, with either the Magisterial or Radical traditions. In the 18th century, for example, Methodism grew out of Anglican minister John Wesley's evangelical revival movement.^[432] Several Pentecostal and non-denominational churches, which emphasize the cleansing power of the Holy Spirit, in turn grew out of Methodism.^[433] Because Methodists, Pentecostals and other evangelicals stress "accepting Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior",^[434] which comes from Wesley's emphasis of the New Birth,^[435] they often refer to themselves as being born-again.^[436][437]

Protestantism is the second largest major group of Christians after Catholicism by number of followers, although the Eastern Orthodox Church is larger than any single Protestant denomination.^[390] Estimates vary, mainly over the question of which denominations to classify as Protestant. The total Protestant population has reached 1.17 billion in 2024, corresponding to nearly 44% of the world's Christians.^{[15][396][296][16][438]} The majority of Protestants are members of just a handful of denominational families, i.e. Adventism, Anabaptism (Amish, Apostolic, Bruderhof, Hutterites, Mennonites, River Brethren, and Schwarzenau Brethren), Anglicanism, Baptists, Lutheranism, Methodism, Moravianism/Hussites, Pentecostalism, Plymouth Brethren, Quakerism, Reformed Christianity (Congregationalists, Continental Reformed, Reformed Anglicans, and Presbyterians),^[439] and Waldensianism are the main families of Protestantism.^[14][296] Nondenominational, evangelical, charismatic, neo-charismatic, independent, and other churches are on the rise, and constitute a significant part of Protestant Christianity.^[440]

Some groups of individuals who hold basic Protestant tenets identify themselves as "Christians" or "born-again Christians". They typically distance themselves from the confessionalism and creedalism of other Christian communities^[441] by calling themselves "non-denominational" or "evangelical". Often founded by individual pastors, they have little affiliation with historic denominations.^[442]

Historical chart of the main Protestant branches

Restorationism

Main article: Restorationism

A 19th-century drawing of Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery receiving the Aaronic priesthood from John the Baptist. Latter Day Saints believe that the Priesthood ceased to exist after the death of the apostles and therefore needed to be restored.

The Second Great Awakening, a period of religious revival that occurred in the United States during the early 1800s, saw the development of a number of unrelated churches. They generally saw themselves as restoring the original church of Jesus Christ rather than reforming one of the existing churches.^[443] A common belief held by Restorationists was that the other divisions of Christianity had introduced doctrinal defects into Christianity, which was known as the Great Apostasy.^[444] In Asia, Iglesia ni Cristo is a known Restorationist denomination that was established during the early 1900s. Other examples of Restorationist denominations include Irvingianism and Swedenborgianism.^[445][19]

Some of the churches originating during this period are historically connected to early 19th-century camp meetings in the Midwest and upstate New York. One of the largest churches produced from the movement is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.^[446] American Millennialism and Adventism, which arose from Evangelical Protestantism, influenced the Jehovah's Witnesses movement and, as a reaction specifically to William Miller, the Seventh-day Adventists. Others, including the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Evangelical Christian Church in Canada,^[447][448] Churches of Christ, and the Christian churches and churches of Christ, have their roots in the contemporaneous Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement, which was centered in Kentucky and Tennessee. Other groups originating in this time period include the Christadelphians and the previously mentioned Latter Day Saints movement. While the churches originating in the Second Great Awakening have some superficial similarities, their doctrine and practices vary significantly.^[449]

Other

Unitarian Church of Transylvania in Cluj-Napoca

Within Italy, Poland, Lithuania, Transylvania, Hungary, Romania, and the United Kingdom, Unitarian Churches emerged from the Reformed tradition in the 16th century;^[450] the Unitarian Church of Transylvania is an example of such a denomination that arose in this era.^[451] They adopted the Anabaptist doctrine of credobaptism.^[452]

Various smaller Independent Catholic communities, such as the Old Catholic Church,^[453] include the word Catholic in their title, and arguably have more or less liturgical practices in common with the Catholic Church but are no longer in full communion with the Holy See.^[454]

Spiritual Christians, such as the Doukhobors and Molokans, broke from the Russian Orthodox Church and maintain close association with Mennonites and Quakers due to similar religious practices; all of these groups are furthermore collectively considered to be peace churches due to their belief in pacifism.^[455][456]

Messianic Judaism (or the Messianic Movement) is the name of a Christian movement comprising a number of streams, whose members may consider themselves Jewish. The movement originated in the 1960s and 1970s, and it blends elements of religious Jewish practice with evangelical Christianity. Messianic Judaism affirms Christian creeds such as the messiahship and divinity of "Yeshua" (the Hebrew name of Jesus) and the Triune Nature of God, while also adhering to some Jewish dietary laws and customs.^[457]

Esoteric Christians, such as The Christian Community,^[458] regard Christianity as a mystery religion^[459][460] and profess the existence and possession of certain esoteric doctrines or practices,^[461][462] hidden from the public and accessible only to a narrow circle of "enlightened", "initiated", or highly educated people.^[463][464]

Nondenominational Christianity or non-denominational Christianity consists of churches which typically distance themselves from the confessionalism or creedalism of other Christian communities^[441] by not formally aligning with a specific Christian denomination.^[465] Nondenominational Christianity first arose in the 18th century through the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement, with followers organizing themselves as "Christians" and "Disciples of Christ",^{[note 11][465][466]} but many typically adhere to evangelical Christianity.^{[467][468][469]}

Cultural influence

Main articles: Christian culture and Role of Christianity in civilization

Further information: Protestant culture and Christian influences in Islam

Christian culture

Clockwise from top: Sistine Chapel ceiling, Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris, Eastern Orthodox wedding, Christ the Redeemer statue, Nativity scene

The history of the Christendom spans about 1,700 years and includes a variety of socio-political developments, as well as advances in the arts, architecture, literature, science, philosophy, and technology.^{[470][471][472]} Since the spread of Christianity from the Levant to Europe and North Africa during the early Roman Empire, Christendom has been divided in the pre-existing Greek East and Latin West. Consequently, different versions of the Christian cultures arose with their own rites and practices, centered around the cities of Rome (Western Christianity) and Carthage, whose communities were called Western or Latin Christendom,^[473] and Constantinople (Eastern Christianity), Antioch (Syriac Christianity), Kerala (Indian Christianity) and Alexandria (Coptic Christianity), whose communities were called Eastern or Oriental Christendom.^{[474][475][476]} The Byzantine Empire was one of the peaks in Christian history and Eastern Christian civilization.^[53] From the 11th to 13th centuries, Latin Christendom rose to the central role of the Western world.

The Bible has had a profound influence on Western civilization and on cultures around the globe; it has contributed to the formation of Western law, art, texts, and education.^{[477][478][479]} With a literary tradition spanning two millennia, the Bible is one of the most influential works ever written. From practices of personal hygiene to philosophy and ethics, the Bible has directly and indirectly influenced politics and law, war and peace, sexual morals, marriage and family life, toilet etiquette, letters and learning, the arts, economics, social justice, medical care and more.^[479]

Christians have made a myriad of contributions to human progress in a broad and diverse range of fields, including philosophy,^[480] science and technology,^{[481][482][483][484]} medicine,^[485] fine arts and architecture,^[486] politics, literatures, music,^[487] and business.^[488][489] According to 100 Years of Nobel Prizes a review of the Nobel Prizes award between 1901 and 2000 reveals that (65.4%) of Nobel Prizes Laureates, have identified Christianity in its various forms as their religious preference.^[490]

Outside the Western world, Christianity has had an influence on various cultures, such as in Africa, the Near East, Middle East, East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Indian subcontinent.^[491][492] Eastern Christian scientists and scholars of the medieval Islamic world (particularly Jacobite and Nestorian Christians) contributed to the Arab Islamic civilization during the reign of the Ummayyads and the Abbasids, by translating works of Greek philosophers to Syriac and afterwards, to Arabic.^{[493][494][495]} They also excelled in philosophy, science, theology, and medicine.^{[496][497][498]} Scholars and intellectuals agree Christians in the Middle East have made significant contributions to Arab and Islamic civilization since the introduction of Islam, and they have had a significant impact contributing the culture of the Mashriq, Turkey, and Iran.^[499][491]

Influence on Western culture

Western culture, throughout most of its history, has been nearly equivalent to Christian culture, and a large portion of the population of the Western Hemisphere can be described as practicing or nominal Christians. The notion of "Europe" and the "Western World" has been intimately connected with the concept of "Christianity and Christendom". Many historians even attribute Christianity for being the link that created a unified European identity.^[500]

Though Western culture contained several polytheistic religions during its early years under the Greek and Roman Empires, as the centralized Roman power waned, the dominance of the Catholic Church was the only consistent force in Western Europe.^[501] Until the Age of Enlightenment,^[501] Christian culture guided the course of philosophy, literature, art, music and science.^[501][470] Christian disciplines of the respective arts have subsequently developed into Christian philosophy, Christian art, Christian music, Christian literature, and so on.

