Wikipedia:Portal:Christianity

Showcased Christianity content

Christianity (from the Greek word Khristos Xριστός "Christ") is a monotheistic religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in the New Testament. Adherents of Christianity, known as Christians, believe that Jesus is the Son of God and the Messiah prophesied in the Hebrew Bible (the part of scripture common to Christianity and Judaism). The majority of orthodox Christian theology claims that Jesus suffered, died, and was resurrected to bring about salvation from sin. They further maintain that Jesus ascended into heaven, and most denominations teach that Jesus will return to judge all humans, living and dead, and grant eternal life with Him to his followers (as opposed to eternal life away from Him for everyone else). He is considered the model of a virtuous life, and both the revealer and physical incarnation of God. Christians call the message of Jesus Christ the Gospel ("good news") and hence refer to the earliest written accounts of his ministry as gospels. Like Judaism and Islam, Christianity is classified as an Abrahamic religion (see also Judeo-Christian). Christianity began as a Jewish sect in the eastern Mediterranean, quickly grew in size and influence over a few decades, and by the 4th century had become the dominant religion within the Roman Empire. During the Middle Ages, most of the remainder of Europe was Christianized, with Christians also being a (sometimes large) religious minority in the Middle East, North Africa, and parts of India. Following the Age of Discovery, through missionary work and colonization, Christianity spread to the Americas and the rest of the world. Christianity has played a prominent role in the shaping of Western civilization at least since the 4th century. As of the early 21st century, Christianity has between 1.5 billion and 2.1 billion adherents, representing about a quarter to a third of the world's population and is the world's largest religion.

Selected article

No article has been selected for this month yet. Please be bold and click the "edit" button above to add one or check out this article from the archives:

List of popes buried in St. Peter's Basilica.

The list of popes records those who have served as Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. In this capacity, the Pope acts as the Bishop of Rome, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, and head of state of Vatican City.

There is no official list of popes of the Roman Catholic Church, although the Annuario Pontificio, published every year by the Vatican, contains a list that is generally considered to be the most authoritative. Its list is the one used in Wikipedia. The Annuario Pontificio list gives the current pope, Benedict XVI as the 265th pope; Saint Peter is listed as the first.

Several changes have been made in the list during the 20th century. Antipope Christopher was considered legitimate for a long time. Pope-elect Stephen was considered legitimate under the name Stephen II until the 1961 edition and erased then. Although these changes are no longer controversial, a number of modern lists still include this "first Pope Stephen II". It is probable that this is because they are based on the 1913 edition of the Catholic Encyclopaedia, which is in the public domain.

Selected picture

No picture has been selected for this month yet. Please be bold and click the "edit" button above to add one or check out this picture from the archives:

In the news

• March 27, 2009 - Relics of 39 saints found by British Museum. (wikinews)
• March 19, 2009 - Pennsylvania Amish farmer jailed for outhouse violations.(wikinews)
• January 31, 2009 - Bishop Richard Williamson apologies to the Pope for denying the death of Jews in the Nazi Holocaust. (wikinews) See more from Christianity on WikiNews

Selected scripture

In the beginning was the Word, and the word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1

Did you know?

...that Pope Paul VI was the last pontiff to be inaugurated as Pope through a papal coronation?
...that the Anglican Church was established because of the refusal of Pope Clement VII to annul the marriage of Henry VIII to Catherine of Aragon?
...that Martin Luther King, Jr. was pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama before commencing his civil rights struggle?
...that by proclamation of then-Governor George W. Bush, 10 June 2000 was "Jesus Day" in Texas?
...that the Christmas carol Silent Night has been translated into over 300 languages?

Selected biography

No biography has been selected for this month yet. Please be bold and click the "edit" button above to add one or check out this article from the archives:

The legends of Prester John (also Presbyter John), popular in Europe from the 12th through the 17th centuries, told of a Christian patriarch and king said to rule over a Christian nation lost amidst the Muslims and pagans in the Orient. Written accounts of this kingdom are variegated collections of medieval popular fantasy. Reportedly a descendant of one of the Three Magi, Prester John was said to be a generous ruler and a virtuous man, presiding over a realm full of riches and strange creatures, in which the Patriarch of Saint Thomas resided. His kingdom contained such marvels as the Gates of Alexander and the Fountain of Youth, and even bordered the Earthly Paradise. Among his treasures was a mirror through which every province could be seen, the fabled original from which derived the "speculum literature" of the late Middle Ages and Renaissance, in which the prince's realms were surveyed and his duties laid out.

At first, Prester John was imagined to be in India; tales of the "Nestorian" Christians' evangelistic success there and of Thomas the Apostle's subcontinental travels as documented in works like the Acts of Thomas probably provided the first seeds of the legend. After the coming of the Mongols to the Western world, accounts placed the king in Central Asia, and eventually Portuguese explorers convinced themselves they had found him in Ethiopia. Prester John's kingdom was the object of a quest, firing the imaginations of generations of adventurers, but remaining out of reach. He was a symbol to European Christians of the Church's universality, transcending culture and geography to encompass all humanity, in a time when ethnic and interreligious tension made such a vision seem distant.

(more)

Topics

Associated Wikimedia