Christianity developed out of Judaism and is over 2,000 years old.
The Jews believed that God would send a person (whom they called the Messiah) to free them from their enemies. Christians believe that Jesus of Nazareth was that person. He was crucified in approximately 32 AD.
The name Christian comes from the word “Christ.” This was the title given to Jesus (“Christ” and “Messiah” mean the same thing – “the anointed one”).
Christians are divided into many different groups (denominations.) These groups worship in many different ways and do not all share the same beliefs.
All Christians however believe in Jesus and share some beliefs. These shared beliefs mostly relate to Jesus’ life and teachings. Christians try to follow Jesus’ teachings in their daily lives. Christianity is the world religion with the greatest number of followers. There are about 2 billion Christians worldwide. (This is about 25% of the population of the world.) About 40 million Christians live in the UK though they are not all practising Christians. In recent years the number of Christians, who actively participate in Church worship, has dropped.
The only part of the Christian community that has grown is the Evangelical Church. This growth is due to the emphasis that Evangelical Christians place on sharing knowledge of Jesus and the fact that they actively seek to introduce others into the Evangelical Church.
Evangelicals are not a distinct Christian group. They are Christians, from different Protestant groups, who all believe in the importance of personal faith (in Jesus’ death and resurrection) as the way to a relationship with God.