Pervo sees Luke ’ s work as a “ legitimizing narrative ” because it makes “ a case by telling a story ( or stories )” and serves to legitimate either “ Pauline Christianity ( possibly in rivalry to other interpretations ) or generally as the claim of the Jesus-movement to possess the Israelite heritage .” On the other hand, some scholars greatly disagree with the view of legitimation because they believe that it “ mirror-reads ” Luke ’ s work attempting to uncover the circumstances surrounding Luke ’ s work by over-arguing something that may not be that valid.

In this view, Christianity is seen as a religion in its own right, rather than a subset of Judaism, if one makes the common assumption that Judaism is not universal, however see Noahide Laws and Christianity and Judaism for details.

However, Judeo-Christian thought also makes an " innovation of the first importance ", Eliade says, because it embraces the notion of linear, historical time ; in Christianity, " time is no longer the circular Time of the Eternal Return ; it has become linear and irreversible Time ".

It is noteworthy that in the " Dialogue " he no longer speaks of a " seed of the Word " in every man, and in his non-apologetic works the emphasis is laid upon the redeeming acts of the life of Christ rather than upon the demonstration of the reasonableness and moral value of Christianity, though the fragmentary character of the latter works makes it difficult to determine exactly to what extent this is true and how far the teaching of Irenaeus on redemption is derived from him.

Bede's account of Eadbald's conversion states that it was Laurence, Justus ' predecessor at Canterbury, who converted the King to Christianity, but the historian D. P. Kirby argues that the letter's reference to Eadbald makes it likely that it was Justus.

Machiavelli's concern with Christianity as a sect was that it makes men weak and inactive, delivering politics into the hands of cruel and wicked men without a fight.

I can what it is that makes Christianity so vital and powerful in the lives of billions of people

Western Christianity makes up about 90 % of Christians worldwide.

Western Christianity makes up about 90 % of Christians worldwide with the Roman Catholic Church accounting for over half, and various Protestant and related denominations make up another 40 %.

* Tiridates III makes his kingdom of Armenia the first state to adopt Christianity as its official religion.

Another tradition, which has remained popular among British Israelites and others, makes Caratacus already a Christian before he came to Rome, Christianity having been brought to Britain by either Joseph of Arimathea or St. Paul, and identifies a number of early Christians as his relatives.

* The Vatican makes a pact with the Salian Frankish king Childeric I, agreeing to call him " the new Constantine " on condition that he accept conversion to Christianity.

Eastern Christianity makes use of both apophatic and cataphatic theology.

Christianity makes up the largest religious group with 50 %, whilst Islam has 10 %, Sikhism 8. 5 %, and Hinduism 7. 8 % The remaining 24 % were not religious, or chose not to state their faith.

* 330-Ethiopian King Ezana of Axum makes Christianity an official religion

* 380-Roman Emperor Theodosius I makes Christianity the official state religion

Manlius Hippomanes, a gallic aristocrat living in the time of the collapse of the Roman Empire in the fifth century, makes cynical use of Christianity for personal power and instills religious intolerance and antisemitism in his followers-and after his death, these followers set up a bonfire and burn Hippomanes ' entire library of Classical works, believing themselves to be honoring his precepts.

Christianity is the largest religion in Tamworth which makes up 77 % of the population followed by atheism that makes up 15 %.

Of the three related religions Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, Christianity makes far wider use of images, which are forbidden or discouraged by Islam and Judaism.

* C. S. Lewis makes a series of radio broadcasts that will be adapted as Mere Christianity.

He makes the truth of Christianity depend on his demonstration that the books of the Old Testament were long anterior to the writings of the Greeks and were divinely inspired.

Christianity depicts a sharp distinction between angels, divine beings created by God before the creation of humanity and are used as messengers, and saints, the souls of humans who have received immortality from the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ of Nazareth, who dwell in Heaven with God.

Another distinction that is sometimes drawn is between Eastern Christianity and Western Christianity.

By cultism we mean the adherence to doctrines which are pointedly contradictory to orthodox Christianity and which yet claim the distinction of either tracing their origin to orthodox sources or of being in essential harmony with those sources.

There is also a personal dualism in Christianity with a soul-body distinction based on the idea of an immaterial Christian Soul.

Thus, Christianity acquired an identity distinct from Rabbinic Judaism, but this distinction was not recognised all at once by the Roman Empire, see Split of early Christianity and Judaism for details.

Today, the geographical distinction between Western and Eastern Christianity is not nearly as absolute, especially after the spread of missionaries.

Today, the geographical distinction between Western and Eastern Christianity is now much less absolute, due to the great migrations of Europeans across the globe, as well as the work of missionaries worldwide over the past five centuries.

This distinction of a separate ministry was formed in the early times of Christianity ; one early source reflecting this distinction, with the three ranks or orders of bishop, priest and deacon, is the writings of Saint Ignatius of Antioch.

Martin Luther elevated sola fide to the principal cause of the Protestant Reformation, the rallying cry of the Protestant cause, and the chief distinction between Protestant Christianity and Roman Catholicism.

Belief in the messiahship and divinity of Jesus, which Messianic Judaism generally shares, is viewed by many Christian denominations and Jewish religious movements as a defining distinction between Christianity and Judaism.

