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The Old Testament (also known as the Hebrew Bible) enshrines the history, poetry, prophecy and laws of the Jewish people, and was composed over at least a thousand-year period. The New Testament, by contrast, was written during the century following the death of Jesus. Christianity, however, became the religion of the Roman Empire, which may be held to have lasted until 1453 (with the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks). This section outlines aspects of Christian thought only up to Augustine, who wrote around the fall of the Western Empire (early fifth century CE), and selects significant attitudes to the land and to nature among Jews and Christians. While attitudes are again diverse, their diversity has a focus in the common belief of Jews and Christians in God, God’s creative purposes, and his message for humanity transmitted through both Judaism and Christianity. Many of the attitudes of Europe and its worldwide diaspora were strongly influenced by Judaism, Christianity and the Bible, of which some of the more significant strands are highlighted here.