This lesson is in line with the lesson in Introduction to World Religions and Belief Systems in Senior High School It focuses on the brief history, sacred texts, and core teachings of the religion Christianity.

1. CHRISTIANITY

2. JESUS CHRIST
• Christ’s life, message, and ministry are chronicled in the
New Testament, especially in the four Gospels.
• Jesus preached that He is the way to God.
• Man was separated from God through sins, but can be
reconciled to God through Jesus Christ’s sacrifice.
• He was arrested and tried by the Jewish authorities, turned
over to the roman government, and crucified on the order
of Pontius Pilate, the roman prefect. After his death, his
followers believed he rose from the dead, and the
community they formed eventually became the early
church.

3. SACRED TEXTS: BIBLE

4. OLD TESTAMENT
• Based principally upon the Hebrew Bible.
• Christians traditionally divide the Old Testament into
four sections:
• The Pentateuch (Torah)
• The history books relating to the history of the Israelites,
from their conquest of Canaan
• The poetic and ‘Wisdom’ books discussing, in different
forms, the questions of good and evil in the world
• The books of the prophets, warning of the costs of turning

5. NEW TESTAMENT
• Second major part of the Christian biblical canon.
• It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in the
first-century Church of Christ.
• The New Testament serves as a reference for Christian theology and
morality. Readings from the New Testament are parts of various Christian
church services.
• It consists of 27 books.
• It consists of the following:
• 4 narratives of the life, teaching, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, referred to as
the Gospels
• An account of the apostle’s ministries in the early church, called the Acts of the
Apostles
• 21 letters, often called ‘Epistles’ from Greek “epistole” consisting Christian doctrines,
counsels, instructions, and even conflict resolutions.

6. DOCTRINES: TRINITY, VIRGIN
BIRTH, DEITY OF CHRIST,
RESURRECTION, LAST
JUDGMENT

7. TRINITY
• The religious belief that God
is one God in three persons:
the Father, the Son (Jesus),
and the Holy Spirit.
• Refers to the teaching that
“the one God comprises
three distinct, eternally co-
existing persons.
• Other Christian religions do

8. VIRGIN BIRTH
• Designates the doctrine of traditional
Christianity that Jesus Christ has no
natural father, but was conceived in
the womb of his mother Mary
through the power of the Holy Spirit,
and born while Mary was yet a virgin.
• The Catholic church holds it
authoritative for faith and
Protestants regard it as an
explanation of the mixture of the
human and divine natures of Jesus,
but the scholarly consensus is that

9. RESURRECTION
• Designates the concept of a living
being coming back to life after death.
• The resurrection of the dead is a
standard eschatological belief in the
Abrahamic religions.
• The resurrection of Jesus is the chief
focus of Christianity.
• The bodily resurrection from the dead
of Jesus Christ is the crowning proof of
Christianity. Christian theologians
argue that if the resurrection did not
take place, then Christianity is a false
religion. But if it did take place, then
the Christian faith is absolute truth.

10. LAST JUDGMENT (FINAL JUDGMENT)
• A part of the eschatological belief of the
Abrahamic religions
• In Christianity, it is the final and eternal
judgment by God, through Jesus Christ, of
the people in every nation resulting in the
glorification or receiving of ultimate reward
of some and the punishment of others.
• The "judgment" in the words previously
spoken—judgment will begin at the house
of God—refers to the judgment God passes
today on those who come before His throne
in the last days.

11. CHRISTIAN ETHICS
•Love is the core of Christ’s teachings- love
of god, and love of neighbor. Love for god is
shown by being compassionate. Being
compassionate is not just confined to fellow
human beings but also includes the entire
creation of god. To love creation is an
expression of one’s love for the creator.

12. THE SUMMARY OF THE LAW
•You shall love the Lord your God with all
your heart, and with all your soul, and with
all your mind. This is the first and great
commandment.
•And the second is like it, You shall love
your neighbor as yourself.
•On these two commandments depend all
the law and the prophets (Matthew 22:37-

13. TEN COMMANDMENTS
•Also called the decalogue, the ten
commandments are a set of laws given by god
to the people of Israel at mt. Sinai through
Moses. In exodus, god gave Moses the tablets
containing the ten commandments, which
Moses smashed into pieces because of extreme
anger when he saw the golden calf idol created
and worshipped by the Hebrews. God gave
Moses another set to replace the broken one.

