Founded in Palestine by the followers of Jesus With 2.1bn followers worldwide it has the biggest number of followers amongst all religions.
Even in India Christianity is represented as it was first introduced there in the first century by Saint Thomas. The ancient Christian communities of Kerala are called Saint Thomas Christians. Christianity increased its influence in India significantly during the colonization, which began in 1498 when the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama arrived on the Malabar coast.. Christian Missionary activity increased in the early 1800s. Today Christians in India are most prevalent in the northeast, major metro areas, and in western states such as Goa.

Worship
Practice of corporate worship and rites that include the use of sacraments usually conducted by trained clergy within organized churches.
There are many different forms of worship, many interpretations of the role of the organized clergy, and many variations in polity and church organization within Christianity.

Basic belief
Jesus of Nazareth was a teacher and prophet whose life and teachings form the basis of their religion. Christians regard him as Son of God and as Word or Wisdom of God incarnate, Christians are taught to follow12 main rules which include honesty (Do not lie, Do not steal) , love (Do not commit adultery, Love your neighbor like yourself). respect (Honor your father and mother), religiousness (Do not misuse the name of God, Worship only God, no one else, Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy and resting, Do not make anything into an idol) and social responsibility (Do not murder)
Christians believe that Jesus was raised from the dead on the third day after his
crucifixion . This event is commemorated and celebrated by most groups who consider themselves Christians each year at Easter
Catholics and Orthodoxs exclude women from priesthood, while Protestant preachers can be either gender.

Jesus as a person in Christian tradition
The Gospels of Matthew and Luke contain narratives of Jesus' birth and infancy, which disagree in many points but concur that he was the miraculously conceived son of Mary born at Bethlehem in Judaea.
All four Gospels agree in dating his call to public ministry from the time of his baptism at the hands of John “the baptizer,” after which he took up the life of a preacher, teacher, and healer, accompanied by a small group of disciples
The story of Jesus' Passion was a central element in early Christian oral tradition. They close with accounts of his empty tomb, discovered on the “third day,” and of his later appearances to Mary and Mary Magdalene and to the circle of his disciples as risen from the dead.
Not all but most Christians believe Jesus to be the Son of God and the Messiah of the prophesied in the Old Testament or the Hebrew Bible. Most also believe that Jesus rose from the dead after being crucified, and that those who have belief in him will be saved
Jesus is recognized not only in the Christian religion, but to some extend in Judaism, Hinduism and Islam as well. Muslims acknowledge him as a prophet, and Hindus as an avatar

Jesus in Islamic Tradition
Jesus is highly regarded in Islamic tradition as born of the Virgin Mary and as a prophet restating divine religion. His miracles and institution of the Eucharist are attested in the Qur'an.
Muslims believe he was one of God's most important prophets and also the Messiah though with a different meaning than this has for Christians.
In Islam there is no god except the one true God and God does not have a son. Thus, as with all prophets, Jesus was a human being.

Jesus in Judaism tradition
Jews do not believe in Jesus, especially as a prophet. Religious Jews view the world as unredeemed and are still awaiting the Messianic time.
A notable exception is the Lubavitcher sect, which views Jesus to be the Messiah
Son of Man and believes that he will someday return from the dead, often citing the same scriptures Christians use to point to a dead and resurrected Messiah, particularly in the book of Daniel
As for the historical personality of Jesus, Judaism has fewer objections to quotes attributed to him than they do with subsequent confessions by early Christian adherents, Paul in particular.
Many Jews see Jesus in varying degrees, from a failed rebel leader to a miracle worker to a misunderstood prophet. Others object to teachings attributed to Jesus by noting a passage in Deuteronomy, which speaks of prophets, who tell you to follow another God. Some believe that Jesus is mentioned in the Jewish Talmud

Modern Portrayals of Jesus
Starting in the late 18th century scholars increasingly recognized that the Gospels were written from the point of view of the original Christian believers, who were more likely than moderns to accept supernatural occurrences and explanations.
In the19th century many attempts were made to reconstruct by historical and critical methods a picture of Jesus that corresponded to modern ideas of reality.
Many scholars in the first half of the 20th century argued that the Gospels were narrative proclamations imbued with faith and not in any sense objective presentations. In the early 1950s this school tried to combine the historical Jesus and the Jesus confessed by the church.
In the 1970s research took a new turn. Now some researchers attempted to place Jesus squarely in the Jewish milieu of the 1st century. The Jewishness of Jesus has increasingly been the focus of Jewish and Christian scholarship.
This approach takes a optimistic view of the historicity of the Gospel traditions. The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls has allowed comparison of the Gospels with the brand of Judaism represented in the scrolls. Still other contemporary scholars have sought to portray Jesus as a charismatic teacher of subversive wisdom.

