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Christian denomination

May 20, 2023

"Branches of Christianity" redirects here. For the view that the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church includes different Christian denominations, see Branch theory.

A Christian denomination is a distinct religious body within Christianity that comprises all church congregations of the same kind, identifiable by traits such as a name, particular history, organization, leadership, theological doctrine, worship style and, sometimes, a founder. It is a secular and neutral term, generally used to denote any established Christian church. Unlike a cult or sect, a denomination is usually seen as part of the Christian religious mainstream. Most Christian denominations refer to themselves as churches, whereas some newer ones tend to interchangeably use the terms churches, assemblies, fellowships, etc. Divisions between one group and another are defined by authority and doctrine; issues such as the nature of Jesus, the authority of apostolic succession, biblical hermeneutics, theology, ecclesiology, eschatology, and papal primacy may separate one denomination from another. Groups of denominations—often sharing broadly similar beliefs, practices, and historical ties—are sometimes known as "branches of Christianity". These branches differ in many ways, especially through differences in practices and belief.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]

Individual denominations vary widely in the degree to which they recognize one another. Several groups say they are the direct and sole authentic successor of the church founded by Jesus Christ in the 1st century AD. Others, however, believe in denominationalism, where some or all Christian groups are legitimate churches of the same religion regardless of their distinguishing labels, beliefs, and practices. Because of this concept, some Christian bodies reject the term "denomination" to describe themselves, to avoid implying equivalence with other churches or denominations.

The Catholic Church, which has over 1.3 billion members or 50.1% of all Christians worldwide,[8][9] does not view itself as a denomination, but as the original pre-denominational Church,[10] a view rejected by other Christians. Protestant denominations altogether have an estimated 800 million to 1 billion adherents, which account for approximately 37 to 40 percent of all Christians worldwide.[8][11] Together, Roman Catholicism and Protestantism (with major traditions including Adventism, Anabaptism, Anglicanism, Baptists, Irvingianism, Lutheranism, Methodism, Moravianism, Pentecostalism, Plymouth Brethren, Quakerism, Reformed, and Waldensianism) compose Western Christianity.[12][13] Western Christian denominations prevail in Western, Northern, Central and Southern Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Americas, and Oceania.[14]

The Eastern Orthodox Church, with an estimated 230 million adherents,[15][11][16] is the second-largest Christian body in the world and also considers itself the original pre-denominational Church. Orthodox Christians, 80% of whom are Eastern Orthodox and 20% Oriental Orthodox, make up about 11.9% of the global Christian population.[15] The Eastern Orthodox Church is itself a communion of fully independent autocephalous churches (or "jurisdictions") that recognize each other, for the most part. Similarly, the Catholic Church is a communion of sui iuris churches, including 23 Eastern ones. The Eastern Orthodox Church, together with the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches, the Oriental Orthodox communion, the Assyrian Church of the East, and the Ancient Church of the East constitute Eastern Christianity. There are Protestant Eastern Christians that have adopted Protestant theology but have cultural and historical ties with other Eastern Christians. Eastern Christian denominations are represented mostly in Eastern Europe, North Asia, the Middle East, Northeast Africa, and India (especially South India).

Christians have various doctrines about the Church (the body of the faithful that they believe Jesus Christ established) and about how the divine church corresponds to Christian denominations. The Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Church of the East denominations, each hold that only their own specific organization faithfully represents the one holy catholic and apostolic Church, to the exclusion of all others. Sixteenth-century Protestants separated from the Catholic Church as a result of the Reformation; a movement against Roman Catholic doctrines and practices which the Reformers perceived to be in violation of the Bible.[17][18][19] Generally, members of the various denominations acknowledge each other as Christians, at least to the extent that they have mutually recognized baptisms and acknowledge historically orthodox views including the divinity of Jesus and doctrines of sin and salvation, even though doctrinal and ecclesiological obstacles hinder full communion between churches.

Restorationism emerged after the Second Great Awakening and collectively affirms belief in a Great Apostasy, thus promoting a belief in restoring what they see as primitive Christianity.[20] It includes Mormonism, Christadelphians, Jehovah's Witnesses, among others, although beliefs between these religions differ greatly.[21]

Since the reforms surrounding the Second Vatican Council of 1962–1965, the Roman Catholic Church has referred to Protestant Churches as ecclesial communities, while reserving the term "church" for apostolic churches, including the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches, as well as the Ancient and Assyrian Churches of the East (see subsistit in and branch theory). But some non-denominational Christians do not follow any particular branch,[22] though they sometimes are regarded as Protestants.[23][24][25][26]

Terminology

See also: Christian Church § Related concepts

Each group uses different terminology to discuss their beliefs. This section will discuss the definitions of several terms used throughout the article, before discussing the beliefs themselves in detail in following sections.

A denomination within Christianity can be defined as a "recognized autonomous branch of the Christian Church"; major synonyms include "religious group, sect, Church," etc.[Note 1][27] "Church" as a synonym, refers to a "particular Christian organization with its own clergy, buildings, and distinctive doctrines";[28] "church" can also more broadly be defined as the entire body of Christians, the "Christian Church".

Some traditional and evangelical Protestants draw a distinction between membership in the universal church and fellowship within the local church. Becoming a believer in Christ makes one a member of the universal church; one then may join a fellowship of other local believers.[29] Some evangelical groups describe themselves as interdenominational fellowships, partnering with local churches to strengthen evangelical efforts, usually targeting a particular group with specialized needs, such as students or ethnic groups.[30] A related concept is denominationalism, the belief that some or all Christian groups are legitimate churches of the same religion regardless of their distinguishing labels, beliefs, and practices.[31] (Conversely, "denominationalism" can also refer to "emphasizing of denominational differences to the point of being narrowly exclusive", similar to sectarianism.)[32]

The views of Protestant leaders differ greatly from those of the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, the two largest Christian denominations. Each church makes mutually exclusive statements for itself to be the direct continuation of the church founded by Jesus Christ, from whom other denominations later broke away.[10] These churches, and a few others, reject denominationalism.

Historically, Catholics would label members of certain Christian churches (also certain non-Christian religions) by the names of their founders, either actual or purported. Such supposed founders were referred to as heresiarchs. This was done even when the party thus labeled viewed itself as belonging to the one true church. This allowed the Catholic party to say that the other church was founded by the founder, while the Catholic church was founded by Christ. This was done intentionally in order to "produce the appearance of the fragmentation within Christianity"[33] – a problem which the Catholic side would then attempt to remedy on its own terms.

Although Catholics reject branch theory, Pope Benedict XVI and Pope John Paul II used the "two lungs" concept to relate Catholicism with Eastern Orthodoxy.[34]

Major branches

Worldwide Christians by denomination as of 2011[35]

  Catholic (50.1%)
  Protestant (36.7%)
  Orthodox (11.9%)
  Other (1.3%)

Christianity can be taxonomically divided into six main groups: the Church of the East, Oriental Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, and Restorationism.[20][36] Protestantism includes many groups which do not share any ecclesiastical governance and have widely diverging beliefs and practices.[12] Major Protestant denominations include Adventism, Anabaptism, Anglicanism, Baptists, Irvingianism, Lutheranism, Methodism, Moravianism, Quakerism, Pentecostalism, Plymouth Brethren, Reformed Christianity, and Waldensianism.[12][13] Reformed Christianity itself includes the Continental Reformed, Presbyterian, Evangelical Anglican, Congregationalist, and Reformed Baptist traditions.[37] Anabaptist Christianity itself includes the Amish, Apostolic, Bruderhof, Hutterite, Mennonite, River Brethren, and Schwarzenau Brethren traditions.[38]

Christianity has denominational families (or movements) and also has individual denominations (or communions). The difference between a denomination and a denominational family is sometimes unclear to outsiders. Some denominational families can be considered major branches. Groups that are members of a branch, while sharing historical ties and similar doctrines, are not necessarily in communion with one another.

There were some movements considered heresies by the early Church which do not exist today and are not generally referred to as denominations. Examples include the Gnostics (who had believed in an esoteric dualism called gnosis), the Ebionites (who denied the divinity of Jesus), and the Arians (who subordinated the Son to the Father by denying the pre-existence of Christ, thus placing Jesus as a created being), Bogumilism and Bosnian Church. The greatest divisions in Christianity today, however, are between the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox, Roman Catholics, and the various denominations formed during and after the Protestant Reformation.[39][40][41] There also exists a number of non-Trinitarian groups.

