Christianity

Christianity

is the world's biggest religion, with about 2.1 billion

followers worldwide. It is based on the teachings of Jesus Christ

who lived in the Holy Land 2,000 years ago.

For ease of navigation, we include as Christian any group that

sincerely regards itself as Christian, and whose beliefs are based on

the teaching of Jesus.

Christianity is the most popular religion in the world with over

2 billion adherents. 42 million Britons see themselves as nominally

Christian, and there are 6 million who are actively practising.

Christians believe that Jesus was the Messiah promised in the Old

Testament.

Christians believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

Christians believe that God sent his Son to earth to save humanity

from the consequences of its sins.

One of the most important concepts in Christianity is that of Jesus

giving his life on the Cross (the Crucifixion) and rising from the dead

on the third day (the Resurrection).

Christians believe that there is only one God, but that there are

three elements to this one God:

God the Father

God the Son

The Holy Spirit

Christians worship in churches.

Their spiritual leaders are called priests or ministers.

The Christian holy book is the Bible, and consists of the Old and

New Testaments.

Christian holy days such as Easter and Christmas are important

milestones in the Western secular calendar

God, Jesus and the saints

God

Christians believe that there is only one God, whom they call Father as

Jesus Christ taught them.

Jesus

as the Son of God who was sent to save mankind from death and sin.

Jesus Christ taught that he was Son of God. His teachings can be summarized,

briefly as the love of God and love of one's neighbour.

Jesus said that he had come to fulfil God's law rather than teach it.

The Saints

These days, the word saint is most commonly used to refer to a Christian who has

lived a particularly good and holy life on earth, and with whom miracles are claimed to

have been associated after their death.

The formal title of Saint is conferred by the Roman Catholic and Orthodox

Churches through a process called canonisation.Members of these Churches also believe that Saints created in this way can intercede

with God on behalf of people who are alive today. This is not accepted by most

Protestants.

In the Bible, however, the word saint is used as a description of anyone who is a

committed believer, particularly by St. Paul in the New Testament (e.g. Ephesians 1.1.

and 1.15).

The Trinity

Christians believe in the Trinity - that is, in God as Father, Son

and Holy Spirit.

Some confuse this and think that Christians believe in three

separate gods, which they don't.

Christians believe that God took human form as Jesus Christ and

that God is present today through the work of the Holy Spirit and

evident in the actions of believers.

Original sin

The traditional story of original sinThe story behind original sin is told in the Old Testament book of Genesis:

God originally made a perfect world. He created Adam and put him to

live in the Garden of Eden - a blissful place where he had nothing to do but

take care of the garden.

Serpent God told Adam that he could do anything he wanted, except

eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Later, God created Eve to be Adam's wife. Eve was tricked by the

serpent into eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of life and death.

She gave some of the fruit to Adam and he ate it too.

Adam and Eve realised that they were naked and hid in shame. When

God next visited the Garden he realised that they had disobeyed him.

God banished them from the Garden of Eden into the harsh world

outside.

God also banned them from eating the fruit of the tree of life, and so

death entered the world.

SYMBOL

The Bible is not just one book, but an entire library, with stories, songs,

poetry, letters and history, as well as literature that might more obviously qualify

as 'religious'.

The Christian Bible has two sections, the Old Testament and the New

Testament. The Old Testament is the original Hebrew Bible, the sacred

scriptures of the Jewish faith, written at different times between about 1200

and 165 BC. The New Testament books were written by Christians in the first

century AD.

The Bible as librarySpine of a Holy Bible.

CROSS

• Moral influence theories or exemplary theories comprise a fourth

category used to explain the atonement. They emphasise God's

love expressed through the life and death of Jesus.

• Christ accepted a difficult and undeserved death. This

demonstration of love in turn moves us to repent and re-unites us

with God.

SUBDIVISIONS

The Amish

Baptist churches

Christadelphians

Church of England

Church of Scotland

Coptic Orthodox Church

Eastern Orthodox

Church

Exclusive Brethren

Methodist Church

Opus Dei

Pentecostalism

Quakers

Roman Catholic Church

Salvation Army

Seventh-day Adventists

United Reformed Church

Prayer, church and Ritual

• Prayer

• The Church

• Baptism

• Eucharist

Prayer

Prayer is the means by which Christians communicate with their God.

The New Testament records that Jesus taught his disciples how to pray and that heencouraged them to address God as Father. Christians believe that they continue thistradition.

Sometimes the prayers are formal and part of a ritual laid down for hundreds of years.

Others are personal and spontaneous, and come from personal or group need.

Whilst prayer is often directed to God as Father, as taught by Jesus, some traditionsencourage prayer to God through intermediaries such as saints and martyrs.

Prayers through Mary, as the mother of God, are central to some churches and form atraditional part of their worship.

The Church

The Christian church is fundamental to believers. Although it has

many faults it is recognized as God's body on earth.

The church is the place where the Christian faith is nurtured and

where the Holy Spirit is manifest on earth.

It is where Christians are received into the faith and where they

are brought together into one body through the Eucharist.

Baptism

• The Christian church believes in one baptism into the Christian

church, whether this be as an infant or as an adult, as an outward

sign of an inward commitment to the teachings of Jesus.

Eucharist

• The Eucharist is a Greek word for thanksgiving. Its celebration is to

commemorate the final meal that Jesus took with his disciples before his

death (the Last Supper). Which is also called the Holy Communion, Mass,

the Lord's Supper or the Divine Liturgy, is a sacrament accepted by almost all

Christians.

• Christians don't say that they 'do' or 'carry out' the Eucharist; they celebrate

it. In some churches, the person who takes the leading role in the ceremony

is called the celebrant.

• This rite comes from the actions of Jesus who, at that meal, took bread and wine

and asked his disciples to consume them and continue to do so in memory of him.

• The Eucharist (also known as a Communion meal in some churches) is central to

the Church and is recognised as a sign of unity amongst Christians.

• Different Churches understand and practice the Eucharist in different ways. As a

result, the central ideas of the Eucharist can cause disharmony rather than unity.

Pentecost Symbols

The symbols of Pentecost are those of the Holy Spirit and include

flames, wind, the breath of God and a dove.

Pentecostal Christianity

Pentecost is a special day for any Christian, but it is emphasised

particularly by Pentecostal churches. Pentecostal Christians believe in

the direct experience of the Holy Spirit by believers during all of

their services.

The end!