Jesus teachings
Jesus used a variety of methods in his teaching, such as paradox metaphor parable
His teaching frequently centered on the Kingdom of God. Some of his most famous teachings are in the Sermon on the Mount
The central theme of Jesus' teaching was the near advent of God's Reign or Kingdom, attested by his words but also by “wonders” or “signs” that he performed.
Later, Jesus extensively trained twelve Apostles to continue his teachings. Most Christians, who hold that Jesus' miracles were for real, think that the Apostles gained the power to perform healing for both Jews and Gentiles alike, after they had been empowered by the Holy Spirit, which was to send to them following his Ascension an event referred to as Pentecost.
The chronology of his teaching period in Jesus' life is uncertain; but it seems that his activities evoked skepticism and hostility in high quarters, Roman as well as Jewish. After perhaps three years in Galilee, he went to Jerusalem to observe Passover. There he was received enthusiastically by the people, but was soon arrested and, with cooperation of the Jewish authorities, executed as a dangerous messianic pretender.

Holy book
Christian teaching is embodied in the Bible, specifically in the New Testament, but Christians see also the Old Testament as sacred and authoritative Scripture.
The Old Testament, as accepted by the Catholic Church and the Orthodox church consists of the Hebrew books of the Torah (the holy book of Judaism), the Prophets and the Writings as well as the “Greek books”. The Protestant Churches after the Reformation rejected the Greek books--deeming them less holy than those written in Hebrew.

Historicity of Jesus

Jesus' name is not reported by contemporary or near-contemporary sources, but modern scholars have suggested that Jesus' name was the Aramaic Yešûa a shortened form of Yehoshua, a fairly common name at the time.
Christ is not a name but a title, which comes from the Christos , meaning anointed with chrism. The Greek form is a liberal translation of Messiah from Hebrew Mashiach a word which occurs often in the Hebrew Bible and refers to the "high priest" The title does not imply a divine nature for the possessor of it.
The historicity, teachings, and nature of Jesus are subject to debate and controversy among Christians and outside Christian communities. There are very few known textual references to Jesus from the 1st century. The historical significance of mentions of Jesus in works significantly post-dating the first century is disputable. While most historians and scholars have either assumed or concluded that Jesus probably lived, some have found it difficult to assess by historical means alone.
Some writers, citing the lack of external evidence, argue that no such person as Jesus ever existed, others maintain that the source documents and Gospel of Mark, on which the four canonical Gospels are based were written within living memory of Jesus's lifetime.
Even among those who do believe in his existence there are divisions over the extent of historicity of the Gospels' accounts. Some say that the Gospel accounts are neither objective nor accurate, since they were written or compiled by his followers. Those who have a naturalistic view of history do not believe in divine intervention or miracles
without any evidence for them, such as the resurrection of Jesus mentioned by the Gospels.
There are many similarities between stories about Jesus and myths of Pagan Godmen such as Mithras Apollo Dionysus & Osiris Dionysus , leading to conjectures that the pagan myths were adopted by early accounts of Jesus.
Jesus frequently put himself in opposition to the Jewish religious leaders including the opposing forces of Sadducees and Pharisees His teaching castigated the Pharisees primarily for their legalism and hypocrisy, although he also had followers among the religious leaders. In his role as a social reformer, and with his followers holding the inflammatory view that he was the Jewish Messiah, Jesus threatened the status quo. Jesus also preached the imminent end of the current era of history. In this sense he was an apocalyptic preacher
Some interpretations of the text, particularly amongst Protestants, suggest that Jesus opposed stringent interpretations of Jewish law, supporting the spirit more than the letter.
Some modern scholars contend that Rabbi Yeshua Bar Abba was the historical Jesus of Nazareth and was the leader of the successful nonviolent Jewish resistance to Pilate's attempt to place Roman Eagles - symbols of the worship of Jupiter - on Jerusalem's Temple Hill. This episode is found in Josephus, who does not say who the leader of this resistance was, but shortly afterwards, in a passage whose authenticity is heavily disputed, states that Pontius Pilate had Jesus crucified.
It is commonly thought that Jesus preached for a period of three years, yet this is never mentioned explicitly in any of the gospels. However, many interpretations of the
synoptic gospels suggest only one year. This theory of a one year, Passover to Passover, ministry, would coincide with the type and shadow of the Passover lamb (lamb of God) being a yearling lamb. This, however, is not commonly taught although it has a strong following in academic circles.
Some scholars point out that that the title "Lamb of God" does not necessarily refer to the metaphor of a sacrificial animal. They point out that in Galilean Aramaic the word talya, "lamb," had the common meaning of "male child." This is akin to "kid" Thus, "Lamb of God" could have been a slangy way of saying "Son of God" or "God's Kid."
Jesus came with his followers to Jerusalem during the Passover festival, and created a disturbance at the Temple. He was subsequently arrested on the orders of the Sanhedrin and the High Priest, Joseph Caiaphas He was condemned for blasphemy by the Sanhedrin and turned over to the Romans for execution - but not for blasphemy, but for sedition against the Empire. According to the gospels, Jesus was crucified by the Romans on the reluctant orders of Pontius Pilate , bowing to the Jewish religious leaders' pressure.

