Christianity began in First Century AD Jerusalem as a Jewish sect but quickly spread throughout the Roman Empire and beyond. Today it is the largest known religion in the world with 2.1 billion followers around the world.

Christianity

It is believed by the Christians that Jesus was born as a human to the Virgin Mary. His father was not Joseph, Mary’s soon to be husband, but rather God himself.

Jesus

JesusChristianity started as a Jewish sect or cult. Its believers held that Jesus was the promised Messiah or Savior that the Jewish prophets had been predicting since the days of the Babylonian Captivity, and expected him to eventually lead a Jewish army against the Romans and establish a Jewish state.

JesusJesus, however, directed his followers toward more otherworldly goals, and his teachings emphasized the imminent coming of a kingdom of God, and the need for followers to embrace a community of love.

Jesus used stories from everyday life to deliver his message. Through his teachings, which were easy for his followers to understand and unlike that of the Jewish faith because they did not need a rabbi to interpret or explain them, his popularity grew.

Jesus’ way of speaking to crowds and the reported miracles that he performed made him a very popular figure in and around the eastern part of the Roman Empire where he was spreading his message of believing in one true God and being kind towards others.

His messageJesus had three basic lessons that he taught his followers over and over. 1, that there was only one God. 2, that they should love and help all people, even their enemies. 3, that the only way to enter heaven was to be saved from sin.

JesusHis popularity was seen as a threat to both the leaders of the Jewish Religion, the Sanhedrin (ancient Jewish court system), and the Roman authorities.

This is the reason for his two trials, the first trial in front of the Sanhedrin was for violations of Jewish religious law. The second was before the Prefect Pontius Pilate (the Roman governor of Palestine at the time).  The Roman authorities found him guilty of political crimes, naming challenging Roman authorities and threatening insurrection (an act or instance of revolting against civil authority or an established government). For these acts of treason, Jesus was executed by crucifixion.

CRUCIFIXION

The resurrection

After Jesus’ death, his followers announced he had risen from the dead and was in fact the long-awaited Messiah (in Greek, the second part of his title, "Christos," means "the anointed one").  Their preaching added large numbers to their ranks, and their rituals of baptism and ritual meals became central ceremonies of the new religion. 

The Spread of Christianity

The spread of Christianity was carried over to the Gentile (non-Jewish) population by Paul of Tarsus, who brought the faith to the Greek world through a series of extensive missionary journeys in Asia Minor, Greece, and Rome.   Saint Paul is credited for writing one fourth of the New Testament.

Christianity The Christian faith started from very humble beginnings in a stable in Bethlehem and spread throughout the world. Its followers maintain an unwavering belief that Jesus is the Messiah. They believe He waits for them at Heaven’s gate as a reward for their belief in the trinity, their kindness towards others, and their salvation from sin.