Meaning of Christianity:
According to Wikipaedia, Christianity is an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world’s largest religion, with about 2.5 billion followers.
The adherents/believers of Christianity are called the Christians. The fundamental belief of the Christians is that Jesus is the Christ, whose coming as the Messiah was prophesied in the Hebrew Bible (called the Old Testament in Christianity) and chronicled in the New Testament.
Wikipaedia also had it that the four largest branches of Christianity are the Catholic Church (1.3 billion/50.1%), Protestantism (920 million/36.7%), the Eastern Orthodox Church (230 million), and the Oriental Orthodox churches (62 million) (Orthodox churches combined at 11.9%), though thousands of smaller church communities exist despite efforts toward unity (ecumenism).
It should be noted that While Christians worldwide share basic convictions, there are also differences of interpretations and opinions of the Bible and sacred traditions on which Christianity is based.
Facts about Christianity you must know
In this article titled ”the 20 most important facts to note about Christianity” we have picked out the basic facts about Christianity based on Christianity history, Origin, Christianity beliefs and practices, types of Christianity, Christian doctrines and Christianity facts . Accordingly, find below the major facts you must know about Christianity:
- Christianity originated with the ministry of Jesus, a Jewish teacher and healer who proclaimed the imminent kingdom of Godand was crucified AD 30–33 in Jerusalem in the roman province of Judea.
- It is a religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus. Most forms of Christianity hold that Jesus is the Son of God and is the second person of the Trinity, through whom humans may attain redemption from sin. The central idea of Christianity is the belief in Jesus as the Son of God and the Messiah (Christ). Christians believe that Jesus, as the Messiah, was anointed by God as savior of humanity and hold that Jesus’ coming was the fulfillment of messianic prophecies of the Old Testament.
- Christianity is one of three Abrahamic religions: are a group of monotheistic religions that strictly endorse worship of the God of Abraham they include Judaism, Christianity and Islam
- It’s one of the main religions of the world and throughout centuries it has shaped the world into what it is today. It has become the largest of the world’s religions and, geographically, the most widely diffused of all faiths.
- Baptism: is the outward act that symbolizes the inward phenomenon of coming to and accepting Jesus Christ as real, as God incarnate, as the sacrificial means by which those who believe in him can be forever reconciled to God.
- The Trinity: this is a part of the Christian doctrine that suggests that God exists in three equal persons, God the Father, God The Son (Jesus who came down as Man and died for our sins), and God the Holy Spirit (who dwells in us here on earth, he came after Jesus left to be our comforter and guide us).
- Main Branches: the church was one body which was the catholic church until it split in two which led to the creation of the eastern orthodox church, this split was due to disputes on who had the most power within the church and whether icons could be used or not. The protestant church was formed during the reformation, when Martin Luther protested about the catholic church and tried to change some things, his followers became the protestants.
- Christianity has the 10 commandments given to them by God through Moses: God gave us these laws as a guide for the good living of His people and as a check against evil.
- The general holiday of the church are: the Christmas holiday which represents the birth of Jesus Christ on earth for the salvation of man and the Easter holiday which was when Jesus was killed buried and he resurrected.
- Jesus had apostles: he had 12 apostles, they were his companions and he taught them the secrets of the kingdom of God, they learnt from him and taught others what he taught them. One of his disciples betrayed him and his name was Judas Iscariot
- Laws mentioned in the bible required farmers to leave parts of their fields unharvested for strangers: the Old Testament, “Strangers” and “foreigners” referred to anybody from another ethnic group who had chosen to live with the Jews in Israel. This practice was a way of showing hospitality.(Leviticus 19:33-34).
- Jehovah’s Witnesses don’t celebrate birthdays because they believe it has some pagan route and it will offend God. They also believe that There was not a servant of God celebrating a birthday,” and that early Christians didn’t celebrate them. Jehovah’s Witnesses also don’t celebrate Christmas and Easter.
- They also believe that no early Christians who celebrated their birthdays and because the only two accounts of birthday parties in the Bible resulted in murder.
- The keys to the holiest site in Christianity (Church of the holy Sepulchre) are held by a Muslim family that opens the church every morning. The imposing iron key to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, built where many Christians believe Jesus was crucified and buried, was entrusted to his family, one of Jerusalem’s most prominent clans, says Joudeh, He dates the arrangement back to the time of Saladin, the Muslim conqueror who seized the holy city from the Crusaders in 1187.
- Christianity has the Sabbath day: a day set aside for rest and worship, a practice that was mandated for the Israelites in the Ten Commandments in line with God’s blessing of the seventh day (Saturday) making it holy, “because on it God rested from all his work that he had done.
- The Christian Bible: it is the inspired word of God, The Bible is a compilation of 66 books and letters by over 40 authors during a period of approximately 1,500 years. Its original text was communicated in three languages; they were Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic.
- Persecution of Christians: The persecution of Christianscan be historically traced from the first century of the Christian era to the present day. Christian missionaries and converts to Christianity have both been targeted for persecution, sometimes to the point of being martyred for their faith, ever since the emergence of Christianity.
- Christians believe in eternity, it is believed that when a person dies, he receives judgment and goes to Heaven or Hell, it depends on if you are found worthy.
- The Church murdered and persecuted godless and non-Christian people during the holy inquisition: The Inquisition was a powerful office set up within the Catholic Church to root out and punish heresy throughout Europe and the Americas. Beginning in the 12th century and continuing for hundreds of years, the Inquisition is infamous for the severity of its tortures and its persecution of Jews and Muslims. Its worst manifestation was in Spain, where the Spanish Inquisition was a dominant force for more than 200 years, resulting in some 32,000 executions.
Suffice to state at this point that there is no physical description of Jesus in the Bible: Various theories about the race of Jesus have been proposed and debated. This indicates that Jesus’ physical features are not important. However, the Bible does give us some idea of Jesus’ general appearance.