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Christianity ( /krɪsiˈænɪti, krɪstiˈænɪti/) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.4 billion followers, comprising around 31.2% of the world population. Its adherents, known as Christians, are estimated to make up a majority of the population in 157 countries and territories. Christians believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, whose coming as the Messiah was prophesied in the Hebrew Bible (called the Old Testament in Christianity) and chronicled in the New Testament.

Christianity remains culturally diverse in its Western and Eastern branches, and doctrinally diverse concerning justification and the nature of salvation, ecclesiology, ordination, and Christology. The creeds of various Christian denominations generally hold in common Jesus as the Son of God—the Logos incarnated—who ministered, suffered, and died on a cross, but rose from the dead for the salvation of humankind; and referred to as the gospel, meaning the "good news". The four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John describe Jesus's life and teachings, with the Old Testament as the gospels' respected background.

The six major branches of Christianity are Roman Catholicism (1.3 billion people), Protestantism (900 million), Eastern Orthodoxy (230 million), Oriental Orthodoxy (60 million), Restorationism (35 million), and the Church of the East (600 thousand). Smaller church communities number in the thousands despite efforts toward unity ( ecumenism). In the West, Christianity remains the dominant religion even with a decline in adherence, with about 70% of that population identifying as Christian. Christianity is growing in Africa and Asia, the world's most populous continents. Christians remain greatly persecuted in many regions of the world, particularly in the Middle East, North Africa, East Asia, and South Asia. ( Full article...)

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19th-century engraving of Knox

John Knox ( c. 1514 – 24 November 1572) was a Scottish minister, Reformed theologian, and writer who was a leader of the country's Reformation. He was the founder of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland.

Born in Giffordgate, a street in Haddington, East Lothian, Knox is believed to have been educated at the University of St Andrews and worked as a notary-priest. Influenced by early church reformers such as George Wishart, he joined the movement to reform the Scottish Church. He was caught up in the ecclesiastical and political events that involved the murder of Cardinal David Beaton in 1546 and the intervention of the regent Mary of Guise. He was taken prisoner by French forces the following year and exiled to England on his release in 1549. ( Full article...)
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Æthelwig ( c. 1013–16 February in either 1077 or 1078) was an Abbot of Evesham before and during the Norman Conquest of England. Born sometime around 1010 or 1015, he was elected abbot in 1058. Known for his legal expertise, he administered estates for Ealdred, the Bishop of Worcester prior to his election as abbot. After his election, he appears to have acted as Ealdred's deputy, and was considered as a possible successor when Ealdred was elected Archbishop of York. Æthelwig worked during his abbacy to recover estates that had been lost to Evesham, as well as acquiring more estates.

After the Norman Conquest, in 1066, Æthelwig was one of the few Englishmen trusted by the new King William the Conqueror, and was given authority over parts of western England. As part of his duties, he was a royal judge and held important prisoners. During the Harrying of the North in 1069–1070, Æthelwig gave aid to refugees from the north of England. He also helped the king in the rebellion of 1075, preventing one of the rebels from joining the others. Æthelwig died on 16 February in either 1077 or 1078, and was memorialised in a work on his life that was later incorporated in the Chronicon Abbatiae de Evesham, a 13th-century history of the abbey and its abbots. ( Full article...)
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A rendering of the Last Supper made from salt, Wieliczka salt mine, Poland
A rendering of the Last Supper made from salt, Wieliczka salt mine, Poland
Credit: User:Akumiszcza

A rendering of the Last Supper made from salt, Wieliczka salt mine, Poland

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A circa 1619 painting by Domenico Fetti entitled The Parable of the Mote and the Beam
“Don’t judge, so that you won’t be judged.
For with whatever judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with whatever measure you measure, it will be measured to you.
Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but don’t consider the beam that is in your own eye?
Or how will you tell your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye;’ and behold, the beam is in your own eye?
You hypocrite! First remove the beam out of your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck out of your brother’s eye."

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