Christianity

Christianity is based on the life and teachings of Jesus, a Palestinian Jew who lived in the first century A.D. His original followers were other Jews who believed that he was the prophesied Messiah, a great leader expected to overthrow all evil rulers and set up a perfect Kingdom of God. As his supporters grew in number, the Jewish and Roman authorities in the country began to view him as a potential threat to their positions of power. As a result, he was arrested and put to death on a cross.

But according to his followers, God resurrected him two days after he was crucified, and he ascended to Heaven a short time later. These events led to the belief that he is the eternal Son of God, who appeared on earth in human form so that he could suffer and die on the cross, thus sacrificing himself in order to pay for everyone's sins and bring about an atonement between God and humnakind.

Christianity was originally a Jewish movement, but it soon began to spread among Gentiles, and eventually achieved its greatest success in that group. The apostle Paul was the foremost missionary in the early period, and was able to establish many churches in Asia Minor and Greece. Christians were persecuted by the Romans until the fourth century, when Emperor Constantine the Great converted to the religion and established it as the official religion of the empire.

During the two thousand years since Jesus lived, Christianity has divided into many denominations and sects. Major divisions include Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Protestantism. Most churches practice two sacraments, baptism and the Eucharist. The sacred scripture is the Bible, which includes the originally Jewish Old Testament and the uniquely Christian New Testament. Including all denominations and sects, there are about two billion Christians in the world.

Christianity.com/
This website is meant to serve as a general resource for all things Christian. It contains Bible study tools and provides access to a large library of Christian literature.

Christianity Today
This website is the online edition of the Christianity Today Magazine. It contains numerous articles about current issues in the world of religion, and also offers movie, music, and book reviews.

The Catholic Encyclopedia
The website is an enormous resource for anyone interested in Christian history, doctrine, and belief. It is especially detailed in its coverage of the lives of the saints.

Other Sections

• Buddhism
  Web resources pertaining to the various branches of Buddhism

• Hinduism
  Websites that relate to Hinduism

• Islam
  Websites about Islam

• Judaism
  Websites pertaining to Judaism

• Other Traditional Religions
  Web resources about Confucianism, Jainism, and other traditional oriental belief systems

• More Religions
  Websites about various other religions

• Skepticism
  Websites which express or promote a skeptical view of organized religions

• Some Common Themes
  Descriptions of some ideas and themes common to many religions

• Other Resources
  Other useful web resources about religion

• More Resources
  Some general web resources and informational websites.

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