My Science School

Special drugs called antibiotics are used to treat diseases caused by bacteria. Early antibiotics were made from moulds and fungi, but today they are produced artificially from chemicals. Antibiotics work by breaking down the cells of the bacteria. There is some concern that the continued use of antibiotics could create problems for the future because the bacteria are becoming resistant to the drugs.

Any substance that inhibits the growth and replication of a bacterium or kills it outright can be called an antibiotic. Antibiotics are a type of antimicrobial designed to target bacterial infections within (or on) the body. This makes antibiotics subtly different from the other main kinds of antimicrobials widely used today:

• Antiseptics are used to sterilise surfaces of living tissue when the risk of infection is high, such as during surgery.


• Disinfectants are non-selective antimicrobials, killing a wide range of micro-organisms including bacteria. They are used on non-living surfaces, for example in hospitals.

Of course, bacteria are not the only microbes that can be harmful to us. Fungi and viruses can also be a danger to humans, and they are targeted by antifungals and antivirals, respectively. Only substances that target bacteria are called antibiotics, while the name antimicrobial is an umbrella term for anything that inhibits or kills microbial cells including antibiotics, antifungals, antivirals and chemicals such as antiseptics.

Most antibiotics used today are produced in laboratories, but they are often based on compounds scientists have found in nature. Some microbes, for example, produce substances specifically to kill other nearby bacteria in order to gain an advantage when competing for food, water or other limited resources. However, some microbes only produce antibiotics in the laboratory.

Antibiotics are used to treat bacterial infections. Some are highly specialized and are only effective against certain bacteria. Others, known as broad-spectrum antibiotics, attack a wide range of bacteria, including ones that are beneficial to us.

There are two main ways in which antibiotics target bacteria. They either prevent the reproduction of bacteria, or they kill the bacteria, for example by stopping the mechanism responsible for building their cell walls.

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In very early times, people probably lived in caves, moving from one cave to another as they roamed around, hunting for food. It is thought that some of the first people to settle down in one place did so in what is now Palestine, around 13,000 years ago. The Natufians, as they are known, built circular huts made from mud, reeds and wood. They lived in these and used them to store grain.

Ice age humans lived in caves some of the time but they also made tents from mammoth skins. Mammoth bones were used as supports. They wore boots, trousers, and anoraks made from animal skins. When the ice age ended a new way of life began. By 8,000 BC people in the Middle East had begun to farm. Food was cooked in clay ovens. The people of Jericho knew how to make sun-dried bricks and they used them to make houses.

About 7,000 BC a new people lived in Jericho and they had learned to make mortar. They used it to plaster walls and floors. Catal Huyuk was one of the world's first towns. It was built in what is now Turkey about 6,500 BC not long after farming began. Catal Huyuk probably had a population of about 6,000. In Catal Huyuk the houses were made of mud brick. Houses were built touching against each other. They did not have doors and houses were entered through hatches in roofs. Presumably having entrances in the roofs was safer than having them in the walls. (Catal Huyuk was unusual among early towns as it was not surrounded by walls). Since houses were built touching each other the roofs must have acted as streets! People must have walked across them.

In Catal Huyuk there were no panes of glass in windows and houses did not have chimneys. Instead, there were only holes in the roofs to let out the smoke. Inside houses were plastered and often had painted murals of people and animals on the walls. People slept on platforms. In Catal Huyuk the dead were buried inside houses. (Although they may have been exposed outside to be eaten by vultures first).

By 4,000 BC farming had spread across Europe. When people began farming they stopped living in tents made from animal skins and they began to live in huts made from stone or wattle and daub with thatched roofs. Bronze Age people lived in round wooden huts with thatched roofs.

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Some people may be more at risk from disease than others. in many developing countries, people may be short of food or may not have access to clean water. In such circumstances, they are at risk from nutritional diseases such as scurvy and rickets, as well as those that thrive in areas with poor sanitation, such as cholera and hepatitis. In industrialized nations, the population may have an increased risk of cancer and heart disease, brought about by high-fat diets and unhealthy lifestyles.

