God the Father in Christianity is a prayer to God the Father. Who is God from the point of view of the Christian Orthodox religion? Who is God in Orthodoxy

Since man became intelligent, he began to look for answers to questions about who created everything that exists, about the meaning of his life, and whether he is alone in the Universe. Not finding an answer, the people of antiquity came up with gods, each of whom was in charge of his own part of existence. Someone was responsible for the creation of the Earth and Sky, someone was in charge of the seas, someone was in charge of the underworld.

As we learned about the world around us, there were more and more gods, but people never found an answer to the question about the meaning of life. Therefore, many old gods were replaced by one God the Father.

Concept of God

Before Christianity appeared, people lived for several thousand years with faith in the Creator, who created everything that surrounds them. This was not a single god, since the consciousness of ancient people could not accept that everything that exists is the creation of one creator. Therefore, in every civilization, regardless of when and on what continent it arose, there was God the Father, who had assistants - his children and grandchildren.

In those days, it was customary to humanize the gods, “rewarding” them with character traits characteristic of people. This made it easier to explain natural phenomena and events taking place in the world. A significant difference and clear advantage of the ancient pagan faith was that God manifests himself in the surrounding nature, and therefore was worshiped. At that time, man considered himself one of the many creations created by the gods. In many religions there was a principle of assigning the appearance of animals or birds to the earthly hypostases of gods.

For example, in Ancient Egypt, Anubis was depicted as a man with the head of a jackal, and Ra - with the head of a falcon. In India, the gods were given images of animals living in this country, for example, Ganesha was depicted as an elephant. All religions of antiquity had one feature in common: regardless of the number of gods and the difference in their names, they were created by the Creator, who stands above all, who is the beginning of everything and has no end.

The concept of one God

The fact that there is one God the Father was known long before the birth of Christ. For example, in the Indian Upanishads, created 1500 BC. e., it is said that in the beginning there was nothing but the Great Brahman.

The Yoruba people living in West Africa say that in the beginning everything was watery Chaos, which Olorun turned into Earth and Heaven, and on the 5th day he created people, fashioning them out of the earth.

If we turn to the origins of all ancient cultures, then in each of them there is an image of God the Father, who created all things together with man. So in this concept, Christianity would not have given anything new to the world if not for one significant difference - God is one, and there are no other gods besides Him.

Strengthening this knowledge in the minds of people who professed faith in many gods from generation to generation was a difficult task, perhaps that is why in Christianity the Creator has a triune hypostasis: God the Father, and God the Son (his Word), and his Mouth).

“The Father is the original cause of everything that exists” and “By the Word of the Lord the heavens were created, and by the Spirit of His mouth is all their power” (Ps. 33:6), this is what the Christian religion says.

Religion

Religion is a form of thinking based on belief in the supernatural, which has a set of rules that determine the norm of human behavior and rituals characteristic of it, helping to understand the world.

Regardless of the historical period and its inherent religion, there are organizations that unite people of the same faith. In ancient times these were temples with priests, in our time - churches with priests.

Religion implies the presence of a subjective-personal perception of the world, that is, personal faith and an objectively general faith that unites people of the same faith in confessions. Christianity is a religion consisting of three faiths: Orthodoxy, Catholicism and Protestantism.

God the Father in Christianity, regardless of denomination, is the single creator of all things, Light and Love, who created people in his own image and likeness. The Christian religion reveals to believers the knowledge of one God, recorded in holy texts. Each denomination is represented by its clergy, and the unifying organizations are churches and temples.

before the birth of Christ

The history of this religion is closely connected with the Jewish people, the founder of which is the chosen one of God - Abraham. The choice fell on this Aramaic for a reason, since he independently came to the knowledge that the idols that were worshiped by those around him had nothing to do with holiness.

Through reflection and observation, Abraham realized that there was a true and only God the Father, who created everything both on earth and in heaven. He found like-minded people who followed him from Babylon and became the chosen people, called Israel. Thus, an eternal contract was concluded between the Creator and people, the violation of which entailed punishment for the Jews in the form of persecution and wanderings.

United by the 1st century AD was an exception, since most of the peoples of that time were pagans. The Jewish holy books about the creation of the world spoke about the Word, with the help of which the Creator created everything, and that the Messiah would come and save the chosen people from persecution.