Denominationalism

Denominationalism is the belief that some or all Christian groups are legitimate churches of the same religion regardless of their distinguishing labels, beliefs, and practices.[31] The idea was first articulated by Independents within the Puritan movement. They argued that differences among Christians were inevitable, but that separation based on these differences was not necessarily schism. Christians are obligated to practice their beliefs rather than remain within a church with which they disagree, but they must also recognize their imperfect knowledge and not condemn other Christians as apostate over unimportant matters.[42]

Some Christians view denominationalism as a regrettable fact. As of 2011, divisions are becoming less sharp, and there is increasing cooperation between denominations, which is known as ecumenism. Many denominations participate in the World Council of Churches.[43]

Taxonomy

 
Major denominational families in Christianity:
This box:
Schism (1552)
(16th century)
(11th century)
(Not shown are non-Nicene, nontrinitarian, and some restorationist denominations.)

Historical schisms and divisions

Christianity has not been a monolithic faith since the first century or Apostolic Age, though they were largely in communion with each other. Today there exist a large variety of groups that share a common history and tradition within and without mainstream Christianity. Christianity is the largest religion in the world (making up approximately one-third of the population) and the various divisions have commonalities and differences in tradition, theology, church government, doctrine, and language.

The largest schism or division in many classification schemes is between the families of Eastern and Western Christianity. After these two larger families come distinct branches of Christianity. Most classification schemes list three (in order of size: Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, and Orthodox Christianity), with Orthodox Christianity being divided into Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and the Church of the East, which was originally referred to as Nestorianism but in modern times is embodied by the Assyrian and Ancient Churches of the East.[44][45] Protestantism includes diverse groups such as Adventists, Anabaptists, Anglicans, Baptists, Congregationalists, Methodists (inclusive of the Holiness movement), Moravians, Pentecostals, Presbyterians, Reformed,[44][12][13] and Unitarians (depending on one's classification scheme) are all a part of the same family but have distinct doctrinal variations within each group—Lutherans see themselves not to be a part of the rest of what they call "Reformed Protestantism" due to radical differences in sacramental theology and historical approach to the Reformation itself (both Reformed and Lutherans see their reformation in the sixteenth century to be a 'reforming' of the Catholic Church, not a rejection of it entirely). From these come denominations, which in the West, have independence from the others in their doctrine.

The Catholic Church, due to their hierarchical structures, are not said to be made up of denominations, rather, they include kinds of regional councils and individual congregations and church bodies, which do not officially differ from one another in doctrine.

Antiquity

See also: Proto-orthodox Christianity

The initial differences between the East and West traditions stem from socio-cultural and ethno-linguistic divisions in and between the Western Roman and Byzantine empires. Since the West (that is, Western Europe) spoke Latin as its lingua franca and the East (Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and northern Africa) largely used Aramaic and Koine Greek to transmit writings, theological developments were difficult to translate from one branch to the other. In the course of ecumenical councils (large gatherings of Christian leaders), some church bodies split from the larger family of Christianity. Many earlier heretical groups either died off for lack of followers or suppression by the early proto-orthodox Church at large (such as Apollinarians, Montanists, and Ebionites).

Following the Council of Chalcedon in 451, the next large split came with the Syriac and Coptic churches dividing themselves, with the some churches becoming today's Oriental Orthodox. The Armenian Apostolic Church, whose representatives were not able to attend the council did not accept new dogmas and now is also seen as an Oriental Orthodox church. In modern times, there have also been moves towards healing this split, with common Christological statements being made between Pope John Paul II and Syriac Patriarch Ignatius Zakka I Iwas, as well as between representatives of both Eastern and Oriental Orthodoxy.

There has been a statement that the Chalcedonian Creed restored Nestorianism, however this is refuted by maintaining the following distinctions associated with the person of Christ: two hypostases, two natures (Nestorian); one hypostasis, one nature (Monophysite); one hypostasis, two natures (Eastern Orthodox/Catholic).[46]

Middle Ages

Main article: East-West Schism

In Western Christianity, there were a handful of geographically isolated movements that preceded the spirit of the Protestant Reformation. The Cathars were a very strong movement in medieval southwestern France, but did not survive into modern times. In northern Italy and southeastern France, Peter Waldo founded the Waldensians in the 12th century. This movement has largely been absorbed by modern-day Protestant groups. In Bohemia, a movement in the early 15th century by Jan Hus called the Hussites defied Catholic dogma and still exists to this day (alternately known as the Moravian Church).

Although the church as a whole did not experience any major divisions for centuries afterward, the Eastern and Western groups drifted until the point where patriarchs from both families excommunicated one another in about 1054 in what is known as the Great Schism. The political and theological reasons for the schism are complex, but one major controversy was the inclusion and acceptance in the West of the filioque clause into the Nicene Creed, which the East viewed as erroneous. Another was the definition of papal primacy.

Both West and East agreed that the Patriarch of Rome was owed a "primacy of honour" by the other patriarchs (those of Alexandria, Antioch, Constantinople and Jerusalem), but the West also contended that this primacy extended to jurisdiction, a position rejected by the Eastern patriarchs. Various attempts at dialogue between the two groups would occur, but it was only in the 1960s, under Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras, that significant steps began to be made to mend the relationship between the two.

 
Door of the Schlosskirche (castle church) in Wittenberg to which Luther is said to have nailed his 95 Theses on 31st October 1517, sparking the Reformation

Protestant Reformation (16th century)

Main article: Protestant Reformation

The Protestant Reformation began with the posting of Martin Luther's Ninety-Five Theses in Saxony on October 31, 1517, written as a set of grievances to reform the pre-Reformation Western Church. Luther's writings, combined with the work of Swiss theologian Huldrych Zwingli and French theologian and politician John Calvin sought to reform existing problems in doctrine and practice. Due to the reactions of ecclesiastical office holders at the time of the reformers, these reformers separated from the Catholic Church, instigating a rift in Western Christianity.

In England, Henry VIII of England declared himself to be supreme head of the Church of England with the Act of Supremacy in 1531, founding the Church of England, repressing both Lutheran reformers and those loyal to the pope. Thomas Cranmer as Archbishop of Canterbury introduced the Reformation, in a form compromising between the Calvinists and Lutherans.

Old and Liberal Catholic Churches (19th–20th centuries)

The Old Catholic Church split from the Catholic Church in the 1870s because of the promulgation of the dogma of papal infallibility as promoted by the First Vatican Council of 1869–1870. The term 'Old Catholic' was first used in 1853 to describe the members of the See of Utrecht that were not under Papal authority. The Old Catholic movement grew in America but has not maintained ties with Utrecht, although talks are under way between independent Old Catholic bishops and Utrecht.

The Liberal Catholic Church started in 1916 via an Old Catholic bishop in London, bishop Matthew, who consecrated bishop James Wedgwood to the Episcopacy. This stream has in its relatively short existence known many splits, which operate worldwide under several names.

Eastern Christianity

In the Eastern world, the largest body of believers in modern times is the Eastern Orthodox Church, sometimes imprecisely called "Greek Orthodox" because from the time of Christ through the Byzantine empire, Greek was its common language. However, the term "Greek Orthodox" actually refers to only one portion of the entire Eastern Orthodox Church. The Eastern Orthodox Church believes itself to be the continuation of the original Christian Church established by Jesus Christ, and the Apostles. The Orthodox and Catholics have been separated since the 11th century, following the East–West Schism, with each of them saying they represent the original pre-schism Church.

The Eastern Orthodox consider themselves to be spiritually one body, which is administratively grouped into several autocephalous jurisdictions (also commonly referred to as "churches", despite being parts of one Church). They do not recognize any single bishop as universal church leader, but rather each bishop governs only his own diocese. The Patriarch of Constantinople is known as the Ecumenical Patriarch, and holds the title "first among equals", meaning only that if a great council is called, the patriarch sits as president of the council. He has no more power than any other bishop. Currently, the largest synod with the most members is the Russian Orthodox Church. Others include the ancient Patriarchates of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem, the Georgian, Romanian, Serbian and Bulgarian Orthodox churches, and several smaller ones.

 
A 6th-century Nestorian church, St. John the Arab, in the Assyrian village of Geramon

The second largest Eastern Christian communion is Oriental Orthodoxy, which is organized in a similar manner, with six national autocephalous groups and two autonomous bodies, although there are greater internal differences than among the Eastern Orthodox (especially in the diversity of rites being used). The six autocephalous Oriental Orthodox churches are the Coptic (Egyptian), Syriac, Armenian, Malankara (Indian), Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox churches. In the Aramaic-speaking areas of the Middle East, the Syriac Orthodox Church has long been dominant. Although the region of modern-day Ethiopia and Eritrea has had a strong body of believers since the infancy of Christianity, these regions only gained autocephaly in 1963 and 1994 respectively. The Oriental Orthodox are distinguished from the Eastern Orthodox by doctrinal differences concerning the union of human and divine natures in the person of Jesus Christ, and the two communions separated as a consequence of the Council of Chalcedon in the year 451, although there have been recent moves towards reconciliation. Since these groups are relatively obscure in the West, literature on them has sometimes included the Church of the East, which, like the Oriental Orthodox, originated in the 1st century A.D., but has not been in communion with them since before the Council of Ephesus of 431.

