Christianity

What it is

The tradition founded on the life, death and — its central claim — resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, followed by around 2.4 billion people.

Its distinctive doctrines: that God is triune, one in three persons; that Jesus is fully God and fully human, the incarnation; that his death and resurrection accomplish the reconciliation of humanity with God; and that this is received by grace rather than earned.

Where it came from

Jesus was a Jewish teacher in Roman Palestine, born around 4 BCE and executed around 30 CE. Historians broadly agree on a small number of points: that he existed, was baptised by John, taught in Galilee, gathered followers, and was crucified under Pontius Pilate. Beyond that the historical and the theological accounts diverge sharply, and the quest for the historical Jesus has produced two centuries of scholarship and no consensus.

The movement began within Judaism and separated over the following century — a process, not an event, and one that shaped both traditions.

The doctrines were hammered out in controversy. The Council of Nicaea (325) addressed whether the Son was of the same substance as the Father, against Arius, who held he was created. Constantinople (381) settled the Spirit. Chalcedon (451) defined the two natures of Christ in one person — and split the church, since the Oriental Orthodox churches did not accept the formula.

Further divisions followed: the Great Schism of 1054 between Rome and Constantinople, and the Reformation from 1517, which produced Lutheran, Reformed, Anglican and later Baptist, Methodist and Pentecostal churches.

The major branches today: Catholic, around 1.3 billion; Orthodox, Eastern and Oriental; and Protestant in enormous variety, of which Pentecostal and charismatic Christianity is the fastest-growing religious movement in the world.

How it is practised

Corporate worship, generally weekly. The sacraments — baptism and the Eucharist universally, with five more in Catholic and Orthodox practice. Prayer, scripture, the liturgical year from Advent through Lent to Easter and Pentecost.

The contemplative tradition — the Desert Fathers, hesychasm, the Rhineland and Spanish mystics — is treated under Christian contemplation, and is a genuine part of the mainstream rather than a fringe.

Practice varies enormously by branch: an Orthodox liturgy, a Quaker meeting and a Pentecostal service have little in common on the surface.

What we can and cannot say

We can say the demographic picture has changed and most Western descriptions have not caught up. Christianity's centre of gravity is no longer Europe or North America. The typical Christian today is more likely to be a woman in Nigeria, Brazil or the Philippines than anyone in the places that produced the textbooks. Africa has more Christians than any other continent; the largest congregations are in Seoul and Lagos; and growth is overwhelmingly Pentecostal. Philip Jenkins's work made this argument two decades ago and it has only become more true.

We can say the internal diversity defeats generalisation as thoroughly as in any other tradition here. Orthodox theology of theosis — becoming God by participation — and Reformed doctrines of imputed righteousness are not variations on a theme.

We can say the record of harm is severe and must be in the article rather than beside it. The Crusades. The Inquisition. The expulsion and forced conversion of Jews and Muslims. The theological underwriting of slavery, and of colonial conquest. Residential and mission schools that removed Indigenous children from their families across several continents — including in Australia, where church-run missions were central to the Stolen Generations.

And the institutional child sexual abuse crisis, documented at length by the Australian Royal Commission (2013–2017) among other inquiries, which found not isolated offenders but a consistent institutional pattern: reports minimised, offenders relocated rather than removed, reputation prioritised over children. That material is treated under sexual misconduct by teachers, and the Commission's central finding — that institutions protect themselves absent external accountability — generalises well beyond one church.

We can say the tradition has also produced abolitionists, hospitals, universities, and much of the language in which the West argues about human dignity — and that its severest critics have very often been Christians. Both belong in the same paragraph.

We cannot settle the historical questions about Jesus, and the scholarly literature is genuinely divided rather than merely cautious.

Further reading

• Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity (2009) — comprehensive and readable.
• Philip Jenkins, The Next Christendom (2002) — on the demographic shift.
• Final Report of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (2017).