Christianity

An Eastern Christian icon depicting Emperor Constantine and the Fathers of the First Council of Nicaea (325) as holding the Niceno–Constantinopolitan Creed of 381.
Various depictions of Jesus
Crucifixion, representing the death of Jesus on the Cross, painting by Diego Velázquez, c. 1632.
The Law and the Gospel by Lucas Cranach the Elder (1529); Moses and Elijah point the sinner to Jesus for salvation.
The Trinity is the belief that God is one God in three persons: the Father, the Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit.
Midnight Mass at a Catholic parish church in Woodside, New York City, U.S.
Show on the life of Jesus at Igreja da Cidade in São José dos Campos, affiliated to the Brazilian Baptist Convention.
An early circular ichthys symbol, created by combining the Greek letters ΙΧΘΥΣ into a wheel, Ephesus, Asia Minor.
The Bible is the sacred book in Christianity.
St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City, the largest church in the world and a symbol of the Catholic Church.
The 7th-century Khor Virap monastery in the shadow of Mount Ararat; Armenia was the first state to adopt Christianity as the state religion, in AD 301.
The Monastery of St. Matthew, located atop Mount Alfaf in northern Iraq, is recognized as one of the oldest Christian monasteries in existence.
Kadisha Valley, Lebanon, home to some of the earliest Christian monasteries in the world.
Christendom by A.D. 600 after its spread to Africa and Europe from the Middle East.
An example of Byzantine pictorial art, the Deësis mosaic at the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople.
Pope Urban II at the Council of Clermont, where he preached the First Crusade. Illustration by Jean Colombe from a copy of the Passages d'outremer, c. 1490.
Martin Luther initiated the Reformation with his Ninety-five Theses in 1517.
Michelangelo's 1498–99 Pietà in St. Peter's Basilica; the Catholic Church was among the patronages of the Renaissance.
A depiction of Madonna and Child in a 19th-century Kakure Kirishitan Japanese woodcut.
A Christian procession in Brazil, the country with the largest Catholic population in the world.
Trinity Sunday in Russia; the Russian Orthodox Church has experienced a great revival since the fall of communism.
The global distribution of Christians: Countries colored a darker shade have a higher proportion of Christians.
Pope Francis, the current leader of the Catholic Church.
St. George's Cathedral in Istanbul: It has been the seat of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople whose leader is regarded as the primus inter pares in the Eastern Orthodox Church.
Holy Trinity Cathedral in Addis Ababa, the seat of the Ethiopian Orthodox.
A 6th-century Nestorian church, St. John the Arab, in the Assyrian village of Geramon in Hakkari, southeastern Turkey.
Saint Mary Church; an ancient Assyrian church located in the city of Urmia, Iran.
A 19th-century drawing of Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery receiving the Aaronic priesthood from John the Baptist. Latter Day Saints believe that the Priesthood ceased to exist after the death of the apostles and therefore needed to be restored.
Unitarian Church of Transylvania in Cluj-Napoca.
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A copy of the Summa Theologica by Thomas Aquinas, a famous Christian apologetic work.
Christians fleeing their homes in the Ottoman Empire, circa 1922. Many Christians were persecuted and/or killed during the Armenian genocide, Greek genocide, and Assyrian genocide.
Countries with 50% or more Christians are colored purple; countries with 10% to 50% Christians are colored pink
Nations with Christianity as their state religion are in blue
Distribution of Catholics
Distribution of Protestants
Distribution of Eastern Orthodox
Distribution of Oriental Orthodox
Distribution of other Christians
Links between interdenominational movements and other developments within Protestantism
Historical chart of the main Protestant branches

Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth.

- Christianity
An Eastern Christian icon depicting Emperor Constantine and the Fathers of the First Council of Nicaea (325) as holding the Niceno–Constantinopolitan Creed of 381.

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Symbols commonly used to represent the three largest Abrahamic religions. From top to bottom: the Star of David, the Christian cross, and the star and crescent.

