What do these words mean?

Alpha is a course many churches run to introduce the basics of Christianity. People usually share a meal, hear a short talk, then talk it over openly, and questions and doubts are welcome. It began in a London church in 1977 and is now run by many different Christian traditions around the world. Some cards in this game are based on what Alpha teaches.

The Christian teaching about how the broken relationship between people and God is put right and forgiven, through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

A series of famous blessings spoken by Jesus at the start of the Sermon on the Mount, such as 'Blessed are the poor in spirit' and 'Blessed are the peacemakers'. They describe the surprising character of God's kingdom.

'Charismatic' describes Christians who place particular emphasis on the Holy Spirit's gifts today, such as healing, speaking in tongues and prophecy. Some churches are strongly charismatic and others much less so.

Another course churches use to introduce Christianity. It works through one of the Gospels, Mark, and is generally seen as less charismatic than Alpha.

A major meeting of Christian church leaders in AD 325 in what is now Turkey, called to settle disagreements about who Jesus is. It produced an early form of what became the Nicene Creed, a classic statement of Christian belief that is still recited in many churches today.

Ancient Jewish manuscripts found between 1947 and 1956 in caves near the Dead Sea. They date from roughly the 3rd century BC to the 1st century AD and include some of the oldest surviving copies of books of the Hebrew Bible.

A movement within Protestant Christianity that emphasises the authority of the Bible, personal faith in Jesus, the importance of his death on the cross, and sharing the Christian message with others.

The four accounts of Jesus's life at the start of the New Testament, written by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

In Christian belief, the Holy Spirit is God's presence and power at work in the world and in people's lives. Christians see the Spirit as one of the three ways God is described: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

A major Jewish festival held each spring, remembering how God freed the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. In the Bible's story, God sent a final plague on Egypt, the death of the firstborn. The Israelites marked their doors with the blood of a lamb, and the plague 'passed over' their homes. Jewish families still mark it each year with a special meal. The Gospels place Jesus's last meal with his disciples around Passover, which is why Christians connect the festival with his death.

A festival held fifty days after Easter. Christians remember it as the day God poured out the Holy Spirit on Jesus's first followers, and often describe it as the birth of the Christian church.

Pentecostal churches are a Christian tradition that strongly emphasises the Holy Spirit's gifts, such as healing and speaking in tongues.

'Reformed' describes Christians in a tradition that grew out of the 16th-century Reformation, such as many Presbyterian churches. They are known for a strong focus on the Bible's teaching.

A group closely related to the Jewish people in Jesus's day. They accepted only the first five books of the Bible and worshipped on Mount Gerizim rather than in Jerusalem. There was deep tension between Jews and Samaritans, which is why Jesus's story of the 'Good Samaritan' was so striking.

The Christian belief that there is one God who exists as three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.