Christianity has had a significant impact on education, as the church created the bases of the Western system of education,^[502] and was the sponsor of founding universities in the Western world, as the university is generally regarded as an institution that has its origin in the Medieval Christian setting.^[70] Historically, Christianity has often been a patron of science and medicine; many Catholic clergy,^[503] Jesuits in particular,^{[504][505][506]} have been active in the sciences throughout history and have made significant contributions to the development of science.^[507][508] Some scholars state that Christianity contributed to the rise of the Scientific Revolution.^[509] Protestantism also has had an important influence on science. According to the Merton Thesis, there was a positive correlation between the rise of English Puritanism and German Pietism on the one hand, and early experimental science on the other.^{[510][511][512]} The civilizing influence of Christianity includes social welfare,^[502] contribution to the medical and health care,^[513] founding hospitals,^[502] economics (as the Protestant work ethic),^{[502][514][515]} architecture,^[516] literature,^[517] personal hygiene (ablution),^[518][519] and family life.^[502][520] Historically, extended families were the basic family unit in the Christian culture and countries.^[521]

Cultural Christians are secular people with a Christian heritage who may not believe in the religious claims of Christianity, but who retain an affinity for the popular culture, art, music, and so on related to the religion.^[522]

Postchristianity is the term for the decline of Christianity, particularly in Europe, Canada, Australia, and to a minor degree the Southern Cone, in the 20th and 21st centuries, considered in terms of postmodernism. It refers to the loss of Christianity's monopoly on values and world view in historically Christian societies.^[523]

Ecumenism

Main article: Ecumenism

Bishop John M. Quinn of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Winona and Bishop Steven Delzer of Evangelical Lutheran Southeastern Minnesota Synod leading a Reformation Day service (2017)

Christian groups and denominations have long expressed ideals of being reconciled, and in the 20th century, Christian ecumenism advanced in two ways.^{[524][525][526]} One way was greater cooperation between groups, such as the World Evangelical Alliance founded in 1846 in London or the Edinburgh Missionary Conference of Protestants in 1910, the Justice, Peace and Creation Commission of the World Council of Churches founded in 1948 by Protestant and Orthodox churches, and similar national councils like the National Council of Churches in Australia, which includes Catholics.^[525]

The other way was an institutional union with united churches, a practice that can be traced back to unions between Lutherans and Calvinists in early 19th-century Germany. Congregationalist, Methodist, and Presbyterian churches united in 1925 to form the United Church of Canada,^[527] and in 1977 to form the Uniting Church in Australia. The Church of South India was formed in 1947 by the union of Anglican, Baptist, Methodist, Congregationalist, and Presbyterian churches.^[528]

The Christian Flag is an ecumenical flag designed in the early 20th century to represent all of Christianity and Christendom.^[529]

The ecumenical, monastic Taizé Community is notable for being composed of more than one hundred brothers from Protestant and Catholic traditions.^[530] The community emphasizes the reconciliation of all denominations and its main church, located in Taizé, Saône-et-Loire, France, is named the "Church of Reconciliation".^[530] The community is internationally known, attracting over 100,000 young pilgrims annually.^[531]

Steps towards reconciliation on a global level were taken in 1965 by the Catholic and Orthodox churches, mutually revoking the excommunications that marked their Great Schism in 1054;^[532] the Anglican Catholic International Commission (ARCIC) working towards full communion between those churches since 1970;^[533] and some Lutheran and Catholic churches signing the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification in 1999 to address conflicts at the root of the Protestant Reformation. In 2006, the World Methodist Council, representing all Methodist denominations, adopted the declaration.^[534]

Criticism, persecution, and apologetics

Main articles: Criticism of Christianity, Persecution of Christians, and Christian apologetics

See also: Anti-Christian sentiment

Criticism

The monument to Giordano Bruno in the place he was executed in Rome

Criticism of Christianity and Christians goes back to the Apostolic Age, with the New Testament recording friction between the followers of Jesus and the Pharisees and scribes (e.g., Matthew 15:1–20 and Mark 7:1–23).^[535] In the 2nd century, Christianity was criticized by the Jews on various grounds, e.g., that the prophecies of the Hebrew Bible could not have been fulfilled by Jesus, given that he did not have a successful life.^[536] Additionally, a sacrifice to remove sins in advance, for everyone or as a human being, did not fit the Jewish sacrifice ritual; furthermore, God in Judaism is said to judge people on their deeds instead of their beliefs.^[537][538] One of the first comprehensive attacks on Christianity came from the Greek philosopher Celsus, who wrote The True Word, a polemic criticizing Christians as being unprofitable members of society.^{[539][540][541]} In response, the church father Origen published his treatise Contra Celsum, or Against Celsus, a seminal work of Christian apologetics, which systematically addressed Celsus's criticisms and helped bring Christianity a level of academic respectability.^[542][541]

By the 3rd century, criticism of Christianity had mounted. Wild rumors about Christians were widely circulated, claiming that they were atheists and that, as part of their rituals, they devoured human infants and engaged in incestuous orgies.^[543][544] The Neoplatonist philosopher Porphyry wrote the fifteen-volume Adversus Christianos as a comprehensive attack on Christianity, in part building on the teachings of Plotinus.^[545][546]

By the 12th century, the Mishneh Torah (i.e., Rabbi Moses Maimonides) was criticizing Christianity on the grounds of idol worship, in that Christians attributed divinity to Jesus, who had a physical body.^[547] In the 19th century, Nietzsche began to write a series of polemics on the "unnatural" teachings of Christianity (e.g. sexual abstinence), and continued his criticism of Christianity to the end of his life.^[548] In the 20th century, the philosopher Bertrand Russell expressed his criticism of Christianity in Why I Am Not a Christian, formulating his rejection of Christianity.^[549]

Criticism of Christianity continues to date, e.g. Jewish and Muslim theologians criticize the doctrine of the Trinity held by most Christians, stating that this doctrine in effect assumes that there are three gods, running against the basic tenet of monotheism.^[550] New Testament scholar Robert M. Price has outlined the possibility that some Bible stories are based partly on myth in The Christ Myth Theory and its problems.^[551]

Persecution

Christians fleeing their homes in the Ottoman Empire, c. 1922. Many Christians were persecuted and killed during the Armenian genocide, Greek genocide, and Assyrian genocide.^[552]

Christians are one of the most persecuted religious groups in the world, especially in the Middle-East, North Africa and South and East Asia.^{[553][554][555]} In 2017, Open Doors estimated approximately 260 million Christians are subjected annually to "high, very high, or extreme persecution"^[556] with North Korea considered the most hazardous nation for Christians.^[557][558] In 2019, a report^[559][560] commissioned by the United Kingdom's Secretary of State of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) to investigate global persecution of Christians found persecution has increased, and is highest in the Middle East, North Africa, India, China, North Korea, and Latin America, among others, and that it is global and not limited to Islamic states.^[561][560] This investigation found that approximately 80% of persecuted believers worldwide are Christians.^[555]

Apologetics

A copy of the Summa Theologica by Thomas Aquinas

Christian apologetics aims to present a rational basis for Christianity. The word "apologetic" (Greek: ἀπολογητικός apologētikos) comes from the Greek verb ἀπολογέομαι apologeomai, meaning "(I) speak in defense of".^[562] Christian apologetics has taken many forms over the centuries, starting with Paul the Apostle. The philosopher Thomas Aquinas presented five arguments for God's existence in the Summa Theologica, while his Summa contra Gentiles was a major apologetic work.^[563][564] Another famous apologist, G. K. Chesterton, wrote in the early twentieth century about the benefits of religion and, specifically, Christianity. Famous for his use of paradox, Chesterton explained that while Christianity had the most mysteries, it was the most practical religion.^[565][566] He pointed to the advance of Christian civilizations as proof of its practicality.^[567] The physicist and priest John Polkinghorne, in his Questions of Truth, discusses the subject of religion and science, a topic that other Christian apologists such as Ravi Zacharias, John Lennox, and William Lane Craig have engaged, with the latter two men opining that the inflationary Big Bang model is evidence for the existence of God.^[568] Creationist apologetics is apologetics that aims to defend creationism.