Abrahamic religions

Symbols commonly used to represent the three largest Abrahamic religions. From top to bottom: the Star of David, the Christian cross, and the star and crescent.
A Jewish Rebbe holds a Torah scroll
Christianity is based on the teachings of the Bible
A cenotaph above the Cave of the Patriarchs traditionally considered to be the burial place of Abraham.
ʻAbdu'l-Bahá (1844-1921), the eldest son of Baháʼu'lláh, and leader of the Baháʼí Faith
Druze dignitaries celebrating the Ziyarat al-Nabi Shu'ayb festival
Coronation of Haile Selassie of Abyssinia in 1928.
Samaritan High Priest with the Samaritan Torah, Nablus, c. 1920
An interpretation of the borders (in red) of the Promised Land, based on God's promise to Abraham (Genesis 15:18)
The Star of David (or Magen David) is a generally recognized symbol of modern Jewish identity and Judaism.
The Christian cross (or crux) is the best-known religious symbol of Christianity; this version is known as a Latin Cross.
The word God written in Arabic
A Bible handwritten in Latin, on display in Malmesbury Abbey, Wiltshire, England. This Bible was transcribed in Belgium in 1407 for reading aloud in a monastery.
9th-century Quran in Reza Abbasi Museum
The Sermon on the Mount by Carl Heinrich Bloch (1877)

Abrahamic religions are those that worship the God of Abraham, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

The Cenacle on Mount Zion, claimed to be the location of the Last Supper and Pentecost. Bargil Pixner claims the original Church of the Apostles is located under the current structure.

Early centers of Christianity

Early Christianity (up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325) spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and beyond.

Early Christianity (up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325) spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and beyond.

The Cenacle on Mount Zion, claimed to be the location of the Last Supper and Pentecost. Bargil Pixner claims the original Church of the Apostles is located under the current structure.
A diagram of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre based on a German documentary. The church is claimed to be at the site of Calvary and the Tomb of Jesus.
The Church of St Peter near Antakya, Turkey, said to be the spot where Saint Peter first preached the Gospel in Roman Antioch.
Map of Western Anatolia showing the "Seven Churches of Asia" and the Greek island of Patmos.
Remains of the ancient Roman aqueduct in Caesarea Maritima.
St Paul's Pillar in Paphos
The Chapel of Saint Paul, said to be Bab Kisan where St. Paul escaped from Old Damascus
St. Peter's Basilica, believed to be the burial site of St. Peter, seen from the River Tiber
A scene showing Christ Pantocrator from a Roman mosaic in the church of Santa Pudenziana in Rome, c. 410 AD
Amphithéâtre des Trois-Gaules, in Lyon. The pole in the arena is a memorial to the people killed during the persecution.
St Paul's Islands near St. Paul's Bay, traditionally identified as the place where St Paul was shipwrecked
According to tradition, the Indo-Parthian king Gondophares was proselytized by St Thomas, who continued on to southern India, and possibly as far as Malaysia or China.

The first followers of Christianity were Jews or proselytes, commonly referred to as Jewish Christians and God-fearers.

Christian population percentage by country

Christianity by country

Christian population percentage by country

As of the year 2020, Christianity had approximately 2.6 billion+ adherents out of a worldwide population of about 7.8 billion people.

Head of the Colossus of Constantine, Capitoline Museums

Constantine the Great

Head of the Colossus of Constantine, Capitoline Museums
Remains of the luxurious residence palace of Mediana, erected by Constantine I near his birth town of Naissus
Mosaic in the Hagia Sophia, section: Maria as patron saint of Constantinople, detail: donor portrait of Emperor Constantine I with a model of the city
Porphyry bust of the Emperor Galerius
Modern bronze statue of Constantine I in York, England, near the spot where he was proclaimed Augustus in 306
The portrait of Constantine on a Roman coin; the inscription around the portrait is "Constantinus Aug[ustus]"
Public baths (thermae) built in Trier by Constantine, more than 100 m wide by 200 m long and capable of serving several thousand at a time, built to rival those of Rome
Dresden bust of the Emperor Maxentius, who was defeated by Constantine at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge
A gold solidus of "Unconquered Constantine" with the god Sol Invictus behind him, struck in AD 313. The use of Sol's image stressed Constantine's status as his father's successor, appealed to the educated citizens of Gaul, and was considered less offensive than the traditional pagan pantheon to the Christians.
A Roman fresco in Trier, Germany, possibly depicting Constantia, c. 310 AD
Battle of Constantine and Maxentius (detail of part of a fresco by Giulio Romano in the Hall of Constantine in the Raphael Rooms in the Vatican), copy c. 1650 by Lazzaro Baldi, now at the University of Edinburgh
The Milvian Bridge (Ponte Milvio) over the River Tiber, north of Rome, where Constantine and Maxentius fought in the Battle of the Milvian Bridge
Silver medallion of 315; Constantine with a chi-rho symbol as the crest of his helmet
Gold aureus of the Emperor Licinius
Coin struck by Constantine I to commemorate the founding of Constantinople
Constantine burning books by Arian heretics ('Heretici Arriani'), from a 9th-century manuscript now in Vercelli
Pope Sylvester I and Emperor Constantine
Hexagonal gold pendant with double solidus of Constantine the Great in the centre, AD 321, now in the British Museum
A nummus of Constantine
The Baptism of Constantine, as imagined by students of Raphael
Possible portrait of Constantine's daughter Helena and his nephew and son-in-law Julian
Constantius appoints Constantine as his successor by Peter Paul Rubens, 1622
Constantine the Great by Philip Jackson, a statue unveiled in York in 1998. York Minster is in the background.

