What Do Christians Believe?

'What Do We Believe?', a new series from Granta Books, introduces different beliefs from across the world in lively, accessible and intelligent short books.

'I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another' Jesus Christ Christianity began as a minor sect within Judaism and has become one of the major world religions. What started as a small group of people who shared the same language, lifestyle and background is now a movement which embraces many different languages and cultures, giving rise to an astonishing variety of practices and interpretations - yet all with a common basis of shared faith inspired by the teaching, life, death and new life of a carpenter from Nazareth. How did this happen? In this book, written for the reader looking for quick practical insights into the beliefs and practices of Christianity, Malcolm Guite offers a lucid summary and interpretation of the Christian faith. Jesus himself identified love as the essential element in both worship and daily life. Using this teaching, and the core Christian belief that Jesus was God's way of opening himself to humanity, Guite explains the inner meaning of such key Christian teachings as atonement, redemption and the concept of God as Trinity.