Supporters of this view believe that “ to a hypothetical outside reader, presents Christianity as enlightened, harmless, even beneficent .” Some believe that through this work, Luke intended to show the Roman Empire that the root of Christianity is within Judaism so that the Christians “ may receive the same freedom to practice their faith that the Roman Empire afforded the Jews .” Those who support the view of Luke ’ s work as political apology generally draw evidence from the facts that Christians are found innocent of committing any political crime ( Acts 25: 25 ; 19: 37 ; 19: 40 ) and that Roman officials ’ views towards Christians are generally positive.

* Modern Christians typically believe it is acceptable to play instruments or to attend weddings, funerals, banquets, etc., where instruments are heard.

Though God is never explicitly mentioned in the Book of Esther, some Christians believe that his influence during the story is implied.

The Jewish people still await the Messiah's first coming, while Christians await his second coming, when they believe he will fulfill those parts of Messianic prophecy left unfulfilled in the first century AD.

Christians believe that Jesus is the Messiah prophesied in the Hebrew Bible, referred to as the " Old Testament " in Christianity.

Christians believe that Jesus, as the Messiah, was anointed by God as saviour of humanity, and hold that Jesus ' coming was the fulfillment of messianic prophecies of the Old Testament.

While there have been many theological disputes over the nature of Jesus over the earliest centuries of Christian history, Christians generally believe that Jesus is God incarnate and " true God and true man " ( or both fully divine and fully human ).

In contrast Catholics, Orthodox Christians and Arminian Protestants believe that the exercise of free will is necessary to have faith in Jesus.

Many, but not all, Christians believe:

Many of the debates among Christians have roots in questions about the sources of authority different Christians believe represent God's purest or most definitive message.

Many Christians believe that marriage is defined by the union of a man and a woman, and that any sexual act outside of the marriage relationship is inherently sinful.

Some Christians believe that the book of Leviticus contains prohibitions against male-male sexuality.

As an alternative to a school-sponsored Day of Silence opposing bullying of LGBT students, conservative Christians organized a Golden Rule Initiative, where they passed out cards saying " As a follower of Christ, I believe that all people are created in the image of God and therefore deserve love and respect.

Some Christians believe that marriage is the union of two people and that homosexual behavior is not inherently sinful.

Some Christians believe that Biblical passages have been mistranslated or that these passages do not refer to LGBT orientation as currently understood.

It is especially important in the Catholic Church, but is also used in Orthodox and Eastern Catholic, as well as Anglican, and Lutheran churches, ( though less often in other Protestant churches ), and it emphasizes Jesus ' sacrifice — his death by crucifixion, which Christians believe brought about the redemption of mankind.

Some Christians believe that gender equality is appropriate for Christian marriages and that the spouses share equal responsibility within the family.

Some Christians believe that husbands and wives have differing, complementary roles.

Christians believe that marriage is considered in its ideal according to the purpose of God.

The use of the definite article before the word " Christ " and its gradual development into a proper name show the Christians identified the bearer with the promised Messiah of the Jews who fulfilled all the Messianic predictions in a fuller and a higher sense than had been given them by the Rabbis.

Some Christians agree that Jews who accept Jesus should still observe all of Torah, see for example Dual-covenant theology, based on warnings by Jesus to Jews not to use him as an excuse to disregard it, and they support efforts of those such as Messianic Jews ( Messianic Judaism is considered by most Christians and Jews to be a form of Christianity ) to do that, but some Protestant forms of Christianity oppose all observance to the Mosaic law, even by Jews, which Luther criticised as Antinomianism, see Antinomianism # Antinomian Controversies in Lutheranism and Luther # Anti-Antinomianism for details.

Because Christians believe that Jesus is the Messiah and that he claimed to be the Son of Man referred to by Daniel, Christianity interprets as a statement of the Messiah's authority and that the Messiah will have an everlasting kingdom in the Messianic Age.

More recently, Christians in the Seventh-day Adventist, Seventh Day Baptist, and Church of God ( Seventh-Day ) denominations, as well as many Messianic Jews have revived the practice of abstaining from work and gathering for worship on Saturdays.

Jews for Jesus is funded by donations from Messianic Jews and like-minded Christians.

Once it had become clear that most Jews did not consider Jesus to be the messiah ( see also Rejection of Jesus ) Christians ( among whom were Messianic Jews ) sought a number of new converts from among the gentiles.

According to Hocken ( 2009 ) " the new thrust that turned Hebrew Christians into Messianic Jews was distinctly charismatic.

This belief is supported through links between Hebrew Bible prophecies and what Messianic Jews, together with most mainstream Christians, perceive as the prophecies ' fulfillment in the New Testament.