History of Christianity with the coming of the Messiah

The birth of Christianity occurred in the 1st century AD. e. in Palestine, which at that time was under Roman rule. Another connection with the people of Israel is the upbringing that Jesus Christ received as a child. He lived according to the laws of the Torah and observed all Jewish holidays.

According to Christian holy scriptures, Jesus is the incarnation of the Word of the Lord in a human body. He was conceived immaculately in order to enter the world of people without sin, and after that God the Father revealed himself through him. Jesus Christ was called the consubstantial son of God, who came to atone for human sins.

The most important dogma of the Christian church is the posthumous resurrection of Christ and his subsequent ascension into heaven.

This was predicted by numerous Jewish prophets many centuries before the birth of the Messiah. The resurrection of Jesus after death is a confirmation of the promise of eternal life and the incorruptibility of the human soul that God the Father gave to people. In Christianity, his son has many names in holy texts:

Alpha and Omega - means that he was the beginning of all things and is its end.
The Light of the World means that he is the same Light that comes from his Father.
Resurrection and life, which should be understood as salvation and eternal life for those who profess the true faith.

Many names were given to Jesus by both the prophets and his disciples and the people around him. All of them corresponded either to his deeds or to the mission for which he found himself in a human body.

Development of Christianity after the execution of the Messiah

After Jesus was crucified, his disciples and followers began to spread the teaching about him, first in Palestine, but as the number of believers increased, they went far beyond its borders.

The very concept of “Christian” began to be used 20 years after the death of the Messiah and came from the inhabitants of Antioch, who called the followers of Christ that way. It was his sermons that brought numerous adherents to the new faith from pagan nations.

If before the 5th century AD. e. The acts and teachings of the apostles and their disciples spread within the borders of the Roman Empire, then they went further - to the Germanic, Slavic and other peoples.

Prayer

Appealing to the gods with requests is a ritual characteristic of believers at all times and regardless of religion.

One of the significant acts of Christ during his life was that he taught people how to pray correctly and revealed the secret that the Creator is triune and represents the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit - the essence of the one and indivisible God. Due to the limited consciousness, people, although they talk about one God, still divide him into 3 separate personalities, as their prayers indicate. There are those who are turned only to God the Father, there are those to God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

The prayer to God the Father “Our Father” sounds like a request addressed directly to the Creator. By this, people seemed to highlight its primordial nature and significance in the Trinity. However, even appearing in three persons, God is one, and this must be realized and accepted.

Orthodoxy is the only Christian denomination that has preserved the faith and teachings of Christ unchanged. This also applies to turning to the Creator. The prayer to the Lord God the Father in Orthodoxy speaks of the Trinity as its only hypostasis: “I confess to Thee the Lord my God and Creator, in the One, glorified and worshiped Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit, all my sins...”.

Holy Spirit

The concept of the Holy Spirit is not often encountered, but the attitude towards it is completely different. In Judaism it is considered the “breath” of God, and in Christianity it is one of his indivisible three hypostases. Thanks to him, the Creator created everything that exists and communicates with people.

The concept of the nature and origin of the Holy Spirit was considered and adopted at one of the councils in the 4th century, but long before that, Clement of Rome (1st century) united all 3 hypostases into a single whole: “God lives, and Jesus Christ lives, and the Holy Spirit , faith and hope of the elect." Thus, God the Father in Christianity officially acquired the trinity.

It is through him that the Creator acts in man and in the Temple, and in the days of creation he actively took part in them, helping to create visible and invisible worlds: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and empty, and darkness was over the deep, and the Spirit of God hovered over the waters.”

Names of God

As paganism was replaced by a religion glorifying the one God, people began to be interested in the name of the Creator in order to be able to turn to him in prayer.

Based on the information given in the Bible, God personally revealed his name to Moses, who wrote it down in Hebrew. Due to the fact that this language subsequently became dead, and only consonants were written in names, it is not known exactly how to pronounce the name of the Creator.

The four consonants YHVH represent the name of God the Father and are the verbal form of ha-vah, meaning “to become.” Different Bible translations add different vowels to these consonants, giving completely different meanings.

In some sources he is mentioned as the Almighty, in others - Yahweh, in others - Hosts, and in fourths - Jehovah. All names denote the Creator, who created all the worlds, but at the same time they have different meanings. For example, Hosts means "Lord of Hosts", although he is not a god of war.