Some groups of people appear to be at higher risk of more complicated or severe illness, including:

• Pregnant women;


• Infants and young children particularly under age 2;


• people of any age with certain chronic health conditions (including asthma or lung disease, heart disease, diabetes, kidney disease or some neurological conditions);


• People with severely compromised immune systems.

Currently, people age 65 or older are the least likely to be infected with the pandemic influenza, but those who do get sick are also at high risk of developing serious complications, just as they are from seasonal flu.

Who recommends that pregnant women, or others at higher risk of severe illness and their caregivers, be vaccinated against pandemic influenza and take all the necessary precautions, including hygiene measures, to prevent the spread of illness.

Vaccination against the pandemic influenza is prudent for everyone to reduce chances of infection.

Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) is spread primarily by contact with blood and blood products. Blood transfusions and the sharing of used needles and syringes have been the main causes of the spread of HCV in the United States. With the introduction in 1991 of routine blood screening for HCV antibody and improvements in the test in mid-1992, transfusion-related hepatitis C has virtually disappeared. At present, injection drug use is the most common risk factor for contracting the disease. However, there are patients who get hepatitis C without any known exposure to blood or to drug use.

Those individuals most at risk for hepatitis C infection are:

• People who had blood transfusions, blood products, or organ donations before June, 1992, when sensitive tests for HCV were introduced for blood screening.


• Health care workers who suffer needle-stick accidents.


• Injection drug users, including those who may have used drugs once many years ago.


• Infants born to HCV-infected mothers.


• Other groups who appear to be at slightly increased risk for hepatitis C are:


• People with high-risk sexual behavior, multiple partners, and sexually transmitted diseases.


• People who snort cocaine using shared equipment.


• People who have shared toothbrushes, razors and other personal items with a family member that is HCV-infected.

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People can he protected from certain diseases by being given a weakened version of the germ that causes a disease. This is called immunization. A successful immunization programme has completely eliminated the disease of smallpox. Immunization programmers are especially important for developing countries.

When you get sick, your body makes antibodies to fight the disease to help you get better. These antibodies stay in your body even after the disease is gone, and protect you from getting the same illness again. This is called immunity. However, you don’t have to get sick to develop immunity. You can gain immunity against disease through immunization.

Immunization (or vaccination) protects people from disease by introducing a vaccine into the body that triggers an immune response, just as though you had been exposed to a disease naturally. The vaccine contains the same antigens or parts of antigens that cause the disease, but the antigens in vaccines are either killed or greatly weakened. Vaccines work because they trick your body into thinking it is being attacked by the actual disease.

Immunity through immunization happens without the consequence of being ill and without the risk of potential life-threatening complications from the disease. Once a person is immunized, specific immune cells called memory cells prevent re-infection when they encounter that disease again in the future. However, not all vaccines provide lifelong immunity. Vaccines such as the tetanus vaccine require booster doses every ten years for adults to maintain immunity.

At any age, vaccination provides the longest-lasting, most effective protection against disease. Vaccine-preventable diseases can be serious, and in some cases can cause life-threatening complications that can lead to hospitalization. This is especially a concern for infants and young children, who are particularly more vulnerable. Having children vaccinated on time is important and helps ensure that they receive the protection they need as early as possible to fight off diseases before they are exposed to them.

Immunization is important not only in childhood, but in adulthood as well, to help promote healthy aging. This is because childhood immunization does not provide lifelong immunity against some diseases such as tetanus (lockjaw) and diphtheria. Adults require helper, or booster, shots to maintain immunity. Adult vaccinations may also be recommended to protect against disease common in adulthood such as shingles.

Adults who were not adequately immunized as children may be at risk of infection from other vaccine-preventable diseases. They can also infect others. For example, adults who become ill with measles, mumps or pertussis (whooping cough) can infect infants who may not yet be fully immunized.

