The Christian faith is over 2000 years old. With over 1 billion followers, Christianity is the world’s most popular religion. Over 30 million people profess the Christian faith in Britain; 6 million of these are active followers.

Christians believe that Jesus of Nazereth was the son of God, sent to Earth to absolve humanity of its sins.

According to Christian tradition, Jesus was born to Mary in a Bethlehem stable. At age thirty, Jesus left home to teach the word of God. Jesus taught through “parables,” short stories containing an inner, divine message for those willing to listen.

To Jesus’s followers, including his closest confidantes the Twelve Apostles, he was the Son of God, the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament. This message did not sit well with the religious and civil authorities of the Roman Empire. Jesus was eventually arrested, charged with heresy, tortured and sentenced to death by crucifixion. According to the scriptures, three days after Jesus’s death, his followers returned to his burial place only to find it empty. Jesus then appeared to them as he was in life. He lived amongst his followers until he was taken to heaven.

Jesus’s death is central to Christian belief and distinguishes Christianity from many other religions that recognise Jesus as an important prophet and spiritual leader. Christians believe that humanity is fundamentally sinful and cannot receive salvation through human effort alone. Jesus’s death on the cross and resurrection three days later symbolises the transformation of death and God’s forgiveness of humanity.

All Christians believe in the Holy Trinity, the union of God the father, Jesus his son and the Holy Spirit. This does not mean Christians believe in three separate gods, but rather trust in one united and all-encompassing god. Christians believe that God took on a human form in Christ. When Jesus was crucified, God lived on in the world through the Holy Spirit, the faith and good work of Jesus’s followers.

Christianity is divided among different sects or denominations that share core beliefs but worship in distinctive ways. Christians of all denominations celebrate the life, death and resurrection of Jesus through regular worship and religious festivals throughout the year, including Christmas and Easter.

Recorded information on : African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church , Catholic