Religious perspectives on Jesus
The vast majority of Christian denominations (Catholicism, Orthodox Christianity, and most forms of Protestantism) derive their beliefs from the conclusions reached by the Council of Nicea in C.E., known as the Nicene Creed.
According to this Christ (as a Trinity of distinct persons with one substance) became human on earth in fulfillment of the Old Testament scriptures. That he was crucified by humanity, died and was buried, only to be resurrected on the third day to then rise to enter the heaven and "sits at the right hand of" God the Father.
Christians generally believe that faith in Jesus is the only way to receive salvation and to enter into heaven, and that salvation is a gift given by the grace of God.
Christianity has undergone several schisms in its understanding of Jesus. The vast majority of Christians subscribe to the creed that Jesus is Incarnate (a man who is the earthly aspect of God and who rose from the dead and later ascended into Heaven)
But some groups identifying themselves as Christian, such as Jehovah's Witnesses and Christian Scientists, believe Jesus was divinely inspired but not God incarnate.
Others such as Mormons believe in a Trinity, but maintain that God the Father begot Jesus as God the Son, and that Jesus created the Earth under the direction of God the Father.

Others like Swedenborgians New Church believe that Jesus is God incarnate, but not a separate person from the Father.
There are also some movements, such as Christian anarchism that believe in Jesus and his teachings but reject the church, state or any power other than God. They also believe in order to truly love our enemies we have to turn the other cheek and embrace nonviolence Leo Tolstoi was an advocate of this principle.
There are differing views within Christian groups as to whether or not Jesus ever claimed divinity. The majority of lay Christians, theologians and clergy hold that the Bible shows Jesus both as divine, and claiming divinity.
The Docetics, an early Christian sect, believed as Muslims do today, that Jesus never died and the Crucifixion was only an illusion. The Gnostics believed that Jesus was a representative of a much higher and greater Deity than the God of the Hebrew Bible.

Other perspectives
Atheists
do not believe in a divinity—and thus not in any divinity of Jesus. Some just do not think about it, some doubt he lived, some regard him as an important moral teacher, and some as a historical preacher like any other.

Bahá'í
considers Jesus to be a manifestation (prophet) of God, while not being God incarnate.
Buddhism
Some Buddhists believe Jesus may have been a Bodhisattva

New Age movement
has reinterpreted the life and teaching of Jesus in a large variety of ways He has also been claimed as an Ascended Master

Theosophy
Make him a mystic due to study of mysticism in the Himalayas in the period between his childhood and his public career.

Development of church institutions
For the first three centuries Christianity depended on apologetic and religious writings
A first problem for Christians was how to resist attempts to interpret the new beliefs in pagan terms (e.g., Gnosticism). The earliest sectarian deviations were those of Marcion and of Montanus in the 2nd century who were excommunicated later on followed by quite a number of excommunications, whenever deviating opinions appeared.
For 250 years it was a martyrs' church with persecutions due to refusal of Christians to worship the state and the Roman emperor. It took 300 years to the official recognition of Christianity
For the same time the church in the East was occupied with doctrinal controversies—Arianism, Nestorianism, Monophysitism, and Monotheletism. These arguments concerned the topic of Jesus being both divine and human.
From the 3rd century monasticism was one element of the church. First organized by St. Basil. In the West monasticism was central to the missionary work and generated a mode of life of continuing vitality in the Roman Catholic Church.
In the East the church passed from persecution directly to imperial control, inaugurated by Constantine, enshrined later in Justinian's laws, and always a problem for the Orthodox churches. In the West the church remained independent because of the well-established authority of the bishop of Rome.
In the two millennia of its history Christianity has been divided by schism due to doctrinal and organizational differences
Most of the first German invaders to western Europe were converted to Arian Christianity, but the pagan Franks adopted orthodox Christianity, a fact that helped to consolidate their rule. Out of this kingdom came Pepin and Charlemagne, who, by alliance with the papacy and proclamation of an empire (800), charted an ideal of the Middle Ages.
In the 7th and 8th century the Eastern Church lost to Islam all Asia except Asia Minor. The difference in perception of Church authority produced the conflict over the addition of the word filioque ("and the Son") to the Nicene Creed by the Roman Catholic Church. The naming of Charlemagne as the Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Leo III on Christmas Day 800 only deepened the rift between East and West. The iconoclast controversy in the eighth century worsened matters, when the Eastern Emperor Leo III, influenced by Muslim and Jews, ordered the destruction of all Church images in 726. Trying to reconcile from the East this was reversed by the Empress Irene and the seventh ecumenical Council in 787. But what began as a conciliatory effort between Pope Leo IX and the Greek Patriarch Michael Cerularius ended in disaster in 1054
when the schism became final.
Churches of ancient origin are beside of the Roman Catholic Church, the Orthodox Eastern Church, the Armenian Church, the Coptic Church, the Jacobite Church, and the Nestorian Church.
Pope Urban II tried to reunite East and West by calling for the recapture of the Holy Land which had fallen into the hands of the Muslims. Besides of reclaiming the Land where Jesus was born and stop the Moslem invasion; and besides of marshaling the energy of the constantly warring feudal lords and knights his target was to heal the rift between Roman and Orthodox Christianity following the Schism of 1054

