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Christianity is a monotheistic religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the New Testament. Christians believe Jesus is the Son of God and a Messiah allegedly prophesied in the Old Testament, and that the New Testament records the Gospel as revealed by Jesus. With an estimated 2 billion of formal adherents, or approximately 33% of the world’s population, Christianity is the world’s largest religion. It is the predominant religion in Europe and America. It is also growing rapidly in Africa and Asia, particularly in China, South Korea and the Middle East.

The name “Christian” (Ancient Greek Χριστιανός), meaning “belonging to Christ” or “partisan of Christ”, was first applied to the disciples in Antioch on the Orontes, as recorded in Acta Apostolorum 11:26 of the New Testament. The earliest recorded use of the term “Christianity” (Ancient Greek Χριστιανισμός) is by Ignatius of Antioch.

There are several branches of Christianity, all with a different set of beliefs:

• Roman Catholic Church
• Eastern Orthodox Church
• Coptic Orthodox Church
• Old Catholic Churches
• Anglicanism
• Pentecostalism
• Seventh-day Adventism
• Christian Identity

Protestantism

• Lutheranism
• Calvinism
• Methodists
• Anabaptists

• Other special denominations

See also

• Ancient Israelite religion