Largely aniconic, the Church of the East represents a third Eastern Christian tradition in its own right. In recent centuries, it has split into three Churches. The largest (since the early 20th century) is the Baghdad-based Chaldean Catholic Church formed from groups that entered communion with Rome at different times, beginning in 1552. The second-largest is what since 1976[47] is officially called the Assyrian Church of the East and which from 1933 to 2015 was headquartered first in Cyprus and then in the United States, but whose present Catholicos-Patriarch, Gewargis III, elected in 2015, lives in Erbil, Iraq. The third is the Ancient Church of the East, distinct since 1964 and headed by Addai II Giwargis, resident in Baghdad.

There are also the Eastern Catholic Churches, most of which are counterparts of those listed above, sharing with them the same theological and liturgical traditions, but differing from them in that they recognize the Bishop of Rome as the universal head of the Church. They are fully part of the Catholic communion, on the same level juridically as the Latin Church. Most of their members do not describe themselves as "Roman Catholics", a term they associate with membership of the Latin Church, and speak of themselves in relation to whichever Church they belong to: Maronites, Melkites, Ukrainian Catholics, Coptic Catholics, Chaldean Catholics, etc.[48]

And finally the smallest Eastern Christian group founded in early 20th century is Byzantine Rite Lutheranism where accept Byzantine Rite as Church's liturgy while retaining their Lutheran traditions like Ukrainian Lutheran Church. It is considered part of Eastern Protestant denominational movement.

Western Christianity

The Latin portion of the Catholic Church, along with Protestantism, comprise the three major divisions of Christianity in the Western world. Catholics do not describe themselves as a denomination but rather as the original Church; which all other branches broke off from in schism. The Baptist, Methodist, and Lutheran churches are generally considered to be Protestant denominations, although strictly speaking, of these three, only the Lutherans took part in the official Protestation at Speyer after the decree of the Second Diet of Speyer mandated the burning of Luther's works and the end of the Protestant Reformation. Anglicanism is generally classified as Protestant,[12][13][49] being originally seen as a via media, or middle way between Lutheranism and Reformed Christianity, and since the Oxford Movement of the 19th century, some Anglican writers of Anglo-Catholic churchmanship emphasize a more catholic understanding of the church and characterize it as being both Protestant and Catholic.[50] A case is sometimes also made to regard Lutheranism in a similar way, considering the catholic character of its foundational documents (the Augsburg Confession and other documents contained in the Book of Concord) and its existence prior to the Anglican, Anabaptist, and Reformed churches, from which nearly all other Protestant denominations derive.[51]

One central tenet of Catholicism (which is a common point between Catholic, Scandinavian Lutheran, Anglican, Moravian, Orthodox, and some other Churches), is its practice of apostolic succession. "Apostle" means "one who is sent out". Jesus commissioned the first twelve apostles, and they, in turn laid hands on subsequent church leaders to ordain (commission) them for ministry. In this manner, Catholics and Anglicans trace their ordained ministers all the way back to the original Twelve.

Catholics believe that the Pope has authority which can be traced directly to the apostle Peter whom they hold to be the original head of and first Pope of the Church. There are smaller churches, such as the Old Catholic Church which rejected the definition of Papal Infallibility at the First Vatican Council, as well as Evangelical Catholics and Anglo-Catholics, who are Lutherans and Anglicans that believe that Lutheranism and Anglicanism, respectively, are a continuation of historical Catholicism and who incorporate many Catholic beliefs and practices.[51] The Catholic Church refers to itself simply by the terms Catholic and Catholicism (which mean universal).

Sometimes, Catholics, based on a strict interpretation of extra ecclesiam nulla salus ("Outside the Church, there is no salvation"), rejected any notion those outside its communion could be regarded as part of any true Catholic Christian faith, an attitude rejected by the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965).[52] Catholicism has a hierarchical structure in which supreme authority for matters of faith and practice are the exclusive domain of the Pope, who sits on the Throne of Peter, and the bishops when acting in union with him.

Each Protestant movement has developed freely, and many have split over theological issues. For instance, a number of movements grew out of spiritual revivals, such as Pentecostalism. Doctrinal issues and matters of conscience have also divided Protestants. Still others formed out of administrative issues; Methodism branched off as its own group of denominations when the American Revolutionary War complicated the movement's ability to ordain ministers (it had begun as a movement within the Church of England). In Methodism's case, it has undergone a number of administrative schisms and mergers with other denominations (especially those associated with the holiness movement in the 20th century).

The Anabaptist tradition, made up of the Amish, Hutterites, and Mennonites, rejected the Roman Catholic and Lutheran doctrines of infant baptism; this tradition is also noted for its belief in pacifism. Many Anabaptists do not see themselves as Protestant, but a separate tradition altogether.[53][54]

Some denominations which arose alongside the Western Christian tradition consider themselves Christian, but neither Catholic nor wholly Protestant, such as the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). Quakerism began as an evangelical Christian movement in 17th century England, eschewing priests and all formal Anglican or Catholic sacraments in their worship, including many of those practices that remained among the stridently Protestant Puritans such as baptism with water. They were known in America for helping with the Underground Railroad, and like the Mennonites, Quakers traditionally refrain from participation in war.

Many churches with roots in Restorationism reject being identified as Protestant or even as a denomination at all, as they use only the Bible and not creeds, and model the church after what they feel is the first-century church found in scripture; the Churches of Christ are one example; African Initiated Churches, like Kimbanguism, mostly fall within Protestantism, with varying degrees of syncretism. The measure of mutual acceptance between the denominations and movements varies, but is growing largely due to the ecumenical movement in the 20th century and overarching Christian bodies such as the World Council of Churches.

Christians with Jewish roots

Main articles: Jewish Christian, Messianic Judaism, and Hebrew Christian movement

Messianic Jews maintain a Jewish identity while accepting Jesus as the Messiah and the New Testament as authoritative. After the founding of the church, the disciples of Jesus generally retained their ethnic origins while accepting the Gospel message. The first church council was called in Jerusalem to address just this issue, and the deciding opinion was written by James the Just, the first bishop of Jerusalem and a pivotal figure in the Christian movement. The history of Messianic Judaism includes many movements and groups and defies any simple classification scheme.

The 19th century saw at least 250,000 Jews convert to Christianity according to existing records of various societies.[55] Data from the Pew Research Center has it that, as of 2013, about 1.6 million adult American Jews identify themselves as Christians, most as Protestants.[56][57][58] According to the same data, most of the Jews who identify themselves as some sort of Christian (1.6 million) were raised as Jews or are Jews by ancestry.[57]

Modern history

Unitarianism

Further information: Biblical Unitarianism

Within Italy, Poland, Lithuania, Transylvania, Hungary and Romania Unitarian Churches emerged from the Reformed tradition in the 16th century.[59][60] They adopted the Anabaptist doctrine of credobaptism.[61] The Unitarian Church of Transylvania is an example of such a denomination that arose in this era and is represented in the Protestant Theological Institute of Cluj. Due to their rejection of the Athanasian Creed which contains the doctrine of the Trinity, many mainstream Christian Churches do not recognize Unitarians as Christians.[62]

Restorationism

Second Great Awakening

Main articles: Second Great Awakening, Restorationism, and Restoration Movement

The Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement began on the American frontier during the Second Great Awakening (1790–1870) of the early 19th century. The movement sought to restore the church and "the unification of all Christians in a single body patterned after the church of the New Testament."[63]: 54  Members do not identify as Protestant but simply as Christian.[64][65][66]: 213 

The Restoration Movement developed from several independent efforts to return to apostolic Christianity, but two groups, which independently developed similar approaches to the Christian faith, were particularly important.[67]: 27–32  The first, led by Barton W. Stone, began at Cane Ridge, Kentucky and called themselves simply as "Christians". The second began in western Pennsylvania and Virginia (now West Virginia) and was led by Thomas Campbell and his son, Alexander Campbell; they used the name "Disciples of Christ". Both groups sought to restore the whole Christian church on the pattern set forth in the New Testament, and both believed that creeds kept Christianity divided. In 1832 they joined in fellowship with a handshake.