In the 16th century another major schism took place in the Western Church with the Protestant Reformation. This was based on a combination of theological and political rational. The reformators argued that the church should be organized along biblically based ideas and put the Bible in the most authoritative position, rejecting the Catholic’s church teaching authority. They also believed that each Christian could communicate directly with God and didn’t need intermediary of a priest or a saint. The Protestant Churches developed into four main streams: Lutheranism, Calvinism, Baptism, and Anglicanism
Today there are three broad divisions, Roman Catholic, Orthodox Eastern, and Protestant; but especially within the category of Protestantism, there is a large number of divergent denominations. 20th-century movements seek to end the divisiveness in Christianity and to achieve reunion via the ecumenical movement.
The ecumenical movement tries to combine or to reconcile differing beliefs. Historically this was the approach that was used in the formation of the Roman Catholic Church in combining both Biblical and other beliefs and practices in formulating one religious system. Celebrations of various holidays such as Christmas, New Years, Valentines Day, and Easter were incorporated into Christian worship. by that way. Currently, many elements of the Protestant religious system are now incorporating into their ranks Roman Catholic beliefs for the sake of ecumenical oneness.

Holy Christian Places of the World

Christian's holy Places of the World
Betlehem /Israel
It’s the birthplace of Jesus

Canterbury, England
For Anglicans
Seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury

Cochin/ Kerala/ India
The Santa Cruz Basilica is a historic church that was built by the Portuguese. The church was elevated to a cathedral by Pope Paul IV in 1558 AD. In 1795 AD, it fell into the hands of the British when they took over Cochin and was demolished.
About a hundred years later, Bishop Dom Gomez Ferreira commissioned a new building at the same site in 1887 AD. The church was proclaimed a Basilica in 1984 by Pope John Paul II.

Constantinople, Turkey
For eastern orthodox
Seat of the Patriarchate of Constantinople

Goa / India‘
Basilica of Bom Jesus
A place where the mortal remains
of St. Francis Xavier are kept
and is the best specimen of baroque architecture in India.

Iona
In Scotland, the Church of Scotland has rebuilt the famous monastery at Iona as a retreat centre where Christians can go to meditate and pray.

Jerusalem /Israel
A holy city for the three monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam
It is the symbol of dialogue between God and man as well as between man and man.
For Christians it is important as Jesus lived and began ministry in that town and it is the place where the early Church started.

Mt. Athos a peninsula in eastern Greece (near Thesaloniki)
Extremely revered by Orthodox believers. It is inhabited exclusively by monastics. There are twenty large monasteries plus countless small sketes, brotherhoods & hermitages. It is a major pilgramage sight for Orthodox males

New Pilgrimage sites
During the nineteenth and twentieth century new sites developed, often as a result of visions of the Virgin Mary. Some famous examples include:
Lourdes (France) , Fatima (Portugal) , Guadalupe (Spain) , Medijigore / Medjugorje (in the former Yugoslavia – A much more recent shrine

Salt Lake City, Utah
World headquarters of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; site of Salt Lake Temple, Temple Square, Mormon Tabernacle

Shimla /India
Christ Church & St. Michael's Cathedral, H.P.
The most prominent building on the famous Mall of Shimla is the yellow Christ Church, reputed to be the second oldest church in northern India. It still has those lovely stained glass windows for which it is so famed.

Taize
The famous Taize community near Lyon is the scene of many modern pilgrimages by young people. It is in effect, a Protestant monastery.

Vatican (Rom/Italy)
For Catholics
Also known as "Vatican City" and "The Holy See"

Walsingham:
Anglo-Catholics (a nineteenth century movement within the Anglican Church) revived the medieval Marian shrine at Walsingham and it became a centre for their movement.

Wesley’s Chapel, London
for Methodists as a way of recognising and consolidating their sense of who they are and what their tradition is. Wesley was the ‘founder’ of Methodism. Methodists and other Protestants can honour their spiritual heroes without thinking that those great men and women intercede directly with God for them.

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