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[b] The faith represents approximately one-third of the world's population and is the largest religion in the world, [126] with the three largest groups of Christians being the Catholic Church, Protestantism, and the Eastern Orthodox Church. [128] The largest Christian denomination is the Catholic Church, with an estimated 1.2 billion adherents ...
Early Christians gathered in small private homes, [2] known as house churches, but a city's whole Christian community would also be called a "church"—the Greek noun ἐκκλησία (ekklesia) literally means "assembly", "gathering", or "congregation" [3] [4] but is translated as "church" in most English translations of the New Testament.
The Early Church of Jerusalem is considered to be the first community of early Christianity. It was formed in Jerusalem after the crucifixion of Jesus . It proclaimed to Jews and non-Jews the resurrection of Jesus Christ , the forgiveness of sins and Jesus ' commandments to prepare for his return ( parousia ) and the associated end of the world .
[5] [6] This was part of a gradual split between early Christianity and Judaism, as Christianity became a distinct religion including predominantly Gentile adherence. [5] Jerusalem had an early Christian community, which was led by James the Just, Peter, and John. [7] According to Acts 11:26, Antioch was where the followers were first called ...
Ignatius of Antioch, one of the Apostolic Fathers, was the third Patriarch of Antioch, said to be a student of John the Apostle. [1] En route to his martyrdom in Rome, Ignatius wrote a series of letters which exemplify very early Christian theology, dealing with such topics as modification of the sabbath to Sunday, promotion of the office of bishop, and critique of "Judaizers".
Bart D. Ehrman attributes the rapid spread of Christianity to five factors: (1) the promise of salvation and eternal life for everyone was an attractive alternative to Roman religions; (2) stories of miracles and healings purportedly showed that the one Christian God was more powerful than the many Roman gods; (3) Christianity began as a ...
Critics counter that the criterion of embarrassment wrongly assumes that a scribal interpolator would not intentionally write details critical of his or her religious group, [61] and that a scribe may have found it advantageous and convincing to supply a less embarrassing fact (e.g., that Christians were regarded by the Romans as subscribing to ...
Theophilus of Antioch is the earliest Church father documented to have used the word "Trinity" to refer to God.. Debate exists as to whether the earliest Church Fathers in Christian history believed in the doctrine of the Trinity – the Christian doctrine that God the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ) and the Holy Spirit are three distinct persons sharing one homoousion (essence).