Christianity, a monotheistic religion, is practiced in every continent of the world and the folloers are over two billion i. E. About 32% of the world population. Despite the size and importance, the religion is still dynamic. Many christians recognize that their religion is a journey and not destination. Christianity is predominantly an evangelizing and converting religion. Missionary work has always been an important feature of christianity.
Though there are variations in theology and religious practices amongst the christians, the central belief that sets christianity apart from other faiths is the belief that jesu was, and is a son of god. He is revered as a prophet by several religions including lslam. For christians, jesus is more than a prophet. He is messiah, whose coming was foretold in the old testament. Christians believe that through his death on the cross, jesus was the ultimate sacrifice to god, enabling all those who believe to enter a new relationship with him, which culminates in salvation and the enjoyment of eternal life.
Christians follow the example laid down by jesus in order to know how to live their lives. Jesus was a man who helped others; particularly those exploited and considered to be beneath social standard such as prostitutes, tax collectors and samaritans. Part of being a christian means devoting time to caring and sharing.
Christians believe that jesus was both human and divine. God is portrayed as a father in both the bible and christian liturgy. Christian believe in an eternal god. For them, god is a god of love who created the world and humanity as an act of this love. God has given the mankind the free will to obey the god or to disobey and commit sin. In the latter case the god punishe who break his laws but ultimately he forgives to those who repent back into a full relationship with him.
Bible is the holy book of christianity and is divided into two sections, the old and new testaments. The old testament is the scripture of the jews and is important to christians because it deals with the period prior to the coming of jesus – himself a jew. For christians, the old testament reveals much about the nature of god and his relationship with humanity. The new testament deals with the life of jesus and the early church, and marks the beginning of a new relationship between god and humanity. The bible is the basis for private study and plays an important part in congregational worship. For most christians the words of bible have power and meaning that goes beyond mere literature.
Christians believe in the doctrine of threefold nature of god known as trinity i.e. father, son and holy spirit.according to them each of the three "beings" in the trinity has unique characteristics and has revealed something distinct to humanity about the nature of god. The nature of man changes after man separated himself from god. This separation was caused by a conscious and willful disobedience. As a result, human nature became fundamentally opposed to the nature of god. By definition human nature uis the holy spirit to change our inherited and cultivated tendencies through the surrendered will. A surrendered will controlled by the holy spirit subdues the destructiveness of our nature. A continues relationship with the holy spirit changes our basic nature to that of christ. The life of the person controlled by the holy spirit offers unconditional love to others. This includes self sacrificing action. This is the miracle of christianity.
Christians worship in various forms. Many engage in public congregational worship on sunday, though, it is not the only time to worship but rather a high point in a week of devotion. Helping others, proclaiming or spreading their faith, giving up time and money for church activity or carrying out any task to the best of their ability, are also thought of as worship, it these are inspired by the love of god. There are various rites, which christians perform during the various stages of one’s life. Church is a very strong institution for the christians. There are different churches, with different set of followers.
Love god and loved your neighbor as yourself.