The Bible used by the various branches of Christianity consist of an Old Testament followed by a New Testament. The Old Testament is based on theTorah. The New Testament deals with the life and teachings of Jesus.
Christians believe Jesus to be the Messiah, and thus refer to him as Jesus Christ. Jesus was anointed as ruler and saviour not only of the Jewish people, but of all humankind. Most Christians believe that Jesus is true God and true man (or fully divine and fully human). Jesus is believed to have become fully human in all respects, including mortality, and to have suffered the pains and temptations of mortal man, yet never have sinned. Being God, he was capable of breaking the bonds of death and rising up again through what is known as the resurrection. Most Christians believe that salvation from "sin and death" is available through belief in the person and work of Jesus as savior.
Christian views of the afterlife generally involve heaven and hell. These realms are thought to be eternal, however, the word and its perfect equivelent "eternal" occurs only once in both the Old Testament and New Testament. Catholicism adds the transitory realm of purgatory whose denizens reside for a period of time before entering into heaven. There is, however, some debate on this point.
Traditional Catholic interpretation admits four senses of Scripture. The literal sense is the plain meaning (which would still take account of figures of speech), so that a reference to David means the historical figure. The allegorical or typological sense teaches Christian doctrine, so that a reference to David may mean Christ. The tropological or moral sense contains ethical teaching, and the anagogical or eschatological sense teaches about the Last Things. The meanings derived from the three non-literal senses may also be stated literally elsewhere.