# Christianity A monotheistic Abrahamic religion centered on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, whom adherents understand as the Christ (the anointed one), the Son of God, and savior of humanity. Christianity emerged in the 1st century CE from Second-Temple Judaism in Roman Judea, spread through the Mediterranean world during the imperial Roman period, became the official religion of the Roman Empire in the late 4th century, and grew into the world's largest religion with roughly 2.4 billion adherents. It is also, for the purposes of this vault, the religion that supplies the substrate for virtually all of US right-wing political-religious organizing — [[Christian Nationalism]], [[Dominionism]], [[Christian Reconstructionism]], the [[Seven Mountain Mandate]], the entire `/Terminology/Christian Nationalism/` lexicon, and dozens of organizations tracked in `/Organizations/`. ## Founding and origins Christianity originated in 1st-century Roman Judea among Jewish followers of Jesus of Nazareth. After Jesus's crucifixion (c. 30–33 CE), his disciples — led by Peter, James, and (later) Paul of Tarsus — proclaimed his resurrection and gathered communities of believers across the Eastern Mediterranean. Paul's missionary work expanded the movement beyond ethnic Jewish communities to Gentile populations, a decisive turn that made Christianity a universal rather than ethnic religion. The movement's formative centuries were marked by intermittent Roman persecution, internal doctrinal contestation, and the gradual development of authoritative texts (the New Testament canon largely settled by the 4th century) and institutions (bishops, councils, creeds). The Edict of Milan (313) legalized Christianity, and Theodosius I made it the empire's official religion (380). The Council of Nicaea (325) and subsequent ecumenical councils codified orthodox doctrine — the Trinity, the two natures of Christ — and the rejection of various positions later termed heresies (Arianism, Nestorianism, etc.). Two major institutional ruptures structure the religion's denominational history: the Great Schism (1054) between the Latin (Roman Catholic) West and the Greek (Eastern Orthodox) East, and the Protestant Reformation (1517–) initiated by Martin Luther's break with Rome. ## Core beliefs and practices **Theological core.** Trinitarian monotheism — one God in three persons (Father, Son, Holy Spirit). Jesus Christ as fully divine and fully human, incarnate, crucified, resurrected, ascended, and expected to return ("the Second Coming"). Salvation by grace through faith in Christ's atoning death; the precise mechanism of salvation is contested across traditions (Catholic sacramental, Protestant *sola fide*, Eastern Orthodox *theosis*). **Sacred texts.** The Christian Bible — the Old Testament (largely identical to the Hebrew Bible, with some variation in canon) and the New Testament (27 books: four Gospels narrating Jesus's life, the Acts of the Apostles, the Pauline and General Epistles, the Book of Revelation). **Practices.** Worship typically includes prayer, scripture reading, preaching, and the Eucharist (Lord's Supper / Communion). Baptism marks entry into the community. Liturgical traditions (Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, Lutheran) follow structured rites and church calendars; evangelical and charismatic traditions emphasize personal conversion and spontaneous prayer; Pentecostal and charismatic traditions add experiential phenomena (speaking in tongues, healing, prophecy). **Ethics.** Centered on love of God and neighbor; the Sermon on the Mount is foundational. Specific ethical traditions vary widely — Catholic natural-law moral theology, Reformed covenantal ethics, evangelical biblicism, liberation theology, etc. **Eschatology.** Expectation of Christ's return, final judgment, resurrection of the dead, and a new heaven and new earth. Specific eschatological schemes vary dramatically — see [[Christian Eschatology]] for the typology (premillennialism, postmillennialism, amillennialism, preterism, dispensationalism) and its political significance. ## Major divisions Christianity's denominational tree is the most differentiated of any major world religion. The major branches (each with its own entry in this folder): - [[Catholicism]] (Roman Catholic Church) — ~1.3 billion adherents; the largest Christian communion; centered on papal authority, sacramental theology, and the Magisterium. Politically active in US right via Catholic-conservative legal networks ([[Federalist Society]], Becket Fund), the Catholic-integralist intellectual movement, and the Catholic majority on the current Supreme Court. - [[Eastern Orthodoxy]] — ~220 million adherents; the Eastern Christian communion, structured as autocephalous national churches (Greek, Russian, Serbian, etc.); centered on conciliar authority and patristic theology. Politically significant for the [[Russian Orthodox Church]]'s role in Putin-era Russian nationalism, increasingly invoked by US dissident-right figures. - [[Oriental Orthodoxy]] — ~60 million adherents; the non-Chalcedonian churches (Coptic, Ethiopian, Armenian, Syriac, Eritrean, Indian/Malankara). Distinct communion from Eastern Orthodoxy. Limited direct US right-wing political footprint. - [[Protestantism]] — ~800–900 million adherents globally; an umbrella covering many denominational families. The Protestant world is where the most politically-active US right-wing Christianity lives. Major Protestant families: - [[Reformed Christianity]] — Presbyterians, Reformed, Dutch Reformed. The intellectual headwaters of [[Christian Reconstructionism]] (Rushdoony), [[Theonomy]], and the [[New Apostolic Reformation]]'s Reformed-postmillennial wing. - [[Lutheranism]] — Lutheran World Federation churches, LCMS, WELS. Less politically mobilized than other Protestant families in the US. - [[Anglicanism]] — Episcopal Church (US), the broader Anglican Communion, plus the breakaway ACNA (Anglican Church in North America) which moved sharply right. - [[Baptist Christianity]] — Southern Baptist Convention, independent fundamentalist Baptists, National Baptist Convention. The SBC