Christians believe that Jesus Christ was the son of …...Christians believe that Jesus Christ was the son of God, and that he was the Messiah promised in the Old Testament. © Images:

Christians believe that Jesus Christ

was the son of God, and that he was

the Messiah promised in the Old Testament.

www.teachingideas.co.uk Images: © ThinkStock©

As an adult, Jesus lived and

preached in Judea, which was a

Roman province in what is now Israel.

When Jesus was a small child he

lived in Egypt with his parents, as

Herod had ordered his army to kill all Jewish boys under the age of 2.


In Jesus' time, the custom for Jewish

people was to only have one name.

Therefore they often added the

name of the place they came from. In the Bible, Jesus is sometimes

called "Jesus of Nazareth".

Jesus lived in the Holy Land

about 2,000 years ago. It is

believed that he was

crucified when he was 33 years old.


The Bible (the holy book of

Christianity) is in two parts;

the Old Testament and the

New Testament. Parts of the Old Testament are also

sacred in the religions of Judaism and Islam.

Christians are the largest

religious group in the world.

In 2015, 2.3 billion people were Christians.


The two main Christian

festivals are Christmas,

which celebrates the birth of

Christ, and Easter, which commemorates his death

and resurrection.

Churches and cathedrals

are usually laid out in the

form of a cross. Christians

also worship in chapels, halls and basilicas.


The cross is an important symbol in

Christianity, reminding Christians

that Jesus died on the cross so everyone's sins could be forgiven.

Christians believe in one

God who created the

Universe (including heaven and earth).


Christians believe that

three days after he was

crucified, Jesus rose from the dead. This is known

as his resurrection.

There are many different forms of

Christianity, which are known as

denominations. Different

denominations have different ways of worshipping God and of

organising themselves.


Depending on their

denomination, Christian

spiritual leaders may be known as priests, vicars,

pastors or ministers.

Jesus himself was Jewish and

Christianity started within the Jewish religion.


There are three main

branches of Christianity;

Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Protestant.

The Romans persecuted Christians

in the early days of the religion, but

in 312 CE, the emperor Constantine converted to Christianity.


Baptism is an important rite

of passage in Christianity. In

some denominations babies

are baptised and in others people are baptised when

they are older.

Very holy people in the Christian

tradition are sometimes recognised

as saints. Saints have special feast

days; for example St Andrew's Day is on the 30th of November.


Jesus is known by different

names, including Lamb of God,

The Good Shepherd, Messiah, Light of the World and King of

Kings.


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Christians believe that Jesus Christ was the son of …...Christians believe that Jesus Christ was the son of God, and that he was the Messiah promised in the Old Testament. © Images: