User:Thanissaro/Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic Abrahamic religion of those who believe that Jesus of Nazareth was not merely a teacher and model of a pious life, but is the revealer of God and the mediator of salvation from sin. It shares the Old Testament teachings with Judaism. Mainstream Christians agree on the resurrection of Jesus and the Trinity (God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Ghost) Jesus representing the immanence and the Holy Spirit the Transcendance of God – God being infinite and only knowable through Jesus and the Holy Ghost. Christianity has developed into six main ecclesiastico-cultural bloks: Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, Independents and Marginals (Barratt, 2001:3-5). Christianity is especially based in the Gospels of the New Testament, although it also draws on the Old Testament, believing the Bible to be the word of God. The main injunctions of Christianity are ‘Love God’ and ‘Love thy neighbour’. The former has led Christianity to be exclusive in its faith with a history of violence in the attempt to convert infidels and a stereotype of disrespect for other faiths – these indiscretions being taken as an inseparable part of Christianity (Küng, 1995:7-9). The latter has given Christianity the inspiration to apply its teachings (from c.500 onwards) to create a society of equality in terms of health and education.