See also

• Outline of Christianity
• Christian atheism
• Christians of Saint John
• Christianity and Islam
• Christianity and Judaism
• Christianity and politics
• Christian mythology
• Christianisation
• One true church
• Prophets of Christianity
• Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

Notes

1. Christianity originated in 1st-century Judea from the Jewish Christian sect of Second Temple Judaism.^{[2][3][4][5][6]}
2. The doctrine of the Trinity is not universally accepted among Christians. Nontrinitarian Christian groups include the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Unitarians and Jehovah's Witnesses.^{[note 12]}
3. The denominations of Adventism, Anabaptism (Amish, Apostolic, Bruderhof, Hutterites, Mennonites, River Brethren, and Schwarzenau Brethren), Anglicanism, Baptists, Lutheranism, Methodism, Moravianism/Hussites, Pentecostalism, Plymouth Brethren, Quakerism, Reformed Christianity (Congregationalists, Continental Reformed, and Presbyterians), and Wa`ldensianism are the main families of Protestantism. Other groups that are sometimes regarded as Protestant include non-denominational Christian congregations.^[14]
4. The denominations of Restorationism include the Irvingians, Swedenborgians, Christadelphians, Latter Day Saints, Jehovah's Witnesses, La Luz del Mundo, and Iglesia ni Cristo.^[18][19]
5. It appears in the Acts of the Apostles, Acts 9:2, Acts 19:9 and Acts 19:23. Some English translations of the New Testament capitalize 'the Way' (e.g. the New King James Version and the English Standard Version), indicating that this was how 'the new religion seemed then to be designated'^[21] whereas others treat the phrase as indicative—'the way',^[22] 'that way'^[23] or 'the way of the Lord'.^[24] The Syriac version reads, "the way of God" and the Vulgate Latin version, "the way of the Lord".^[25]
6. The Latin equivalent, from which English trinity is derived,^{[171][better source needed]} is trinitas^[172] though Latin also borrowed Greek trias verbatim.^[173]
7. Frequently a distinction is made between "liturgical" and "non-liturgical" churches based on how elaborate or antiquated the worship; in this usage, churches whose services are unscripted or improvised are described as "non-liturgical".^[195]
8. Often these are arranged on an annual cycle, using a book called a lectionary.
9. Iesous Christos Theou Hyios Soter may be a more complete transliteration; in Koine Greek, the daseia or spiritus asper had largely ceased being pronounced and was not—commonly—marked in the majuscule script of the time.
10. A flexible term, defined as all forms of Protestantism with the notable exception of the historical denominations deriving directly from the Protestant Reformation.
11. The first Nondenominational Christian churches which emerged through the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement are tied to associations such as the Churches of Christ or the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).^[465][466]
12. Halsey, A. (1988). British Social Trends since 1900: A Guide to the Changing Social Structure of Britain. Palgrave Macmillan UK. p. 518. ISBN 978-1-349-19466-7. his so called 'non-Trinitarian' group includes the Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, Christadelphians, Apostolics, Christian Scientists, Theosophists, Church of Scientology, Unification Church (Moonies), the Worldwide Church of God and so on.

References

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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.
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8. 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.
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18. 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.
19. 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.
20. 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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134. s:Nicene Creed
135. Acts 1:9–11
136. Gambero, Luigi (1999). Mary and the Fathers of the Church: The Blessed Virgin Mary in Patristic Thought. Ignatius. ISBN 978-0-89870-686-4 – via Google Books.
137. Hanegraaff, Hank (2002). Resurrection: The Capstone in the Arch of Christianity. Thomas Nelson. ISBN 978-1-4185-1723-6.
138. "The Significance of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus for the Christian". Australian Catholic University National. Archived from the original on 1 September 2007. Retrieved 16 May 2007.
139. Jn. 19:30–31 Mk. 16:1 16:6
140. 1Cor 15:6
141. John 3:16, 5:24, 6:39–40, 6:47, 10:10, 11:25–26, and 17:3
142. This is drawn from a number of sources, especially the early Creeds, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, certain theological works, and various Confessions drafted during the Reformation including the Thirty Nine Articles of the Church of England, works contained in the Book of Concord.
143. Fuller, The Foundations of New Testament Christology, p. 11.
144. A Jesus Seminar conclusion held that "in the view of the Seminar, he did not rise bodily from the dead; the resurrection is based instead on visionary experiences of Peter, Paul, and Mary."
145. Funk. The Acts of Jesus: What Did Jesus Really Do?.
146. Lorenzen. Resurrection, Discipleship, Justice: Affirming the Resurrection Jesus Christ Today, p. 13.
147. 1Cor 15:14
148. Ball/Johnsson (ed.). The Essential Jesus.
149. "John 3:16 New International Version". Bible Gateway. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
150. Eisenbaum, Pamela (Winter 2004). "A Remedy for Having Been Born of Woman: Jesus, Gentiles, and Genealogy in Romans" (PDF). Journal of Biblical Literature. 123 (4): 671–702. doi:10.2307/3268465. ISSN 0021-9231. JSTOR 3268465. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 October 2022. Retrieved 3 April 2009.
151. Gal. 3:29
152. Wright, N.T. What Saint Paul Really Said: Was Paul of Tarsus the Real Founder of Christianity? (Oxford, 1997), p. 121.
153. Rom. 8:9,11,16
154. Catechism of the Catholic Church (2nd ed.). Libreria Editrice Vaticana. 2019. Paragraph 846.
155. L. W. Grensted, A Short History of the Doctrine of the Atonement (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1920), p. 191: 'Before the Reformation only a few hints of a Penal theory can be found.'
156. Westminster Confession, Chapter X Archived 28 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine;
     Spurgeon, A Defense of Calvinism Archived 10 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine.
157. "Grace and Justification". Catechism of the Catholic Church. Archived from the original on 15 August 2010.
158. Definition of the Fourth Lateran Council quoted in Catechism of the Catholic Church (2nd ed.). Libreria Editrice Vaticana. 2019. Paragraph 253..
159. Christianity's status as monotheistic is affirmed in, among other sources, the Catholic Encyclopedia (article "Monotheism"); William F. Albright, From the Stone Age to Christianity; H. Richard Niebuhr; Kirsch, God Against the Gods; Woodhead, An Introduction to Christianity; The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia Monotheism; The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, monotheism; New Dictionary of Theology, Paul Archived 20 July 2016 at the Wayback Machine, pp. 496–499; Meconi. "Pagan Monotheism in Late Antiquity". pp. 111ff.
160. Kelly. Early Christian Doctrines. pp. 87–90.
161. Alexander. New Dictionary of Biblical Theology. pp. 514ff.
162. McGrath. Historical Theology. p. 61.
163. Metzger/Coogan. Oxford Companion to the Bible. p. 782.
164. Kelly. The Athanasian Creed.
165. Bowden, John Stephen (2005). Encyclopedia of Christianity. Internet Archive. Oxford University Press. p. 1207. ISBN 978-0-19-522393-4.
166. Heidi J. Hornik and Mikeal Carl Parsons, Interpreting Christian Art: Reflections on Christian art, Mercer University Press, 2003, ISBN 0865548501, pp. 32–35.
167. Examples of ante-Nicene statements:

     Hence all the power of magic became dissolved; and every bond of wickedness was destroyed, men's ignorance was taken away, and the old kingdom abolished God Himself appearing in the form of a man, for the renewal of eternal life.

     — St. Ignatius of Antioch in Letter to the Ephesians, ch.4, shorter version, Roberts-Donaldson translation

     We have also as a Physician the Lord our God Jesus the Christ the only-begotten Son and Word, before time began, but who afterwards became also man, of Mary the virgin. For 'the Word was made flesh.' Being incorporeal, He was in the body; being impassible, He was in a passable body; being immortal, He was in a mortal body; being life, He became subject to corruption, that He might free our souls from death and corruption, and heal them, and might restore them to health, when they were diseased with ungodliness and wicked lusts

     — St. Ignatius of Antioch in Letter to the Ephesians, ch.7, shorter version, Roberts-Donaldson translation

     The Church, though dispersed throughout the whole world, even to the ends of the earth, has received from the apostles and their disciples this faith: ...one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are in them; and in one Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who became incarnate for our salvation; and in the Holy Spirit, who proclaimed through the prophets the dispensations of God, and the advents, and the birth from a virgin, and the passion, and the resurrection from the dead, and the ascension into heaven in the flesh of the beloved Christ Jesus, our Lord, and His manifestation from heaven in the glory of the Father 'to gather all things in one,' and to raise up anew all flesh of the whole human race, in order that to Christ Jesus, our Lord, and God, and Savior, and King, according to the will of the invisible Father, 'every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess; to him, and that He should execute just judgment towards all...