Constantine I (Flavius Valerius Constantinus; Konstantinos; 27 February c. 27222 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was a Roman emperor who reigned from 306 to 337 AD, and was the first one to convert to Christianity.

Emperor Constantine and the Fathers of the First Council of Nicaea of 325 with the Niceno–Constantinopolitan Creed of 381

Son of God (Christianity)

Emperor Constantine and the Fathers of the First Council of Nicaea of 325 with the Niceno–Constantinopolitan Creed of 381
First page of Mark: "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God", by Sargis Pitsak. 14th century.
The Ascension, Jesus returning to his Father – by Pietro Perugino (c. 1500), Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon

In Christianity, the title Son of God refers to the status of Jesus as the divine son of God the Father.

The Buddha, Laozi, and Confucius in a Ming dynasty painting

Religion

Usually defined as a social-cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, transcendental, and spiritual elements; however, there is no scholarly consensus over what precisely constitutes a religion.

Usually defined as a social-cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, transcendental, and spiritual elements; however, there is no scholarly consensus over what precisely constitutes a religion.

The Buddha, Laozi, and Confucius in a Ming dynasty painting
"Three laughs at Tiger Brook", a Song dynasty (12th century) painting portraying three men representing Confucianism, Taoism (Daoism), and Buddhism laughing together.
Religious symbols from left to right, top to bottom: Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, the Baháʼí Faith, Eckankar, Sikhism, Jainism, Wicca, Unitarian Universalism, Shinto, Taoism, Thelema, Tenrikyo, and Zoroastrianism
Budazhap Shiretorov (Будажап Цыреторов), the head shaman of the religious community Altan Serge (Алтан Сэргэ) in Buryatia.
The Yazılıkaya sanctuary in Turkey, with the twelve gods of the underworld
A map of major denominations and religions of the world
The patriarch Abraham (by József Molnár)
The Torah is the primary sacred text of Judaism.
Jesus is the central figure of Christianity.
Muslims circumambulating the Kaaba, the most sacred site in Islam
The Baháʼí Lotus Temple in Delhi
The Temple of Heaven, a Taoist temple complex in Beijing
Folk depiction of Ganesha in Bharatiya Lok Kala Mandal, Udaipur, India
Depiction of Lord Vishnu
The Padmanabhaswamy Temple houses the Padmanabhaswamy Temple treasure.
The 10th century Gommateshwara statue in Karnataka
Wat Mixay Buddhist shrine in Vientiane, Laos
An 1840 miniature of Guru Nanak
Chickasaw Native cultural/religious dancing
Peyotists with their ceremonial tools
Altay shaman in Siberia
Temple to the city god of Wenao in Magong, Taiwan
Shango, the Orisha of fire, lightning, and thunder, in the Yoruba religion, depicted on horseback
Sacred flame at the Ateshgah of Baku
Ranjit Singh established secular rule over Punjab in the early 19th century.
Average income correlates negatively with (self-defined) religiosity.

About 84% of the world's population is affiliated with Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, or some form of folk religion.

Paolo Veronese, The Resurrection of Jesus Christ (ca. 1560).

Christology

Paolo Veronese, The Resurrection of Jesus Christ (ca. 1560).
Christ Pantocrator, Holy Trinity's monastery, Meteora, Greece
Saint Paul delivering the Areopagus sermon in Athens, by Raphael, 1515
The Four Evangelists, by Pieter Soutman, 17th century
Christological spectrum during the 5th–7th centuries showing the views of the Church of the East (light blue), the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Churches (light purple), and the Miaphysite Churches (pink).

In Christianity, Christology (from Greek Χριστός Khristós and -λογία, -logia), translated literally from Greek as "the study of Christ", is a branch of theology that concerns Jesus.

