12 Weird and Interesting Facts About Christianity That You Didn’t Know…

Over 70% of the population in America are Christians. 

With such a large number of Christians in the United States, you’d think most people would have a firm understanding of the faith and Christian history. 

But that’s not always true. 

We’ve put together a quick list of 12 weird and interesting facts about Christianity you’ve probably never heard before below. 

So let’s dive in! 

1. It’s the Largest World Religion 

There are over 2.3 billion Christians around the world. These Christians make up roughly 31% of the earth’s population, meaning almost a third of the world believes in the Christian faith. 

In fact, Christianity far outweighs any other religion on earth. Muslims make up the second biggest world religion, but compared with Christianity, it is a billion people behind. 

The Jewish religion, which Christianity stemmed from, is now one of the smallest religions in the world. Only 0.01% of the population hold the Jewish faith. 

While many countries still persecuted Christians, that doesn’t prevent it from being the biggest religion out there. 

2. Jesus Wasn’t Born on Christmas 

Most people, even people who aren’t Christians, know Christmas is a holiday where Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus. 

But Jesus wasn’t born on Christmas. In fact, he wasn’t even born in the year 1 A.D. 

Scholars aren’t sure exactly when Jesus was born, but most think it was sometime between 4 and 6 B.C. The exact month of his birth is a little harder to pinpoint. But again, scholars think it might have been Spring or even Autumn. 

The Roman Catholic Church picked the date December 25th because it ties to the winter solstice and a Roman and Roman festival called Saturnalia. The date has nothing to do with the actual time of year Jesus was born. In fact, most scholars agree Jesus was born any other time except for December.   

3. It Goes Back Thousands of Years Before Christ Was Born 

Okay, so Christianity itself wasn’t around before Jesus was born. But Judaism was. 

This means the entire Old Testament dates back thousands of years before Jesus’ time. And the Old Testament makes up over half of the Bible as we know it today. 

For example, the oldest Biblical manuscript ever found (so far) is called the Silver Scrolls. These are two small pieces of silver that have the verses Numbers 6:24-26 inscribed on them. 

The Silver Scrolls are dated to sometime in the late seventh or early sixth century B.C. That’s over 500 years before Jesus was born. 

Even though this discovery only contained a few verses, it shows there was more Biblical manuscripts around at the time it was created. 

4. The First Christians Were Jews

Wait, didn’t we just say the first Christians were around thousands of years before Jesus was even born?

We did, but remember, they weren’t called Christians back them. The word “Christian” is what the followers of Jesus started to call themselves after he died.

The roots of Christianity come from the Jewish faith. 

Jesus spent most of his time preaching to the Jewish churches.  Because of this, the very first people who chose to follow Jesus were Jews. Many of the first Christians were also gentiles, which is a word the Jews used to describe anyone who wasn’t Jewish. 

5. There Are Thousands of Different Denominations 

In fact, the Christian religion has over 33,830 different denominations in total. 

There are three main Christian denominations, and these are Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant. For the most part, every other denomination can be broadly split up into one of these three categories. 

Here’s how each denomination works. 

The Catholic church follows the Pope and, under him, other Catholic Bishops. The Orthodox church has multiple independent units run by Holy Synods. The Protestant branch encompasses a wide variety of denominations. Each of these denominations holds their own views and interpretations of the Bible. 

6. Judas Sold Jesus for Cheap Cash

Judas was one of Jesus’s 12 apostles. He ended up betraying Jesus to the religious authorities for 30 pieces of silver. 

That might sound like a lot, but let’s put it into perspective. 

Some scholars think the 30 pieces of silver was equal to one denarii. Roman soldiers were paid about 225 denarii every year. Other scholars believe the 30 pieces of silver were worth even less. 

Here’s another way to look at it. 

The highest amount of money those 30 pieces of silver would equal today would be roughly $3,000 (tops). At the lowest, the might be equal in value to $90. That’s less than many Americans make in a day at the office. 

7. There Are Seven Churches in Antarctica 

Again, that doesn’t sound like a lot. But think of it this way: there are only 4,000 people who live in the entirety of Antarctica. That number can drop down to just over 1,000 during the wintertime. 

Need a bit more perspective? 

L.A. is home to just under 4 million people. And that’s just one city in one state in America. 

Seven churches is starting to sound a little excessive now, isn’t it? 

8. Going to Church Is Physically Healthy 

One study found going to church can actually lower your blood pressure. The more often people attend Sunday church services, the more their blood pressure will continue to lower. 

In other words, attending a service at a place like New City Church isn’t just spiritually healthy, it can impact your physical health as well. 

9. Romans Called Early Christians Atheists

The beliefs of Christians and Atheists are, in the broadest sense of the word, complete opposites. 

But the Romans actually called early Christians atheists. 

Why?

Because early Christians refused to worship or pay tributes to their pagan gods. 

Even today, though Christians and Atheists sit on opposite ends of the table, there’s such a thing as Christian atheists. These people believe in the teachings of Christ, but they don’t believe these teachings were divinely inspired. 

Instead, they see Jesus as a good teacher, a philosopher, and a humanitarian.  

10. Chinese Churchgoers Beat out European Churchgoers 

Every Sunday, more people go to church in China than in the entirety of Europe. 

The number of Christians in China has been exploding in recent years. This leads to massive church services on Sunday where many churches are overcrowded.

Even during the time period when Christianity wasn’t permitted in China, Christians still found a way to worship and attend Church services. They just went underground instead.  

11. Gargoyles Were Invented to Remind People of Hell 

Many people in Medieval Europe didn’t know how to read. Because of this, they couldn’t just pick up a Bible and read it on their own. This means they had to go to church in order to hear and learn about Bible stories and Christian faith. 

But not everyone went to church on Sunday. 

The clergy decided to create a visual representation of Hell to scare people and make them seek out the sanctuary of the church. 

They called these visual representations gargoyles. 

Gargoyles were put up on the outside of the church buildings. This reminded people that evil existed outside the church, but salvation and sanctuary were inside the church. 

Many churches designed gargoyles to look like pagan creatures other people worshiped. This would bring those people into the church and expose them to the Christian faith. 

12. You Can Reduce the Time You Spend in Purgatory By Following the Pope on Twitter 

Many Roman Catholics believe there’s an intermediate state after death called purgatory. The souls of people go to purgatory before they can get into heaven to expiate their sins. 

It’s a place of suffering, and the Catholic church believes prayer from the living can help those people get through the process faster. 

But there’s another thing that can help as well. 

According to the Vatican, following the Pope on Twitter can reduce the amount of time you spend in purgatory. 

This allows people who can’t attend Catholic events in person to still receive an indulgence. 

The More You Know: Weird and Interesting Facts About Christianity

A lot of people know the term “Christian” or “Christianity,” but there are a lot of weird and interesting facts about Christianity that sometimes get forgotten. 

So the next time you go to a church service (remember, it’s good for your health!), you can surprise the people sitting next to you with this information. 

Speaking about how church lowers your blood pressure, you can also surprise the people sitting next to you with some weird information about blood! 

Click here to learn some weird blood facts that’ll definitely freak you out. 

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