Disputes about the name of the Heavenly Father are still ongoing, but most theologians and linguists are inclined to believe that the correct pronunciation sounds like Yahweh.

Yahweh

This name literally means "Lord" and also "to be." Some sources associate Yahweh with the concept of "God Almighty."

In Christianity, they either use this name or replace it with the word “Lord.”

God in Christianity today

Christ and God the Father, as well as the Holy Spirit in the modern Christian religion are the basis of the trinity of the indivisible Creator. More than 2 billion people adhere to this faith, making it the most widespread in the world.

For example, in Ancient Egypt Anubis was depicted as a man with the head of a jackal, and Ra with the head of a falcon. In India, the gods were given images of animals living in this country, for example, Ganesha was depicted as an elephant. All religions of antiquity had one feature in common: regardless of the number of gods and the difference in their names, they were created by the Creator, who stands above all, who is the beginning of everything and has no end.

The concept of one God

Among the Yoruba people living in West Africa, the myth of the creation of the world says that in the beginning everything was watery Chaos, which Olorun turned into Earth and Heaven, and on the 5th day he created people, sculpting them from the earth.

Religion

Regardless of the historical period and the religion inherent in it, there are organizations that unite people of the same faith. In ancient times these were temples with priests, in our time - churches with priests.

History of Christianity before the Nativity of Christ

Belief in one God by the 1st century AD was an exception, since most of the peoples of that time were pagans. The Jewish holy books about the creation of the world spoke about the Word, with the help of which the Creator created everything, and that the Messiah would come and save the chosen people from persecution.

History of Christianity with the coming of the Messiah

The most important dogma of the Christian church is the posthumous resurrection of Christ and his subsequent ascension into heaven.

Alpha and Omega - means that he was the beginning of all things and is its end.
The Light of the World means that he is the same Light that comes from his Father.
Resurrection and life, which should be understood as salvation and eternal life for those who profess the true faith.

Development of Christianity after the execution of the Messiah

After Jesus was crucified, his disciples and followers began to spread the teaching about him, first in Palestine, but as the number of believers increased, they went far beyond its borders.

The very concept of “Christian” began to be used 20 years after the death of the Messiah and came from the inhabitants of Antioch, who called the followers of Christ that way. The Apostle Paul played a major role in spreading the teachings of Jesus. It was his sermons that brought numerous adherents to the new faith from pagan peoples.

Prayer

Appealing to the gods with requests is a ritual characteristic of believers at all times and regardless of religion.

Orthodoxy is the only Christian denomination that has preserved the faith and teachings of Christ unchanged. This also applies to turning to the Creator. The prayer to the Lord God the Father in Orthodoxy speaks of the Trinity as its only hypostasis: “I confess to Thee the Lord my God and Creator, in the One Holy Trinity, glorified and worshiped Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit, all my sins...”

Holy Spirit

In the Old Testament, the concept of the Holy Spirit is found infrequently, but the attitude towards it is completely different. In Judaism it is considered the “breath” of God, and in Christianity it is one of his indivisible three hypostases. Thanks to him, the Creator created everything that exists and communicates with people.

Names of God

As paganism was replaced by a religion glorifying the one God, people began to be interested in the name of the Creator in order to be able to turn to him in prayer.

Disputes about the name of the Heavenly Father are still ongoing, but most theologians and linguists are inclined to believe that the correct pronunciation sounds like Yahweh.

Yahweh

This name literally means "Lord" and also "to be." Some sources associate Yahweh with the concept of “God Almighty.”

In Christianity, they either use this name or replace it with the word “Lord.”

God in Christianity today

The question of what God is called has long been resolved in theology. Researchers of various directions in the field of religion agree that several Divine names are presented in the Bible.

This position is questioned only by representatives of some religious communities (for example, Jehovah's Witnesses). According to them, there is only one true name of God - Jehovah. Other names, they claim, are just titles. This position does not stand up to criticism, since it contradicts the sacred texts.

Names of God in Christianity

These are the names of the one God, and each of them reveals different aspects of His multifaceted character. They are endowed with sacred, sacral meaning and status. Throughout the Bible, several Divine names appear at once.

In the Tanakh (Old Testament), the names of the Lord reflect His divine essence. These include:

Hosts;
Existing;
El Shaddai;
Elohim;
Adonai.

