| A | B |
|---|
| Messiah | a great leader the ancient Jews predicted would come to restore the greatness of Israel; Christians believe that this was Jesus |
| Bible | the holy book of Christianity |
| Old Testament | the first part of the Bible; it is largely the same as the Hebrew Bible |
| New Testament | the second part of the Bible; it is an account of the life and teachings of Jesus and of the early history of Christianity |
| Bethlehem | a small town where Jesus was born |
| crucifixion | a type of execution in which a person was nailed to a cross |
| Resurrection | Jesus’s rise from the dead three days after he was crucified |
| disciples | followers |
| Easter | a Christian holiday that celebrates the Resurrection |
| Christmas | a Christian holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus |
| miracle | an event that cannot normally be performed by a human, such as when Jesus fed a crowd with a few loaves of bread and a few fish |
| parables | stories that teach lessons about how people should live |
| Jesus’ message | Jesus taught people to love God and other people, even enemies and about salvation |
| salvation | the rescue of people from sin; Jesus taught that people who were saved from sin would enter God’s kingdom when they died |
| denomination | a group of people who hold mostly the same beliefs |
| Sermon on the Mount | a speech by Jesus in which he said that people who love God will be blessed |
| Apostles | twelve men whom Jesus chose to receive special teaching |
| Gospels | accounts of Jesus’s life and teachings; there are four in the New Testament by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John |
| Paul | a man who converted to Christianity and traveled widely to spread Christian teachings |
| Trinity | a central Christian belief that God is made up of three persons, God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit |
| persecution | the act of harassing or punishing, especially for religious beliefs; some Roman leaders arrested and killed Christians who refused to worship the gods of Rome |
| Pope | the bishop of Rome; now the head of the Roman Catholic Church |
| Constantine | a Roman emperor who became a Christian; this helped spread Christianity |
