Origins and history
Christianity began with the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth in 1st-century Judea, and, according to Christian belief, his death by crucifixion and subsequent resurrection. His early followers, initially a movement within Judaism, began spreading his teachings across the Roman world, aided significantly by the missionary work of figures such as Paul of Tarsus. Over the following centuries, Christianity grew from a persecuted minority movement to the official religion of the Roman Empire by the late 4th century, and subsequently spread across Europe and, through later centuries of missionary activity, colonization and migration, across the rest of the world.
Over its roughly two-thousand-year history, Christianity has divided into several major branches, most significantly through the Great Schism of 1054 CE (which separated the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches) and the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century (which produced a wide range of Protestant denominations distinct from the Roman Catholic Church) — divisions described further below.
Core beliefs
Christian belief is centered on the figure of Jesus Christ: that he was both fully divine and fully human, that his death served as atonement for human sin, and that his resurrection from the dead offers the promise of eternal life to believers. Most Christian traditions hold a Trinitarian understanding of God as Father, Son (Jesus Christ) and Holy Spirit — three persons in one God — though the precise theological articulation of this and other doctrines varies between denominations, and some smaller groups depart from Trinitarian belief.
Practices and worship
Christian worship commonly centers on congregational gathering — typically on Sundays — for prayer, scripture reading, preaching, and hymn or song. Sacraments or ordinances, most widely baptism and the Eucharist (also called Holy Communion or the Lord's Supper), are significant across most traditions, though their theological meaning and frequency of observance vary. Personal prayer, scripture study, and observance of the liturgical calendar — including major occasions such as Christmas (marking the birth of Jesus) and Easter (marking his resurrection) — are also widely practiced.
Scripture
The Bible, consisting of the Old Testament (largely shared with the Hebrew Bible of Judaism) and the New Testament (recounting the life of Jesus and the early Christian church), is Christianity's central scripture. Different Christian traditions recognize somewhat different collections of Old Testament books, and translations vary widely by language and denomination, but the New Testament's core texts — the four Gospels, the book of Acts, various epistles, and the book of Revelation — are shared across nearly all Christian traditions.
Major branches
Christianity today is generally divided into three major branches. The Roman Catholic Church, led by the Pope, is the largest single Christian body worldwide. The Eastern Orthodox Church, which separated from Rome in the Great Schism of 1054, comprises a communion of self-governing national and regional churches sharing common doctrine and liturgical tradition. Protestant Christianity, which emerged from the 16th-century Reformation associated with figures such as Martin Luther and John Calvin, encompasses a very wide range of denominations — including Lutheran, Anglican, Presbyterian, Baptist, Pentecostal and many others — generally united by an emphasis on scripture as the primary religious authority, distinct from the Catholic and Orthodox traditions' greater emphasis on church hierarchy and tradition.
Symbols and iconography
The cross, representing the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, is Christianity's most widely recognized symbol; a crucifix (a cross bearing a depiction of Jesus's body) is particularly associated with Roman Catholic and Orthodox tradition, while many Protestant traditions favor a bare cross, emphasizing the resurrection over the crucifixion itself.
The ichthys (fish symbol) was used by early Christians, reportedly as a covert identifying mark during periods of persecution, drawing on the Greek word for fish as an acronym for "Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior." The dove commonly represents the Holy Spirit, drawing on its appearance in the New Testament account of Jesus's baptism. Alpha and Omega, the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, are used to represent God as the beginning and end of all things.
Ethics and moral life
Christian ethical teaching draws principally on the Ten Commandments (shared with Judaism) and the teachings of Jesus, particularly the Sermon on the Mount and its call to love one's neighbor, and even one's enemies, as oneself — often summarized as the "Golden Rule." Central Christian virtues commonly include love (agape), forgiveness, humility, and charity toward the poor and suffering, alongside more specific ethical teaching that varies by denomination and theological tradition on matters such as divorce, wealth and social justice.
Festivals and the liturgical calendar
Christmas, commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, and Easter, commemorating his resurrection, are Christianity's two most significant festivals, though denominations differ somewhat in how and when they are observed (Orthodox churches, for instance, generally follow a different calendar for calculating these dates than Catholic and Protestant churches).
The season of Lent, a period of fasting and reflection leading up to Easter, and Advent, a period of anticipation leading up to Christmas, are widely observed in the liturgical calendar of many denominations. Good Friday, commemorating the crucifixion, and Pentecost, commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit on Jesus's early followers, are also widely observed.
Christianity in Nepal
Christianity's documented history in Nepal is generally traced to Jesuit missionaries passing through the country toward Tibet in the early 1600s, with the first recorded Christian presence noted around 1628; later Capuchin missionaries were permitted limited activity in the Kathmandu Valley during the 18th century. Religious conversion was legally restricted in Nepal for long periods of the 19th and 20th centuries, and sustained church growth largely followed the political opening of Nepal after 1951 and, more significantly, the establishment of greater religious freedom after 1990.
Nepal's current constitution, promulgated in 2015, establishes Nepal as a secular state while its Article 26 restricts efforts to convert others; specific legal provisions concerning religious conversion remain a live area of Nepali law and public debate, which this article does not attempt to adjudicate. Today, Nepal is home to a range of Christian denominations and a largely indigenous, Nepali-led church community, with congregations across both urban centers such as Kathmandu and Pokhara and many rural areas.