Christians adopted many ideas and practices from Judaism, including monotheism, the belief in a messiah (or Christ, which means "anointed one"), certain forms of worship (such as prayer, and reading from religious texts), a priesthood, and the idea that worship on Earth is modelled on worship in heaven.
The central belief of Christianity is that by faith in the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, individuals are saved from death both spiritual and physical by Redemption from their sins (I.e. faults, misdeeds, disobedience, rebellion against God). By faith, repentance, and obedience men and women are reconciled to God through sanctification or theosis and returned to their place with God in Heaven.
Crucial beliefs in Christian teaching are Jesus' incarnation, atonement, crucifixion, death and resurrection to redeem humankind from sin and death; the belief that the New Testament is a new part of the Bible; and supersessionism. Supersessionism is the belief that the Jews' chosenness found its ultimate fulfillment through the message of Jesus; Jews who remain non-Christian are no longer considered to be chosen, since they reject Jesus as the messiah and son of God.
The emphasis on God giving his son for the sake of humanity is an essential difference between Christianity and other religions, where the emphasis is instead placed solely on humans working for salvation.
The most uniform and broadly accepted tradition of doctrine, with the longest continuous representation, repeatedly reaffirmed by official Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant definitions (although not without dissent, as noted below) asserts that specific beliefs are essential to Christianity, including but not limited to:
God is a Trinity, a single eternal being existing in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Jesus is both fully God and fully Man, two "natures" in one person.
Mary, the mother of Jesus, bore in her womb and gave birth to the Son of God, who although eternally existent was formed in her womb by the Spirit of God. From her humanity he received in his person a human intellect and will, and all else that a child would naturally receive from its mother.
Jesus is the Messiah hoped for by the Jews, the heir to the throne of David. He reigns at the right hand of God with all authority and power. He is the hope of all mankind, their advocate and judge. Until he returns at the end of the age, the Church has the authority and obligation to preach the Gospel and to gather new disciples.
Jesus was innocent of any sin. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus, believers are forgiven of sins and reconciled to God. Believers are baptized into the death of Christ. Through faith, they live by the promise of resurrection from death to everlasting life through Christ. The Holy Spirit is given to them, to bring hope and lead mankind into true knowledge of God and His purposes, and help them grow in holiness.
Jesus will return personally, and bodily, to receive the faithful to himself, so they will live forever in the intimate presence of God.
Western Christians believe that the Bible is the word of God. Many Eastern Christians who balk at this terminology as too close to the title Word of God, an epithet for Jesus Christ, nevertheless do not question the authority of the Bible as such. However, some Christians disagree to varying degrees about how accurate the Bible is and how it should be interpreted.
Christianity is considered by Christians to be the continuation or fulfilment of the Jewish faith. However, many Christian organizations throughout history have had varying ideas about the basic tenets of the Christian faith, from ancient sects such as Arians and Gnostics, to modern groups such as Jehovah's Witnesses (who have a different theological understanding of Jesus, God and the Bible), The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who believe that in 1829 God restored the apostolic priesthood to their leader Joseph Smith, Jr., making possible continuing revelation (including additional teachings and scripture), and the Unification Church. While various groups may differ in their approach to the specifics of Christ's role, ministry, and nature (some calling him a god or Gods, and others calling him a man), Christ is generally assumed to have cosmic importance. Some of these groups number themselves among the Christian churches, or believe themselves to be the only true Christian church. Furthermore, present-day liberal Protestant Christians do not define Christianity as necessarily including belief in the deity of Jesus, the virgin birth, the Trinity, miracles, the resurrection, the ascension of Christ, or the personality or deity of the Holy Spirit. Liberals may or may not recommend belief in such things, but differentiate themselves from Fundamentalist Christians by defining as included within genuine Christianity anyone who explains their views or teachings principally by appeal to Jesus. It is common for those who hold the more traditional tenets of faith described in the paragraph above to assert that some or all of these groups are not part of Christianity.
1 -[Christianity]
2 -[Christianity : History of Christianity]
3 -[Christianity : Christian Doctrine]
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