Christianity originated in
1st-century Judea from a sect of
apocalyptic Jewish Christians within the realm of
Second Temple Judaism, and thus shares most of its beliefs about God, including his
omnipotence,
omniscience, his role as creator of all things, his personality,
immanence,
transcendence and ultimate unity, with the innovation that
Jesus of Nazareth is considered to be, in one way or another, the fulfillment of the ancient
biblical prophecies about the
Jewish Messiah, the
completion of the Law of the prophets of Israel, the
Son of God, and/or the
incarnation of God himself as a human being. Most
Christian denominations believe Jesus to be the incarnated Son of God, which is the main theological divergence with respect to the
exclusive monotheism of the other Abrahamic religions:
Judaism,
Samaritanism, the
Baháʼí Faith, and
Islam. Although personal
salvation is implicitly stated in Judaism, personal salvation by grace and a recurring emphasis in
orthodox theological beliefs is particularly emphasized in Christianity, In
mainstream Christianity, theology and beliefs about God are enshrined in the doctrine of
monotheistic Trinitarianism, which holds that the three persons of the trinity are distinct but all of the same indivisible essence, meaning that the Father is God, the Holy Spirit is God, and the Son is God, yet there is one God as there is one indivisible essence. These mainstream Christian doctrines were largely formulated at the
Council of Nicaea and are enshrined in the
Nicene Creed. The Trinitarian view emphasizes that
God has a will, and that
God the Son has two natures, divine and human, though these are never in conflict but joined in the
hypostatic union. With regard to Christianity,
religion scholars have differed on whether
Mormonism belongs with mainstream Christian tradition as a whole (i.e.,
Nicene Christianity), with some asserting that it amounts to a distinct Abrahamic religion in itself due to
noteworthy theological differences.
Rastafarianism, the heterogenous movement that originated in
Jamaica in the 1930s, is variously classified by religion scholars as either an international socio-religious movement, a distinct Abrahamic religion, or a
new religious movement.
Gnosticism deity found on a Gnostic gem in
Bernard de Montfaucon's ''L'antiquité expliquée et représentée en figures'', a depiction of
Yaldabaoth.
Gnosticism originated in the late 1st century CE in non-rabbinical
Jewish and
early Christian sects. In the
formation of Christianity, various
sectarian groups, labeled "gnostics" by their opponents, emphasised spiritual knowledge (
gnosis) of the divine spark within, over
faith (
pistis) in the teachings and traditions of the various communities of Christians. Gnosticism presents a distinction between the
highest, unknowable God, and the
Demiurge, "creator" of the material universe. The Gnostics considered the most
essential part of the process of
salvation to be this personal knowledge, in contrast to faith as an outlook in their
worldview along with faith in the
ecclesiastical authority. In Gnosticism, the
biblical serpent in the
Garden of Eden was praised and thanked for bringing knowledge (
gnosis) to Adam and Eve and thereby freeing them from the
malevolent Demiurge's control. Gnostic Christian doctrines rely on a
dualistic cosmology that implies the eternal conflict between good and evil, and a conception of the serpent as the
liberating savior and bestower of knowledge to humankind opposed to the Demiurge or
creator god, identified with the
Hebrew God of the
Old Testament. Gnostic Christians considered the Hebrew God of the Old Testament as the evil, false god and creator of the material universe, and the
Unknown God of the
Gospel, the father of
Jesus Christ and creator of the spiritual world, as the true, good God. In the
Archontic,
Sethian, and
Ophite systems,
Yaldabaoth (Yahweh) is regarded as the malevolent Demiurge and false god of the Old Testament who sinned by claiming divinity for himself and generated the material universe and keeps the souls trapped in physical bodies, imprisoned in the world full of pain and suffering that he
created. However, not all Gnostic movements regarded the creator of the material universe as inherently evil or malevolent. For instance,
Valentinians believed that the Demiurge is merely an ignorant and incompetent creator, trying to fashion the world as good as he can, but lacking the proper power to maintain its goodness. All Gnostics were regarded as
heretics by the
proto-orthodox Early Church Fathers.
Mormonism wrote that he had
seen two personages in the spring of 1820. In 1843, Smith stated that these personages,
God the Father and
Jesus Christ, had separate, tangible bodies. In the belief system held by the Christian churches that adhere to the
Latter Day Saint movement and most
Mormon denominations, including
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), the term
God refers to
Elohim (
God the Father), whereas
Godhead means a council of three distinct gods: Elohim (the Eternal Father),
Jehovah (
God the Son, Jesus Christ), and the
Holy Ghost, in a
Non-trinitarian conception of the Godhead. The Father and Son have perfected, material bodies, while the Holy Ghost is a spirit and does not have a body. This differs significantly from mainstream Christian Trinitarianism; in Mormonism, the three persons are considered to be physically separate beings, or personages, but united in will and purpose. As such, the term
Godhead differs from how it is used in mainstream Christianity. This description of God represents the
orthodoxy of the LDS Church, established early in the 19th century. Unitarian Christians affirm the
unitary nature of God as the singular and unique
creator of the universe, The birth of the Unitarian faith is proximate to the
Radical Reformation, beginning almost simultaneously among the Protestant
Polish Brethren in the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and in the
Principality of Transylvania in the mid-16th century; the first Unitarian Christian denomination known to have emerged during that time was the
Unitarian Church of Transylvania, founded by the Unitarian preacher and theologian
Ferenc Dávid ( – 1579). As is typical of
dissenters and
nonconformists, Unitarianism does not constitute one single
Christian denomination; rather, it refers to a collection of both existing and extinct Christian groups (whether historically related to each other or not) that share a common theological concept of the unitary nature of God. ==Islam==