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Modern medicine uses thousands of different types of drugs, which come from a variety of sources. They can be broadly divided into those that are derived from natural sources such as plants and herbs, and those that are produced artificially from chemicals. A recent development involves genetically engineering certain bacteria to produce a drug for a specific purpose.

Drug, any chemical substance that affects the functioning of living things and the organisms (such as bacteria, fungi, and viruses) that infect them. Pharmacology, the science of drugs, deals with all aspects of drugs in medicine, including their mechanism of action, physical and chemical properties, metabolism, therapeutics, and toxicity. This article focuses on the principles of drug action and includes an overview of the different types of drugs that are used in the treatment and prevention of human dieses. For a discussion of the nonmedical use of drugs, see drug use.

Until the mid-19th century the approach to drug therapeutics was entirely empirical. This thinking changed when the mechanism of drug action began to be analyzed in physiological terms and when some of the first chemical analyses of naturally occurring drugs were performed. The end of the 19th century signaled the growth of the pharmaceutical industry and the production of the first synthetic drugs. Chemical synthesis has become the most important source of therapeutic drugs. A number of therapeutic proteins, including certain antibodies, have been developed through genetic engineering.

Drugs produce harmful as well as beneficial effects, and decisions about when and how to use them therapeutically always involve the balancing of benefits and risks. Drugs approved for human use are divided into those available only with a prescription and those that can be bought freely over the counter. The availability of drugs for medical use is regulated by law.

Drug treatment is the most frequently used type of therapeutic intervention in medicine. Its power and versatility derive from the fact that the human body relies extensively on chemical communication systems to achieve integrated function between billions of separate cells. The body is therefore highly susceptible to the calculated chemical subversion of parts of this communication network that occurs when drugs are administered.

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Diseases are caused in many different ways. Infectious diseases are those that can he passed from person to person. They are usually caused by tiny organisms called viruses and bacteria. Influenza (flu) is a disease caused by a virus; typhoid and cholera are caused by bacterial infections. Certain diseases are passed on to children by their parents at conception. These are called hereditary diseases.

Infectious diseases are disorders caused by organisms — such as bacteria, viruses, fungi or parasites. Many organisms live in and on our bodies. They're normally harmless or even helpful. But under certain conditions, some organisms may cause disease.

Some infectious diseases can be passed from person to person. Some are transmitted by insects or other animals. And you may get others by consuming contaminated food or water or being exposed to organisms in the environment. Signs and symptoms vary depending on the organism causing the infection, but often include fever and fatigue. Mild infections may respond to rest and home remedies, while some life-threatening infections may need hospitalization.

Many infectious diseases, such as measles and chickenpox, can be prevented by vaccines. Frequent and thorough hand-washing also helps protect you from most infectious diseases. Each infectious disease has its own specific signs and symptoms. General signs and symptoms common to a number of infectious diseases include:

• Fever


• Diarrhea


• Fatigue


• Muscle aches


• Coughing

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Modern technology allows doctors and other medical specialists to make a more accurate diagnosis of a problem and to treat patients more effectively. Scanners can produce an x-ray or ultrasound image of the whole body, making it possible to identify problems and begin treatment at an early stage. This helps to increase the chance of the patient making a good recovery.

Technology is considered to be the driving force behind improvements in healthcare and, when you look at the rate of change and recent innovations, many find it hard not to agree with that observation. Graduates of health informatics will no doubt agree that technology is impacting many aspects of our lives as breakthroughs in data collection, research and treatments allow medical providers to use new tools and find fresh and innovative ways to practice medicine into the future.

A number of industry analysts have observed that increased accessibility of treatment is one of the most tangible ways that technology has changed healthcare. Health IT opens up many more avenues of exploration and research, which allows experts to make healthcare more driven and effective than it has ever been.

Another key area that has grown and continues to do so is patient care. The use of information technology has made patient care safer and more reliable in most applications. The fact that nurses and doctors who are working on the frontline are now routinely using hand-held computers to record important real-time patient data and then sharing it instantly within their updated medical history is an excellent illustration of the benefits of health IT.

