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''Synopsis:'' The [[church]] is the body of believers of Jesus Christ and since it was formed after the resurrection of Jesus, major events and conflict, often over matters of [[doctrine]] have resulted in significant rifts in the church. Initially the early Christians spread the good news of Jesus throughout the Roman empire and small congregations of Christians sprang up in many towns. [[Rome ]] soon became the geographical centre of the church. However, there was a rift between the Church in Greece and the one in Rome that slowly developed over centuries culminating in a schism in 1054 AD. Later, in sixteenth century, Christians in northern Europe split from the Roman church, an event known as the [[Reformation]]. Today there seems to be a bewildering array of [[denominations]]. Some of the larger ones include [[Roman Catholicism]], the [[Greek ]] and Russian [[Eastern Orthodox|Orthodox]] churches and the wide variety of [[Protestant]] churches.

The history of the Christian church is full of times of struggle and renewal. In the early centuries, debates about the nature of [[God ]] caused great division. In the Middle Ages, people in Christian lands formed armies to "defend" the Holy Lands. In the mid second millenium, there was a renewal of awareness of the Bible spawning the Reformation. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, missionary activity has spread the [[gospel ]] around the world.

[[Acts 2]] tells the story of [[Pentecost]] where 3,000 Jews converted to Christianity on oen one day. Later in [[Acts 10]], the conversion of the [[Gentile]] Roman Centurion [[Cornelius]] and his family is told. Following the acceptance of Gentiles by the church, Christianity spread rapidly throughout the Roman Empire.

In AD 1054 the formal split (called the Great Schism) between the church of Rome (the Roman Catholic Church) and the eastern churches (the Greek and other Orthodox churches) occurred. A number of issues led to the split, where the Roman [[pope ]] excommunicated the Orthodox patriarch, and vice-versa. The main issue causing the split was opposing views to the question Did the [[Holy Spirit ]] proceed from the Father and the Son, or from the Father alone? Other issues included [[marriage ]] of bishops, the requirement of bishop to have beards, the correct time to observe [[Easter]], and the requirement of the bishop of Constantinople to recognize the pope as the highest authority.

Between the 11th and 13th centuries, Christian Europe was involved in a number of military campaigns against the Muslims [[Muslim]]s in the Holy Lands.

In the 16th century, the practice of buying indulgences for the [[forgiveness]] of sins [[sin]]s became prominent in the [[Roman Catholic Church]]. A number of prominent Christians questioned the teaching of [[purgatory]] and [[indulgences]], culminating in [[1517 AD]] with the German [[Martin Luther]] circulating his [[95 Theses]] disputing indulgences. This marked the start of the [[Reformation]] and the [[Protestantism|Protestant Church]]. The ideas in [[Germany]] were taken up in other northern [[Europe|European countries]], [[England]] and [[Switzerland]]. The Protestant Churches taught that the [[Bible]] had sole absolute authority, that every believer could come to [[God the Father]] through [[Christ]] without the need for a [[priest]], and that [[justification by faith|justification was through faith alone]].

The Roman Catholic response to The Protestant Reformation is known as The [[Counter Reformation]].

Christianity came to America with its European colonization. Where the Spanish and Portuguese invaded and settled in South and central America, Roman Catholicism became predominant. A mixture of local superstitions blended into Catholic teaching producing a unique South American style of Catholicism with the veneration of [[Mary (mother of Jesus)|Mary]] and saints [[saint]]s particularly noticeable today. In North America, the British brought the Anglican and Baptist churches. Other Protestant Christians journeyed to Northern Europe forming Lutheran and Mennonite Anabaptist congregations.