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Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in the New Testament writings of his early followers, in which context he is known as the Christ (or Messiah). It shares with Judaism the Hebrew Scriptures (called the Old Testament by Christians), and is referred to as an Abrahamic religion, along with Judaism and Islam. Christianity has an estimated 2.1 billion adherents, or about one-third of the total world population.

Its followers, known as Christians, believe that Jesus is the son of God and is also the Messiah (or Christ) who was prophesied in the Old Testament (the part of scripture common to Christianity and Judaism). To Christians, Jesus Christ is a teacher, the model of a virtuous life, the revealer of God, and most importantly the saviour of humanity who suffered, died, and was resurrected in order to bring about salvation from sin. Christians maintain that Jesus ascended into heaven, and most denominations teach that Jesus will return to judge the living and the dead, granting everlasting life to his followers. Christians describe the New Testament account of Jesus' ministry as the Gospel, or "good news".

In the Bible, the word "Christian" is first mentioned in Acts 11:26: "For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch Jesus' disciples were first called Christians" (Gr. χριστιανοί, from Christ Gr. Χριστός, which means "the anointed"). (Verses within the Bible are cited by the book the verse is from, followed by the chapter, a colon, and the verse number itself. Acts 11:26 refers to the book of Acts, chapter eleven, verse twenty-six.)

As a result of various disagreements including the East-West Schism and the Protestant Reformation, Christianity has become divided into many bodies of faith or communions, whose beliefs and practices may vary greatly. The largest are the Roman Catholic Church (both the Latin and the Eastern Rites) and the Eastern Orthodox Church, but the body of Christians includes many other groups such as the other Eastern churches such as Oriental Orthodoxy, the various Protestant denominations and the African Initiated churches. There are also various distinct churches separating themselves from traditional Christianity but claiming Jesus, including The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (also called Mormons), Jehovah's Witnesses, Quakers, Christian Science and other groups. Collectively, the various denominations and groups form the largest religion on Earth.

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Icon of the Transfiguration
(15th century, Novgorod)

The Transfiguration of Jesus is an event reported by the Synoptic Gospels in which Jesus was transfigured upon a mountain (Matthew 17:1-9, Mark 9:1-8, Luke 9:28-36). Jesus becomes radiant, speaks with Moses and Elijah, and is called "Son" by God. The transfiguration put Jesus on par with the two preeminent figures of Judaism: Moses and Elijah. It also supports His identity as the Son of God. In keeping with the Messianic secret, Jesus tells the witnesses not to tell others what they saw.

In general, the events in Jesus's life that are said to have taken place in secret, such as the transfiguration, are given less weight by scholars of the historical Jesus than public events.

The original Greek term in the Gospels is metamorphothe, describing Jesus as having undergone metamorphosis.

The Synoptic Gospels, 2 Peter and the Gospel of John briefly allude to the event in their writings (2 Peter 1:16-18, John 1:14). Peter describes himself as an eyewitness "of his sovereign majesty." Neither account identifies the "high mountain" of the scene by name. The earliest identification of the mountain as Tabor is in the 5th century Transitus Beatae Mariae Virginis. In the apocryphal Gospel of the Hebrews, Jesus tells how his mother lifted him up by the hair and lifted him to Mount Tabor, which led Origen to identify the Holy Spirit as the Mother of Jesus.

Symbolic readings take Moses and Elijah to represent the Law and the Prophets respectively, and their recognition of and conversation with Jesus symbolize how Jesus fulfils "the law and the prophets" (Matthew 5:17-19, see also Expounding of the Law).

In the narrative, after the cloud dissipates, Elijah and Moses disappear, and Jesus and the three Apostles head down the mountain, Jesus telling his Apostles to keep the event a secret until the "Son of Man" had risen from the dead. The Apostles are described as questioning among themselves as to what Jesus meant by "risen from the dead" (Mark 9:9-10) The Apostles are also described as questioning Jesus about Elijah, and he as responding "...Elijah comes first, and restores all things ... but ... Elijah has come indeed ..." (Mark 9:12-13). It was commonly believed that Elijah would reappear before the coming of the Messiah, as predicted in the Book of Malachi (Malachi 4), and the three Apostles are described as interpreting Jesus' statement as a reference to John the Baptist.

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In the news

• July 13, 2008 - Pope Benedict XVI arrives in Sydney ahead of World Youth Day 2008 celebrations. (ABC News)
• February 26, 2008 - The Our Lady of the Rosary Church is scheduled to open in Qatar and be that country's first church in 14 centuries (CathNews)
• February 25, 2008 - Larry Norman dies of heart failure at the age of 60 (Christianity Today) See more from Christianity on WikiNews

Did you know?

...that Seventh-day Adventists believe that the Roman Catholic Church did not have the authority to change the Biblical Sabbath, and therefore keep Saturdays holy instead of Sunday?
...that one of the most often quoted verses from the Bible is John 3:16:
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life"?
...that Ukrainian Eastern Catholic Josyf Cardinal Slipyj's 20 year internment in a Siberian Soviet labor camp and later rise to the rank of Cardinal inspired the 1963 novel The Shoes of the Fisherman, a number 1 best seller on the Publishers Weekly fiction list?
...that Christian demonology has assigned the colours red and black to represent Satan?

Selected biography

Mother Teresa (Albanian: Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu (August 26, 1910 – September 5, 1997) was an Albanian Roman Catholic nun who founded the Missionaries of Charity and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 for her humanitarian work. For over forty years she ministered to the poor, sick, orphaned, and dying in Kolkata (Calcutta), India.

As the Missionaries of Charity grew under Mother Teresa's leadership, they expanded their ministry to other countries. By the 1970s she had become internationally famed as a humanitarian and advocate for the poor and helpless, due in part to a documentary, and book, Something Beautiful for God by Malcolm Muggeridge. Following her death she was beatified by Pope John Paul II and given the title Blessed Teresa of Calcutta.

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Selected scripture

The Last Judgement
Très Riches Heures

Matthew 7:21—27 (from the Sermon on the Mount)

²¹ Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

²² Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

²³ And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

²⁴ Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:

²⁵ And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

²⁶ And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:

²⁷ And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

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