Kurt Warner

Understanding Christianity starts with looking at the basics that connect Christians. Then you can compare the beliefs across the Christian church, the keys to worship, and read the Nicean creed, which is commonly used in Christian liturgy.A brief look at ChristianityChristianity encompasses a great number of beliefs about a great number of different subjects and the ideas that spring from those beliefs, resulting in endless specific convictions.

Sin is any deliberate action, attitude, or thought that goes against God. You may think of sin as an obvious act, such as murder, adultery, or theft. Although that's true, sin is also wrongdoing that's far subtler and even unnoticeable at times, such as pride, envy, or even worry. Sin includes both things you shouldn't have done, but did (sins of commission) and things you should've done, but didn't (sins of omission).

What is Easter? Easter is the single most important holy day of the Christian Church. It celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the central event in Christianity. To Christians, the resurrection backs up Jesus’ claim that he had the authority to die for the sins of the world and the power to come back to life again.

Good Friday — the Friday before Easter — marks the day on which Jesus Christ was crucified on the cross for the sins of the world. The term Good Friday might be a bit confusing if you associate good with happy. Good Friday isn’t a happy day, but its name is a reminder that humans can only be considered good because of what happened on that day.

Christians observe Palm Sunday on the Sunday before Easter, celebrating Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The reason they call it Palm Sunday stems from the fact that when Jesus rode a donkey into Jerusalem, a large crowd of people in the city spread out palm branches on the ground before him as a sign of his kingship.

Within the midst of the Easter season, Maundy Thursday — the Thursday before Easter — is one Christian holy day that many Christians and even many churches often overlook, yet it symbolizes a critically important truth of the Christian faith: Jesus as a suffering servant and the call for his followers to do the same.

On the Christian calendar, Lent is the 40-day period from Ash Wednesday to Easter. When it was first observed in the fourth century, its focus was on self-examination and self-denial in preparation for Easter, and Christians used fasting (abstaining from eating food) in the early years as a visible demonstration of this process.

Developed in the fourth century, the Nicean Creed (or the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, as Orthodox Christians call it) serves as the basic, non-negotiable statement on who exactly God is according to the Christian Church. This creed is a profession of faith among all parts of the Church and is often used in Christian liturgy.

You probably know that Christmas is celebrated on December 25. In the United States, families distribute gifts that Santa Claus left under the Christmas tree on Christmas morning. Many attend church services on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning, and later gather for Christmas dinner with extended family. Christmas is the observance of Jesus’ humble birth to a virgin in a stable in Bethlehem.