Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, as presented in the New Testament writings of his early followers. It has an estimated 1.9 billion adherents, or about one-third of the total world population.It shares with Judaism the Hebrew Scriptures (called the Old Testament by Christians), and is sometimes called an Abrahamic religion, along with Judaism and Islam.

In the Bible, the names “Christian” and hence “Christianity” are first attested in Acts 11:26: “For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch Jesus’ disciples were first called Christians” (Gr. χριστιανοί, from Christ Gr. Χριστός, which means “the anointed”).

As a result of various disagreements including the East-West Schism and the Protestant Reformation, Christianity has become divided into many bodies of faith or communions, whose beliefs and practices may vary greatly. The largest are the Roman Catholic Church (both the Latin Rite and the Eastern rites) and the Eastern Orthodox Church, but the body of Christians includes many other groups such as the other Eastern churches such as Oriental Orthodoxy, the various Protestant denominations and the African Initiated churches. There are also various distinct churches separating themselves from such classification, including The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (also called Mormons), Jehovah’s Witnesses, Quakers and other groups. Collectively, the various denominations and groups form the largest religion on Earth.