While most traditional Christians deny that the ritual laws and specific civil laws of the Pentateuch apply to gentiles, certain passages regarding Torah observance in the New Testament are cited by Messianic believers as proof that Torah was not abolished for Jews.

Today, many Lemba are Christians ( including Messianic Jews ) or Muslims, and they maintain several Jewish practices.

Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands had centers where the Messianic movement was followed, and the Jews of Hamburg and Amsterdam heard about the events in Smyrna from trustworthy Christians.

One group which has maintained its Jewish identity alongside an acceptance of Jesus as the Messiah and the New Testament as authoritative are Messianic Jews, also called Hebrew Christians.

The Supreme Court of Israel ruled in 1989 that Messianic Judaism constituted another religion ( it is considered by most Christians and Jews to be a form of Christianity ), and that people who had become Messianic Jews were not therefore eligible for Aliyah under the law.

She has written a controversial book on Messianic Judaism, a belief system considered by most Christians and Jews to be a form of Christianity, adhered to by groups that seek to combine Christianity and Judaism.

The organization attempts to counter the efforts of " Jews for Jesus " and other Messianic missionary organizations which believe Jesus to be God and one part of a Trinity, and attempt to proselytize Jews, claiming to be a legitimate form of Judaism, but considered by most Christians and Jews to be a form of Christianity.

* The Messianic Judaism movement, Hebrew Christians, Jews for Jesus and other groups that believe that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah are not considered a part of Judaism by Jews ,< ref name = " JList1 ">

* Branch, in Jesus and Messianic prophecy, a prophetic name attributed by Christians to Jesus

The Revised Standard Version ( RSV ), and the Revised English Bible, rendered virtually all passages given a Messianic interpretation by Christians in a manner such as to preclude such an interpretation, even when " conjectural emendations " and alterations of the text had to be made in order to do it.

Some deists rejected miracles and prophecies but still considered themselves Christians because they believed in what they felt to be the pure, original form of Christianitythat is, Christianity as it existed before it was corrupted by additions of such superstitions as miracles, prophecies, and the doctrine of the Trinity.

Hawkins dryly commented that Jahangir made his nephews Christian " not for any zeal he had to Christianity, as the Fathers, and all Christians thought ; but upon the prophecies of certain learned Gentiles, who told him that the sons of his should be disinherited, and the children of his brother should reign.

Christians believe that prophecies in the Hebrew Bible ( especially Isaiah ) refer to a spiritual savior and believe Jesus to be that Messiah ( Christ ).

Partial preterism holds that most eschatological prophecies, such as the destruction of Jerusalem, the Antichrists, the Great Tribulation, and the advent of the Day of the Lord as a " judgment-coming " of Christ, were fulfilled either in A. D. 70 or during the persecution of Christians under the Emperor Nero.

Christians generally believe the anticipated event is predicted in biblical messianic prophecies.

Christians interpret at least three passages of the Old Testament as prophecies about Jesus ’ Passion.

After the Six Day War in 1967, and the Yom Kippur War in 1973, it seemed plausible to many Fundamentalist Christians in the 1970s that Middle East turmoil may well be leading up to the fulfillment of various Bible prophecies and to the Battle of Armageddon.

After the siege of Jerusalem, Sophronius welcomed ` Umar because, according to biblical prophecies allegedly known to the church in Jerusalem, " a poor, but just and powerful man " will rise to be a protector and an ally to the Christians of Jerusalem.

Christians have a different understanding of the term messiah, and believe that Jesus is the messiah referred to in the Old Testament prophecies ; that the kingdom in these prophecies was to be a heavenly kingdom, not an earthly one ; and that Jesus ' words and actions in the New Testament provide evidence of his identity as messiah and that the remainder of messianic prophecy will be fulfilled in the Second Coming.

A second prophetic theme is the coming of a Messiah: Christians believe that these Messianic prophecies are fulfilled by Christ Jesus, while followers of Rabbinic Judaism still await the arrival of the Jewish Messiah and other signs of Jewish eschatology.

Most Christians believe many messianic prophecies will be fulfilled with the Second Coming of Christ, though some Christians ( Full Preterism ) believe that all Messianic prophecies have already been fulfilled.

The film's premillenial dispensationalist interpretation of the Bible's end times prophecies is popular among U. S. evangelicals, but is a minority view among Christians globally.

Many Evangelical Christians believe that New Testament prophecies associated with the Jewish Temple, such as Matthew 24-25 and 2 Thessalonians 2: 1-12, were not completely fulfilled during the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 ( a belief of Full Preterism ) and that these prophecies refer to a future temple.