Christianity is a worldwide religious tradition, a river of faith with many branches and with streams flowing on every continent. But its common source is one: the life, the teachings, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus. This man, whom Christians call the Christ, the Messiah, the expected one, was born in Roman-occupied Palestine about 2,000 years ago. He lived his life as a Jew in a region ruled by the Roman authorities. Like many prophets before him, he spoke of the urgent need to turn to God and he taught a message of love and justice. His active ministry of teaching was, at most, about three years long. Still in his thirties, he was charged with treason and put to death. His followers reported that he was resurrected from the dead and that he appeared to them.
Jesus left no writings, nor did others write about him until some years after he died. Remarkably, however, the small group of disciples who experienced his resurrection, were inspired with a spiritual energy that would create communities of
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Some would now argue that Anglicanism, which followed the course of the British Empire, and the Pentecostalism sweeping the globe constitutes other major stream of the Christian tradition. But these broad categories hardly do justice to the hundreds of particular churches and denominations that have come into being through the centuries and continue to be born today. In the early twenty-first century, Christianity has more adherents than any other religious tradition on earth. One third of the human race call themselves Christians. The Christian scriptures have been translated into a multitude of languages as the Gospel, and this “good news” of Christ’s way has been communicated in cultures throughout the world. The great diversity of Christianity is one of its most striking