32 Facts About Christianity

Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth.

Christianity remains culturally diverse in its Western and Eastern branches, as well as in its doctrines concerning justification and the nature of salvation, ecclesiology, ordination, and Christology.

Christianity began as a Second Temple Judaic sect in the 1st century Hellenistic Judaism in the Roman province of Judea.

The early history of Christianity's united church before major schisms is sometimes referred to as the "Great Church".

Christianity played a prominent role in the development of Western civilization, particularly in Europe from late antiquity and the Middle Ages.

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Christianity is growing in Africa and Asia, the world's most populous continents.

Central tenet of Christianity is the belief in Jesus as the Son of God and the Messiah.

From earlier than the times of the Nicene Creed Christianity advocated the triune mystery-nature of God as a normative profession of faith.

Christianity has not generally practiced aniconism, the avoidance or prohibition of devotional images, even if early Jewish Christians and some modern denominations, invoking the Decalogue's prohibition of idolatry, avoided figures in their symbols.

The effectiveness of prayer in Christianity derives from the power of God rather than the status of the one praying.

Ancient church, in both Eastern and Western Christianity, developed a tradition of asking for the intercession of saints, and this remains the practice of most Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic, and some Lutheran and Anglican churches.

Frequently in Western Christianity, when praying, the hands are placed palms together and forward as in the feudal commendation ceremony.

Christianity advocated for "one definite and simple understanding of Scripture".

Christianity developed during the 1st century AD as a Jewish Christian sect with Hellenistic influence of Second Temple Judaism.

Jewish Christianity soon attracted Gentile God-fearers, posing a problem for its Jewish religious outlook, which insisted on close observance of the Jewish commandments.

Gnostic Christianity developed a duotheistic doctrine based on illusion and enlightenment rather than forgiveness of sin.

Christianity spread to Aramaic-speaking peoples along the Mediterranean coast and 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.

At that point, Christianity was still a minority belief, comprising perhaps only five percent of the Roman population.

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.

Some scholars and historians attribute Christianity to having contributed to the rise of the Scientific Revolution.

Christianity is the predominant religion in Europe, the Americas, Oceania, and Southern Africa.

Christianity is growing rapidly in both numbers and percentage in China, other Asian countries, Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, Eastern Europe, North Africa, Gulf Cooperation Council countries, and Oceania.

Christianity can be taxonomically divided into six main groups: Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, Oriental Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodoxy, the Church of the East, and Restorationism.

Recently, neither Western or Eastern World Christianity has stood out, for example, in African-initiated churches.

Nondenominational Christianity first arose in the 18th century through the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement, with followers organizing themselves simply as "Christians" and "Disciples of Christ", but many typically adhere to evangelical Christianity.

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Many historians even attribute Christianity for being the link that created a unified European identity.

Christianity has had a significant impact on education, as the church created the bases of the Western system of education, 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.

The civilizing influence of Christianity includes social welfare, founding hospitals, economics, architecture, politics, literature, personal hygiene (ablution), and family life.

Christianity'storically, extended families were the basic family unit in the Christian culture and countries.

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.

Famous for his use of paradox, Chesterton explained that while Christianity had the most mysteries, it was the most practical religion.

Christianity pointed to the advance of Christian civilizations as proof of its practicality.