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Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, whom Christians believe to be the Messiah, as presented in the New Testament writings of his early followers. It has an estimated 1.9 billion adherents, or about one-third of the total world population.

It shares with Judaism the Hebrew Scriptures (called the Old Testament by Christians), and is referred to as an Abrahamic religion, along with Judaism and Islam.

In the Bible, the word "Christian" is first mentioned in Acts 11:26: "For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch Jesus' disciples were first called Christians" (Gr. χριστιανοί, from Christ Gr. Χριστός, which means "the anointed"). (Verses within the Bible are cited by the book the verse is from, followed by the chapter, a colon, and the verse number itself. Acts 11:26 refers to the book of Acts, chapter eleven, verse twenty-six.)

As a result of various disagreements including the East-West Schism and the Protestant Reformation, Christianity has become divided into many bodies of faith or communions, whose beliefs and practices may vary greatly. The largest are the Roman Catholic Church (both the Latin and the Eastern Rites) and the Eastern Orthodox Church, but the body of Christians includes many other groups such as the other Eastern churches such as Oriental Orthodoxy, the various Protestant denominations and the African Initiated churches. There are also various distinct churches separating themselves from Christianity but claiming Jesus, including The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (also called Mormons), Jehovah's Witnesses, Quakers, Christian Science and other groups. Collectively, the various denominations and groups form the largest religion on Earth.

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The Ten Commandments, or Decalogue, are a list of religious and moral imperatives which, according to Biblical tradition, were written by God and given to Moses on Mount Sinai in the form of two stone tablets. They feature prominently in Judaism and Christianity. The phrase "Ten Commandments" generally refers to the very similar passages in Exodus 20:2-17 and Deuteronomy 5:6-21. Some distinguish between this "Ethical Decalogue" and a series of ten commandments in Exodus 34 that are labelled the "Ritual Decalogue".

The commandments passage in Exodus contains more than ten imperative statements, totalling 14 or 15 in all. However, the Bible itself assigns the count of "10", using the Hebrew phrase ʻaseret had'varim—translated as the 10 words, statements or things. Various religions divide the commandments differently.

In Biblical Hebrew language, the commandments are termed עשרת הדברים (translit. Aseret ha-Dvarîm) and in Rabbinical Hebrew עשרת הדברות (translit. Aseret ha-Dibrot), both translatable as "the ten statements." The name "Decalogue" is derived from the Greek name δεκάλογος or "dekalogos" ("ten statements") found in the Septuagint (Exodus 34:28, Deuteronomy 10:4), which is the Greek translation of the Hebrew name.

According to Biblical text, the commandments represent the utterances of God on Mount Sinai. There are biblical passages that also refer to ten commandments being written by God on stone, which he gave to Moses. Moses then gave them to the people of Israel in the third month after their Exodus from Egypt. After receiving the commandments and returning to Mount Sinai, Moses saw that the Israelites had "defiled themselves", and that his brother, Aaron, had made a Golden Calf and an altar in front of it. Moses, in terrible anger, broke the tablets. God later had Moses carve two other tablets, to replace the ones he smashed. God himself appears as the writer. This second set, brought down from Mount Sinai by Moses, was placed in the Ark of the Covenant, hence designated as the "Ark of the Testimony."

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In the news

• February 26, 2008 - The Our Lady of the Rosary Church is scheduled to open in Qatar and be that country's first church in 14 centuries (CathNews)
• February 25, 2008 - Larry Norman dies of heart failure at the age of 60 (Christianity Today) See more from Christianity on WikiNews

Did you know?

...that ecclesiastical Latin remains the official language of the Roman Catholic Church and is thus also the official language of Vatican City?
...that although raised as a Christian, C. S. Lewis spent most of his youth being an atheist until discussions with close friends such as J. R. R. Tolkien gradually persuaded him to reconvert?
...that The Pilgrim's Progress from This World to That Which Is to Come, a Christian allegorical novel written in 1675 by John Bunyan while imprisoned in England, is regarded as one of the greatest classics of literature and has been widely translated into more than 100 languages other than its original English text?
...that the Amish are a denomination of Anabaptists, found primarily in the United States and Canada, who do not vote, join the military, pay or draw Social Security, or accept any form of assistance from the government?

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Søren Kierkegaard was a prolific 19th century Danish philosopher and theologian. Kierkegaard strongly criticized both the Hegelianism of his time, and what he saw as the empty formalities of the Danish church. Much of his work deals with religious themes such as faith in God, the institution of the Christian Church, Christian ethics and theology, and the emotions and feelings of individuals when faced with life choices. His early work was written under various pseudonyms who present their own distinctive viewpoints in a complex dialogue. Kierkegaard left the task of discovering the meaning of the works to the reader, because "the task must be made difficult, for only the difficult inspires the noble-hearted". Subsequently, many have interpreted Kierkegaard as an existentialist, neo-orthodoxist, postmodernist, humanist, individualist, etc. Crossing the boundaries of philosophy, theology, psychology, and literature, Kierkegaard came to be regarded as a highly significant and influential figure in contemporary thought.

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Matthew 22:15-22 (KJV)

Main article: Render unto Caesar...

¹⁵ Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might ensnare him in his talk.

¹⁶ And they send to him their disciples, with the Herodians, saying, Teacher, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, and carest not for any one: for thou regardest not the person of men.

¹⁷ Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?

¹⁸ But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why make ye trial of me, ye hypocrites?

¹⁹ Show me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a denarius.

²⁰ And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription?

²¹ They say unto him, Caesar's. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's.

²² And when they heard it, they marveled, and left him, and went away.

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