     — St. Irenaeus in Against Heresies, ch.X, v.I, Donaldson, James (1950), Ante Nicene Fathers, Volume 1: Apostolic Fathers, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, William B. Eerdmans, ISBN 978-0-8028-8087-1

     For, in the name of God, the Father and Lord of the universe, and of our Savior Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit, they then receive the washing with water

     — Justin Martyr in First Apology, ch. LXI, Donaldson, James (1950), Ante Nicene Fathers, Volume 1: Apostolic Fathers, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Wm. B. Eerdmans, ISBN 978-0-8028-8087-1

168. Olson, Roger E. (2002). The Trinity. Wm. B. Eerdmans. p. 15. ISBN 978-0-8028-4827-7.
169. Fowler. World Religions: An Introduction for Students. p. 58.
170. τριάς. Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; A Greek–English Lexicon at the Perseus Project.
171. Harper, Douglas. "trinity". Online Etymology Dictionary.
172. trinitas. Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short. A Latin Dictionary on Perseus Project.
173. trias. Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short. A Latin Dictionary on Perseus Project.
174. Theophilus of Antioch. "Book II.15". Apologia ad Autolycum. Patrologiae Graecae Cursus Completus (in Greek and Latin). Vol. 6. Ὡσαύτως καὶ αἱ τρεῖς ἡμέραι τῶν φωστήρων γεγονυῖαι τύποι εἰσὶν τῆς Τριάδος, τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ τοῦ Λόγου αὐτοῦ, καὶ τῆς Σοφίας αὐτοῦ.
175. McManners, Oxford Illustrated History of Christianity. p. 50.
176. Tertullian, "21", De Pudicitia (in Latin), Nam et ipsa ecclesia proprie et principaliter ipse est spiritus, in quo est trinitas unius diuinitatis, Pater et Filius et Spiritus sanctus..
177. McManners, Oxford Illustrated History of Christianity, p. 53.
178. Moltmann, Jürgen. The Trinity and the Kingdom: The Doctrine of God. Tr. from German. Fortress Press, 1993. ISBN 080062825X
179. Harnack, History of Dogma.
180. Pocket Dictionary of Church History Nathan P. Feldmeth p. 135 "Unitarianism. Unitarians emerged from Protestant Christian beginnings in the sixteenth century with a central focus on the unity of God and subsequent denial of the doctrine of the Trinity"
181. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologicum, Supplementum Tertiae Partis questions 69 through 99
182. Calvin, John. "Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book Three, Ch. 25". reformed.org. Archived from the original on 10 December 2007. Retrieved 1 January 2008.
183. Catholic Encyclopedia, "Particular Judgment".
184. Ott, Grundriß der Dogmatik, p. 566.
185. David Moser, What the Orthodox believe concerning prayer for the dead.
186. Ken Collins, What Happens to Me When I Die? Archived 28 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine.
187. "Audience of 4 August 1999". Vatican.va. 4 August 1999. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
188. Catholic Encyclopedia, "The Communion of Saints".
189. "The death that Adam brought into the world is spiritual as well as physical, and only those who gain entrance into the Kingdom of God will exist eternally. However, this division will not occur until Armageddon, when all people will be resurrected and given a chance to gain eternal life. In the meantime, "the dead are conscious of nothing." What is God's Purpose for the Earth?" Official Site of Jehovah's Witnesses. Watchtower, 15 July 2002.
190. Hartzler, Rachel Nafziger (2013). No Strings Attached: Boundary Lines in Pleasant Places: A History of Warren Street / Pleasant Oaks Mennonite Church. Wipf & Stock. ISBN 978-1-62189-635-7.
191. White 2010, pp. 71–82
192. Buck, Christopher (1999). Paradise and Paradigm: Key Symbols in Persian Christianity and the Baha'i Faith. State University of New York Press. p. 6. ISBN 978-0-7914-4062-9.
193. Nakashima Brock, Rita (2008). Saving Paradise: How Christianity Traded Love of this World for Crucifixion and Empire. Beacon. p. 446. ISBN 978-0-8070-6750-5. the ancient church had three important languages: Greek, Latin, and Syriac.
194. A. Lamport, Mark (2020). The Rowman & Littlefield Handbook of Christianity in the Middle East. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 135. ISBN 978-0-8070-6750-5. the ancient church had three important languages: Greek, Latin, and Syriac.
195. Russell, Thomas Arthur (2010). Comparative Christianity: A Student's Guide to a Religion and Its Diverse Traditions. Universal-Publishers. p. 21. ISBN 978-1-59942-877-2.
196. Justin Martyr, First Apology §LXVII
197. White 2010, p. 36
198. Witvliet, John D. (2007). The Biblical Psalms in Christian Worship: A Brief Introduction and Guide to Resources. Wm. B. Eerdmans. p. 11. ISBN 978-0-8028-0767-0. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
199. Wallwork, Norman (2019). "The Purpose of a Hymn Book" (PDF). Joint Liturgical Group of Great Britain. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 October 2022. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
200. For example, The Calendar, Church of England, retrieved 25 June 2020
201. Ignazio Silone, Bread and Wine (1937).
202. Benz, Ernst (2008). The Eastern Orthodox Church: Its Thought and Life. Transaction Publishers. p. 35. ISBN 978-0-202-36575-6.
203. Understanding Closed Communion, stating "Therefore, our Congregation and our Denomination practices what is called 'close or closed Communion', meaning that before you take Communion at our Churches, we ask you to take a Communion Class first to properly learn what Communion is all about.", by Archive.org
204. Catechism of the Catholic Church (2nd ed.). Libreria Editrice Vaticana. 2019. Paragraph 1415.
205. "An open table: How United Methodists understand communion – The United Methodist Church". United Methodist Church. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
206. "Order of Worship". Wilmore Free Methodist Church. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
207. "Canon B28 of the Church of England".
208. Cross/Livingstone. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. pp. 1435ff.
209. Krahn, Cornelius; Rempel, John D. (1989). Ordinances. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia. The term "ordinance" emphasizes the aspect of institution by Christ and the symbolic meaning.
210. Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East, Archdiocese of Australia, New Zealand and Lebanon.
211. "Love Feast of the Dunkards; Peculiar Ceremonies of a Peculiar Sect of Christians". The New York Times. 26 April 1891. Retrieved 25 December 2023.
212. Senn, Frank C. (2012). Introduction to Christian Liturgy. Fortress. p. 103. ISBN 978-1-4514-2433-1. For example, days of Mary, Joseph, and John the Baptist (e.g., August 15, March 19, June 24, respectively) are ranked as solemnities in the Roman Catholic calendar; in the Anglican and Lutheran calendars they are holy days or lesser festivals respectively.
213. Fortescue, Adrian (1912). "Christian Calendar". CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Christian Calendar. The Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
214. Hickman. Handbook of the Christian Year.
215. Kitzinger, Ernst (1954). "The Cult of Images in the Age before Iconoclasm". Dumbarton Oaks Papers. 8: 83–150. doi:10.2307/1291064. ISSN 0070-7546. JSTOR 1291064.
216. Freedberg, David (1977). "The Structure of Byzantine and European Iconoclasm". In Bryer, Anthony; Herrin, Judith (eds.). Iconoclasm. Centre for Byzantine Studies, University of Birmingham. p. 176. ISBN 0-7044-0226-2.
217. "ANF04. Fathers of the Third Century: Tertullian, Part Fourth; Minucius Felix; Commodian; Origen, Parts First and Second | Christian Classics Ethereal Library". Ccel.org. 1 June 2005. Retrieved 5 May 2009.
218. Minucius Felix speaks of the cross of Jesus in its familiar form, likening it to objects with a crossbeam or to a man with arms outstretched in prayer (Octavius of Minucius Felix, chapter XXIX).
219. "At every forward step and movement, at every going in and out, when we put on our clothes and shoes, when we bathe, when we sit at table, when we light the lamps, on couch, on seat, in all the ordinary actions of daily life, we trace upon the forehead the sign." (Tertullian, De Corona, chapter 3)
220. Dilasser. The Symbols of the Church.
221. Hassett, Maurice M. (1913). "Symbolism of the Fish" . In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
222. Catechism of the Catholic Church (2nd ed.). Libreria Editrice Vaticana. 2019. Paragraph 1213. Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God; we become members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church and made sharers in her mission.
223. "Holy Baptism is the sacrament by which God adopts us as his children and makes us members of Christ's Body, the Church, and inheritors of the kingdom of God" (Book of Common Prayer, 1979, Episcopal) Archived 19 February 2022 at the Wayback Machine
224. "Baptism is the sacrament of initiation and incorporation into the body of Christ" (By Water and The Spirit – The Official United Methodist Understanding of Baptism (PDF) Archived 13 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
225. "As an initiatory rite into membership of the Family of God, baptismal candidates are symbolically purified or washed as their sins have been forgiven and washed away" (William H. Brackney, Doing Baptism Baptist Style – Believer's Baptism Archived 7 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine)
226. "After the proclamation of faith, the baptismal water is prayed over and blessed as the sign of the goodness of God's creation. The person to be baptized is also prayed over and blessed with sanctified oil as the sign that his creation by God is holy and good. And then, after the solemn proclamation of "Alleluia" (God be praised), the person is immersed three times in the water in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit" (Orthodox Church in America: Baptism). Archived 12 October 2010 at the Wayback Machine
227. "In the Orthodox Church we totally immerse, because such total immersion symbolizes death. What death? The death of the "old, sinful man". After Baptism we are freed from the dominion of sin, even though after Baptism we retain an inclination and tendency toward evil.", Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia, article "Baptism Archived 30 September 2014 at the Wayback Machine".
228. Olson, Karen Bates (12 January 2017). "Why infant baptism?". Living Lutheran. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
229. Catechism of the Catholic Church (2nd ed.). Libreria Editrice Vaticana. 2019. Paragraph 403.
230. Catechism of the Catholic Church (2nd ed.). Libreria Editrice Vaticana. 2019. Paragraphs 1231, 1233, 1250, 1252.
231. Catechism of the Catholic Church (2nd ed.). Libreria Editrice Vaticana. 2019. Paragraph 1240.
232. Eby, Edwin R. "Early Anabaptist Positions on Believer's Baptism and a Challenge for Today". Pilgrim Mennonite Conference. Archived from the original on 11 May 2022. Retrieved 11 May 2022. They concluded according to the Scriptures that baptism must always follow a conscious decision to take up "following Christ." They believed that a regenerated life becomes the experience of an adult who counts the cost of following Christ, exercises obedience to Christ, and is therefore baptized as a sign of such commitment and life.