Judaica (clockwise from top): Shabbat candlesticks, handwashing cup, Chumash and Tanakh, Torah pointer, shofar and etrog box

Judaism

Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people.

Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people.

Judaica (clockwise from top): Shabbat candlesticks, handwashing cup, Chumash and Tanakh, Torah pointer, shofar and etrog box
Maccabees by Wojciech Stattler (1842)
A painting of Moses decorates the Dura-Europos synagogue dating from 244 CE
The Western Wall in Jerusalem is a remnant of the wall encircling the Second Temple. The Temple Mount is the holiest site in Judaism.
Kennicott Bible, a 1476 Spanish Tanakh
Aleppo Codex, a Tanakh produced in Tiberias in the 10th century
A man holds up a Sephardi-style torah at the Western Wall, Jerusalem
Statue of Maimonides in Córdoba, Spain
Conservative women rabbis, Israel
El Ghriba synagogue in Djerba, Tunisia
Beta Israeli Kahen at the Western Wall
A Yemenite Jew at morning prayers, wearing a kippah skullcap, prayer shawl and tefillin
An Israeli female soldier prays at the Western Wall
Jewish boys wearing tzitzit and kippot play soccer in Jerusalem
Men wearing tallitot pray at the Western Wall
Two braided Shabbat challahs placed under an embroidered challah cover at the start of the Shabbat meal
Jews in Mumbai break the Yom Kippur fast with roti and samosas
Purim street scene in Jerusalem
Jewish personnel of the US Navy light candles on Hanukkah
A man reads a torah using a yad
The Sarajevo Synagogue in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Great Synagogue (Jerusalem)
Congregation Emanu-El of New York
18th-century circumcision chair Museum of Jewish Art and History
Two boys wearing tallit at a bar mitzvah. The torah is visible in the foreground.
The Bereavement (Yahrtzeit) Hasidic tish, Bnei Brak, Israel
Jewish students with their teacher in Samarkand, Uzbekistan c. 1910.
Magen David Synagogue in Kolkata, India
A Yemeni sofer writing a torah in the 1930s
Judaism is practiced around the world. This is an 1889 siddur published in Hebrew and Marathi for use by the Bene Israel community
The 12th century Synagogue of Santa María la Blanca in Toledo, Spain was converted to a church shortly after anti-Jewish pogroms in 1391
Muslim women in the mellah of Essaouira
The bimah of the Ben Ezra Synagogue in Cairo, Egypt

Judaism's texts, traditions, and values strongly influenced later Abrahamic religions, including Christianity and Islam.

Door of the Theses in Wittenberg, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany

