Christianity

Definition of Christianity

(noun) Monotheistic belief system based on the Old and New Testaments of the bible, particularly the teachings of Jesus Christ.

Example of Christianity

• Catholicism

Christianity Pronunciation

Pronunciation Usage Guide

Syllabification: chris·ti·an·i·ty

Audio Pronunciation

International Phonetic Alphabet

• American English – /ˌkrɪsʧiˈænɪti/
• British English – /krɪstɪˈanɪti/

Usage Notes

• Plural: Christianities
• A type of belief system and cosmogony.
• Also called Christian religion.
• A (noun) Christian follows Christianity and (noun) Christendom is the collective term for Christians currently and historically.

Additional Information

• Religion Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
• Word origin of “Christianity” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
• Beckford, James A., and N. J. Demerath, III, eds. 2007. The SAGE Handbook of the Sociology of Religion. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
• Clarke, Peter B., ed. 2009. The Oxford Handbook of the Sociology of Religion. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Francis, Leslie J., ed. 1999. Sociology, Theology and the Curriculum. London: Cassell.
• Stark, Rodney. 1996. The Rise of Christianity: A Sociologist Reconsiders History. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
• Turner, Bryan S., ed. 2010. The New Blackwell Companion to the Sociology of Religion. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
• Weber, Max. 1920. The Sociology of Religion. Boston: Beacon Press.
• Weber, Max. [1904] 1930. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. New York: Scribner.

Related Terms

• atheism
• belief system
• cosmology
• denomination
• doctrine
• ecclesia
• megachurch
• monotheism
• religion
• sect
• supernatural

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Works Consulted

Bruce, Steve, and Steven Yearley. 2006. The SAGE Dictionary of Sociology. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

Kimmel, Michael S., and Amy Aronson. 2012. Sociology Now. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Marsh, Ian, and Mike Keating, eds. 2006. Sociology: Making Sense of Society. 3rd ed. Harlow, England: Pearson Education.

Oxford University Press. (N.d.) Oxford Dictionaries. (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/).

Princeton University. 2010. WordNet. (https://wordnet.princeton.edu/).

Random House Webster’s College Dictionary. 1997. New York: Random House.

Scott, John, and Gordon Marshall. 2005. A Dictionary of Sociology. New York: Oxford University Press.

Turner, Bryan S., ed. 2006. The Cambridge Dictionary of Sociology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. (https://en.wikipedia.org/).

Cite the Definition of Christianity

ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “Christianity.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved September 29, 2023 (https://sociologydictionary.org/christianity/).

APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)

Christianity. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/christianity/

Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “Christianity.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed September 29, 2023. https://sociologydictionary.org/christianity/.

MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)

“Christianity.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 29 Sep. 2023. <https://sociologydictionary.org/christianity/>.