Western Christianity consists of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church, a variety of Protestant denominations, and other groups originating in the Western world.

The term is used in contrast to Eastern Christianity. Western Christianity developed and came to predominate in most of Europe, Northern Africa, Southern Africa, and throughout Australia and the Western Hemisphere. When used of historical periods since the 16th century, 'Western Christianity' refers collectively to Roman Catholicism and Protestantism, especially to their shared theological approaches and perspectives (e.g., liturgically, doctrinally, historically and politically) rather than to their differences. Today, the geographical distinction between Western and Eastern Christianity is not nearly as absolute, especially after the spread of missionaries.

Features

Original sin

Although "original sin" can be taken to mean the sin that Adam committed, it is usually understood as a consequence of the first sin, the hereditary stain with which we are born on account of our origin or descent from Adam. With the exception of tendencies such as Pelagianism, Western Christianity is thought to hold this doctrine, which was championed especially by Saint Augustine, who wrote: "The deliberate sin of the first man is the cause of original sin" (De nupt. et concup., II, xxvi, 43).