As the largest religion in the world with over 2.3 billion adherents, Christianity has had one of the largest roles to play in the forming of the modern world and much of human history.

Christianity is neither the more diverse religion nor the oldest, but its widespread nature across much of the world and its many variants makes it a fascinating subject to scholars of both history and theism.

It should be noted that the modern Christianity that we know today started with the birth and life of Jesus, and while the religion did exist beforehand, it was segmented and privy to the influence of other belief systems, mainly those connected to the other Abrahamic religions.

The Beginning

Christianity started around 2000 years ago in Judea – in a much different world without computers, smart phones, and the best online pokies Australia – with Jesus Christ, who was believed to have been the son of the Abrahamic God.

This was a period when Judea was a hub of farms, commerce, trade and cities, and was ruled by the Emperor of Rome. The Jewish nation at the time opposed the rule of the Romans, and their hatred was fuelled every further when the Romans crucified Jesus on the cross.

Despite the persecution of the Christians by the Romans, the religion spread quickly, and became the state religion n a few short years. This was the beginning of the Middle Ages, and Christianity would go on to dominate much of Northern Europe and England along wit Russia.

The expansion of Christianity was made during the Age of Exploration, when many Christian-based countries, such as Britain, the Netherlands, Spain and Portugal were entering new continents and teaching the locals about their belief systems.

The Church of The Middle Ages

As the Romans transitioned to Christianity, their far-reaching influence meant that the religion quickly spread to many of the regions that they were in control of or even once held.

When the Roman Empire began to crumble and countries like Britain started to grow in power, Christianity became the de-facto religion for millions, with thousands of churches being erected and large writing projects put into place to put many oral traditions and edicts onto paper that only a few select were able to read.

This was also the period when the Christians and the Muslims were at arms, and there were a number of religious wars between the two, with the most notable being The Crusades.

These military conflicts saw the religion expand even further east, leading to some of the bloodiest conflicts of modern history.

Christianity Today

Christianity continued to gain traction over the next thousand years, and became rooted on every continent on the planet, and while its growth has slowed to some extent, it remains the world’s most followed belief system.

There are several branches of the faith around the world, including the Catholics – the largest – followed by the Lutherans, the Methodists, and many other sects, each with their own interpretations and beliefs of the bible.