Among other things, they were united in the belief that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; that Christians should celebrate the Lord's Supper on the first day of each week; and that baptism of adult believers by immersion in water is a necessary condition for salvation. Because the founders wanted to abandon all denominational labels, they used the biblical names for the followers of Jesus.[68]: 27  Both groups promoted a return to the purposes of the 1st-century churches as described in the New Testament. One historian of the movement has argued that it was primarily a unity movement, with the restoration motif playing a subordinate role.[69]: 8 

The Restoration Movement has since divided into multiple separate groups. There are three main branches in the US: the Churches of Christ, the Christian churches and churches of Christ, and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Other U.S.-based groups affiliated with the movement are the International Churches of Christ and the International Christian Churches. Non-U.S. groups include the Churches of Christ in Australia, the Evangelical Christian Church in Canada, the Churches of Christ in Europe. The Plymouth Brethren are a similar though historically unrelated group which originated in the United Kingdom. Some churches, such as Churches of Christ or the Plymouth Brethren reject formal ties with other churches within the movement.

Other Christian groups originating during the Second Great Awakening including the Adventist movement,[70] the Jehovah's Witnesses,[71] and Christian Science,[72] founded within fifty years of one another, all consider themselves to be restorative of primitive Christianity and the early church. Some Baptist churches with Landmarkist views have similar beliefs concerning their connection with primitive Christianity.[73]

Latter Day Saint movement

Main articles: Latter Day Saint movement and Mormonism
See also: List of denominations in the Latter Day Saint movement and Mormonism and Christianity

Most Latter Day Saint denominations are derived from the Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints) established by Joseph Smith in 1830, which is categorized as a Restorationist denomination.[21] The largest worldwide denomination is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, colloquially referred to as Mormonism. Various considerably smaller sects broke from this movement after its relocation to the Rocky Mountains in the mid-1800s. Several of these broke away over the abandonment of practicing plural marriage after the 1890 Manifesto. Most of the "Prairie Saint" denominations (see below) were established after Smith's death by the remnants of the Latter Day Saints who did not go west with Brigham Young. Many of these opposed some of the 1840s theological developments in favor of 1830s theological understandings and practices. Other denominations are defined by either a belief in Joseph Smith as a prophet or acceptance of the Book of Mormon as scripture. Mormons generally consider themselves to be restorationist, believing that Smith, as prophet, seer, and revelator, restored the original and true Church of Christ to the earth. Some Latter Day Saint denominations are regarded by other Christians as being nontrinitarian or even non-Christian, but the Latter Day Saints are predominantly in disagreement with these statements. Latter Day Saints see themselves as believing in a Godhead comprising the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost as separate personages united in purpose. Latter Day Saints regard traditional definitions of the Trinity as aberrations of true doctrine and emblematic of the Great Apostasy[74] but they do not accept certain trinitarian definitions in the post-apostolic creeds, such as the Athanasian Creed.

Spiritual Christianity

Spiritual Christianity, inclusive of the Molokans and Doukhobors emerged in Russia, each containing a unique tradition.[75] The Doukhobor have maintained close association with Mennonite Anabaptist Christians and Quaker Christians due to analogous religious practices; all of these groups are furthermore collectively considered to be peace churches due to their belief in pacifism.[76][77][78]

Other movements

Protestant denominations have shown a strong tendency towards diversification and fragmentation, giving rise to numerous churches and movements, especially in Anglo-American religious history, where the process is cast in terms of a series of "Great Awakenings".

The most recent wave of diversification, known as the Fourth Great Awakening took place during the 1960s to 1980s and resulted in phenomena such as the Charismatic Movement, the Jesus movement, and a number of parachurch organizations based in Evangelicalism.

Many independent churches and movements consider themselves to be non-denominational, but may vary greatly in doctrine. Many of these, like the local churches movement, reflect the core teachings of traditional Christianity. Others however, such as The Way International, have been denounced as cults by the Christian anti-cult movement. Further, others may have similar doctrine to mainline churches but incorporate a multi-faith and ecumenical model such as the Interfaith-Ecumenical Church (IEC) that is based entirely in a virtual and international model.

Two movements, which are entirely unrelated in their founding, but share a common element of an additional Messiah (or incarnation of Christ) are the Unification Church and the Rastafari movement. These movements fall outside of traditional taxonomies of Christian groups, though both cite the Christian Bible as a basis for their beliefs.

Syncretism of Christian beliefs with local and tribal religions is a phenomenon that occurs throughout the world. An example of this is the Native American Church. The ceremonies of this group are strongly tied to the use of peyote. (Parallels may be drawn here with the Rastafari spiritual use of cannabis.) While traditions vary from tribe to tribe, they often include a belief in Jesus as a Native American cultural hero, an intercessor for man, or a spiritual guardian; belief in the Bible; and an association of Jesus with peyote.

There are also some Christians that reject organized religion altogether. Some Christian anarchists—often those of a Protestant background—believe that the original teachings of Jesus were corrupted by Roman statism (compare Early Christianity and State church of the Roman Empire), and that earthly authority such as government, or indeed the established Church, do not and should not have power over them. Following "The Golden Rule", many oppose the use of physical force in any circumstance, and advocate nonviolence. The Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy wrote The Kingdom of God Is Within You,[79] and was a Christian anarchist.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The Oxford Dictionary's full list of synonyms for "denomination" includes: "religious group, sect, Church, cult, movement, faith community, body, persuasion, religious persuasion, communion, order, fraternity, brotherhood, sisterhood, school; faith, creed, belief, religious belief, religion. rare: sodality."