Frequently in Christianity a distinction is made between " liturgical " and " non-liturgical " churches based on the elaboration and / or antiquity of the worship ; in this usage, churches whose services are unscripted or improvised are called " non-liturgical ".

Although its strongly conservative views on theology and ethics might seem to make the LCMS politically compatible with Protestant evangelicals and fundamentalists in the U. S., the LCMS largely eschews political activity, partly out of concerns to keep the denomination untainted with potential heresies and also because of its strict understanding of the Lutheran distinction between the Two Kingdoms ( see above ), which repudiates the primarily Calvinist presuppositions about the totalizing rule of God that informs much, if not most, of U. S. evangelical understanding of politics and Christianity.

The Shoah made no distinction between secular Jews, atheistic Jews, orthodox Jews and Jews that had converted to Christianity.

No distinction is made between true and false accusation, but the synod probably meant only the accusation of Christianity before the heathen judge, or at most a false accusation.

" While this departure from traditional Lutheran thought is sometimes hailed as " the threshold of a third Luther Renaissance ," other Lutheran scholars disagree and argue that the idea of theosis violates Luther's theology of the cross principles by ignoring the real distinction that is axiomatic for not only Luther, but for orthodox Christianity as a whole.

Others, especially non-Christian scholars, claim to see a Pauline distinction different from that found elsewhere in the New Testament, a distinction that unduly influenced later Christianity.

In Christianity, a distinction is made between simple promises and oaths or vows.

The characteristics of Progressive Christianity, and its distinction from Liberal Christianity, have been articulated in an article by Hal Taussig.

Traditional Christianity and Judaism make a clear distinction between what is spiritual and what is temporal, while Mormon theology specifically denies that there is such a distinction.

Whenever New England liberalism is reminded of the dramatic confrontation of Parker and the fraternity on January 23, 1843 -- while it may defend the privilege of Chandler Robbins to demand that Parker leave the Association, while it may plead that Dr. N. L. Frothingham had every warrant for stating, `` The difference between Trinitarians and Unitarians is a difference in Christianity ; ;

the difference between Mr. Parker and the Association is a difference between no Christianity and Christianity '' -- despite these supposed conclusive assurances, the modern liberal heaves repeatedly a sigh of relief, of positive thanksgiving, that the Association never quite brought itself officially to expel Parker.

The conflict between Arianism and Trinitarian beliefs was the first major doctrinal confrontation in the Church after the legalization of Christianity by the Roman Emperors Constantine I and Licinius.

The Assyrians began to convert to Christianity from Ashurism during the period between the early 1st and 3rd centuries AD.

Towards the end of Steiner's life, a group of theology students ( primarily Lutheran, with some Roman Catholic members ) approached Steiner for help in reviving Christianity, in particular " to bridge the widening gulf between modern science and the world of spirit.

During the early centuries of Christianity the title " pope " was applied generally to all bishops ; it now has more specific meanings that vary between churches.

Other vestments and insignia vary between Eastern and Western Christianity.

The contents are correspondingly varied: a confession of sin and a plea to God not to maintain his anger forever ( ch. 63: 7 – 64: 11 ); a poem on the theme that God has no need of a temple because Heaven is his throne and Earth his footstool ( Isaiah 66: 1 – 2 ); verses setting out conditions for admission to the community ; complaints of sin, incompetence and paganism ; and distinctions between the " righteous " and the " sinners ", foreshadowing the categories used in much later Judaism and early Christianity.

Criticism of Christianity and Christians goes back to the Apostolic age, with the New Testament recording friction between the followers of Jesus and the Pharisees and scribes ( e. g. Mark 7: 1-23 and Matthew 15: 1-20 ).

Throughout the late Roman and early Byzantine periods, Christianity was resolving fundamental questions of identity, and the dispute between the orthodox and the monophysites became the cause of serious disorder, expressed through allegiance to the horse-racing parties of the Blues and the Greens.

Christian attitudes to Judaism and to the Jewish people developed from the early years of Christianity, the persecution of Christians in the New Testament, and persisted over the ensuing centuries, driven by numerous factors including theological differences, competition between Church and Synagogue, the Christian drive for converts decreed by the Great Commission, misunderstanding of Jewish beliefs and practices, and a perceived Jewish hostility toward Christians.

Buber made this theme the basis of a famous definition of the tension between Judaism and Christianity:

This was the background to the concept of Messiahship in early Christianity, which interpreted the career of Jesus " by means of the titles and functions assigned to David in the mysticism of the Zion cult, in which he served as priest-king and in which he was the mediator between God and man.

Deism flourished in England between 1690 and 1740, at which time Matthew Tindal's Christianity as Old as the Creation ( 1730 ), also called " The Deist's Bible ", gained much attention.

Eastern Christianity bases its calculations on the Julian calendar whose 21 March corresponds, during the 21st century, to 3 April in the Gregorian calendar, in which the celebration of Easter therefore varies between 4 April and 8 May.

In Western Christianity, using the Gregorian calendar, Easter always falls on a Sunday between 22 March and 25 April, inclusively.

Acceptance of these councils thus varies between different branches of Christianity.

Finally, there was a more pronounced conflict between Christianity and socialism in the north.

The Spaniard, Michael Servetus denounced the orthodox Christian formulation of the Trinity ( demonstrating the only explicit reference to the Trinity in the New Testament to be a later interpolation ); and hoped thereby to bridge the doctrinal divide between Christianity and Islam.