The History of Christianity

Christians are a diverse group of people from all backgrounds, who are followers of Jesus Christ. In the world today, a great many of them live in countries of the Global South (especially Africa and Asia).

There is also a wide variety among the churches that make up the Christian tradition. Nevertheless, there is a general sense that most Christian groups are committed to a particular faith tradition and a certain set of final truths.

Christianity was a religion that merged the beliefs of ancient Judaism with elements from the dominant culture of the Roman Empire. It is based on the Jewish Scriptures (the Old Testament) and the New Testament.

The early christian faith was a monotheistic religion, devoted to the God of Israel. In this regard, the early church inherited a relatively intimate picture of a God who made their young and small universe, who carried on discourse with humans, and who rewarded or punished them.

This shaped the way they interpreted and believed about the person of Jesus. They viewed him as divine, as one who had come to earth to teach the ways of God and to offer a way to a relationship with that god.

They also embraced the idea that people who were not good enough to please God could be saved through Jesus. This, in turn, prompted Christianity to focus more and more on justification, a process by which a person is made right with God through faith in the person of Jesus.