Beliefs, creeds and practices

History and foundational teachings

Begin with the development of Christian communities and with teachings commonly identified as foundational, while noting important differences among traditions.

• Christian history — an entry point to periods, movements and institutional development.
• Cardinal Protestant doctrines — beliefs prominent in many Protestant denominations, several of which are also affirmed more widely.
• Specific Christian beliefs — creeds, survey findings and teachings about subjects including atonement, salvation, sin, the afterlife and the virgin birth.

Doctrinal frameworks and change

Christian theology includes distinct systems for interpreting grace, freedom, authority and salvation. Teachings also develop as communities revisit scripture, tradition and social conditions.

• Systems of Christian belief, including Arminianism and Calvinism.
• How religious teachings become established and change, with historical discussion of slavery, women's roles and sexual orientation.
• Compromise and denominational division in disputes over the treatment and inclusion of gay and lesbian people.
• Hoaxes and Christian urban legends — stories that circulated as fact without adequate support.
• A collection of beliefs described as heretical in an external magazine survey, presented as an example of boundary-making within evangelical Christianity.

Contributed perspectives

• What matters most in life: identity or action? A reflection on responsibility and scapegoating.
• What evidence is sufficient to justify belief?
• How religious beliefs are represented in national conversations.

Practices and holy days

Practice can differ by denomination, region and period. These guides introduce rites, customs and calendar observances without treating one form as universal.

• Christian practices — including Eucharist, baptism, marriage, divorce, religious identity, speaking in tongues and symbols, as well as historical institutional support for slavery.
• Meanings and dates of Christian holy days, including Easter, All Saints' Day and Christmas.

Developments, cooperation and division

This part of the archive considers cultural portrayals, predictions, cooperation among churches, causes of division and public confidence in organized religion.

• The Da Vinci Code — context for the novel and the religious claims associated with it.
• Predictions about Christianity's future.
• Violence targeting Christians, discussed in historical and social context.
• Ecumenism and efforts toward Christian cooperation.
• Forces of schism and pressures toward institutional division.
• Christian Churches Together and cooperative work among churches.
• The 2009 Manhattan Declaration, retained as a dated archival topic.
• Confidence in organized religion.
• Dramatic and documentary films addressing religious, spiritual and cultural subjects, often from Christian perspectives.

Relics, artifacts and disputed claims

Claims about ancient objects require attention to provenance, dating, textual context and scholarly disagreement. These website pages frame questions rather than assuming authenticity.

• The Shroud of Turin and debate about whether it could be associated with the burial of Jesus.
• The “James” ossuary and questions surrounding its inscription and historical associations.
• The Jehoash inscription and debate over its relationship to the account in 2 Kings 12.

Archive guide reviewed 4 September 2026. Older source pages may retain historical dates because they document the period in which a debate or statement occurred.