References

  1. ^ Ellwood, Robert S. (2008). The Encyclopedia of World Religions. Infobase Publishing. p. 115. ISBN 978-1-4381-1038-7.
  2. ^ Press, Altamira; Swatos, William H. (1998). Encyclopedia of Religion and Society. Rowman Altamira. pp. 134–136. ISBN 978-0-7619-8956-1.
  3. ^ Becchio, Bruno; Schadé, Johannes P. (2006). Encyclopedia of World Religions. Foreign Media Group. p. 32. ISBN 978-1-60136-000-7.
  4. ^ Richey, Russell E. (2013). Denominationalism Illustrated and Explained. Wipf and Stock Publishers. pp. 1–9. ISBN 978-1-61097-297-0.
  5. ^ Publishing, Rose (2013). Denominations Comparison. Rose Publishing Inc. ISBN 978-1-59636-539-1.
  6. ^ Rhodes, Ron (2015). The Complete Guide to Christian Denominations: Understanding the History, Beliefs, and Differences. Harvest House Publishers. pp. 13–22. ISBN 978-0-7369-5292-7.
  7. ^ Wootten, Pat (2002). "Divisions and denominations". Christianity. Heinemann. ISBN 978-0-435-33634-9.
  8. ^ a b (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-08-05. Retrieved 2014-05-14.
  9. ^ "Pubblicazione dell'Annuario Pontificio e dell'Annuario Statistico della Chiesa, 25.03.2020" (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. 25 March 2020. from the original on 12 May 2020. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  10. ^ a b Olson, Roger E. (1999). The story of Christian theology : twenty centuries of tradition & reform. Internet Archive. Downers Grove, Ill. : InterVarsity Press. p. 278. ISBN 978-0-8308-1505-0.
  11. ^ a b "Status of Global Christianity, 2019, in the Context of 1900–2050" (PDF). Center for Study of Global Christianity.
  12. ^ a b c d e Encyclopedia of World Religions. Encyclopædia Britannica. 2008. ISBN 978-1-59339-491-2. Amid all this diversity, however, it is possible to define Protestantism formally as non-Roman Western Christianity and to divide most of Protestantism into four major confessions or confessional families – Lutheran, Anglican, Reformed, and Free Church.
  13. ^ a b c d Melton, J. Gordon (2005). Encyclopedia of Protestantism. Infobase Publishing. ISBN 978-0-8160-6983-5. Most narrowly, it denotes a movement that began within the Roman Catholic Church in Europe in the 16th century and the churches that come directly out of it. In this narrow sense, Protestantism would include the Lutheran, Reformed or Presbyterian, and Anglican (Church of England) churches, and by extension the churches of the British Puritan movement, which sought to bring the Church of England into the Reformed/Presbyterian camp. Most recently, scholars have argued quite effectively that the churches of the radical phase of the 16th-century Reformation, the Anabaptist and Mennonite groups, also belong within this more narrow usage.
  14. ^ "Western Christianity". www.philtar.ac.uk. Retrieved 2020-05-23.
  15. ^ a b "Orthodox Christianity in the 21st Century". Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project. 8 November 2017.
  16. ^ Fairchild, Mary. . about.com. Archived from the original on 5 June 2016. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
  17. ^ Harvard Divinity School, THE RELIGIOUS LITERACY PROJECT. "The Protestant Movement". rlp.hds.harvard.edu.
  18. ^ "What Is Protestantism & Why Is it Important?". Christianity.com.
  19. ^ "The Reformation". HISTORY.
  20. ^ a b Riswold, Caryn D. (1 October 2009). Feminism and Christianity: Questions and Answers in the Third Wave. Wipf and Stock Publishers. ISBN 978-1-62189-053-9.
  21. ^ a b . Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance. 2012. Archived from the original on 11 May 2008. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  22. ^ . Hartford Institute for Religion Research. Hartford Seminary, Hartford Institute for Religion Research. 2015. Archived from the original on 2016-04-23. Retrieved 2016-05-09.
  23. ^ Shellnutt, Kate. "The Rise of the Nons: Protestants Keep Ditching Denominations". News & Reporting. Retrieved 2020-05-23.
  24. ^ "What Are Non-Denominational Churches? Meaning & Examples". Christianity.com. Retrieved 2020-05-23.
  25. ^ says, An Ethnographical Study of Saint Francis United Methodist Church-NCSU Studies in Religion (2017-08-08). "What Does the Growth of Nondenominationalism Mean?". Facts & Trends. Retrieved 2020-05-23.
  26. ^ "Gallup: Non-denominational Protestants on the rise". Baptist Press. 21 July 2017. Retrieved 2020-05-23.
  27. ^ . Oxford Dictionaries: English. Archived from the original on February 23, 2013. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  28. ^ . Oxford Dictionaries:English. Archived from the original on November 17, 2013. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  29. ^ Gilbert, T. B. "Church Membership and Church Fellowship. Is there a difference?". Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  30. ^ Hill, Alec (1 July 2003). . Intervarsity Christian Fellowship. Archived from the original on 2015-06-01. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  31. ^ a b Jackson, Wayne. "Denominationalism – Permissible or Reprehensible?". Christian Courier. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
  32. ^ "Denominationalism". Merriam Webster Dictionary. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  33. ^ Buell, Denise Kimber (1999-04-04). Making Christians: Clement of Alexandria and the Rhetoric of Legitimacy. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-05980-8.
  34. ^ Modern culture runs risk of amnesia 2019-04-11 at the Wayback Machine, from a speech given May 20th, 2010
  35. ^ Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures Project (December 2011). Global Christianity: A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World's Christian Population (PDF) (Report). Pew Research Center. p. 10. (PDF) from the original on February 1, 2021. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
  36. ^ Mitchell, Lynn (8 December 2010). "Christian Denominations by Dr". Dialogue Society. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  37. ^ The New Encyclopaedia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica. 1987. p. 244. ISBN 978-0-85229-443-7.
  38. ^ Brewer, Brian C. (30 December 2021). T&T Clark Handbook of Anabaptism. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 564. ISBN 978-0-567-68950-4.
  39. ^ Welle (www.dw.com), Deutsche. "The main differences between Catholics and Protestants | DW | 21.04.2019". DW.COM. Retrieved 2020-05-23.
  40. ^ "What Are the Differences Between Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Anyway?". National Catholic Register. Retrieved 2020-05-23.
  41. ^ . www.svots.edu. Archived from the original on 2018-11-14. Retrieved 2020-05-23.
  42. ^ Guenther, Bruce. . Fresno Pacific Biblical Seminary; first published in Fall/Winter 2008 edition of In Touch Magazine. For reprint permission contact the Director of Public Relations at 1-800-251-6227. Archived from the original on 2015-03-10.
  43. ^ . www.oikoumene.org. Archived from the original on 2019-03-31. Retrieved 2020-05-23.
  44. ^ a b McAuliffe, Garrett (2008). Culturally Alert Counseling: A Comprehensive Introduction. SAGE Publishing. p. 532. ISBN 978-1-4129-1006-4. About one-third of the world's population is considered Christian and can be divided into three main branches: (1) Roman Catholicism (the largest coherent group, representing over one billion baptized members); (2) Orthodox Christianity (including Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy); and (3) Protestantism (comprising many denominations and schools of thought, including Anglicanism, Reformed, Presbyterianism, Lutheranism, Methodism, Evangelicalism, and Pentecostalism).
  45. ^ Mirola, William; Monahan, Susanne C. (2016). Religion Matters: What Sociology Teaches Us About Religion In Our World. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-34451-3. Orthodox Churches represent one of te three major branches of Christianity, along with Roman Catholicism and Protestantism.
  46. ^ "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Monophysites and Monophysitism". www.newadvent.org. Retrieved 2023-05-10.