Being able to accumulate lab results, records of vital signs and other critical patient data into one centralized area has transformed the level of care and efficiency a patient can expect to receive when they enter the healthcare system.

An increased level of efficiency in data collection means that a vast online resource of patient history is available to scientists, who are finding new ways to study trends and make medical breakthroughs at a faster rate.

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All human beings are likely to suffer from disease or illness at some point in their lives. Medicine is a science that attempts to identify, prevent and treat diseases that affect humans. Diseases are usually treated with drugs or surgery, although preventative treatments, such as vaccinating against diseases before they occur, are an important part of medical science today.

Medicine is the field of health and healing. It includes nurses, doctors, and various specialists. It covers diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease, medical research, and many other aspects of health. Medicine aims to promote and maintain health and wellbeing. Conventional modern medicine is sometimes called allopathic medicine. It involves the use of drugs or surgery, often supported by counseling and lifestyle measures. Alternative and complementary types of medicine include acupuncture, homeopathy, herbal medicine, art therapy, traditional Chinese medicine, and many more.

A clinician is a health worker who works directly with patients in a hospital or other healthcare setting. Nurses, doctors, psychotherapists, and other specialists are all clinicians. Not all medical specialists are clinicians. Researchers and laboratory workers are not clinicians because they do not work with patients.

The physician assesses the individual, with the aim of diagnosing, treating, and preventing disease using knowledge learned from training, research, and experiences, and clinical judgment. This area of science seeks ways to prevent and treat diseases that lead to illness or death.

Biomedical scientists use biotechnology techniques to study biological processes and diseases. They aim to develop successful treatments and cures. Biomedical research requires careful experimentation, development, and evaluation. It involves biologists, chemists, doctors, pharmacologists, and others. This field looks at drugs or medicines and how to use them.

Doctors and other health professionals use medications in the medical diagnosis, treatment, cure, and prevention of disease. Surgical procedures are necessary for diagnosing and treating some types of disease, malfomation, and injury. They use instrumental and manual means rather than medication.

A surgeon may carry out a surgical procedure to remove or replace diseased tissue or organs, or they may use surgery to remove tissue for biopsy. Sometimes, they remove unwanted tissue and then send it for diagnosis. Health professionals use a wide range of instruments to diagnose and treat a disease or other condition, to prevent a worsening of symptoms, to replace a damaged part — such as a hip or a knee — and so on. Medical devices range from test tubes to sophisticated scanning machines.

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The Sikh faith is a relatively new religion, which began in about 1500. Its founder, Guru Nanak, came from the Punjab region of Northern India. He and nine other “gurus” set out the basic beliefs of Sikhism in the Guru Granth Sahib — the religion’s sacred book. Sikhs believe that God is found in all things.

Sikhism (Sikkhi), pronounced, from Sikh, meaning a "disciple", "seeker," or "learner"), is a monotheistic religion that originated in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent around the end of the 15th century. It is one of the youngest of the major world religions and the world’s fifth largest organized religion, as well as being the world's ninth-largest overall religion. The fundamental beliefs of Sikhism, articulated in the sacred scripture Guru Granth Sahib, include faith and meditation on the name of the one creator, divine unity and equality of all humankind, engaging in selfless service, striving for justice for the benefit and prosperity of all and honest conduct and livelihood while living a householder's life. As of the early 21st century, there are c.?25 million Sikhs.

Sikhism is based on the spiritual teachings of Guru Nanak, the first Guru (1469–1539), and the nine Sikh gurus that succeeded him. The Tenth Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, named the Sikh scripture Guru Granth sahib as his successor, terminating the line of human Gurus and making the scripture the eternal, religious spiritual guide for Sikhs. Sikhism rejects claims that any particular religious tradition has a monopoly on Absolute Truth.