In the New Testament, Jesus Christ, the Son and messenger of God, comes to people. His purpose on Earth is the salvation of humanity in the face of the reunification of two principles - divine and human. The first part of the name of Jesus Christ (Jesus, or Yeshua) is interpreted as “Salvation from Jehovah.” The second part (Meshicha, or Mashinah) means “Messiah,” “Anointed One.”

Christ called Himself:

Son of God;
Son of Man;
Teacher;
Good Shepherd;
Judge.

In addition, Jesus Christ is called:

In a word;
Savior of the world;
Lamb of God;
Nazarene;
carpenter;
great High Priest.

According to Christian traditions, believers revere the Holy Trinity, which consists of three hypostases: God the Father, God the Son and the Holy Spirit. All three hypostases are united by the name “Yahweh”. Under this name, Jesus Christ appeared to the prophets even before his incarnation.

This is interesting: Trinity is one of the 12 main holidays in the entire Orthodox religion. According to the biblical description, Christ foreshadowed the descent of the Holy Spirit to Earth. And when this miraculous phenomenon occurred, the trinity of God received irrefutable proof. The doctrine of the Holy Trinity forms the basis of the Christian religion.

The concept of “Trinity” was introduced into the Christian language in the 2nd century by the saint of Antioch, and this word does not have a biblical origin at all. The dogma of God's trinity was given in Revelation, but it is incomprehensible to the human mind. It can only be taken on faith.

El Shaddai

Translated into Russian, this noun phrase means “God Almighty.” The letter combination shad is translated as “strength”. In the literal sense, this concept is deciphered as follows: “full of power, strength, strength.”

There are several other interpretations of “El Shaddai”. However, they are considered less reliable. For example, there is an opinion that the root of the word “Shaddai” comes from the ancient Akkadian “Shadu”, which translates as “mountain”. In this case, the expression itself can be interpreted as “God of the mountain.”

According to another point of view, "Shaddai" translated from Hebrew means "breast of a nursing mother." There is supposedly a connecting parallel in this, where the mother’s breast acts as a symbol of God.

Worth noting: such an interpretation was quite common in ancient times and was quite consistent with old beliefs, but it clearly does not coincide with the interpretation of the Torah and other Scriptures.

Names of God in the Bible and their meaning

The Bible often speaks about the Most High, but His name is not mentioned at all. A careful study of Scripture reveals that God is designated by three words: el, eloah, elohim. All of them are united by a common root, the meaning of which is ambiguous.

It is assumed that the root el- is translated as “to be strong”, “to be ahead”. Together with the form el-, clarifying definitions are usually used (used in the singular). Elohim (plural) is the more common form, the ambiguity of which comes down to the concepts of “God”, “a certain god”, “deity”, “certain gods”.

Note: the name “Elohim” is a Hebrew common noun (in the plural it sounds like “Eloah” or “El”, which denotes a deity among the Semites). It is found in the Old Testament Scripture, often used together with other names for God - Yahweh, Adonai and others. Its meaning comes down to the thought of the justice of the Lord.

It is noteworthy that in the Tanakh an additional definition is assigned to the word God. Taken together, an expression is formed that indicates a certain connection between God and:

face (“God of Abraham”, “God of Isaac”, etc.);
the place where the revelation took place (“God of Israel”);
the people chosen by him (“God of Jacob”).

Along with the above concepts, the proper name Yahweh is also found in the Old Testament. On the pages of Holy Scripture it was depicted with the letters YHWH (the word completely lacked signs indicating vowel sounds).

In the Old Testament it was read as “adonai”, which meant “Lord”. When letters denoting vowel sounds appeared in the Hebrew alphabet, the word Y-H-V-H was supplemented with letter signs. Due to the peculiarities of the pronunciation of vowel sounds, instead of “Yahweh,” the reading, as well as the spelling, “Jehovah” was established.

Until now, a similar variation can be heard in church chants, as well as read in ancient translated sources. Due to the fact that the name "Yahweh" took on a hidden form in the form of the word "Lord", where the combination "Lord Yahweh" is used in the Semitic scriptures, researchers use various variations in order to avoid unnecessary repetition.

To summarize briefly, it should be noted that the tetragram YHWH (YHVH) means “Lord”. Another pronunciation is “Jehovah,” but it is found extremely rarely in Russian biblical texts.

In the New Testament, instead of the name Yahweh, the concept "kyrios" is used, which also means "Lord."

