Christianity

Christianity
is one of (if not the most) the most prominent human religions in the
Confederacy.

## Overview

The
Christian faith in all its forms is a Trinitarian monotheistic religion that follows the teachings of Jesus Christ,
otherwise known as the Son of God, Jesus of Nazareth, and a myriad of other
names and titles. His life is described by the gospel books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and
John. Christians believe that Jesus died upon the cross for the sins of the
world.

Christianity’s
sacred text is known as the Holy Bible. Containing 66 books, each divided into
two Testaments (Old and New) the history described in them encompasses
thousands of years of human history.

While
there are many denominations throughout the galaxy the core belief or doctrine
of Christianity can be summed up as the following by Pastor David Aramatha
(Author’s note: all personal pronouns relating to Jesus are capitalized as the
pastor wrote them this way):

*In the beginning God the Father (All Christians believe God is three persons in one deity otherwise known as the Trinity) created the heavens and the Earth. After creating humans, man fell and was cursed by eating the forbidden fruit. God then cursed the two humans to live in sin all their days until death but promised that He would send a redeemer.*

*This redeemer, God the Son, came down to Earth and was incarnated as Jesus Christ in the womb of the Virgin Mary. When Jesus was in His early thirties He began His ministry on Earth, gathering a following and teaching the word of God. A few years later Jesus was captured by local religious authorities and crucified on a Roman cross. This act is known as the Crucifixion and is the moment when Jesus died for all our sins.*

*After His death, he was placed in a tomb for three days and on the third day He rose from the dead. This is known as the Resurrection. He then went around and taught his followers more before one day ascending into Heaven. This is known as the Ascension.*

*After this, God the Holy Spirit granted the followers of Jesus spiritual gifts and wisdom and understanding of what Jesus has taught them. They then went throughout the ancient world and taught the teachings of Jesus, known as the Gospel to us today. We also believe that one day Jesus will return to take His children home and remake the heavens and Earth.*

*We also believe that all 66 books of the Holy Bible are divinely inspired and is the infallible Word of God.*

## History

Founded
around 30 CE by Jesus of Nazareth, this religion quickly spread across the
Roman Empire and beyond the borders of the empire. Many became believers
quickly, forming churches everywhere.

Early
Christians were heavily persecuted by the Roman Empire and the Jewish priests
as well as others. Despite this or perhaps because of this Christianity spread
farther and wider. There are many other possible factors for the spread of Christianity
such as its message of peace and love for all.

After
hundreds of years Christianity, specifically Nicene Christianity which had been
formed decades earlier, became the official state religion of the Roman Empire
under Emperor Theodosius I. This lasted for two hundred or so years before the
first schism occurred between Rome and Constantinople.

Despite
this Christianity continued to spread. As time went on, the religion became
more and more structured and ordered, eventually forming the Roman Catholic
Church.

In
the 16th century what is now known as the Protestant Reformation
began when Martin Luther and Huldrych Zwingli began speaking out against the
state and the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church at that time, which both
proclaimed went against the Bible itself.

As a result, the Protestant
denominations of Christianity came into being, quickly spreading across a
Catholic Europe and surrounding areas.

At this time the Age of
Discovery was in full swing and the Americas as well as Australia and other
islands had been discovered. Many, like the Puritans, chose this opportunity to
flee their religious persecutors to the New World.

Of course, the Catholic Church
used this opportunity to spread their influence to the New World as well,
sending missions to convert many of the locals of the Americas.

A while later Christianity
experienced what is known as the First Great Awakening, a period of increased
religious activity particularly in the New England colonies. This period of
American Christian history, led by people like Jonathan Edwards, this awakening
focused on the churchgoers of the time. The sermons of many pastors of this
time made Christianity more personal and accessible to the average man than
ever before.

As American colonization spread,
so did Christianity. The religion went through two more Great Awakenings during
the pre-spaceflight era. By the early 21st century, Christianity was
the largest religion in the world with professing believers at nearly 2
billion.

When humans began spreading out
into the Sol System, many religions, Christianity included, followed. The first
off world church was founded in the Fort Jupiter colony and was and is still
known as the First United Church of Luna.

Many believers became some of
the first settlers on worlds like Luna and Mars, creating new churches and even
new denominations.

With the invention of the Warp Drive, some Christians sought out empty
worlds to colonize. They discovered a terrestrial moons that was perfect for
terraforming. After a few hundred years Zion had been
completely terraformed.

From this world and Earth,
Christianity spread far and wide throughout the galaxy. Christian colonists
settled many worlds.

During the 3000s a small group
of Catholic worlds petitioned to secede from the Confederacy and form the New
Holy Roman Empire. This caused a slight stir but not as much as was expected as
the worlds in question were not on any major trade routes. The petition almost
passed but after the votes were tallied it was discovered that the vote to stay
was higher.

In 4302 a cult called
Neoxia formed out of fanatical Christian beliefs. They lived on the outskirts of Confederacy space at the time. Believing that any
nonbelievers deserved death they launched attacks on many worlds they deemed
secular and worlds of different belief systems such as Neo-Norse planets,
Muslim planets, Buddhist planets etc. Other Christian worlds denounced the
Neoxians as not representing their faith properly.

After many terrorist attacks by
the Neoxians, tensions between Muslim, Neo-Norse, Christian and other religious worlds were at an
all-time high. However, in an attempt to make peace, the Valhalla Summit was called. A peace was formed between the major religions.

This angered the Neoxians who
began attacking Christian worlds as well. This lasted for five years until
there was a revolt on the homeworld of the Neoxians known as Neoxia. A new
leader rose to power and created massive reforms on the planet. The Neoxian
cult was disbanded as their founder proclaimed that he was invulnerable, but
his execution and look of fear on his face proved otherwise. Neoxia became one
of the friendliest worlds in the galaxy and still are to this day.

Christianity isn’t just limited
to humans now. Some missionaries have gone to worlds that have received first
contact and have preached their faith. While many reject the teachings of
Christianity some have come to believe. There are many among the Kya and some
among the Ehippolor. However, some Christians have attempted to send missions
to pre-contact worlds. Not many made it and even fewer survived a few days on
the planets.

Throughout the history of the
religion the number of professing members has gone up and down. At some points
it is the largest religion in the galaxy and other times not. Currently it is
the largest religion with around 8.2 trillion professing Christians in the
Confederacy at last census. There could be more as some Christian worlds are
pre-technological.