Introduction
Christianity is the world 's largest religion in number of adherents, accounting to more than "2.1 billion (around 31.4% as of 2015) and geographical spread – in almost every country in the world, there is at least one Christian community" (Green ,2015).
The former religion of the Romans was polytheism-based and could not give comfort to the destitute. The many Gods and Goddesses did not lend themselves to the idea of equality and salvation. Christianity proclaimed the equality of all people. People were considered equal in Christianity and the Christian God was the unquestioned authority. This God did not share a pantheon with others, he was the one and only. The new religion rejected the existing social system of slavery, and thus gave rise to hope of liberation from oppression of the most desperate people. The religion called for the reconstruction of the world. It gave hope to slaves, hope for freedom to common people through a simple and accessible way – through the adoption of the doctrine of Christ (Adair, 2008, pp.18-19).
Initially, Christianity spread among the Jews of Palestine and the Mediterranean diaspora of the Jews. But starting from the first decades, especially through the work of the Apostle Paul, it has acquired a large number of followers among other nations (Adair, 2008, p.19).
The Character of God
According to the doctrine of Christianity, God is an original entity and a predecessor of the whole world, omnipresent, omnipotent and
Paul more than anyone was responsible for the spread of the Jesus movement into the Gentile world. By the end of the first century Christianity had become an important religious force. Paul while respectful of its Jewish origins moved the Christian faith into a position where it was no longer bound by Jewish law and was able to embrace people of any cultural background. After his own conversion, Paul passionately espoused his message from the Palestinian world through Asia Minor and southern Europe to Rome, the heart of the empire. Some of his letters by Paul to fledgling churches throughout the Roman Empire are contained in the New Testament and outline Paul 's theology. He insisted that Gentiles had as much access to the faith as Jews and that freedom from the Law set everyone free. It was this teaching which was essential for the development and success of the early church which would otherwise have remained another Jewish sect.
Who is God? What are his characteristics? I believe that God is the person who created me and he is the person I believe in. I also think that God is the creator of the world and that has control over everything that happens in my life. I think that some of God’s characteristics are that he has the
Christianity is a widespread and powerful religion because of its beginning in the Roman Empire. Factors contributing to this included spreading ideas without difficulty throughout the entire empire, the appeal of Christianity to the people, and the rule of Emperor Constantine.
Christianity was born and flourished in an empire where the common language was Latin and Greek. Two important people like Paul and Constantine further influenced and were a major part of the development of Christianity. The history of the Jews leading up to the time of Jesus had a major impact on the development of Christianity. “When Christianity was clearly identified as a distant religion, the new religion was considered by its members to be the fulfillment of Judaism rather than a new religion.” “Since Jesus was a Jew and preached to the Jews, Christianity was closely linked to Judaism.” The development of Christianity was due to several historical, political, and social circumstances.
Who is God? God is the creator of all according to the Christian worldview. As Christians we believe that God is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. (Diffey, 2015, Ch. 3) We trust that God be existent in three persons. After reading the Genesis chapters, I understood that God
Unlike other religions at that time Christianity offered salvation, a better life after death. Liberation (Doc B) from earthly suffering, a better life free from poverty or sickness, was promised to Christians. Salvation, meaning this table of the soul from sin, and Damnation, meaning the punishment of sin in the afterlife. This document is reliable because it was written by historian Helmut Koester and its purpose is to inform. All Christians are equal in God’s eye (Doc C) and were promised a good afterlife if they were good and kind. Other religions, such as the Roman gods, did not offer this and the only way to achieve a good afterlife was if you were a good hero.
Christianity is a religion that has been around for about 2000 years. This religion is based on the birth, teachings, life and death of Jesus Christ. In the early first century, it started to expand from Palestine to the rest of the world. A movement that began with Jesus and twelve Apostles has grown to approximately two billion people worldwide. In America, this religion started from the arrival of Christopher Columbus. Until recently, the religion expanded all over the Americas and was followed by the largest majority of its people. Although Christianity was followed by a lot of people in the Americas, increasingly Christianity faces many challenges and problems, including declining attendance, rise in atheism, religious alternatives,
Christianity is the most practiced religion in the world. There's many ways to believe in or practice the religion. There's also multiple categories like catholic, baptist, lutheran, and christian.
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament writings of his early followers. It is the world's largest religion with an estimated 2.1 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.
Christianity and Judaism are two of the most famous of the global religions. They are famous rather than large because although roughly thirty-two percent of the world is christian, there are a mere 5.7 millions Jews. With the population of the world around 7 billion people, that would make roughly 2.2 billion Christians. The strange thing about these two religions is the fact that they have a common root that went in very different directions.
Currently Christianity is the biggest religion in the world with roughly 2.2 billion people practicing the faith. America got religious freedom with the first amendment. The early christians faced persecutions because their faith was looked down on and misunderstood. Believe it or not the early christians were thought as cannibals and atheists.
According to Wikipedia, “Christianity is the world’s largest religion, with about 2.4 billion adherents” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity). Although some would disagree, Christianity has been fundamental in the shaping of Western civilization. Despite the crowd who would adamantly deny it, the Bible is responsible for bringing much of the language, literature, and cultural belief that Western cavitation has today. In the book How Christianity Changed the World by Alvin J. Schmidt, Schmidt says, “No other
Christianity most widely distributed of the world religions, having substantial representation in all the populated continents of the globe. Its total membership may exceed 1.7 billion people.
In “Whose Religion is Christianity? The Gospel beyond the West,” by Lamin Sanneh, Christianity is told as a global faith whose most vibrant expressions and growth today are found in the non-Western world. The author explores these implications in context to modern life with in-depth intentions towards Christian learning and personal insight. Sanneh’s distinct narrative takes the form of a self-interview, in which he asks analytical questions on the cross-cultural development of Christianity to determine answers and predictions about the future. He believes religion contributes to intercultural understanding and has a large role to play in civil society.
Although Christianity was well known throughout the affluent classes, Jesus’s philosophies touched the hearts of the plebeians. The self-proclaimed Messiah often spoke of money and riches not being needed in the afterlife, and that God measures you not on how much money you have but on your values you showed throughout your life. This touched the working class’s heart as it informed them that there is hope for a better life that everyone can achieve but not a lot deserve. Therefore, this was the main reason why Christianity was spread as quickly as it could.