Christian Beliefs

"Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved."
--Acts 16:31

"On account of the heresies, the toil of discovery must be undertaken."
--Clement of Alexandria, c. 195 AD

"Christianity claims to give an account of facts - to tell you what the real universe is like."
--C.S. Lewis, 1944


Christianity tends to take beliefs quite seriously. The early fathers and councils carefully distinguished between "orthodoxy" from "heresy" in an effort to preserve what they saw as the true Christian message. In the Middle Ages, established doctrine was carefully safeguarded, and in the 16th century, reformers called for the stripping away of superfluous doctrines and emphasized true faith as the only requirement for salvation. And Christian beliefs remain important today: the many denominations within Christianity center primarily around matters of doctrine rather than practice.

Given the great historical attention that has been devoted to it, the 2,000 years' worth of available writing on its many subjects, and its sometimes complex philosophical arguments, Christian doctrine can be an intimidating subject to tackle, especially for the beginner. The following articles therefore attempt to summarize the general consensus of Christian beliefs on everything from God to the afterlife, with historical development and denominational differences taken into account as much as possible.