is the largest Protestant body in the US and the most consequential single denomination for US right-wing politics. - [[Methodism]] — UMC, the Global Methodist Church (the 2022 conservative breakaway), Wesleyan, Free Methodist, AME. - [[Pentecostalism]] — Assemblies of God, Church of God in Christ, independent charismatic churches, the entire [[Seven Mountain Mandate]] / NAR movement. The fastest-growing Christian family globally. - [[Anabaptism]] — Mennonites, Amish, Hutterites, Brethren. The "Radical Reformation" tradition; historically pacifist and politically separatist, though some Anabaptist communities have shifted toward MAGA-coalition participation. - [[Restorationism]] — the 19th-century American movements that claimed to restore primitive Christianity. Includes the Stone-Campbell movement (Churches of Christ, Disciples of Christ), Latter-day Saints (Mormonism), Jehovah's Witnesses, and Seventh-day Adventism. [[Mormonism (LDS)]] is particularly load-bearing for US right-wing coalition politics (Utah delegation, Romney, [[Mike Lee]]). - [[Non-Denominational Evangelicalism]] — the rapidly-growing independent megachurch / nondenominational world that increasingly bypasses traditional denominational structures while sharing broad evangelical theology. ## Demographic footprint **Global:** ~2.4 billion adherents (Pew, 2020) — roughly 31% of the global population, making Christianity the world's largest religion by adherent count. Growing in the Global South (Africa, parts of Asia), declining in much of Europe and increasingly in North America. **United States:** ~63% of US adults identify as Christian (Pew, 2024 — down from ~78% in 2007). The decline is concentrated in mainline Protestantism and Catholicism; evangelical Protestantism has held more stable as a share. The "Christian" demographic in US political analysis is highly internally differentiated — white evangelicals, Black Protestants, Hispanic Catholics, white Catholics, and mainline Protestants vote in dramatically different patterns. **US right-wing coalition concentration:** White evangelical Protestants are the most reliable single religious bloc in the modern Republican coalition (~75–85% Republican vote share in recent presidential elections). White Catholics lean Republican; Black Protestants and Hispanic Catholics lean Democratic, though both have shown rightward drift in 2020 and 2024. ## Right-wing politics tributaries Christianity supplies the substrate for the bulk of US right-wing political-religious organizing tracked in this vault. The major tributaries: **Ideological** (in `/Ideologies/`): - [[Christian Nationalism]] — the fusion of American national identity with Christian (specifically Protestant or generic-Christian) religious identity - [[Christian Reconstructionism]] — the Rushdoony-derived program for governing civil society under Old Testament law - [[Christian Zionism]] — Protestant theological support for the State of Israel, rooted in dispensationalist eschatology - [[Integralism]] / [[Catholic Post-Liberalism]] — Catholic-traditionalist political theory advocating for the integration of civil and religious authority - [[Quiverfull]] — pronatalist movement within evangelical Christianity - [[Christian Fundamentalism]] — the early-20th-century anti-modernist Protestant movement that gave the modern religious right much of its DNA - [[Christofascism]] — analytical-pejorative label for the most authoritarian fusions **Conceptual** (in `/Concepts/`): - [[Dominionism]] — theological framework for Christian rule over civil institutions - [[Seven Mountain Mandate]] — strategy for Christian capture of seven cultural domains - [[Christian Eschatology]] — the eschatological schemes underlying right-wing apocalyptic politics - [[Religious Liberty]] — the legal-political frame Christian-conservative legal networks deploy - [[Christian Identity]] — the white-nationalist racial-theological movement (distinct from mainline US Christianity but tracked because of its political afterlife) **Organizational** (in `/Organizations/`): Dozens of Christian organizations are tracked in this vault. Representative: [[Family Research Council]], [[Faith and Freedom Coalition]], [[Christ Church Moscow]], [[Southern Baptist Theological Seminary]], [[Trump Evangelical Advisory Board]], [[ReAwaken America Tour]], [[Generals International]], [[Global Spheres Inc]], [[Christian Broadcasting Network]], [[Becket Fund]], [[American Center for Law and Justice]]. **Vocabulary** (in `/Terminology/Christian Nationalism/`): The entire `/Terminology/Christian Nationalism/` subfolder catalogs the loaded-language vocabulary in which Christian-political organizing speaks: [[Biblical Worldview]], [[Spiritual Warfare]], [[The Remnant]], [[Acolytes]], [[Apostates]], [[Biblical Values]]. **People** (in `/People/`): Major theologian-organizers tracked: [[Douglas Wilson]], [[Stephen Wolfe]], [[R.J. Rushdoony]], [[Russell Moore]], [[Albert Mohler]], and many others. ## Connections - [[Theocracy]] (regime type) — Christianity's most ambitious political projects move toward theocratic governance; cross-link runs in both directions - [[Christian Nationalism]] — the master ideological category for US Christian-right politics - [[Dominionism]] — the theological framework underwriting Christian political ascendance claims - [[Christian Eschatology]] — the eschatological substrate that makes premillennial dispensationalism, postmillennial reconstruction, and amillennial Catholic-integralist politics legible - [[Religious Liberty]] — the legal-political surface where Christianity meets US constitutional law ## See also - [[Judaism]] — shared scriptural inheritance (Hebrew Bible) and the Christian-Zionist alliance dynamics - [[Islam]] — the third Abrahamic monotheism; positioned as Christianity's primary civilizational rival in much US right-wing discourse - [[Theocracy]] — sibling Foundations entry - [[World Religions Timeline]] — the comparative chronological spine: Nicaea, Chalcedon, 1054, the Reformation, and the modern fusions in one sequence - [[Religions and Right-Wing Politics]] — the payoff MOC collecting every tradition's political tributaries