233. Kurian, George Thomas; Day, Sarah Claudine (14 March 2017). The Essential Handbook of Denominations and Ministries. Baker. ISBN 978-1-4934-0640-1. The Conservative Mennonite Conference practices believer's baptism, seen as an external symbol of internal spiritual purity and performed by immersion or pouring of water on the head; Communion; washing the feet of the saints, following Jesus's example and reminding believers of the need to be washed of pride, rivalry, and selfish motives; anointing the sick with oil – a symbol of the Holy Spirit and of the healing power of God—offered with the prayer of faith; and laying on of hands for ordination, symbolizing the imparting of responsibility and of God's power to fulfill that responsibility.
234. Kraybill, Donald B. (2010). Concise Encyclopedia of Amish, Brethren, Hutterites, and Mennonites. JHU Press. p. 23. ISBN 978-0-8018-9911-9. All Amish, Hutterites, and most Mennonites baptized by pouring or sprinkling.
235. Nolt, Steven M.; Loewen, Harry (2010). Through Fire and Water: An Overview of Mennonite History. MennoMedia. ISBN 978-0-8316-9701-3. ...both groups practiced believers baptism (the River Brethren did so by immersion in a stream or river) and stressed simplicity in life and nonresistance to violence.
236. Brackney, William H. (3 May 2012). Historical Dictionary of Radical Christianity. Scarecrow. p. 279. ISBN 978-0-8108-7365-0. The birthdate in 1708 marked the baptism by immersion of the group in the River Eder, thus believer's baptism became one of the primary tenets of The Brethren.
237. "Matthew 6:9–13 Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)". Retrieved 10 March 2020.
238. Jordan, Anne (2000). Christianity. Nelson Thornes. ISBN 978-0-7487-5320-8. When he was standing on a hillside, Jesus explained to his followers how they were to behave as God would wish. The talk has become known as the Sermon on the Mount, and is found in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 5, 6 and 7. During the talk Jesus taught his followers how to pray and he gave them an example of suitable prayer. Christians call the prayer the Lord's Prayer, because it was taught by the Lord, Jesus Christ. It is also known as the Pattern Prayer as it provides a pattern for Christians to follow in prayer, to ensure that they pray in the way God and Jesus would want.
239. Milavec, Aaron (2003). The Didache: Faith, Hope, & Life of the Earliest Christian Communities, 50–70 C.E. Paulist. ISBN 978-0-8091-0537-3. Given the placement of the Lord's Prayer in the Didache, it was to be expected that the new member of the community would come to learn and to pray the Lord's Prayer at the appointed hours three times each day only after baptism (8:2f.).
240. Beckwith, Roger T. (2005). Calendar, Chronology And Worship: Studies in Ancient Judaism And Early Christianity. Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-14603-7. So three minor hours of prayer were developed, at the third, sixth and ninth hours, which, as Dugmore points out, were ordinary divisions of the day for worldly affairs, and the Lord's Prayer was transferred to those hours.
241. Chadwick, Henry (1993). The Early Church. Penguin. ISBN 978-1-101-16042-8. Hippolytus in the Apostolic Tradition directed that Christians should pray seven times a day – on rising, at the lighting of the evening lamp, at bedtime, at midnight, and also, if at home, at the third, sixth and ninth hours of the day, being hours associated with Christ's Passion. Prayers at the third, sixth, and ninth hours are similarly mentioned by Tertullian, Cyprian, Clement of Alexandria and Origen, and must have been very widely practised. These prayers were commonly associated with private Bible reading in the family.
242. Lössl, Josef (2010). The Early Church: History and Memory. A&C Black. p. 135. ISBN 978-0-567-16561-9. Not only the content of early Christian prayer was rooted in Jewish tradition; its daily structure too initially followed a Jewish pattern, with prayer times in the early morning, at noon and in the evening. Later (in the course of the second century), this pattern combined with another one; namely prayer times in the evening, at midnight and in the morning. As a result seven 'hours of prayer' emerged, which later became the monastic 'hours' and are still treated as 'standard' prayer times in many churches today. They are roughly equivalent to midnight, 6 a.m., 9 a.m., noon, 3 p.m., 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. Prayer positions included prostration, kneeling and standing. ... Crosses made of wood or stone, or painted on walls or laid out as mosaics, were also in use, at first not directly as objections of veneration but in order to 'orientate' the direction of prayer (i.e. towards the east, Latin oriens).
243. Kurian, Jake. ""Seven Times a Day I Praise You" – The Shehimo Prayers". Diocese of South-West America of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
244. Mary Cecil, 2nd Baroness Amherst of Hackney (1906). A Sketch of Egyptian History from the Earliest Times to the Present Day. Methuen. p. 399. Prayers 7 times a day are enjoined, and the most strict among the Copts recite one of more of the Psalms of David each time they pray. They always wash their hands and faces before devotions, and turn to the East.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
245. Hippolytus. "Apostolic Tradition" (PDF). St. John's Episcopal Church. pp. 8, 16, 17. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 October 2022. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
246. Acts 9:40
247. 1Kings 17:19–22
248. James 5:16–18
249. Alexander, T. D.; Rosner, B. S., eds. (2001). "Prayer". New Dictionary of Biblical Theology. Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity.
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259. Kimbrough, S. T. (2005). Orthodox And Wesleyan Scriptural Understanding And Practice. St Vladimir's Seminary Press. p. 23. ISBN 978-0-88141-301-4.
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261. John Bowker, 2011, The Message and the Book, UK, Atlantic Books, pp. 13–14
262. Kelly. Early Christian Doctrines. pp. 69–78.
263. Catechism of the Catholic Church, The Holy Spirit, Interpreter of Scripture § 115–118. Archived 25 March 2015 at the Wayback Machine
264. 1Cor 10:2
265. Thomas Aquinas, "Whether in Holy Scripture a word may have several senses" Archived 6 September 2006 at the Wayback Machine
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270. "Sola Scriptura?". WELS Topical Q&A. Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. 15 May 2006. Archived from the original on 27 September 2009. Retrieved 26 May 2024. [M]any passages...state sola scriptura, such as Revelation 22:18-19. If we cannot add anything to the words of Scripture and we cannot take anything away from them, that is Scripture alone.
271. "Methodist Beliefs: In what ways are Lutherans different from United Methodists?". Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. 2014. Archived from the original on 22 May 2014. Retrieved 22 May 2014. The United Methodists see Scripture as the primary source and criterion for Christian doctrine. They emphasize the importance of tradition, experience, and reason for Christian doctrine. Lutherans teach that the Bible is the sole source for Christian doctrine. The truths of Scripture do not need to be authenticated by tradition, human experience, or reason. Scripture is self authenticating and is true in and of itself.
272. Mathison, Keith A. (2001). "Introduction". The Shape of Sola Scriptura. Canon Press. p. 15. ISBN 978-1-885767-74-5.
273. Humphrey, Edith M. (15 April 2013). Scripture and Tradition. Baker. p. 16. ISBN 978-1-4412-4048-4. historically Anglicans have adopted what could be called a prima Scriptura position.
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280. Terry, Milton (1974). Biblical hermeneutics: a treatise on the interpretation of the Old and New Testaments. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. p. 205. (1890 edition page 103, view1, view2)
281. e.g., in his commentary on Matthew 1 (§III.1). Matthew Henry interprets the twin sons of Judah, Phares and Zara, as an allegory of the Gentile and Jewish Christians. For a contemporary treatment, see Glenny, Typology: A Summary Of The Present Evangelical Discussion.
282. Denova, Rebecca (2 March 2022). "Christianity". World History Encyclopedia. Christianity is the world's largest religion, with 2.8 billion adherents.
283. Jan Pelikan, Jaroslav (13 August 2022). "Christianity". Christianity | Definition, Origin, History, Beliefs, Symbols, Types, & Facts | Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica. It has become the largest of the world's religions and, geographically, the most widely diffused of all faiths.
284. Johnson, Todd M.; Grim, Brian J., eds. (2020). "All Religions (global totals)". World Religion Database. Leiden, Boston: Brill, Boston University.
285. 31.4% of ≈7.4 billion world population (under the section 'People') "World". The World Factbook (2024 ed.). Central Intelligence Agency. 14 December 2021. (Archived 2021 edition.)
286. "World's largest religion by population is still Christianity". Pew Research Center. 5 April 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
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290. R. Ross, Kenneth (2017). Christianity in Sub-Saharan Africa: Edinburgh Companions to Global Christianity. Edinburgh University Press. p. 17. ISBN 978-1-4744-1204-9.
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     • Anderson, Allan; Bergunder, Michael; Droogers, Andre (2010). Studying Global PentecostalismTheories and Methods. University of California Press Scholarship. doi:10.1525/california/9780520266612.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-520-26661-2. With its remarkable ability to adapt to different cultures, Pentecostalism has become the world's fastest growing religious movement.
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457. Ariel, Yaakov (2006). "Judaism and Christianity Unite! The Unique Culture of Messianic Judaism". In Gallagher, Eugene V.; Ashcraft, W. Michael (eds.). Jewish and Christian Traditions. Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America. Vol. 2. Westport, CN: Greenwood. p. 208. ISBN 978-0-275-98714-5. Retrieved 9 September 2015. For example, Messianic Jews, without exception, believe that the way to eternal life is through the acceptance of Jesus as one's personal savior and that no obedience to the Jewish law or "works" is necessary in order to obtain that goal....Remarkably, it has been exactly this adherence to the basic Christian evangelical faith that has allowed Messianic Jews to adopt and promote Jewish rites and customs. They are Christians in good standing and can retain whatever cultural attributes and rites they choose.
458. Melton, J. Gordon; Baumann, Martin (2010). Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices (2nd ed.). ABC-CLIO. p. 620. ISBN 978-1-59884-204-3.
459. Western Esotericism and the Science of Religion: Selected Papers Presented at the 17th Congress
460. Besant, Annie (2001). Esoteric Christianity or the Lesser Mysteries. Adamant Media. ISBN 978-1-4021-0029-1.
461. From the Greek ἐσωτερικός (esôterikos, "inner"). The term esotericism itself was coined in the 17th century. (Oxford English Dictionary Compact Edition, Volume 1, Oxford University Press, 1971, p. 894.)