  47. ^ Baum, Wilhelm; Winkler, Dietmar W. (8 December 2003). Wilhelm Baum, Dietmar W. Winkler (editors), The Church of the East: A Concise History (Routledge 2003), p. 4. ISBN 9781134430192. from the original on 2022-12-20. Retrieved 2018-10-19.
  48. ^ "Robert Spencer, "We are Non-Roman Catholics" in Crisis Magazine, 22 November 2011". 22 November 2011. from the original on 20 July 2016. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  49. ^ Hanciles, Jehu J. (2019). The Oxford History of Protestant Dissenting Traditions, Volume IV: The Twentieth Century: Traditions in a Global Context. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-251821-7. The designation Protestant includes Lutherans and Anglicans, although some Anglicans do not like the word. Methodism arrived in Asia both from Britain and via America, but with distinct traditions. Both owed a debt to Moravian Lutheranism, as did the Protestant missionary movement generally. Evangelicals have long included many Anglicans, and by 1967 Anglican evangelicalism was defining the movement in Britain.
  50. ^ Anglican and Episcopal History. Historical Society of the Episcopal Church. 2003. p. 15. Others had made similar observations, Patrick McGrath commenting that the Church of England was not a middle way between Roman Catholic and Protestant, but "between different forms of Protestantism," and William Monter describing the Church of England as "a unique style of Protestantism, a via media between the Reformed and Lutheran traditions." MacCulloch has described Cranmer as seeking a middle way between Zurich and Wittenberg but elsewhere remarks that the Church of England was "nearer Zurich and Geneva than Wittenberg.
  51. ^ a b Ludwig, Alan (12 September 2016). Luther's Catholic Reformation. The Lutheran Witness. When the Lutherans presented the Augsburg Confession before Emperor Charles V in 1530, they carefully showed that each article of faith and practice was true first of all to Holy Scripture, and then also to the teaching of the church fathers and the councils and even the canon law of the Church of Rome. They boldly claim, "This is about the Sum of our Doctrine, in which, as can be seen, there is nothing that varies from the Scriptures, or from the Church Catholic, or from the Church of Rome as known from its writers" (AC XXI Conclusion 1). The underlying thesis of the Augsburg Confession is that the faith as confessed by Luther and his followers is nothing new, but the true catholic faith, and that their churches represent the true catholic or universal church. In fact, it is actually the Church of Rome that has departed from the ancient faith and practice of the catholic church (see AC XXIII 13, XXVIII 72 and other places).
  52. ^ "Unitatis redintegratio". www.vatican.va. Retrieved 2023-05-10. It remains true that all who have been justified by faith in Baptism are members of Christ's body, and have a right to be called Christian, and so are correctly accepted as brothers by the children of the Catholic Church.
  53. ^ Klaasen, Walter (2004). "Anabaptism: Neither Catholic Nor Protestant". Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  54. ^ McGrath, William, (PDF), Hartville, Ohio, United States: The Fellowship Messenger, archived from the original (PDF) on December 27, 2016
  55. ^ Gundry, Stanley N; Goldberg, Louis (2003), How Jewish is Christianity?: 2 views on the Messianic movement (Books), p. 24, ISBN 9780310244905.
  56. ^ "How many Jews are there in the United States?". Pew Research Center.
  57. ^ a b "A PORTRAIT OF JEWISH AMERICANS: Chapter 1: Population Estimates". Pew Research Center. October 2013.
  58. ^ "American-Jewish Population Rises to 6.8 Million". haaretz.
  59. ^ Fahlbusch, Erwin; Bromiley, Geoffrey William; Lochman, Jan Milic; Mbiti, John; Pelikan, Jaroslav (14 February 2008). The Encyclodedia of Christianity, Vol. 5. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 603. ISBN 978-0-8028-2417-2.
  60. ^ J. Gordon Melton, Encyclopedia of Protestantism, 2005, p. 543: "Unitarianism – The word unitarian [italics] means one who believes in the oneness of God; historically it refers to those in the Christian community who rejected the doctrine of the Trinity (one God expressed in three persons). Non-Trinitarian Protestant churches emerged in the 16th century in ITALY, POLAND, and TRANSYLVANIA."
  61. ^ Bochenski, Michael I. (14 March 2013). Transforming Faith Communities: A Comparative Study of Radical Christianity in Sixteenth-Century Anabaptism and Late Twentieth-Century Latin America. Wipf and Stock Publishers. ISBN 978-1-62189-597-8.
  62. ^ Cameron, Archibald Alexander (1872). Protestantism and Its Relation to the Moral, Intellectual and Spiritual Developments of Modern Times: A Lecture Delivered in the Baptist Chapel, Ottawa, on Sunday Evening, Jan. 21st, 1872. Joseph Loveday. p. 12.
  63. ^ Rubel Shelly, I Just Want to Be a Christian, 20th Century Christian, Nashville, Tennessee 1984, ISBN 0-89098-021-7
  64. ^ "The church of Jesus Christ is non-denominational. It is neither Catholic, Jewish nor Protestant. It was not founded in 'protest' of any institution, and it is not the product of the 'Restoration' or 'Reformation.' It is the product of the seed of the kingdom (Luke 8:11ff) grown in the hearts of men." V. E. Howard, What Is the Church of Christ? 4th Edition (Revised), 1971, page 29
  65. ^ Batsell Barrett Baxter and Carroll Ellis, Neither Catholic, Protestant nor Jew, tract, Church of Christ (1960) ASIN: B00073CQPM. According to Richard Thomas Hughes in Reviving the Ancient Faith: The Story of Churches of Christ in America, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1996 (ISBN 0-8028-4086-8, ISBN 978-0-8028-4086-8), this is "arguably the most widely distributed tract ever published by the Churches of Christ or anyone associated with that tradition."
  66. ^ Samuel S. Hill, Charles H. Lippy, Charles Reagan Wilson, Encyclopedia of Religion in the South, Mercer University Press, 2005, (ISBN 0-86554-758-0, ISBN 978-0-86554-758-2) 854 pages
  67. ^ Monroe E. Hawley, Redigging the Wells: Seeking Undenominational Christianity, Quality Publications, Abilene, Texas, 1976, ISBN 0-89137-512-0 (paper), ISBN 0-89137-513-9 (cloth)
  68. ^ McAlister, Lester G. and Tucker, William E. (1975), Journey in Faith: A History of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), St. Louis, MO: Chalice Press, ISBN 978-0-8272-1703-4
  69. ^ Leroy Garrett, The Stone-Campbell Movement: The Story of the American Restoration Movement, College Press, 2002, ISBN 0-89900-909-3, ISBN 978-0-89900-909-4, 573 pages
  70. ^ Albin, Barry. A Spiritual History of the Western Tradition. p. 124.
  71. ^ Van Voorst, Robert E. (2012). RELG: World (with Religion CourseMate with eBook Printed Access Card). Cengage Learning. p. 288. ISBN 978-1-1117-2620-1.
  72. ^ Eddy, Mary Baker. Manual of the Mother Church. CSPS. p. 17.
  73. ^ Albanese, Catherine. America: Religions and Religion. Cengage Learning. p. 122.
  74. ^ . Archived from the original on 2013-05-31. Retrieved 2014-01-03.
  75. ^ Campbell, Ted A. (20 March 2000). The Religion of the Heart. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 138. ISBN 978-1-57910-433-7.
  76. ^ Fleming, John A.; Rowan, Michael J.; Chambers, James Albert (2004). Folk Furniture of Canada's Doukhobors, Hutterites, Mennonites and Ukrainians. University of Alberta. p. 4. ISBN 9780888644183. The English Quakers, who had made contact with the Doukhobors earlier, as well as the Philadelphia Society of Friends, also determined to help with their emigration from Russia to some other country—the only action which seemed possible.
  77. ^ Dyck, Cornelius J.; Martin, Dennis D. The Mennonite Encyclopedia. Mennonite Brethren Publishing House. p. 107.
  78. ^ Fahlbusch, Erwin (14 February 2008). The Encyclodedia of Christianity. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 208. ISBN 9780802824172. The only contact with Mennonites was the period 1802–1841 when they lived in the Molotschna, where Johann Cornies (q.v.) rendered them considerable assistance.
  79. ^ Leo Tolstoy – The Kingdom of God is Within You 2012-02-05 at the Wayback Machine. Kingdomnow.org. Retrieved on 2010-11-03.