15. SECTS: ROMAN
CATHOLIC,
GREEK/EASTERN
ORTHODOX,
PROTESTANTISM, ETC.

16. Academically, Christianity is traditionally
divided into 3 major branches:
•ROMAN CATHOLICISM
•EASTERN ORTHODOXY
•PROTESTANTISM

17. ROMAN CATHOLICISM
• A Christian-professing church that has been a key spiritual
force that claims to trace its history to Jesus Christ and the
apostles.
• Members of this church are called Roman Catholic. It is a
term used to differentiate members of the Catholic Church
in full communion with the Pope from other Christians who
also use the term Catholic.
• The term Catholic is one of the ‘four marks’ of the church
(one, holy, catholic, and apostolic) set out in the Nicene
Creed.

18. EASTERN ORTHODOXY
• Officially named the ‘Orthodox Catholic Church’
• Declares that it is the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic
church established by Jesus Christ in his Great
Commission to the apostles.
• It observes what it believes to be the original Christian
faith and claims to keep the sacred tradition passed
down from the apostles.
• They teaches that all bishops are equal by virtue of their

19. PROTESTANTISM
• It is a religious movement that started in northern Europe as a
reaction to medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices.
• Shares with other Christians fundamental beliefs in the doctrines of
the Trinity, the divinity of Jesus, the necessity of grace to save
humans from the consequences of sin, and the centrality of Jesus’
death and resurrection for salvation.
• Led by Martin Luther, John Calvin and others, reformers broke from
the Roman Catholic Church partly due to its abusive ecclesiological
structures and supposed faulty doctrines.
• It rejects most Catholic rituals and sacraments. It advocates,
instead, the doctrine of salvation through faith (alone) in Jesus

20. ISSUES

21. ECUMENISM
• refers to the effort of the Catholic Church to sponsor activities and
initiatives to promote mutual understanding and unity among all
Christians.
• also be described as the promotion of worldwide Christian unity
(Brodd 2003). It is based on Vatican II’s Decree on Ecumenism which
states that: “The restoration of unity among all Christians is one of
the principal concerns of the Second Vatican Council. Christ the Lord
founded one Church and one Church only. However, many Christian
communions present themselves to men as the true inheritors of
Jesus Christ; all indeed profess to be followers of the Lord but differ
in mind and go their different ways, as if Christ Himself were divided.
Such division openly contradicts the will of Christ, scandalizes the

22. SEXUALITY
• Due to its conservative view of human sexuality, it has often found
itself in conflict with progressive and liberal ideas regarding certain
issues connected to sexuality such as artificial contraception,
abortion, and homosexuality.
• Christianity advocates that the goal of sexual union between men
and women is procreation, thus anything that might hinder this is
considered immoral. Having sexual pleasure from such union is not
necessary, thus when people use artificial contraceptives, such as
condoms, birth control pills, IUDs (intrauterine contraceptive
devices), and the like, they are committing a sin because they are
engaging in sexual acts without procreation in mind. Instead,
Christianity advocates natural family planning methods such as the
rhythm method, wherein couples will engage in sexual acts only

23. • In this light, abortion is also considered as immoral by the
catholic church since it entails the killing of life. For the Catholic
Church, life begins at fertilization, when the sperm and ovum
meet to form a single cell, hence abortion is already considered
as taking away the life of a person. Another issue with regards
to sexuality is that of homosexuality. It refers to attraction to
members of the same sex. Males who are attracted to males are
called gays, while females attracted to females are called
lesbians.
• It also states that when God created humans, He created male
and female only, and that their union is meant for procreation.
Thus, in the Christian line of thinking, homosexuality should
not be practiced since it is not in accordance with God’s plan.
The Church does not allow same-sex marriage and is vocal in

24. THE APOSTLE’S CREED, THE
LORD’S PRAYER, AND THE
BEATUTIDES

28. SUMMARY
• Christianity is one of the first monotheistic religions in the world. It
considers god as the creator and maintainer of the universe—
omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, and omnibenevolent.
• The bible is considered the sacred scripture of Christianity and is the
basis of the religion's teachings.
• According to Christianity, since human beings are created in the
likeness of god, they are intrinsically good; but they are also given free
will, so they are considered prone to sin and in need of grace.
• The goal of every individual is to have eternal life of the soul after death.
• For those who have become good Christians, the reward is eternal life
in heaven; for those who lived a life full of sins, the punishment is eternal
damnation in hell.