In the Old Testament part of the Bible Scripture there is a revelation of God in His name. God becomes Father.

In addition to proper names, the list of names for God also includes other designations:

Almighty (means supreme power);
Holy of Israel (expresses holiness and greatness, in contrast to the sinner);
Lord of Hosts (means “army” - presumably the troops of the Israelites, or angels, or stars; the name means unlimited power over all things);

Please note: the concept is found in both Jewish and Christian traditions, mentioned in the Tanakh and in the New Testament. This name, in comparison with others, especially clearly puts forward the idea of omnipotence, dominion over all forces of earth and heaven. In Russian Orthodoxy, since the 16th century, icons depicting God the Father have been signed with this name.

Redeemer (in this sense, he is a relative of the entire people of Israel, redeeming their debt).

Conclusion

Thus, in Christianity, including Orthodoxy, there is a whole series of names of God, each of which is absolutely correct and corresponds to all the sacred scriptures. No matter how many of them are named, each of them reveals and reflects the power, holiness and greatness of the Lord.

Who is God from the point of view of the Christian Orthodox religion?

Dear visitor to our site, St. Philaret of Moscow in the Long Catechism speaks about this as follows:

84. IS IT POSSIBLE TO KNOW THE EXISTENCE OF GOD?

The Being of God cannot be known. It is above all knowledge, not only of man, but also of angels.

86. WHAT ARE THE PROPERTIES OF GOD?

From the revelation of God we can borrow the following concepts about the essence and essential properties of God: God is Spirit eternal, all-good, all-knowing, all-righteous, all-powerful, all-present, unchangeable, all-satisfied, all-blessed.

89. WHERE DOES GOD LIVE?

God is everywhere, but heaven there is His special presence, revealed in eternal glory to the blessed spirits; also in temples there is His special presence, gracious and mysterious, reverently known, felt by believers and sometimes revealed in special signs.

Jesus Christ says: Where two or three are gathered in My name, there I am in the midst of them(Matt. 18:20).

90. HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE WORDS OF THE SYMBOL “I BELIEVE IN ONE GOD THE FATHER”"?

Symbol Words: I believe in one (one) God the Father should be understood in the sense of relation to the mystery of the Holy Trinity, because God is one in essence, but trinitarian in persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the Trinity is consubstantial and indivisible.

93. IS IT POSSIBLE TO COMPREHEND THE TRINITY OF GOD?

God is one in three persons. We do not comprehend this inner mystery of the Divine, but we believe in it according to the immutable testimony of the word of God: No one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God(1 Cor. 2:11).

94. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE IN THE PERSONS OF THE HOLY TRINITY?

Between the Persons of the Holy Trinity difference in that God the Father is not born and does not come from another person; The Son of God is eternally born from the Father; The Holy Spirit proceeds eternally from the Father.

95. WHAT DIGNITY DO THE PERSONS OF THE HOLY TRINITY HAVE?

The three hypostases, or persons of the Holy Trinity, are of absolutely equal Divine dignity. Just as the Father is true God, so the Son is true God, and so the Holy Spirit is true God; but, moreover, in such a way that in these three hypostases one Trinitarian God is revealed.

96. WHY IS GOD CALLED POLITICAL?

God is called Almighty because He contains everything that exists in His power and in His will.

97. WHY DO WE CALL GOD CREATOR?

Words of the Creed: Creator of heaven and earth, visible to all and invisible They say that everything was created by God and nothing can exist without God.

At one time in the Children's Catechism I wrote about this as follows:

