什麼是基督教

西元1世紀由巴勒斯坦的拿撒勒人耶穌基督創立的宗教。此宗教的聖典是《聖經》，特別是《新約聖經》。其主要教義是：耶穌是上帝之子（聖三位一體的第二人），上帝對這個世界的愛是耶穌存在的必要因素，耶穌為救贖人類而死。基督教原本是猶太人的一種運動，他們接受耶穌是彌賽亞，但此運動很快變為非猶太人的信仰。早期教會是由聖保羅和其他早期基督教傳教士、神學家建立的；在羅馬帝國時期受迫害，但君士坦丁一世支持它，成為第一個信奉基督教的皇帝。耶穌死後兩千年，基督教已分裂為許多支派，並繼續分枝下去。幾個大的分支包括：天主教、東正教和新教。幾乎所有的基督教教會都有按立的神職人員，這些人通常是（但不全是）男性。神職人員帶領集體作崇拜儀式，並在某些教會被視為俗人階級和神之間的溝通媒介。大多數基督教教會執行兩種聖禮儀式：洗禮和聖餐。現在全世界約有將近二十億基督教教徒，分佈於各大洲。

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.