Fast facts
- Began
- 1st century CE, Roman Palestine
- Founder / origin
- Followers of Jesus (PBUH) of Nazareth; the movement's organisation and were shaped heavily by Paul of Tarsus and by later church councils
- Followers
- About 2.4 billion — roughly 31% of humanity
- Figure from
- Pew Research Center, Global Religious Landscape (2020 estimates)
- Where
- Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, Europe, North America, the Philippines; the fastest growth is in Africa
- Scriptures
- The Bible — Old and New Testaments. The number of books differs by branch: 66 (Protestant), 73 (Catholic), 76–79 (Eastern Orthodox), 81 (Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo)
- View of God
- One God in three persons — Father, Son and Holy Spirit — as defined at Nicaea (325) and Constantinople (381)
Core beliefs most branches share
- The : one God in three persons, co-equal and co-eternal
- The : Jesus (PBUH) is God the Son, fully God and fully man
- The crucifixion and resurrection as the means of salvation from sin
- Original sin inherited from Adam (PBUH)
- The Bible as inspired scripture, though who interprets it is exactly what the branches argue about
- The second coming, judgement, heaven and hell
Where the branches actually split
Two questions divide Christianity: who has authority, and which books are scripture.
On authority, Catholics answer the pope and the church's teaching office; Eastern Orthodox answer the seven ecumenical councils and the consensus of bishops with no single pope; Protestants answer scripture alone. On , the table below shows how far apart the Bibles are — the Ethiopian Bible carries fifteen more books than the Protestant one, including 1 Enoch and Jubilees.
History in brief
Christianity spread through the Roman Empire and was legalised in 313. The Council of Nicaea in 325 settled the divinity of the Son against Arius; Chalcedon in 451 split off the Oriental Orthodox churches over how Christ's divine and human natures relate.
The Great Schism of 1054 divided Rome from Constantinople. The Reformation from 1517 divided the West again, producing Lutheran, Reformed, Anglican, Anabaptist and later Baptist, Methodist and Pentecostal churches — today more than 45,000 distinct denominations by common estimate.
Practice
Sunday worship, baptism and communion (the Eucharist or Lord's Supper) are near-universal, though what they are believed to do differs sharply. Catholics and Orthodox hold seven sacraments and venerate Mary and the saints; most Protestants keep two ordinances and reject that veneration outright.
The four main branches at a glance
| Branch | Books in the Bible | Authority | Size | Distinctive |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Catholic | 73 | Pope, councils and sacred tradition | About 1.4 billion | Papal infallibility (defined 1870), Mass, confession to a priest, purgatory |
| Eastern Orthodox | 76–79 (varies by church) | The seven ecumenical councils; bishops in council, no pope | About 220 million | Icons, divine liturgy, theosis; rejects papal supremacy and the filioque clause |
| Oriental Orthodox (incl. Ethiopian) | 81 in the Ethiopian canon | The first three councils only; rejects Chalcedon (451) | About 60 million | One united nature in Christ; the Ethiopian church keeps Saturday and Sunday, circumcision and food laws |
| Protestant | 66 | Scripture alone (sola scriptura); no binding magisterium | About 900 million–1 billion including independents | Salvation by faith alone, no purgatory, no veneration of saints, tens of thousands of denominations |
The Islamic view
Where it meets Islam, and where it differs
Common ground
- One God, creation from nothing, prophets, revealed scripture, angels, resurrection and judgement.
- Jesus (PBUH) is honoured in Islam as a mighty messenger, the Messiah, born of the Virgin Mary, who healed the sick and raised the dead by God's permission — and who will return.
- Mary has an entire Qur'anic chapter named after her and is described as chosen above the women of the worlds.
- Shared moral ground: charity, chastity, honesty, care for the poor and the orphan.
Where Islam differs
- Islam rejects the , the and the divine sonship of Jesus (PBUH), and holds that God neither begets nor is begotten.
- Islam rejects original sin. Every child is born pure, and no one bears another's burden.
- Islam denies that Jesus (PBUH) was killed or crucified, and holds that it was made to appear so.
- Islam holds that no by another is needed: God forgives directly upon repentance.
- Islam affirms the Injil revealed to Jesus (PBUH), but not the four Gospels as they now stand — anonymous accounts written decades later in Greek, not in his language.
Talking points
- Ask which church they belong to before you say anything else. A Catholic, a Baptist and a Coptic Christian will not agree with each other, and answering the wrong one wastes both your time.
- Ask them, gently, whether Jesus (PBUH) ever says plainly 'I am God, worship me' — and let them look. Then read them Mark 12:29, where he affirms the Shema.
- The question is disarming rather than aggressive: 'Your Bible has 66 books, your Ethiopian brother's has 81. Who decided, and when?'
- Praise what deserves praise — their love of Jesus (PBUH), their reverence for Mary. Then say a Muslim shares it, and explain what Muslims add to it rather than what you subtract.
Avoid
- Do not say 'you worship three gods'. They will say they do not, and they are describing their own belief accurately as they understand it.
- Do not mock the crucifix or the church. Ridicule is not the prophetic way of calling to God.
- Do not claim the Bible is 'completely fabricated'. The honest Muslim position is more careful, and more persuasive, than that.
Sources
- Pew Research Center, Global Religious Landscape and Global Christianity reports
- Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed (325/381); Council of Chalcedon (451)
- Bruce M. Metzger, The Canon of the New Testament: Its Origin, Development, and Significance
- Bart D. Ehrman, Misquoting Jesus
- Qur'an 4:171; 5:73; 5:116; 19:16–36; 112:1–4
This overview describes the tradition as its own followers describe it. The Islamic view is kept in its own section above so the description stays honest.
Go deeper
More religions
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