Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, professing that Jesus was raised from the dead and is the Son of God , [ 7 ] [ 8 ] [ 9 ] [ note 2 ] whose coming as the Messiah Christ was prophesied in the Hebrew Bible called the Old Testament in Christianity and chronicled in the New Testament.
It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with over 2. Christianity remains culturally diverse in its Western and Eastern branches , and doctrinally diverse concerning justification and the nature of salvation , ecclesiology , ordination , and Christology.
The creeds of various Christian denominations generally hold in common Jesus as the Son of God [ note 2 ] βthe Logos incarnated βwho ministered , suffered , and died on a cross , but rose from the dead for the salvation of humankind; and referred to as the gospel , meaning the "good news". The four canonical gospels of Matthew , Mark , Luke and John describe Jesus's life and teachings as preserved in the early Christian tradition, with the Old Testament as the gospels' respected background.
Christianity began in the 1st century , after the death of Jesus, as a Judaic sect with Hellenistic influence in the Roman province of Judaea. The disciples of Jesus spread their faith around the Eastern Mediterranean area, despite significant persecution. The inclusion of Gentiles led Christianity to slowly separate from Judaism 2nd century. Emperor Constantine I decriminalized Christianity in the Roman Empire by the Edict of Milan , later convening the Council of Nicaea where Early Christianity was consolidated into what would become the state religion of the Roman Empire Protestantism split into numerous denominations from the Catholic Church in the Reformation era 16th century.
Following the Age of Discovery 15thβ17th century , Christianity expanded throughout the world via missionary work , evangelism , immigration and extensive trade. Christianity played a prominent role in the development of Western civilization , particularly in Europe from late antiquity and the Middle Ages. The three main branches of Christianity are Roman Catholicism 1. Christianity is growing in Africa and Asia, the world's most populous continents.