462. Wouter J. Hanegraaff, Antoine Faivre, Roelof van den Broek, Jean-Pierre Brach, Dictionary of Gnosis & Western Esotericism, Brill 2005.
463. "Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary: esotericism". Webster.com. 13 August 2010. Archived from the original on 2 December 2008. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
464. "Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary: esoteric". Webster.com. Archived from the original on 7 September 2008. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
465. The Journal of American History. Oxford University Press. 1997. p. 1400. Richard T. Hughes, professor of religion at Pepperdine University, argues that the Churches of Christ built a corporate identity around "restoration" of the primitive church and the corresponding belief that their congregations represented a nondenominational Christianity.
466. Barnett, Joe R. (2020). "Who are the Churches of Christ". Southside Church of Christ. Archived from the original on 19 February 2022. Retrieved 7 December 2020. Not A Denomination: For this reason, we are not interested in man-made creeds, but in the New Testament pattern. We do not conceive of ourselves as being a denomination–nor as Catholic, Protestant, or Jewish—but as members of the church which Jesus established and for which he died. And that, incidentally, is why we wear his name. The term "church of Christ" is not used as a denominational designation, but rather as a descriptive term indicating that the church belongs to Christ.
467. Nash, Donald A. "Why the Churches of Christ Are Not A Denomination" (PDF). The Christian Restoration Association. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
468. Hughes, Richard Thomas; Roberts, R. L. (2001). The Churches of Christ. Greenwood. p. 63. ISBN 978-0-313-23312-8. Barton Stone was fully prepared to ally himself with Alexander Campbell in an effort to promote nondenominational Christianity, though it is evident that the two men came to this emphasis by very different routes.
469. Cherok, Richard J. (14 June 2011). Debating for God: Alexander Campbell's Challenge to Skepticism in Antebellum America. ACU Press. ISBN 978-0-89112-838-0. Later proponents of Campbell's views would refer to themselves as the "Restoration Movement" because of the Campbellian insistence on restoring Christianity to its New Testament form. ... Added to this mix were the concepts of American egalitarianism, which gave rise to his advocacy of nondenominational individualism and local church autonomy, and Christian primitivism, which led to his promotion of such early church practices as believer's baptism by immersion and the weekly partaking of the Lord's Supper.
470. Dawson, Christopher; Olsen, Glenn (1961). Crisis in Western Education (Reprint ed.). CUA Press. ISBN 978-0-8132-1683-6.
471. E. McGrath, Alister (2006). Christianity: An Introduction. John Wiley & Sons. p. 336. ISBN 1-4051-0899-1.
472. "Review of How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization by Thomas Woods Jr". National Review Book Service. Archived from the original on 22 August 2006. Retrieved 16 September 2006.
473. Chazan, Robert (2006). The Jews of Medieval Western Christendom: 1000–1500. Cambridge University Press. p. xi. ISBN 978-0-521-61664-5. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
474. Encarta-encyclopedie Winkler Prins (1993–2002) s.v. "christendom. § 1.3 Scheidingen". Microsoft Corporation/Het Spectrum.
475. Meyendorff, John (1982). The Byzantine Legacy in the Orthodox Church. Yonkers: St Vladimir's Seminary Press. p. 19. ISBN 978-0-913836-90-3.
476. Cameron 2006, pp. 42–49.
477. G. Koenig, Harold (2009). Religion and Spirituality in Psychiatry. Cambridge University Press. p. 31. ISBN 978-0-521-88952-0. The Bible is the most globally influential and widely read book ever written. ... it has been a major influence on the behavior, laws, customs, education, art, literature, and morality of Western civilization.
478. Burnside, Jonathan (2011). God, Justice, and Society: Aspects of Law and Legality in the Bible. Oxford University Press. p. XXVI. ISBN 978-0-19-975921-7.
479. Riches 2000, ch. 1.
480. A. Spinello, Richard (2012). The Encyclicals of John Paul II: An Introduction and Commentary. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 147. ISBN 978-1-4422-1942-7. ... The insights of Christian philosophy "would not have happened without the direct or indirect contribution of Christian faith" (FR 76). Typical Christian philosophers include St. Augustine, St. Bonaventure, and St. Thomas Aquinas. The benefits derived from Christian philosophy are twofold....
481. Gilley, Sheridan; Stanley, Brian (2006). World Christianities c. 1815–c.1914. The Cambridge History of Christianity. Vol. 8. Cambridge University Press. p. 164. ISBN 0-521-81456-1. ... Many of the scientists who contributed to these developments were Christians...
482. Steane, Andrew (2014). Faithful to Science: The Role of Science in Religion. Oxford University Press. p. 179. ISBN 978-0-19-102513-6. ... the Christian contribution to science has been uniformly at the top level, but it has reached that level and it has been sufficiently strong overall ...
483. Graves, Daniel (7 July 1998). "Christian Influences in the Sciences". rae.org. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015.
484. "50 Nobel Laureates and Other Great Scientists Who Believe in God". Archived from the original on 17 June 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) Many well-known historical figures who influenced Western science considered themselves Christian such as Nicolaus Copernicus, Galileo Galilei, Johannes Kepler, Isaac Newton, Robert Boyle, Alessandro Volta, Michael Faraday, William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin and James Clerk Maxwell.
485. S. Kroger, William (2016). Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis in Medicine, Dentistry and Psychology. Pickle Partners Publishing. ISBN 978-1-78720-304-4. Many prominent Catholic physicians and psychologists have made significant contributions to hypnosis in medicine, dentistry, and psychology.
486. "Religious Affiliation of the World's Greatest Artists". Archived from the original on 11 December 2005.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
487. Suzel Ana Reily, Jonathan M. Dueck, The Oxford Handbook of Music and World Christianities, Oxford University Press, USA, 2016, p. 443
488. "Wealthy 100 and the 100 Most Influential in Business". Archived from the original on 19 November 2005.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
489. W. Williams, Peter (2016). Religion, Art, and Money: Episcopalians and American Culture from the Civil War to the Great Depression. University of North Carolina Press. p. 176. ISBN 978-1-4696-2698-7.
490. Baruch A. Shalev, 100 Years of Nobel Prizes (2003), Atlantic Publishers & Distributors, p. 57: between 1901 and 2000 reveals that 654 Laureates belong to 28 different religions. Most (65.4%) have identified Christianity in its various forms as their religious preference. ISBN 978-0935047370
491. Curtis, Michael (2017). Jews, Antisemitism, and the Middle East. Routledge. p. 173. ISBN 978-1-351-51072-1.
492. D. Barr, Michael (2012). Cultural Politics and Asian Values. Routledge. p. 81. ISBN 978-1-136-00166-6.
493. Hill, Donald. Islamic Science and Engineering. 1993. Edinburgh Univ. Press. ISBN 0748604553, p. 4
494. Brague, Rémi (2009). The Legend of the Middle Ages. University of Chicago Press. p. 164. ISBN 978-0-226-07080-3.
495. Ferguson, Kitty (2011). Pythagoras: His Lives and the Legacy of a Rational Universe. Icon. p. 100. ISBN 978-1-84831-250-0. It was in the Near and Middle East and North Africa that the old traditions of teaching and learning continued, and where Christian scholars were carefully preserving ancient texts and knowledge of the ancient Greek language
496. Kaser, Karl (2011). The Balkans and the Near East: Introduction to a Shared History. LIT Verlag Münster. p. 135. ISBN 978-3-643-50190-5.
497. Rémi Brague, Assyrians contributions to the Islamic civilization Archived 27 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine
498. Britannica, Nestorian
499. Pacini, Andrea (1998). Christian Communities in the Arab Middle East: The Challenge of the Future. Clarendon. pp. 38, 55. ISBN 978-0-19-829388-0.
500. Dawson, Christopher; Olsen, Glenn (1961). Crisis in Western Education (Reprint ed.). CUA Press. p. 108. ISBN 978-0-8132-1683-6.
501. Koch, Carl (1994). The Catholic Church: Journey, Wisdom, and Mission. Early Middle Ages: St. Mary's Press. ISBN 978-0-88489-298-4.
502. Jan Pelikan, Jaroslav (13 August 2022). "The Christian community and the world". Christianity - Church, State, History | Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica.
503. Hough, Susan Elizabeth (2007), Richter's Scale: Measure of an Earthquake, Measure of a Man, Princeton University Press, p. 68, ISBN 978-0-691-12807-8
504. Woods 2005, p. 109.
505. Wright, Jonathan (2004). God's Soldiers: Adventure, Politics, intrigue and Power: A History of the Jesuits. HarperCollins. p. 200.
506. "Jesuit". Jesuit | History, Definition, Order, Catholic, Slavery, & Facts | Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica. 16 May 2023.
507. Rodney Stark, For the Glory of God: How Monotheism Led to Reformations, Science, Witch-Hunts and the End of Slavery, 2003, Princeton University Press, ISBN 0691114366, p. 123
508. Wallace, William A. (1984). Prelude, Galileo and his Sources. The Heritage of the Collegio Romano in Galileo's Science. NJ: Princeton University Press.
509. Lindberg, David C.; Numbers, Ronald L. (1986), "Introduction", God & Nature: Historical Essays on the Encounter Between Christianity and Science, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, pp. 5, 12, ISBN 978-0-520-05538-4
510. Cohen, I. Bernard (1990). Puritanism and the rise of modern science: the Merton thesis. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press. ISBN 978-0-8135-1530-4.
511. Cohen, H. (1994). The scientific revolution: a historiographical inquiry. University of Chicago Press. pp. 320–321. ISBN 978-0-226-11280-0. Google Print, pp. 320–321
512. Ferngren, Gary B. (2002). Science and religion: a historical introduction. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 125. ISBN 978-0-8018-7038-5. Google Print, p.125
513. Crislip, Andrew T. (2005). From Monastery to Hospital: Christian Monasticism & the Transformation of Health Care in Late Antiquity. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-472-11474-0.
514. Weber, Max (1905). The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism.
515. Hillerbrand, Hans J. (2016). Encyclopedia of Protestantism: 4-volume Set. Pickle Partners Publishing. p. 174. ISBN 978-1-78720-304-4. ... In the centuries succeeding the holy Reformation the teaching of Protestantism was consistent on the nature of work. Some Protestant theologians also contributed to the study of economics, especially the nineteenth-century Scottish minister Thomas Chalmers ....
516. Hopkins, Owen (2014). Architectural Styles: A Visual Guide. Laurence King. pp. 23, 25. ISBN 978-1-78067-163-5.
517. Buringh, Eltjo; van Zanden, Jan Luiten: "Charting the 'Rise of the West': Manuscripts and Printed Books in Europe, A Long-Term Perspective from the Sixth through Eighteenth Centuries", The Journal of Economic History, Vol. 69, No. 2 (2009), pp. 409–445 (416, table 1)
518. Christianity has always placed a strong emphasis on hygiene:

     • Warsh, Cheryl Krasnick; Strong-Boag, Veronica (2006). Children's Health Issues in Historical Perspective. Wilfrid Laurier University Press. p. 315. ISBN 978-0-88920-912-1. ... From Fleming's perspective, the transition to Christianity required a good dose of personal and public hygiene ...
     • Warsh, Cheryl Krasnick (2006). Children's Health Issues in Historical Perspective. Veronica Strong-Boag. Wilfrid Laurier University Press. p. 315. ISBN 978-0-88920-912-1. ... Thus bathing also was considered a part of good health practice. For example, Tertullian attended the baths and believed them hygienic. Clement of Alexandria, while condemning excesses, had given guidelines for Christians who wished to attend the baths ...
     • Squatriti, Paolo (2002). Water and Society in Early Medieval Italy, AD 400–1000, Parti 400–1000. Cambridge University Press. p. 54. ISBN 978-0-521-52206-9. ... but baths were normally considered therapeutic until the days of Gregory the Great, who understood virtuous bathing to be bathing "on account of the needs of body" ...
     • Eveleigh, Bogs (2002). Baths and Basins: The Story of Domestic Sanitation. Stroud, England: Sutton.

     Christianity's role in the development and promotion of spas:

     • Bradley, Ian (2012). Water: A Spiritual History. Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-1-4411-6767-5.

     Contribution of the Christian missionaries of better health care of the people through hygiene and introducing and distributing the soaps:

