Throughout life and history people have sought out power and wealth as a means of growth but along side this, there was a part of their growth that could not be filled with earthly wants, and that was their spiritual growth that could only be satisfied with their beliefs and practices. Of all beliefs and practices only a few have become worldly influences, one such belief system is the religion of Christianity, that started in 1st century CE and has grown since then and is still doing so now with over 2 billion members, 32% of the world population.
The Bible, the book that is the fundamental base for all Christian beliefs, is broken into two main divisions. The Old Testament deals with everything from the creation of Man to the starting of Judaism, to the rise of the religion, their escape from Egypt, foundations in the current Middle East, and goes from the beginning of time to the time immediately before Jesus. The New Testament deals with the life of Jesus and the formation of the early church. The four gospels, authored by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, are each 4 separate accounts of the life of Jesus, but each gospel contains pieces of information, such as parables and miracles, that are not necessarily found in the other 3. The New Testament also contains letters from Paul, who was originally was named Saul and was a Roman soldier who was ordered to hunt down and kill Christians. He then saw Jesus in a vision, and converted to Christianity. He then went and converted many different cities to Christianity, and was himself eventually caught and killed for the crime of being Christian. His letters to those cities then served as encouragement and were included in the Bible. The last book of the Bible is the Revelation according to John. This details a vision that John, a follower of Jesus, had about the Second Coming. This is one of the most abstract books of the Bible, and is open to a lot of interpretation.
Christianity, according to the Bible, is said to have started with Jesus and his teachings in the Greco-Roman world, however the Christianity as we know it did not take flight until after Jesus had passed away and his apostles spread the word. The 12 Apostles, commissioned by Jesus, spread his message, known as the “gospel”, which translates from Greek to "good news". Jesus himself was born and raised Jewish, and the 12 Apostles were all Jewish by heritage. According to Christianity, Jesus was conceived through the Virgin Mary with her consent. From this belief comes the belief that Jesus was both God and man. Jesus was born during the census of the current Roman Emperor. Joseph, Mary's husband, but not according to the Bible the father of Jesus, took Mary with him to his hometown of Nazareth. Because this census required everybody to return to their hometown to register, every inn in the area was filled. Mary was about to give birth, and the couple ended up staying in an inn. Jesus, who according to Christianity was the Messiah that was promised to the Hebrew people, started his life surrounded by animals and his two parents. According to the Bible, there were a series of miracles that occurred that night, and a star rose right above the spot where Jesus lay.
The Bible barely mentions Jesus' childhood, and his public ministry beings at 30 with his baptism in the Jordan River. For 3 years, Jesus traveled through modern-day Israel and Palestine, preaching his message of redemption. This message pits him against many of the authorities of the modern-time, such as the Pharisees and other leaders of the Hebrew community over the time, who answered to the leaders of the Roman Empire. After 3 years of performing miracles, such as curing the sick, raising the dead, driving demons out of possessed people, he had accumulated a massive following. This caused concern among the established authority, who worried that Jesus might lead them in rebellion. Jesus was handed over to the Hebrew authorities by one of his own disciples, Judas, and sentenced to death, which according to the Bible, had been prophesied. Jesus was crucified on the cross, a particularly brutal method of execution, and died. According to the Bible, Jesus rose from the dead on the 3rd day after his execution, as he had predicted. He then spent a short time among his disciples, and ascended into Heaven. After his resurrection from the dead, he promised his 12 Apostles a second coming, which would be the end of the world. According to a vision from one of Jesus' followers, which also appears in the Bible, this Second Coming would be marked by many different signs.
