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Christianity was founded in Palestine as a breakaway sect of Judaism by the followers of Jesus Christ around 2,000 years ago. Christianity as a system of Christian beliefs, as a Way of Life and as a communal tradition, has spread to nearly every country of the world. Today there are more than two billion adherents of Christianity, mostly in the Americas and Europe where it has made a significant historical and cultural impact. It is also the predominant religion in large parts of Africa, Oceania, and the Phillipine Islands.
Over the years, many
divergent denominations or sects of Christians developed because of dogmatic
disagreements. The primary ones were Roman Catholicism including Eastern
Catholic and Latin Rite; Protestantism including Anabaptists, Anglicans,
Baptists, Methodists, Nazarenes, Pentecostals, Reformed Presbyterians; and,
Restorationists (Churches of Christ, Disciples of Christ, Jehovah's Witnesses,
Seventh-day Adventists, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints); and,
Eastern Christianity including Assyrian (Nestorian), Eastern Orthodox, and
Oriental Orthodox (Armenians, Copts, Jacobites). Most of them; however, do share
a core of common beliefs.
They were: the sons of Jonas, Simon Peter and Andrew, and the brothers, James and John, all of whom were fisherman; Matthew, the tax collector; Simon, the zealot; Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Thaddeaus, also known as Jude, James the Lesser, and Judas Iscariot. After his ascension, Jesus Christ chose Paul, formerly Saul of Tarsus, to replace Judas who had betrayed him, thereby supplanting Matthias who had been selected by the apostles. Many of the Christian apostles were persecuted and executed, burned at the stake, fed to lions, or nailed to a cross. More recent analysis of historical data indicate that Mary Magdalene, who was seated next to Jesus in Da Vinci's Last Supper painting and had also written a gospel, was actually his chief disciple and chosen successor rather than Peter. There is also considerable and highly plausible speculation that she may have been the wife of Jesus and bore him a daughter in France after the crucifixion; and, that a Sangreal or "Holy Bloodline" continues to live on today. To read more about the apostles please see Apostles and Ascension
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