Christianity

An Overview

The Christian faith embraces a wide variety of doctrines and religious groups based on the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus is held by Christians to be the Christ, the Annointed One, the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, and the Savior of humanity. This teaching finds its essential expression in the Bible, particularly in the New Testament. Although Christianity is in one sense the most fragmented of the world’s religions (thousands of variations exist on the Christian theme), most Christians see the promises and prophecies of the Hebrew Scriptures fulfilled in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. For Christians, Jesus is Lord, brother, exemplar, and transcendent savior. Christians celebrate the life of faith as the key to real relationship to Jesus Christ as God and through that relationship the path to salvation and eternal life. Like Judaism and Islam, Christianity has a powerful social message. Christians believe in the action of God as Holy Spirit, informing and transforming humanness through faith.

Excellence: A unique vision of the human‑divine connection and of the power of love as the essence of that connection The person of Jesus Christ as one of the most powerful and evocative of spiritual symbols. Devotion to and reliance on the Savior as the essential spiritual path.

Master Story:The Death and Resurrection of Jesus

Ritual Pattern: Holy Week

Ethical Norm: Love one another