Christianity

Christianity started out as a breakaway sect of Judaism nearly 2000 years ago. Jesus, the son of the Virgin Mary and her husband Joseph, but conceived through the Holy Spirit, was bothered by some of the practices within his native Jewish faith and began preaching a different message of God and religion. During his travels he was joined by twelve disciples who followed him in his journeys and learned from him. He performed many miracles during this time and related many of his teachings in the form of parables. Among his best known sayings are to "love thy neighbor" and "turn the other cheek." At one point he revealed that he was the Son of God sent to Earth to save humanity from our sins. This he did by being crucified on the cross for his teachings. He then rose from the dead and appeared to his disciples and told them to go forth and spread his message.

Since Christianity and Judaism share the same history up to the time of Jesus Christ, they are very similar in many of their core beliefs. There are two primary differences. One is that Christians believe in original sin and that Jesus died in our place to save us from that sin. The other is that Jesus was fully human and fully God and as the Son of God is part of the Holy Trinity: God the Father, His Son, and the Holy Spirit. All Christians believe in heaven and that those who sincerely repent their sins before God will be saved and join Him in heaven. Belief in hell and satan varies among groups and individuals.

There are a multitude of forms of Christianity which have developed either because of disagreements on dogma, adaptation to different cultures, or simply personal taste. For this reason there can be a great difference between the various forms of Christianity they may seem like different religions to some people.

Most of the Christian denominations and sects in the world can be sorted into about eight segments or branches:

• Roman Catholicism- This has the largest membership of any meta-group in Christianity. It is headed by the Pope in Rome, whose rulings are considered infallible in certain cases. The church is coordinated by the Curia, which is composed of one Secretariat, and 27 agencies, each headed by a Cardinal. Local administration is by Bishops and Archbishops who control activity in their Dioceses and Archdioceses.
• Eastern Orthodox Churches- a communion of autocephalous, (ecclesiastically independent) Christian faith groups which forms the dominant religious bodies in Bulgaria, Belarus, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece, Romania, Russia, Serbia, and Ukraine. They play a significant role in eleven other countries, including the U.S. and Canada, and have a scattered presence elsewhere in the world. They and the Roman Catholic Church formally separated from each other in 1054 CE, although they had been functioning nearly independently long before that date.
• Oriental Orthodox and Assyrian Churches- This grouping consists of five churches in the Middle East and South India. The Catholic Assyrian Church of the East and the Roman Catholic church separated from each other after the Council of Ephesus in  431 CE. The four Oriental Orthodox churches and the Roman Catholic Church separated from each other after the Fourth Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon in 451 CE, when the Oriental Orthodox churches rejected the Council's concept of Christ as one person "in two natures." The four Oriental Orthodox churches are:

  	The Armenian Apostolic Church in Armenia and Lebanon;
  	The Coptic Orthodox Church of Egypt;
  	The Ethiopian Orthodox Church; and
  	The Syrian Orthodox Churches which include the See of Antioch and the Syrian Thomas Christians of South India.

  
  
  A fifth church is often grouped with the Oriental Orthodox churches:

  The Catholic Assyrian Church of the East

• Protestantism- This is composed of a  group of independent denominations, sects, and independent churches numbering in excess of 30,000 worldwide. They trace their history back to the Reformation which was triggered when Martin Luther circulated 95 theses in which he listed what he considered to be faults in the Roman Catholic Church -- both theological and in its policies. Protestant denominations have been grouped into 13 families, according to their historical roots. There are over 1,000 Protestant denominations in North America, ranging fromextreme Fundamentalist to very Liberal. Included are such diverse groups as Quakers, Mormons,Jehovah's Witnesses and Christian Scientists. Most are democratically organized.  
• The Restorationist faith groups share the belief that the "true" Christian church died out as the church abandoned many of the teachings of Yeshua of Nazareth (Jesus Christ), Paul, and other apostles -- perhaps early in the 2^nd Century CE. This group includes the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as founded by Joseph Smith in 1830. Almost a hundred denominations trace their history back to that faith group. Other restorationist groups include the Christadelphians,Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh-day Adventists, etc. Their beliefs and practices differ greatly. However, all believe that their group, alone, has restored the original beliefs and practices of Yeshua and the apostles. Most regard themselves as the true Christian church. Most or all are obviously wrong.
• Other groups: There are probably many hundreds of faith groups which do not neatly fit into any of the above five classifications. Three of the more interesting are:

  	Progressive Christianity, a very liberal Christian group which does not look upon itself as a denomination. Rather they are building a network of affiliated congregations, informal groups and individual members.
  	A group called the Two by Twos, The Black Stockings, The Church Without a Name, Cooneyites, etc. teach that their group has been in continuous but secret existence since the 1st century. They believe that their faith group was founded by Jesus, and is the only "true" Christian church.
  	Gnostic Christians This movement and its literature were essentially wiped out by the end of the 5th century CE by heresy hunters from mainline Christianity. They believe that salvation comes through Gnosis (knowledge.) They are currently experiencing a rebirth throughout the world. source: www.religioustolerance.org › Christianity