Further reading

  • Denominational links from the Ecumenism in Canada site

May 20, 2023
christian, denomination, branches, christianity, redirects, here, view, that, holy, catholic, apostolic, church, includes, different, branch, theory, distinct, religious, body, within, christianity, that, comprises, church, congregations, same, kind, identifia. Branches of Christianity redirects here For the view that the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church includes different Christian denominations see Branch theory A Christian denomination is a distinct religious body within Christianity that comprises all church congregations of the same kind identifiable by traits such as a name particular history organization leadership theological doctrine worship style and sometimes a founder It is a secular and neutral term generally used to denote any established Christian church Unlike a cult or sect a denomination is usually seen as part of the Christian religious mainstream Most Christian denominations refer to themselves as churches whereas some newer ones tend to interchangeably use the terms churches assemblies fellowships etc Divisions between one group and another are defined by authority and doctrine issues such as the nature of Jesus the authority of apostolic succession biblical hermeneutics theology ecclesiology eschatology and papal primacy may separate one denomination from another Groups of denominations often sharing broadly similar beliefs practices and historical ties are sometimes known as branches of Christianity These branches differ in many ways especially through differences in practices and belief 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Individual denominations vary widely in the degree to which they recognize one another Several groups say they are the direct and sole authentic successor of the church founded by Jesus Christ in the 1st century AD Others however believe in denominationalism where some or all Christian groups are legitimate churches of the same religion regardless of their distinguishing labels beliefs and practices Because of this concept some Christian bodies reject the term denomination to describe themselves to avoid implying equivalence with other churches or denominations The Catholic Church which has over 1 3 billion members or 50 1 of all Christians worldwide 8 9 does not view itself as a denomination but as the original pre denominational Church 10 a view rejected by other Christians Protestant denominations altogether have an estimated 800 million to 1 billion adherents which account for approximately 37 to 40 percent of all Christians worldwide 8 11 Together Roman Catholicism and Protestantism with major traditions including Adventism Anabaptism Anglicanism Baptists Irvingianism Lutheranism Methodism Moravianism Pentecostalism Plymouth Brethren Quakerism Reformed and Waldensianism compose Western Christianity 12 13 Western Christian denominations prevail in Western Northern Central and Southern Europe Sub Saharan Africa the Americas and Oceania 14 The Eastern Orthodox Church with an estimated 230 million adherents 15 11 16 is the second largest Christian body in the world and also considers itself the original pre denominational Church Orthodox Christians 80 of whom are Eastern Orthodox and 20 Oriental Orthodox make up about 11 9 of the global Christian population 15 The Eastern Orthodox Church is itself a communion of fully independent autocephalous churches or jurisdictions that recognize each other for the most part Similarly the Catholic Church is a communion of sui iuris churches including 23 Eastern ones The Eastern Orthodox Church together with the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches the Oriental Orthodox communion the Assyrian Church of the East and the Ancient Church of the East constitute Eastern Christianity There are Protestant Eastern Christians that have adopted Protestant theology but have cultural and historical ties with other Eastern Christians Eastern Christian denominations are represented mostly in Eastern Europe North Asia the Middle East Northeast Africa and India especially South India Christians have various doctrines about the Church the body of the faithful that they believe Jesus Christ established and about how the divine church corresponds to Christian denominations The Roman Catholic Eastern Orthodox Oriental Orthodox and Church of the East denominations each hold that only their own specific organization faithfully represents the one holy catholic and apostolic Church to the exclusion of all others Sixteenth century Protestants separated from the Catholic Church as a result of the Reformation a movement against Roman Catholic doctrines and practices which the Reformers perceived to be in violation of the Bible 17 18 19 Generally members of the various denominations acknowledge each other as Christians at least to the extent that they have mutually recognized baptisms and acknowledge historically orthodox views including the divinity of Jesus and doctrines of sin and salvation even though doctrinal and ecclesiological obstacles hinder full communion between churches Restorationism emerged after the Second Great Awakening and collectively affirms belief in a Great Apostasy thus promoting a belief in restoring what they see as primitive Christianity 20 It includes Mormonism Christadelphians Jehovah s Witnesses among others although beliefs between these religions differ greatly 21 Since the reforms surrounding the Second Vatican Council of 1962 1965 the Roman Catholic Church has referred to Protestant Churches as ecclesial communities while reserving the term church for apostolic churches including the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches as well as the Ancient and Assyrian Churches of the East see subsistit in and branch theory But some non denominational Christians do not follow any particular branch 22 though they sometimes are regarded as Protestants 23 24 25 26 Contents 1 Terminology 2 Major branches 2 1 Denominationalism 2 2 Taxonomy 3 Historical schisms and divisions 3 1 Antiquity 3 2 Middle Ages 3 3 Protestant Reformation 16th century 3 4 Old and Liberal Catholic Churches 19th 20th centuries 3 5 Eastern Christianity 3 6 Western Christianity 3 7 Christians with Jewish roots 4 Modern history 4 1 Unitarianism 4 2 Restorationism 4 2 1 Second Great Awakening 4 2 2 Latter Day Saint movement 4 3 Spiritual Christianity 4 4 Other movements 5 See also 6 Notes 7 References 8 Further readingTerminology EditSee also Christian Church Related concepts Each group uses different terminology to discuss their beliefs This section will discuss the definitions of several terms used throughout the article before discussing the beliefs themselves in detail in following sections A denomination within Christianity can be defined as a recognized autonomous branch of the Christian Church major synonyms include religious group sect Church etc Note 1 27 Church as a synonym refers to a particular Christian organization with its own clergy buildings and distinctive doctrines 28 church can also more broadly be defined as the entire body of Christians the Christian Church Some traditional and evangelical Protestants draw a distinction between membership in the universal church and fellowship within the local church Becoming a believer in Christ makes one a member of the universal church one then may join a fellowship of other local believers 29 Some evangelical groups describe themselves as interdenominational fellowships partnering with local churches to strengthen evangelical efforts usually targeting a particular group with specialized needs such as students or ethnic groups 30 A related concept is denominationalism the belief that some or all Christian groups are legitimate churches of the same religion regardless of their distinguishing labels beliefs and practices 31 Conversely denominationalism can also refer to emphasizing of denominational differences to the point of being narrowly exclusive similar to sectarianism 32 The views of Protestant leaders differ greatly from those of the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church the two largest Christian denominations Each church makes mutually exclusive statements for itself to be the direct continuation of the church founded by Jesus Christ from whom other denominations later broke away 10 These churches and a few others reject denominationalism Historically Catholics would label members of certain Christian churches also certain non Christian religions by the names of their founders either actual or purported Such supposed founders were referred to as heresiarchs This was done even when the party thus labeled viewed itself as belonging to the one true church This allowed the Catholic party to say that the other church was founded by the founder while the Catholic church was founded by Christ This was done intentionally in order to produce the appearance of the fragmentation within Christianity 33 a problem which the Catholic side would then attempt to remedy on its own terms Although Catholics reject branch theory Pope Benedict XVI and Pope John Paul II used the two lungs concept to relate Catholicism with Eastern Orthodoxy 34 Major branches EditWorldwide Christians by denomination as of 2011 update 35 Catholic 50 1 Protestant 36 7 Orthodox 11 9 Other 1 3 Christianity can be taxonomically divided into six main groups the Church of the East Oriental Orthodoxy Eastern Orthodoxy Roman Catholicism Protestantism and Restorationism 20 36 Protestantism includes many groups which do not share any ecclesiastical governance and have widely diverging beliefs and practices 12 Major Protestant denominations include Adventism Anabaptism Anglicanism Baptists Irvingianism Lutheranism Methodism Moravianism Quakerism Pentecostalism Plymouth Brethren Reformed Christianity and Waldensianism 12 13 Reformed Christianity itself includes the Continental Reformed Presbyterian Evangelical Anglican Congregationalist and Reformed Baptist traditions 37 Anabaptist Christianity itself includes the Amish Apostolic Bruderhof Hutterite Mennonite River Brethren and Schwarzenau Brethren traditions 38 Christianity has denominational families or movements and also has individual denominations or communions The difference between a denomination and a denominational family is sometimes unclear to outsiders Some denominational families can be considered major branches Groups that are members of a branch while sharing historical ties and similar doctrines are not necessarily in communion with one another There were some movements considered heresies by the early Church which do not exist today and are not generally referred to as denominations Examples include the Gnostics who had believed in an esoteric dualism called gnosis the Ebionites who denied the divinity of Jesus and the Arians who subordinated the Son to the Father by denying the pre existence of Christ thus placing Jesus as a created being Bogumilism and Bosnian Church The greatest divisions in Christianity today however are between the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Roman Catholics and the various denominations formed during and after the Protestant Reformation 39 40 41 There also exists a number of non Trinitarian groups Denominationalism Edit Denominationalism is the belief that some or all Christian groups are legitimate churches of the same religion regardless of their distinguishing labels beliefs and practices 31 The idea was first articulated by Independents within the Puritan movement They argued that differences among Christians were inevitable but that separation based on these differences was not necessarily schism Christians are obligated to practice their beliefs rather than remain within a church with which they disagree but they must also recognize their imperfect knowledge and not condemn other Christians as apostate over unimportant matters 42 Some Christians view denominationalism as a regrettable fact As of 2011 divisions are becoming less sharp and there is increasing cooperation between denominations which is known as ecumenism Many denominations participate in the World Council of Churches 43 Taxonomy Edit Major denominational families in Christianity This box viewtalkedit Western Christianity Eastern Christianity Protestantism Anabaptism Anglicanism Calvinism Lutheranism Latin Church Catholic Church Eastern Catholic Churches Eastern Orthodox Church Oriental Orthodox Church Church of the East Schism 1552 Assyrian Church of the East Ancient Church of the East Protestant Reformation 16th century Great Schism 11th century Council of Ephesus 431 Council of Chalcedon 451 Early Christianity Great Church Full communion Not shown are non Nicene nontrinitarian and some restorationist denominations Historical schisms and divisions EditChristianity has not been a monolithic faith since the first century or Apostolic Age though they were largely in communion with each other Today there exist a large variety of groups that share a common history and tradition within and without mainstream Christianity Christianity is the largest religion in the world making up approximately one third of the population and the various divisions have commonalities and differences in tradition theology church government doctrine and language The largest schism or division in many classification schemes is between the families of Eastern and Western Christianity After these two larger families come distinct branches of Christianity Most classification schemes list three in order of size Roman Catholicism