Christianity
CHRISTIANITY
A religion based on the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, a Jew who preached in Judea in the first century c.e. and was crucified by Roman authorities. His followers, who believed that he rose from the dead, considered him the Messiah of the Jews, son of God, and redeemer of humankind. The Greek christos, which means "the anointed one," is a translation of "Messiah." For the Jews, according to the Talmud, Jesus was a rabbi who desired to modify the religious practices of his time. He was neither Messiah nor prophet. The first apostles never denied their Jewish origins, and they always affirmed their opposition to idolatry. Around 45 c.e. some of the apostles, notably Paul, began to preach to the Gentiles of the Middle East. By the fourth century, Christianity had become the official religion of the Roman Empire. Though censuses in the Middle East, particularly concerning religious affiliation, are unreliable at best, estimates have put the number of Christians in the Middle East at the turn of the twenty-first century at 8 to 12 million. Among the Palestinian population of Israel, by the 1990s Christians accounted for approximately 13 percent.
SEE ALSO Gentile;Messiah.