Christianity, the Christian religion, based on the belief that Jesus Christ is the incarnate Son of God and on his teachings. The world's largest religion, Christianity was originally a sect of Judaism, Jesus, who was a Jew, believed to be the Messiah and Son of God, the fulfilment in a new way of Jewish millenarian and eschatological prophecies of the Saviour.

He proclaimed a new covenant between God and humanity. Central to Christianity is the belief that Jesus is the incarnate Son of God, from which developed the doctrine of the Trinity, whereby God is three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, yet one God.

Jesus' death by crucifixion represents a sacrifice through which humanity may be redeemed from its sinful condition (see original sin), and his resurrection from the dead symbolizes the hope of eternal life, as expressed in the doctrine of atonement. The Christian holy book is the Bible, the first part of which, the Old Testament, is the same as the Hebrew Scriptures. Christians acknowledge the moral force of the Ten Commandments, but add to these Jesus' teaching of divine love, found in the second part of the Bible, the New Testament, a compilation of writings on Jesus' life and the development of the early Church and Christian doctrines.

The doctrine of divine love is considered to be at the heart of God's relationship with humanity, and Christians are called on to display equal love in human relationships. Christianity has from the earliest times been characterized by a strong tradition of communal worship and, in many cases, well-developed ritual, but the liturgy, or forms of worship, vary strikingly between the different Christian Churches.
Christian Churches also vary in the importance attached to the sacraments, but the vast majority accept Baptism, in which the believer is initiated into membership of the Church, and the Eucharist, in which bread and wine are blessed and distributed between believers as a memorial or re-enactment of the Last Supper, the Passover meal celebrated by Jesus and his disciples on the eve of his death. Christians believe in life after death, but the Churches vary in their interpretation of the afterlife, heaven, and hell.
The teachings of Jesus began to spread, particularly through the missionary travels of the former pharisee, Paul, who visited Asia Minor, Greece, and Rome. Paul's message that faith in Jesus was open to everyone brought Christianity to Gentiles (non-Jews) who were not willing to accept the ritual obligations of Judaism and enabled Christianity to spread rapidly. Initially Christians experienced intermittent harassment by the Roman authorities though there was no clear legal basis for this until the reign of Emperor Decius, who began systematic persecution of the Christians in AD 250.

By the 3rd century, Christianity was widespread throughout the Roman empire; in 313 Constantine ended persecution and in 380 Theodosius recognized it as the official religion of the empire. By this time Christianity had also reached Armenia, Egypt, Persia, and probably southern India.
Around AD 200, the Church leaders began to collect together the most authoritative Christian writings into the New Testament of the Bible, the final selection being agreed by 382; and in 325 at the Council of Nicaea a statement of Christian belief was agreed. As the Church grew, however, there were disputes between Christians on matters of doctrine and later over church organization. A division, originally cultural and linguistic, grew between the Eastern Church based at Constantinople and the Western Church at Rome, culminating in the East-West Schism of 1054 and sealed by the sacking of Constantinople by the Crusaders in 1204.
In the West the unity of the Church, focused on the papacy in Rome, was challenged by the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century and the emergence of autonomous reformed churches. This period also saw renewed missionary activity, particularly by Catholic religious orders, as European countries colonized other parts of the world. By 1800 the political influence of the Church was waning but its moral teachings continued to guide the behaviour of individuals.



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