One of the significantly distinctive features of Christianity is its historical foundation. The Bible is the source of information about Christianity. It contains all types of "religious" writing, including historical narrative, poetry, prophecy, personal letters, public letters, theological treatise, etc. However, it is the historical narratives that are most prominent and that provide the framework for the religion. This narrative paints one continuous theme from beginning to end. Being historical, it can also be subjected to independent analysis, at least with respect to the physical or worldly aspects of the narratives.

The Bible was written down by about 40 different authors. It contains 66 separate writings (often called "books"). The span of writing covers approximately 1,500 years, from about 1400 BC to about 100 AD. From an archeological perspective there are over 25,000 existing pieces of ancient biblical material (pre 1000 AD), including several full sets of the old and new testaments. The Oldest new testament fragment is dated about 250 BC, about 170 years after it was written. The oldest old testament copies are dated around 100 AD. The bible has the most numerous and closest (in age) documentary evidence of any ancient literature.

Though copied by hand and undertaken in a decentralised and uncontrolled fashion, there is very little variation between the many copies. There is some of course, but none is theologically significant, ie does not change the central message, or any of the associated ones for that matter.

There are four major events in the Bible that form the core issues in its Salvation History. First there is Creation, when God created all that there is and declared it to be good. There was no evil, no suffering, no death, no deprivation.

Secondly, there is the Fall, when humankind rebelled against the sovereign authority of God seeking to be its own god. The consequence of this was that humankind was banished into its own realm where it could be its own god. But of course it was unable to do so and the consequence of God's absence was the arrival of evil, suffering, death and deprivation.

Thirdly, there is the Promise. This is were God intervenes to begin the action to resolve the situation. God intends to restore His creation, remove evil and bring humankind back under His sovereign rule. But not in an aggressive militaristic way. Rather it is God's desire that people return to Him willingly and he is providing the way to do it. How this all works is the subject of another essay and won't be explained here. What God does here is call a man, Abraham who lived in Ur, a place in present day Iraq but in about 2000 BC, to receive four key promises. To make him into a nation, to give him a land, to make him famous and through him to bless the whole world.

Fourthly, there is the Gospel. This is the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ covering about 30 years to about 25 AD. The Gospel resolves all the barriers to the reconciliation between God and humankind and is offered to all to be received individually. God invites each person to turn back to Him on the basis of the work of Jesus, freely and without strings attached. (But it is a return back to Him, not just a ticket for relief from suffering and death.) To understand how this all works, please refer to other essays.

There is one final major event to occur. It is the end of the world and the return of Jesus Christ.

The Bible covers off the Creation and Fall in the first 11 chapters of the first book of the Bible, Genesis. The rest of it, another 40 chapters of Genesis and 65 books deals the Promise and its fulfillment in the Gospel. Very broadly then, Christianity is about the problem humankind faces and the solution to that problem and in a word it is about Reconciliation between God and humankind. It paints one consistent message throughout its 1500 years of writing, 66 different articles and 40 different authors.

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