The Sikh scripture opens with Ik Onkar (?), its Mul Mantar and fundamental prayer about One Supreme Being (God). Sikhism emphasizes simran (meditation on the words of the Guru Granth Sahib), that can be expressed musically through Kirtan or internally through Nam Japo (repeat God's name) as a means to feel God's presence. It teaches followers to transform the “Five Thieves” (lust, rage, greed, attachment, and ego).  Guru Nanak taught that living an "active, creative, and practical life" of "truthfulness, fidelity, self-control and purity" is above the metaphysical truth, and that the ideal man is one who "establishes union with God, knows His Will, and carries out that Will". Guru Hargobind, the sixth Sikh Guru, established the political/temporal (Miri) and spiritual (Piri) realms to be mutually coexistent.

Sikhism evolved in times of religious persecution. Two of the Sikh gurus – Guru Arjun (1563–1605) and Guru Tegh Bahadur (1621–1675) – were tortured and executed by the Mughal rulers after they refused to convert to Islam. The persecution of Sikhs triggered the founding of the Khalsa as an order to protect the freedom of conscience and religion, with qualities of a "Sant-Sipahi" – a saint-soldier. The Khalsa was founded by the last Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh.

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Buddhism began in northern India about 2500 years ago. It was founded by an Indian prince called Siddhartha Gautama, who had become upset by the suffering of the world. After travelling and meditating for three years, he adopted the name Buddha, which means “Enlightened One”. Buddhists, like Hindus, believe in reincarnation and karma. The ultimate aim of all Buddhists is to achieve Nirvana — a state of absolute peace.

The evidence of the early texts suggests that he was born as Siddhartha Gautama in Lumbini and grew up in Kapilavasthu, a town in the plains region of the modern Nepal–India border, and that he spent his life in what is now modern Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Some hagiographic legends state that his father was a king named Suddhodana, his mother was Queen Maya, and he was born in Lumbini gardens. However, scholars such as Richard Gombrich consider this a dubious claim because a combination of evidence suggests he was born in the Shakyas community – one that later gave him the title Shakyamuni, and the Shakya community was governed by a small oligarchy or republic-like council where there were no ranks but where seniority mattered instead. Some of the stories about Buddha, his life, his teachings, and claims about the society he grew up in may have been invented and interpolated at a later time into the Buddhist texts.

According to the Buddhist sutras, Gautama was moved by the innate suffering of humanity and its endless repetition due to rebirth. He set out on a quest to end this repeated suffering. Early Buddhist canonical texts and early biographies of Gautama state that Gautama first studied under Vedic teachers, namely Alara Kalama (Sanskrit: Arada Kalama) and Uddaka Ramaputta (Sanskrit: Udraka Ramaputra), learning meditation and ancient philosophies, particularly the concept of "nothingness, emptiness" from the former, and "what is neither seen nor unseen" from the latter.

Finding these teachings to be insufficient to attain his goal, he turned to the practice of asceticism. This too fell short of attaining his goal, and then he turned to the practice of dhyana, meditation. He famously sat in meditation under a Ficus religiosa tree now called the Bodhi Tree in the town of Bodh Gaya in the Gangetic plains region of South Asia. He gained insight into the workings of karma and his former lives, and attained enlightenment, certainty about the Middle way (Skt. madhyam?-pratipad) as the right path of spiritual practice to end suffering (dukkha) from rebirths in Samsara. As a fully enlightened Buddha (Skt. samyaksa?buddha), he attracted followers and founded a Sangha (monastic order). Now, as the Buddha, he spent the rest of his life teaching the Dharma he had discovered, and died at the age of 80 in Kushinagar, India.

Buddha's teachings were propagated by his followers, which in the last centuries of the 1st millennium BCE became over 18 Buddhist sub-schools of thought, each with its own basket of texts containing different interpretations and authentic teachings of the Buddha; these over time evolved into many traditions of which the more well-known and widespread in the modern era are Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism.

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Hinduism is one of the world’s oldest religions. It began in India some 5000 years ago and developed gradually from various early beliefs in the region. Those who follow the Hindu religion worship many different gods, and there are lots of different Hindu sects. Most Hindus believe in reincarnation — that a person’s soul moves to another body after death. Those who lead good lives are reborn in a higher state; those who do not may return as an animal or insect.