Who created God?
- Nobody created God. God created the world out of nothing - figure out how to create it out of nothing and who can do it, but the Lord has always been, it’s hard to imagine, you probably won’t be able to, and neither will I, but that’s how it is.
Where does God live?
- Everywhere and nowhere. There is no such hut on chicken legs, no such royal chambers, no such beggar's hut where the whole Lord would dwell. But there is no human heart into which He could not enter. So - everywhere and nowhere.
I was told that God was always there. How can this be, since everything has a beginning?
- Everything except God. Although not everything has a beginning: a circle, for example, has no beginning, or, for example, time - the way we see it here, has neither a beginning nor an end, many other things that you think about, you will suddenly discover that neither beginning nor end is found; When you go through Lobachevsky's geometry, you will find out that there are figures there that have neither beginning nor end. So not everything that cannot be mentally imagined is meaningless.
What does God look like?
– I’ll start answering this question from the other side. I'll tell you what God doesn't look like. God does not look like a gray-haired old man sitting on a cloud from which the sun shines or rain falls on the Earth. God does not look like the ancient pagans imagined him: like a crocodile, like a hippopotamus, like Pallas Athena, like the many-armed goddess Kali, and much, much more. God does not look like what shamans in the North and sorcerers in Polynesia think. God is not a statue, not an idol, not a block of wood. God is not even the Sun or the Moon. Let us say even more strongly - God is not our whole world. Some people look at the earth and think: “Mother is the damp earth.” They look at the starry sky and think: “God is dissolved in the world.” And this is not so, because this is God’s creation, everything was created by God, but this is not God himself. This is how the holy fathers teach us to talk about God. There is a Greek expression “apophatic method of theology,” that is, when we talk about God negatively, that God does not exist, so as not to confuse him with something or someone. This is stated at the beginning of the Gospel of John: “No one has ever seen God; He has revealed the Only Begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father” (Ch. 1:18).
We can say certain things about God that the Lord, Jesus Christ, the incarnate son of God, who is both a genuine man, like you and me, and God, has shown us. How we see him on icons, how church tradition tells about him, this is how God incarnate looks.

You can find more detailed information on the issue that interests you in the following books: “The Law of God”, “Dogmatic Theology” by Metropolitan Macarius, “Dialogues” by Archpriest. Valentin Sventsitsky.

The most powerful, influential and numerous of all the main ones existing today, ahead of Buddhism and Islam, is Christianity. The essence of religion, which breaks down into so-called churches (Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant and others), as well as many sects, lies in the veneration and worship of one divine being, in other words, the God-man, whose name is Jesus Christ. Christians believe that he is the true son of God, that he is the Messiah, that he was sent to Earth for the salvation of the world and all humanity.

The religion of Christianity originated in distant Palestine in the first century AD. e. Already in the first years of its existence it had many adherents. The main reason for the emergence of Christianity, according to clergy, was the preaching activity of a certain Jesus Christ, who, being essentially a half-god, half-man, came to us in human form in order to bring people the truth, and even scientists do not deny his existence. There are four sacred books written about the first coming of Christ (the second of the Christian world is just awaiting) which are called the Gospels. The sacred writings written by his apostles (Matthew, John, as well as Mark and Luke, disciples of the other two and Peter) tell about the miraculous birth of the boy Jesus in the glorious city of Bethlehem, about how he grew up, how he began to preach.

The main ideas of his new religious teaching were the following: the belief that he, Jesus, really is the Messiah, that he is the son of God, that there will be his second coming, there will be the end of the world and the resurrection from the dead. With his sermons, he called for loving one's neighbors and helping those in need. His Divine origin was proven by the miracles with which he accompanied his teachings. Many sick people were healed by his word or touch, he raised the dead three times, walked on water, turned it into wine and fed about five thousand people with just two fish and five cakes.

He expelled all merchants from the Jerusalem Temple, thereby showing that dishonest people have no place in holy and noble affairs. Then there was the betrayal of Judas Iscariot, accusations of deliberate blasphemy and brazen encroachment on the royal throne and a death sentence. He died, being crucified on the cross, having taken upon himself torment for all human sins. Three days later, Jesus Christ was resurrected and then ascended to heaven. About the religion Christianity says the following: there are two places, two special spaces that are inaccessible to people during earthly life. and paradise. Hell is a place of terrible torment, located somewhere in the bowels of the earth, and heaven is a place of universal bliss, and only God himself will decide who is sent where.

The religion of Christianity is based on several dogmas. The first is that the Second is that he is trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit). The birth of Jesus occurred by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit; God became incarnate in the Virgin Mary. Jesus was crucified and then died to atone for human sins, after which he was resurrected. At the end of time Christ will come to judge the world and the dead will rise. Divine and human natures are inextricably united in the image of Jesus Christ.

All religions of the world have certain canons and commandments, but Christianity preaches to love God with all your heart, and also to love your neighbor as yourself. Without loving your neighbor, you cannot love God.

The religion of Christianity has its adherents in almost every country, half of all Christians are concentrated in Europe, including Russia, one quarter in North America, one sixth in South America, and significantly fewer believers in Africa, Australia and