Just as there is no single unified Christian family, there exists no unified set of core doctrines by which all Christians agree. Many of the major disputes and breakaway sects have arisen because of the very argument of what constitutes core Christian beliefs.

However, by distilling down the various doctrinal (belief) differences between the major sects of Christianity, it is possible to consider the following list as the bare bones if you like, or the “core” of Christian belief.

1. God (also called ‘the Father’ by christians) is the creator of heaven (non physical world) and the universe (physical world);

2. God has always had a special relationship with humans over and above other lifeforms;

3. God chose the descendants of Abraham to be his “chosen people” amongst the human family and formed a new covenant with Moses and the Ten Commandments that he would bring them to a new land and that one day a Messiah would come to save the faithful and fulfill God’s promise;

4. The descendents of Moses, the Israelites were given many signs by God by which to verify the authenticity of the Messiah. These were included in the writings of the Israelites and form part of the Old Testament of the Holy Bible.

5. God so loved the world, that when the Messiah did come he gave us his son (through the power of the Holy Spirit) in human form as Jesus of Nazareth.

6. Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah (Jesus Christ) as prophecized. Yet the Jews did not believe this and he was handed to Pontius Pilate on a false charge, tortured and murdered through the barbaric method of crucifixion.

7. As the son of God, Jesus could have still saved himself from such a horrible death, but chose to die in such an unjust way to take on the suffering of the whole world and to remove the original sin of every human since Adam and Eve and the fall from God’s grace.

8. On the third day after his death, Jesus rose from the dead. Later he ascended into Heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father (God).

9. While God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit are separate they are united as one in what is called the Holy Trinity;

10. Jesus promised he would come again to judge the living and the dead.

11. The Bible is a record of the history of God’s chosen people and the word of God as translated from many different languages and written by his messengers over the millennia.

An example of most of these beliefs distilled into a succinct statement is to be found in the profession of faith or also called “the Apostles creed” as required by Catholics:

"I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting."

While the statement is close, many Christians deny the occurrence of a “Virgin Birth”, what is also called “Immaculate conception”.