Like Judaism and Islam, Christianity shares a long history with Jerusalem, a city that is considered the holiest in the world.

Jerusalem is important to Christians because it was where a very young Jesus impressed the sages at the Jewish Temple. It is also where he spent the last days of his ministry, and where the Last Supper, the Crucifixion, the Resurrection, and the Pentecost took place.

Within Jerusalem’s Old City, the surrounding areas, and throughout Israel, Christian denominations live alongside one another.

The history of these Christian communities goes back to the time of Jesus, his life and ministry in Nazareth, and following his death they gained momentum and grew.

The Christian communities can be divided into four basic denominations: Eastern Orthodox (or Chalcedonian-Orthodox), Non-Chalcedonian Orthodox (sometimes called Monophysite), Roman Catholic (Latin and Uiate), and Protestant.

The Protestant communities in the Middle East only date from the early 19th century and the establishment of Western diplomatic representations in Jerusalem.

The intention of these missions was to evangelize the Muslim and Jewish communities, but their only success was in attracting Arabic-speaking Orthodox Christians.

One of the these communities is the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem, that was founded in 1980 to demonstrate worldwide Christian support for Israel and for Jerusalem as its eternal capital.

It is a center where Christians from all over the world can gain a biblical understanding of the country and of Israel as a modern nation.

The ICEJs international network includes offices and representatives in 50 countries worldwide, such an Angola, Austria, Bolivia, Brazil, Denmark, Iceland and more.

*Courtesy of RLH