     • Channa, Subhadra (2009). The Forger's Tale: The Search for Odeziaku. Indiana University Press. p. 284. ISBN 978-8177550504. A major contribution of the Christian missionaries was better health care of the people through hygiene. Soap, tooth–powder and brushes came to be used increasingly in urban areas.
     • Thomas, John (2015). Evangelising the Nation: Religion and the Formation of Naga Political Identity. Routledge. p. 284. ISBN 978-1-317-41398-1. cleanliness and hygiene became an important marker of being identified as a Christian
519. Gariepy, Henry (2009). Christianity in Action: The History of the International Salvation Army. Wm. B. Eerdmans. p. 16. ISBN 978-0-8028-4841-3.
520. Rawson, Beryl (2010). A Companion to Families in the Greek and Roman Worlds. John Wiley & Sons. p. 111. ISBN 978-1-4443-9075-9. ...Christianity placed great emphasis on the family and on all members from children to the aged...
521. Pritchard, Colin (2006). Mental Health Social Work: Evidence-Based Practice. Routledge. p. 111. ISBN 978-1-134-36544-9.
522. James D. Mallory, Stanley C. Baldwin, The kink and I: a psychiatrist's guide to untwisted living, 1973, p. 64
523. G.C. Oosthuizen. Postchristianity in Africa. C Hurst & Co Publishers Ltd (1968). ISBN 0903983052
524. Peter, Laurence (17 October 2018). "Orthodox Church split: Five reasons why it matters". BBC. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
525. McManners, Oxford Illustrated History of Christianity, pp. 581–584.
526. Pizzey, Antonia (2019). Receptive Ecumenism and the Renewal of the Ecumenical Movement: The Path of Ecclesial Conversion. Brill. p. 131. ISBN 978-9004397804.
527. McManners, Oxford Illustrated History of Christianity. pp. 413ff.
528. McManners, Oxford Illustrated History of Christianity, p. 498.
529. "Resolution". Federal Council Bulletin. 25–27. Religious Publicity Service of the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America. 1942.
530. The Oxford Companion to Christian thought. Oxford University Press. 2000. p. 694. ISBN 978-0-19-860024-4.
531. Oxford, "Encyclopedia of Christianity, p. 307.
532. McManners, Oxford Illustrated History of Christianity, p. 373.
533. McManners, Oxford Illustrated History of Christianity, p. 583.
534. "Methodist Statement" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 January 2010. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
535. International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: E-J by Geoffrey W. Bromiley 1982 ISBN 0-8028-3782-4 p. 175
536. Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways, A.D. 70 to 135 by James D.G. Dunn 1999 ISBN 0802844987 pp. 112–113
537. Asher Norman Twenty-six Reasons why Jews Don't Believe in Jesus Feldheim Publishers 2007 ISBN 978-0977193707 p. 11
538. Keith Akers The Lost Religion of Jesus: Simple Living and Nonviolence in Early Christianity. Lantern Books 2000 ISBN 978-1930051263 p. 103
539. Ferguson, Everett (1993). Backgrounds of Early Christianity (second ed.). Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans. pp. 562–564. ISBN 978-0-8028-0669-7.
540. Thomas, Stephen (2004). "Celsus". In McGuckin, John Anthony (ed.). The Westminster Handbook to Origen. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press. pp. 72–73. ISBN 978-0-664-22472-1.
541. Olson, Roger E. (1999), The Story of Christian Theology: Twenty Centuries of Tradition & Reform, Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, p. 101, ISBN 978-0-8308-1505-0
542. McGuckin, John Anthony (2004). "The Scholarly Works of Origen". The Westminster Handbook to Origen. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press. pp. 32–34. ISBN 978-0-664-22472-1.
543. Ferguson, Everett (1993). Backgrounds of Early Christianity (second ed.). Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans. pp. 556 561. ISBN 978-0-8028-0669-7.
544. Sherwin-White, A. N. (April 1964). "Why Were the Early Christians Persecuted? – An Amendment". Past and Present (27): 23–27. doi:10.1093/past/27.1.23. JSTOR 649759.
545. The Encyclopedia of Christian Literature, Volume 1 by George Thomas Kurian and James Smith 2010 ISBN 081086987X p. 527
546. Apologetic Discourse and the Scribal Tradition by Wayne Campbell Kannaday 2005 ISBN 9004130853 pp. 32–33
547. A Dictionary of Jewish-Christian Relations by Edward Kessler, Neil Wenborn 2005 ISBN 0521826926 p. 168
548. The Cambridge Companion to Nietzsche by Bernd Magnus, Kathleen Marie Higgins 1996 ISBN 0521367670 pp. 90–93
549. Russell on Religion: Selections from the Writings of Bertrand Russell by Bertrand Russell, Stefan Andersson and Louis Greenspan 1999 ISBN 0415180910 pp. 77–87
550. Christianity: An Introduction by Alister E. McGrath 2006 ISBN 1405108991 pp. 125–126.
551. " The Christ Myth Theory and its Problems ", published 2011 by American Atheist Press, Cranford, NJ, ISBN 1578840171
552. James L. Barton, Turkish Atrocities: Statements of American Missionaries on the Destruction of Christian Communities in Ottoman Turkey, 1915–1917. Gomidas Institute, 1998, ISBN 1884630049.
553. Kaplan, S. (2005). ""Religious Nationalism": A Textbook Case from Turkey". Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East. 25 (3): 665–676. doi:10.1215/1089201x-25-3-665. ISSN 1089-201X. S2CID 144003006.
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562. ἀπολογητικός, ἀπολογέομαι in Liddell and Scott.
563. Dulles, Avery Robert Cardinal (2005). A History of Apologetics. San Francisco: Ignatius. p. 120. ISBN 978-0-89870-933-9.
564. Bush, L. Russ, ed. (1983). Classical Readings in Christian Apologetics. Grand Rapids: Zondervan. p. 275. ISBN 978-0-310-45641-4.
565. "Why I Believe in Christianity – Society of Gilbert Keith Chesterton". 6 December 2010.
566. Hauser, Chris (History major, Dartmouth College class of 2014) (Fall 2011). "Faith and Paradox: G.K. Chesterton's Philosophy of Christian Paradox". The Dartmouth Apologia: A Journal of Christian Thought. 6 (1): 16–20. Archived from the original on 14 July 2015. Retrieved 29 March 2015.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
567. "Christianity". 6 December 2010.
568. Howson, Colin (2011). Objecting to God. Cambridge University Press. p. 92. ISBN 978-1-139-49856-2. Nor is the agreement coincidental, according to a substantial constituency of religious apologists, who regard the inflationary Big Bang model as direct evidence for God. John Lennox, a mathematician at the University of Oxford, tells us that 'even if the non-believers don't like it, the Big Bang fits in exactly with the Christian narrative of creation'. ... William Lane Craig is another who claims that the Biblical account is corroborated by Big Bang cosmology. Lane Craig also claims that there is a prior proof that there is a God who created this universe.

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• Servetus, Michael. Restoration of Christianity. Lewiston, New York: Edwin Mellen Press (2007).
• Simon, Edith. Great Ages of Man: The Reformation. Time-Life Books (1966). ISBN 0662278208.
• Spitz, Lewis. The Protestant Reformation. Concordia Publishing House (2003). ISBN 0570033209.
• Spurgeon, Charles. A Defense of Calvinism.
• Sykes, Stephen; Booty, John; Knight, Jonathan. The Study of Anglicanism. Augsburg Fortress Publishers (1998). ISBN 080063151X.
• Talbott, Thomas. Three Pictures of God in Western Theology (1995).
• Ustorf, Werner. "A missiological postscript", in: McLeod, Hugh; Ustorf, Werner (ed.). The Decline of Christendom in Western Europe, 1750–2000. Cambridge University Press (2003).
• Walsh, Chad. Campus Gods on Trial. Rev. and enl. ed. New York: Macmillan Co., 1962, t.p. 1964. xiv, [4], 154 p.
• White, James F. (2010). Introduction to Christian Worship Third Edition: Revised and Expanded (3rd ed.). Abingdon. ISBN 978-1-4267-2285-1.
• Woodhead, Linda (2004). Christianity: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-280322-1.
• Lim, Timothy H. (2017) [2005]. The Dead Sea Scrolls: a very short introduction (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-877952-0.
• Woods, Thomas E. (2005). How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization. Washington, D.C.: Regnery.
• Riches, John (2000). The Bible: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-285343-1.

Further reading

• Challoner, Richard (1801). "Rules for a Christian Life" . Think Well On't or, Reflections on the great truths of the Christian religion for every day of the month. T. Haydock.
• Gill, Robin (2001). The Cambridge companion to Christian ethics. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-77918-0.
• Gunton, Colin E. (1997). The Cambridge companion to Christian doctrine. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-47695-9.
• MacCulloch, Diarmaid. Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years (Viking; 2010) 1,161 pp.; survey by leading historian
• MacMullen, Ramsay (2006). Voting About God in Early Church Councils. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-11596-3.
• Padgett, Alan G.; Bruyneel, Sally (2003). Introducing Christianity. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis. ISBN 978-1-57075-395-4.
• Price, Matthew Arlen; Collins, Michael (1999). The story of Christianity. New York: Dorling Kindersley. ISBN 978-0-7513-0467-1.
• Ratzinger, Joseph (2004). Introduction To Christianity (Communio Books). San Francisco: Ignatius. ISBN 978-1-58617-029-5.
• Roper, J.C., Bp. (1923), et al.. Faith in God, in series, Layman's Library of Practical Religion, Church of England in Canada, vol. 2. Toronto, Ont.: Musson Book Co. N.B.: The series statement is given in the more extended form which appears on the book's front cover.
• Robinson, George (2000). Essential Judaism: A Complete Guide to Beliefs, Customs and Rituals. New York: Pocket. ISBN 978-0-671-03481-8.
• Rüegg, Walter (1992). "Foreword. The University as a European Institution", in: A History of the University in Europe. Vol. 1, Universities in the Middle Ages. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-36105-2.
• Tucker, Karen; Wainwright, Geoffrey (2006). The Oxford History of Christian Worship. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-513886-3.
• Verger, Jacques (1999). Culture, enseignement et société en Occident aux XIIe et XIIIe siècles (in French). Presses universitaires de Rennes in Rennes. ISBN 978-2868473448.
• Wagner, Richard (2004). Christianity for Dummies. For Dummies. ISBN 978-0-7645-4482-8.
• Webb, Jeffrey B. (2004). The Complete Idiot's Guide to Christianity. Indianapolis: Alpha. ISBN 978-1-59257-176-5.
• Wills, Garry, "A Wild and Indecent Book" (review of David Bentley Hart, The New Testament: A Translation, Yale University Press, 577 pp.), The New York Review of Books, vol. LXV, no. 2 (8 February 2018), pp. 34–35. Discusses some pitfalls in interpreting and translating the New Testament.

External links

• "Christianity". Encyclopædia Britannica
• Religion & Ethics – Christianity A number of introductory articles on Christianity from the BBC