Protestantism

Door of the Theses in Wittenberg, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany
The Trinity is the belief that God is one God in three persons: the Father, the Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit
A Lutheran depiction of the Last Supper by Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1547
Execution of Jan Hus in 1415
Spread of Lollardy in medieval England and medieval Scotland
Wessel Gansfort
Distribution of Protestantism and Catholicism in Central Europe on the eve of the Thirty Years' War (1618)
1839 Methodist camp meeting during the Second Great Awakening in the U.S.
Dissatisfaction with the outcome of a disputation in 1525 prompted Swiss Brethren to part ways with Huldrych Zwingli
Glass window in the town church of Wiesloch (Stadtkirche Wiesloch) with Martin Luther and John Calvin commemorating the 1821 union of Lutheran and Reformed churches in the Grand Duchy of Baden
Historical chart of the main Protestant branches
Indonesian Reformed Evangelical Church megachurch
Links between interdenominational movements and other developments within Protestantism
Hillsong Church Konstanz, Germany, an evangelical charismatic church
Jacobus Arminius was a Dutch Reformed theologian, whose views influenced parts of Protestantism. A small Remonstrant community remains in the Netherlands.
Karl Barth, often regarded as the greatest Protestant theologian of the twentieth century
Columbia University, established by the Church of England
Enlightenment philosopher John Locke argued for individual conscience, free from state control
St. Peter's Church (1612), the oldest surviving Protestant church in the "New World" (the Americas and certain Atlantic Ocean islands), the first of nine Parish churches established in Bermuda by the Church of England. Bermuda also has the oldest Presbyterian church outside the British Isles, the Church of Scotland's Christ Church (1719).
James Springer White and his wife, Ellen G. White founded the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
An Adventist pastor baptizes a young man in Mozambique.
Loma Linda University Seventh-day Adventist Church in Loma Linda, California, United States.
Dirk Willems saves his pursuer. This act of mercy led to his recapture, after which he was burned at the stake.
An Amish family in a horse-drawn square buggy.
Alexanderwohl Mennonite Church in rural Goessel, Kansas, United States.
Thomas Cranmer, one of the most influential figures in shaping Anglican theology and self-identity.
The various editions of the Book of Common Prayer contain the words of structured services of worship in the Anglican Church.
British coronations are held in Westminster Abbey, a royal peculiar under the direct jurisdiction of the monarch.
Roger Williams was an early proponent of religious freedom and the separation of church and state.
Baptists subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers.
The First Baptist Church in America. Baptists are roughly one-third of U.S. Protestants.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/appendix-b-classification-of-protestant-denominations/|title=Appendix B: Classification of Protestant Denominations|date=12 May 2015}}</ref>
John Calvin's theological thought influenced a variety of Congregational, Continental Reformed, United, Presbyterian, and other Reformed churches.
The Ordination of Elders in a Scottish Kirk, by John Henry Lorimer, 1891.
A Congregational church in Cheshire, Connecticut, United States.
Luther's rose seal, a symbol of Lutheranism
Luther composed hymns still used today, including "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God"
Moses and Elijah direct the sinner looking for salvation to the cross in this painting illustrating Luther's Theology of the Cross (as opposed to a Theology of Glory).
John Wesley, the primary founder of the Methodism.
A United Methodist elder celebrating the Eucharist.
Methodist Central Hall in Westminster, London.
Charles Fox Parham, who associated glossolalia with the baptism in the Holy Spirit.
Contemporary Christian worship in Rock Harbor Church, Costa Mesa, United States.
A Pentecostal church in Ravensburg, Germany.
George Fox was an English dissenter and a founder of the Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as the Quakers or Friends.
Friedensthal Moravian Church Christiansted, St Croix, USVI founded in 1755.
A night shelter of The Salvation Army in Geneva, Switzerland.
William Wilberforce, a British evangelical abolitionist.
Billy Graham, a prominent evangelical revivalist, preaching in Duisburg, Germany in 1954.
Worship service at Église Nouvelle vie, an evangelical Pentecostal church in Longueuil, Canada.
An Evangelical Protestant church in Hämeenlinna, Finland.
Philipp Jakob Spener, German pioneer and founder of Pietism.
Pietism has been a strong cultural influence in Scandinavia.
The Broad and the Narrow Way, a popular German Pietist painting, 1866.
John Cotton, who sparked the Antinomian Controversy with his free grace theology.
Pilgrim Fathers landing at Plymouth Rock in 1620.
Built in 1681, the Old Ship Church in Hingham, Massachusetts is the oldest church in America in continuous ecclesiastical use.<ref>{{Cite news|last = Butterfield|first = Fox|title = The Perfect New England Town|url = https://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/14/travel/the-perfect-new-england-village.html?sec=&spon=|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 14 May 1989|access-date = 30 May 2010}}</ref>
Luther Monument in Worms, which features some of the Reformation's crucial figures.
The International Monument to the Reformation in Geneva, Switzerland.
The Adoration of the Trinity by Albrecht Dürer.
The Crucifixion of Christ by Lucas Cranach the Elder.
The Adam and Eve by Lucas Cranach the Younger.
A Huguenot, on St. Bartholomew's Day, Refusing to Shield Himself from Danger by Wearing the Roman Catholic Badge by John Everett Millais.
The Return of the Prodigal Son, detail, c. 1669 by Rembrandt.
The Church at Auvers, 1890. Musée d'Orsay, Paris. By Vincent van Gogh.
Protestant majority countries in 2010.
Countries by percentage of Protestants.

Protestantism is a form of Christianity that originated with the 16th-century Reformation, a movement against what its followers perceived to be errors in the Catholic Church.

Complete set of scrolls, constituting the Tanakh

Hebrew Bible

Canonical collection of Hebrew scriptures, including the Torah, the Nevi'im, and the Ketuvim.

Canonical collection of Hebrew scriptures, including the Torah, the Nevi'im, and the Ketuvim.

Complete set of scrolls, constituting the Tanakh
The inter-relationship between various significant ancient manuscripts of the Old Testament (some identified by their siglum). Mt being the Masoretic text. The lowermost text "(lost)" would be the Urtext.

Christianity has long asserted a close relationship between the Hebrew Bible and New Testament, although there have sometimes been movements like Marcionism (viewed as heretical by the early church) that have struggled with it.