It has complex roots, and involves a vast array of practices and a host of deities. Its plethora of forms and beliefs reflects the tremendous diversity of India, where most of its one billion followers reside. Hinduism is more than a religion. It is a culture, a way of life, and a code of behavior. This is reflected in a term Indians use to describe the Hindu religion: Santana Dharma, which means eternal faith, or the eternal way things are (truth).

The word Hinduism derives from a Persian term denoting the inhabitants of the land beyond the Indus, a river in present-day Pakistan. By the early nineteenth century the term had entered popular English usage to describe the predominant religious traditions of South Asia, and it is now used by Hindus themselves. Hindu beliefs and practices are enormously diverse, varying over time and among individuals, communities, and regional areas.

Unlike Buddhism, Jainism, or Sikhism, Hinduism has no historical founder. Its authority rests instead upon a large body of sacred texts that provide Hindus with rules governing rituals, worship, pilgrimage, and daily activities, among many other things. Although the oldest of these texts may date back four thousand years, the earliest surviving Hindu images and temples were created some two thousand years later.

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Mohammed was a 7th-century prophet who founded the religion of Islam. Islam’s followers — Moslems (or Muslims) — believe that many prophets, including Jesus Christ and Moses, have carried the word of one God, named Allah. For Moslems, Mohammed was the greatest prophet of them all. His word is revealed in the Koran — the sacred book of Islam.

Muhammad, known as the Messenger of God, founded Islam and revealed the Qur’an. Few men have had a greater impact on faith and world events than Muhammad, the prophet of Islam. Today, 1.6 billion Muslims around the world view him not only as the seal of the prophets, but as the perfect example of an honest, just, merciful, and compassionate human being. Viewed by followers of Islam as the “Living Qur’an,” his life is considered an example to be emulated by all.

But Muhammad was not just a religious leader; he was a politician and statesman who united the warring tribes of Arabia and organized a community around belief in the “oneness” of God. His impact on the region of Arabia was so profound that the time prior to his calling as “God’s messenger” is referred to as the Time of Ignorance.

Muhammad was born in 570 C.E. in the city of Mecca in Arabia. His early childhood was filled with tragedy. His father, Abdullah, was a trader who died before he was born. In accordance with local tradition, Muhammad’s mother gave over the infant Muhammad to the care of Halimah, a Bedouin wet-nurse, to be raised in the desert of Arabia until he was five years old. However, Halimah returned him to his mother when he was only two because her husband was afraid that Muhammad was possessed by an evil spirit.

More tragedy followed. When Muhammad was six, his mother, Aminah, died and left him in the care of his paternal grandfather, Abdul Muttalib. Two years later, his grandfather died and Muhammad was given into the care of his uncle, Abu Talib, who raised him and played a prominent role in his life.

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Judaism, the religion of the Jewish people, was the first to have only one god. Jews believe that Judaism began in the Middle East 4000 years ago when God’s word was revealed to Abraham, the father of the Jewish people. God told Abraham that the Jews would be his chosen people in return for obeying his laws and spreading his message. Throughout their history, Jewish people have suffered persecution in many parts of the world.

Judaism is one of the oldest monotheistic religions in the world, although some scholars have argued that the earliest Israelites (pre-7th century BCE) were monolatristic rather than monotheistic. God in later Judaism was strictly monotheistic, an absolute one, indivisible, and incomparable being who is the ultimate cause of all existence. The Babylonian Talmud references other, "foreign gods" as non-existent entities to whom humans mistakenly ascribe reality and power. One of the best-known statements of Rabbinical Judaism on monotheism is the Second of Maimonides':

God, the Cause of all, is one. This does not mean one as in one of a pair, nor one like a species (which encompasses many individuals), nor one as in an object that is made up of many elements, nor as a single simple object that is infinitely divisible. Rather, God is a unity unlike any other possible unity.

Some in Judaism and Islam reject the Christian idea of monotheism. Judaism uses the term shituf to refer to the worship of God in a manner which Judaism deems to be neither purely monotheistic (though still permissible for non-Jews) nor polytheistic (which would be prohibited).

