什么是基督教

西元1世纪由巴勒斯坦的拿撒勒人耶稣基督创立的宗教。此宗教的圣典是《圣经》，特别是《新约圣经》。其主要教义是：耶稣是上帝之子（圣三位一体的第二人），上帝对这个世界的爱是耶稣存在的必要因素，耶稣为救赎人类而死。基督教原本是犹太人的一种运动，他们接受耶稣是弥赛亚，但此运动很快变为非犹太人的信仰。早期教会是由圣保罗和其他早期基督教传教士、神学家建立的；在罗马帝国时期受迫害，但君士坦丁一世支持它，成为第一个信奉基督教的皇帝。耶稣死後两千年，基督教已分裂为许多支派，并继续分枝下去。几个大的分支包括：天主教、东正教和新教。几乎所有的基督教教会都有按立的神职人员，这些人通常是（但不全是）男性。神职人员带领集体作崇拜仪式，并在某些教会被视为俗人阶级和神之间的沟通媒介。大多数基督教教会执行两种圣礼仪式：洗礼和圣餐。现在全世界约有将近二十亿基督教教徒，分布於各大洲。

Christianity

Religion stemming from the teachings of Jesus in the 1st century AD. Its sacred scripture is the Bible, particularly the New Testament. Its principal tenets are that Jesus is the son of God (the second person of the Holy Trinity), that God's love for the world is the essential component of his being, and that Jesus died to redeem humankind. Christianity was originally a movement of Jews who accepted Jesus as the messiah, but the movement quickly became predominantly gentile. The early church was shaped by St. Paul and other early Christian missionaries and theologians; it was persecuted under the Roman empire but supported by Constantine I, the first Christian emperor. During the two millennia since Jesus' death, Christianity has subdivided into numerous churches that continue to proliferate; the major divisions are Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Protestantism. Nearly all Christian churches have an ordained clergy, members of which are typically though not universally male. Members of the clergy lead group worship services and are viewed as intermediaries between the laity and the divine in some churches. Most Christian churches administer two sacraments, baptism and the Lord's Supper. There are now nearly 2 billion adherents of Christianity throughout the world, found on all continents.