Other denominations and churches which self-identify as Christian but which distance themselves from the above classifications include African indigenous churches, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (also called Mormons), and Jehovah's Witnesses. The early leaders of most of these groups were originally Protestant adherents.

There is huge diversity among Christians, but it is possible to identify some core concepts held in common. Jesus' life, especially his crucifixion and resurrection, is the basis of Christianity.

Christians identify Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah (in Greek Christos, hence Christ) who was promised in the Old Testament Bible prophecy.

Most Christians believe that Jesus is both fully God (divine) and fully human. Jesus is believed to be fully human in all respects, including mortality, to have suffered the pains and temptations of mortal man, yet without having sinned. As God, Jesus is believed to have the ability to save humanity and to conquer death. The Chalcedonian Creed (not accepted by the Oriental Orthodox Churches) defined this as Christ having "two natures in one person", a doctrine known to theologians as hypostatic union (see Christology).

Most Christians believe that God is one single eternal being who exists as three distinct, eternal, and indivisible persons: Father, Son (Jesus), and Holy Spirit (or Holy Ghost).

Christians believe that salvation from "sin and death" is available through the person and work of Jesus. Protestants, Catholics, and Orthodox Christians have arrived at several explanations as to exactly how this salvation occurs. (See soteriology.)

Most Christians interpret salvation to mean being able to enter heaven (and escape hell) after death, though some theologians have lamented this tendency. The question of "who is saved" has long been considered a dark mystery by many theologians, though most Protestants consider it a relatively simple issue of whether or not one has accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Christians believe that Jesus died on the Cross, rose from the dead, and ascended into Heaven after appearing to his disciples, most notably to the Apostles.

Christians believe in the "General Resurrection", in which all people who have ever lived will rise from the dead at the end of time, to be judged by Christ when He returns.

Christian views of the afterlife generally involve heaven and (somewhat less frequently) hell, with Catholicism adding an intermediate realm of purgatory. Except for purgatory (whose denizens will ultimately enter heaven, after "purification"), these realms are usually assumed to be eternal. There is, however, some debate on this point, for example among the Orthodox.

It is generally unclear how the afterlife fits together with the doctrine of the General Resurrection whether eternal life begins immediately after death, or at the end of time; and whether this afterlife will involve the resurrection of one's physical body (perhaps in a glorified spiritual form). Most Christians hold that one's consciousness, the soul, survives the death of the physical body, although the Jehovah's Witnesses, among others, reject this, saying that those who practiced good things will be resurrected to life, and those who practiced vile things to a resurrection of judgment.

One statement describing the beliefs of a majority of Christians is the Nicene Creed, ratified as the universal creed of Eastern and Western Christendom by the Council of Ephesus in 431. Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christians disagree about the Filioque clause, which the Western Churches included later. Some Protestants reject the concept of formal creeds. The overwhelming majority of Christians accepts at least the content of the Nicene creed.
Central Christian beliefs which are affirmed in the Nicene Creed include, but are not limited to:

Some groups, however, deviate from tenets which most others hold as absolutely basic to Christianity. On account of these deviations they are considered heretical or even non-Christian by many of the mainstream Christian groups. Most such disputes center on the Trinity, the divinity of Jesus, or both. The words of the Nicene Creed frequently target certain opposing beliefs of other early Christians, which the council regarded as heretical. Examples would include Adoptionist groups who denied Jesus' divinity, as well as Docetist groups who denied that Christ was a human being, and Arians, who denied that the Father and the Son were "of one being" (???s???). Other early heresies included Simonianism, Marcionism, Ebionitism, Gnosticism and Montanism. Again, while some churches take exception to some of these articles, to the extent that they do so, this usually represents a conscious departure from the Christian mainstream. Some Christian traditions, such as those of the Baptists and the Churches of Christ, would accept these beliefs but not the creed itself, since they regard all creeds as unnecessary and even counter-productive.

Authority and different parts of the Bible

Virtually all Christian churches accept the authority of the Bible, including the Old Testament and the New Testament. Differences exist in the canons of the Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant churches primarily their treatment of the Deuterocanonical books used by Catholic and Orthodox Churches but rejected by Protestants as Apocrypha. This issue affects doctrines only indirectly. More theologically significant is the Swedenborgian churches' rejection of the New Testament Epistles, a stance which has not won acceptance from any other denomination.

Whereas Jews see the Torah as the most important part of the Bible, most Christians regard as central the Gospels, which tell of the life and teachings of Jesus. Ornamental books of the four gospels are sometimes used in church liturgies. These may be carried into the church in procession, and laid upon the altar during the first part of the service. The "gospel" means the "good news" of the Christian message, which Christians regularly disseminate to others. This may include missionary work as well as the translation and distribution of Bibles, as practiced by Gideons International, Wycliffe Bible Translators, Jehovah's Witnesses and others.