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A religion is a set of beliefs that attempts to make sense of the things in life that are difficult to understand, such as why we are here. Human beings have always sought explanations about the world, and various religions have developed in order to provide some answers. Most religions are based around the teachings of one God or several gods — a supreme being who created the world and determines what happens in it. Religions have been an extremely powerful force in human history, inspiring art and culture and shaping countries and empires.

There are many definitions of religion.  It is not that easy to pin down exactly what religion is and then to insure that the definition distinguishes religion from magic and from cults and sects.  Many people offer definitions without much knowledge of the wide range of religious phenomena and the many different cultural manifestations of religion.  It is a rather common misconception to think that religion has to do with god, or gods and supernatural beings or a supernatural or spiritual dimension or greater reality.  None of that is absolutely necessary because there are religions that are without those elements. 

 In this millennium there are over 6.2 billion people on the planet earth.  Most of them would declare that they are religious in some way.  Rough estimates are made that place people in the various traditions.

This has implications. For one, it means that the term “organized religion” is redundant. We often hear people say they are critical of organized religion (as if disorganized religion would be any better). But if a religion is not ordered (organized) then it’s not really a religion at all, as it does not expect its practitioners to live according to any rule. Indeed, they can hardly be considered “practitioners” if there is nothing for them to practice. They are merely “believers” at that point; those whom we might call spiritual, but not religious.

I’ve often heard that phrase criticized as being code for, “I like to think of myself as a spiritual person, but don’t actually do anything about it.” Which may be true, as far as it goes. But that doesn’t mean it’s not an accurate description. Someone who is spiritual is aware of certain spiritual realities. They believe that there is more to this world than the material. But being spiritual alone doesn’t make any demands on us. It is when our spiritual beliefs motivate us to live in a certain way that spirituality becomes religious.

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Christianity is a religion that has one God. Its followers — Christians — believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God and that he lived to show people the way to eternal life with God through the forgive-ness of sins (wrongdoing). A key Christian belief is that Jesus was killed by his enemies and then rose from the dead to join God in heaven. Christianity is the world’s largest religion, with more followers than any other.

Christianity traces its beginning to the miraculous birth, adult ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, known as Jesus Christ. Over 2000 years ago in Palestine (today's Israel), Jesus was born into a humble Jewish family. His mother was a young peasant woman named Mary.

Christians believe that his father was the Holy Spirit of God, making Jesus both fully human and fully divine. His earliest followers came to believe that he was the Messiah, or messenger, sent by God to free God’s people from slavery, sin, and death. God sent his son Jesus in human form so that people would better understand God as a caring and loving parent.

Jesus lived and experienced the suffering of humans. Jesus healed the sick and told stories, or parables, and preached sermons that taught what God wanted people to do – to love God with all their hearts and love their neighbors as themselves. Jesus taught by example. By being loving and forgiving himself, Jesus taught others to be loving and forgiving - especially toward those who were considered outcasts in society. This is the central message and style of Jesus' teaching.

During his adult ministry, Jesus built up a loyal following, led by his twelve disciples. But Jesus also made enemies among the religious and political leaders of his time. In the end, these powerful leaders were so threatened by Jesus' growing following that the Roman governor sentenced Jesus to death and had him crucified. The third day after Jesus’ death, his followers found his tomb empty and discovered that he had been raised from the dead. Christians believe that the painful sacrifice of Jesus' life on the cross shows how much God loves God's people. Jesus paid with his life on Earth for the sins of the world.

Christians believe that in raising Jesus’ from the dead, God showed that Jesus’ message of love and forgiveness was more powerful than death, and that believing in Jesus and following the example of his life and his teaching would lead to eternal life after death. The resurrection (rising from the dead) is the sign of God’s salvation offered to all people. 

After his resurrection, Jesus Christ’s followers spread his message throughout the world, creating the Christian Church. Today there are about two billion Christians living all over the world.

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