Christianity originated in the 1st century CE and is now the largest religion in the world, with over 2 billion believers. For Christians, Jesus is the Son of God and therefore God himself. His resurrection from the dead promises hope and forgiveness.

The life and deeds of Jesus are described in the New Testament. Christianity developed from Judaism, and the Old Testament also contains the sacred scriptures of Judaism. For theological and political reasons, many different branches and confessions developed within Christianity. The largest is the Catholic Church, from which the Protestants split in the 16th century.

Christian festivals commemorate events in the life of Jesus, symbolise the work of God and structure the course of the year. The most popular festival today is Christmas, which celebrates the birth of Christ with the giving of gifts.

The most important festival in the Christian church year is Easter. A forty-day period of fasting concludes with the celebration of Jesus’s death and resurrection. Christians honour Jesus’s death on the cross on Good Friday and celebrate his resurrection at Easter. Forty days later, his ascension into heaven is celebrated, and on Pentecost the sending out of the disciples to spread the ‘Good News’, which can be regarded as the ‘birth of the church’.