Protestantism and Orthodox Christianity with Orthodox Christianity being divided into Eastern Orthodoxy Oriental Orthodoxy and the Church of the East which was originally referred to as Nestorianism but in modern times is embodied by the Assyrian and Ancient Churches of the East 44 45 Protestantism includes diverse groups such as Adventists Anabaptists Anglicans Baptists Congregationalists Methodists inclusive of the Holiness movement Moravians Pentecostals Presbyterians Reformed 44 12 13 and Unitarians depending on one s classification scheme are all a part of the same family but have distinct doctrinal variations within each group Lutherans see themselves not to be a part of the rest of what they call Reformed Protestantism due to radical differences in sacramental theology and historical approach to the Reformation itself both Reformed and Lutherans see their reformation in the sixteenth century to be a reforming of the Catholic Church not a rejection of it entirely From these come denominations which in the West have independence from the others in their doctrine The Catholic Church due to their hierarchical structures are not said to be made up of denominations rather they include kinds of regional councils and individual congregations and church bodies which do not officially differ from one another in doctrine Antiquity Edit See also Proto orthodox Christianity The initial differences between the East and West traditions stem from socio cultural and ethno linguistic divisions in and between the Western Roman and Byzantine empires Since the West that is Western Europe spoke Latin as its lingua franca and the East Eastern Europe the Middle East Asia and northern Africa largely used Aramaic and Koine Greek to transmit writings theological developments were difficult to translate from one branch to the other In the course of ecumenical councils large gatherings of Christian leaders some church bodies split from the larger family of Christianity Many earlier heretical groups either died off for lack of followers or suppression by the early proto orthodox Church at large such as Apollinarians Montanists and Ebionites Following the Council of Chalcedon in 451 the next large split came with the Syriac and Coptic churches dividing themselves with the some churches becoming today s Oriental Orthodox The Armenian Apostolic Church whose representatives were not able to attend the council did not accept new dogmas and now is also seen as an Oriental Orthodox church In modern times there have also been moves towards healing this split with common Christological statements being made between Pope John Paul II and Syriac Patriarch Ignatius Zakka I Iwas as well as between representatives of both Eastern and Oriental Orthodoxy There has been a statement that the Chalcedonian Creed restored Nestorianism however this is refuted by maintaining the following distinctions associated with the person of Christ two hypostases two natures Nestorian one hypostasis one nature Monophysite one hypostasis two natures Eastern Orthodox Catholic 46 Middle Ages Edit Main article East West Schism In Western Christianity there were a handful of geographically isolated movements that preceded the spirit of the Protestant Reformation The Cathars were a very strong movement in medieval southwestern France but did not survive into modern times In northern Italy and southeastern France Peter Waldo founded the Waldensians in the 12th century This movement has largely been absorbed by modern day Protestant groups In Bohemia a movement in the early 15th century by Jan Hus called the Hussites defied Catholic dogma and still exists to this day alternately known as the Moravian Church Although the church as a whole did not experience any major divisions for centuries afterward the Eastern and Western groups drifted until the point where patriarchs from both families excommunicated one another in about 1054 in what is known as the Great Schism The political and theological reasons for the schism are complex but one major controversy was the inclusion and acceptance in the West of the filioque clause into the Nicene Creed which the East viewed as erroneous Another was the definition of papal primacy Both West and East agreed that the Patriarch of Rome was owed a primacy of honour by the other patriarchs those of Alexandria Antioch Constantinople and Jerusalem but the West also contended that this primacy extended to jurisdiction a position rejected by the Eastern patriarchs Various attempts at dialogue between the two groups would occur but it was only in the 1960s under Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras that significant steps began to be made to mend the relationship between the two Door of the Schlosskirche castle church in Wittenberg to which Luther is said to have nailed his 95 Theses on 31st October 1517 sparking the Reformation Protestant Reformation 16th century Edit Main article Protestant Reformation The Protestant Reformation began with the posting of Martin Luther s Ninety Five Theses in Saxony on October 31 1517 written as a set of grievances to reform the pre Reformation Western Church Luther s writings combined with the work of Swiss theologian Huldrych Zwingli and French theologian and politician John Calvin sought to reform existing problems in doctrine and practice Due to the reactions of ecclesiastical office holders at the time of the reformers these reformers separated from the Catholic Church instigating a rift in Western Christianity In England Henry VIII of England declared himself to be supreme head of the Church of England with the Act of Supremacy in 1531 founding the Church of England repressing both Lutheran reformers and those loyal to the pope Thomas Cranmer as Archbishop of Canterbury introduced the Reformation in a form compromising between the Calvinists and Lutherans Old and Liberal Catholic Churches 19th 20th centuries Edit The Old Catholic Church split from the Catholic Church in the 1870s because of the promulgation of the dogma of papal infallibility as promoted by the First Vatican Council of 1869 1870 The term Old Catholic was first used in 1853 to describe the members of the See of Utrecht that were not under Papal authority The Old Catholic movement grew in America but has not maintained ties with Utrecht although talks are under way between independent Old Catholic bishops and Utrecht The Liberal Catholic Church started in 1916 via an Old Catholic bishop in London bishop Matthew who consecrated bishop James Wedgwood to the Episcopacy This stream has in its relatively short existence known many splits which operate worldwide under several names Eastern Christianity Edit In the Eastern world the largest body of believers in modern times is the Eastern Orthodox Church sometimes imprecisely called Greek Orthodox because from the time of Christ through the Byzantine empire Greek was its common language However the term Greek Orthodox actually refers to only one portion of the entire Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church believes itself to be the continuation of the original Christian Church established by Jesus Christ and the Apostles The Orthodox and Catholics have been separated since the 11th century following the East West Schism with each of them saying they represent the original pre schism Church The Eastern Orthodox consider themselves to be spiritually one body which is administratively grouped into several autocephalous jurisdictions also commonly referred to as churches despite being parts of one Church They do not recognize any single bishop as universal church leader but rather each bishop governs only his own diocese The Patriarch of Constantinople is known as the Ecumenical Patriarch and holds the title first among equals meaning only that if a great council is called the patriarch sits as president of the council He has no more power than any other bishop Currently the largest synod with the most members is the Russian Orthodox Church Others include the ancient Patriarchates of Constantinople Alexandria Antioch and Jerusalem the Georgian Romanian Serbian and Bulgarian Orthodox churches and several smaller ones A 6th century Nestorian church St John the Arab in the Assyrian village of Geramon The second largest Eastern Christian communion is Oriental Orthodoxy which is organized in a similar manner with six national autocephalous groups and two autonomous bodies although there are greater internal differences than among the Eastern Orthodox especially in the diversity of rites being used The six autocephalous Oriental Orthodox churches are the Coptic Egyptian Syriac Armenian Malankara Indian Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox churches In the Aramaic speaking areas of the Middle East the Syriac Orthodox Church has long been dominant Although the region of modern day Ethiopia and Eritrea has had a strong body of believers since the infancy of Christianity these regions only gained autocephaly in 1963 and 1994 respectively The Oriental Orthodox are distinguished from the Eastern Orthodox by doctrinal differences concerning the union of human and divine natures in the person of Jesus Christ and the two communions separated as a consequence of the Council of Chalcedon in the year 451 although there have been recent moves towards reconciliation Since these groups are relatively obscure in the West literature on them has sometimes included the Church of the East which like the Oriental Orthodox originated in the 1st century A D but has not been in communion with them since before the Council of Ephesus of 431 Largely aniconic the Church of the East represents a third Eastern Christian tradition in its own right In recent centuries it has split into three Churches The largest since the early 20th century is the Baghdad based Chaldean Catholic Church formed from groups that entered communion with Rome at different times beginning in 1552 The second largest is what since 1976 47 is officially called the Assyrian Church of the East and which from 1933 to 2015 was headquartered first in Cyprus and then in the United States but whose present Catholicos Patriarch Gewargis III elected in 2015 lives in Erbil Iraq The third is the Ancient Church of the East distinct since 1964 and headed by Addai II Giwargis resident in Baghdad There are also the Eastern Catholic Churches most of which are counterparts of those listed above sharing with them the same theological and liturgical traditions but differing from them in that they recognize the Bishop of Rome as the universal head of the Church They are fully part of the Catholic communion on the same level juridically as the Latin Church Most of their members do not describe themselves as Roman Catholics a term they associate with membership of the Latin Church and speak of themselves in relation to whichever Church they belong to Maronites Melkites Ukrainian Catholics Coptic Catholics Chaldean Catholics etc 48 And finally the smallest Eastern Christian group founded in early 20th century is Byzantine Rite Lutheranism where accept Byzantine Rite as Church s liturgy while retaining their Lutheran traditions like Ukrainian Lutheran Church It is considered part of Eastern Protestant denominational movement Western Christianity Edit The Latin portion of the Catholic Church along with Protestantism comprise the three major divisions of Christianity in the Western world Catholics do not describe themselves as a denomination but rather as the original Church which all other branches broke off from in schism The Baptist Methodist and Lutheran churches are generally considered to be Protestant denominations although strictly speaking of these three only the Lutherans took part in the official Protestation at Speyer after the decree of the Second Diet of Speyer mandated the burning of Luther s works and the end of the Protestant Reformation Anglicanism is generally classified as Protestant 12 13 49 being originally seen as a via media or middle way between Lutheranism and Reformed Christianity and since the Oxford Movement of the 19th century some Anglican writers of Anglo Catholic churchmanship emphasize a more catholic understanding of the church and characterize it as being both Protestant and Catholic 50 A case is sometimes also made to regard Lutheranism in a similar way considering the catholic character of its foundational documents the Augsburg Confession and other documents contained in the Book of Concord and its existence prior to the Anglican Anabaptist and Reformed churches from which nearly all other Protestant denominations derive 51 One central tenet of Catholicism which is a common point between Catholic Scandinavian Lutheran Anglican Moravian Orthodox and some other Churches is its practice of apostolic succession Apostle means one who is sent out Jesus commissioned the first twelve apostles and they in turn laid hands on subsequent church leaders to ordain commission them for ministry In this manner Catholics and Anglicans trace their ordained ministers all the way back to the original Twelve Catholics believe that the Pope has authority which can be traced directly to the apostle Peter whom they hold to be the original head of and first Pope of the Church There are smaller churches such as the Old Catholic Church which rejected the definition of Papal Infallibility at the First Vatican Council as well as Evangelical Catholics and Anglo Catholics who are Lutherans and Anglicans that believe that Lutheranism and Anglicanism respectively are a continuation of historical Catholicism and who incorporate many Catholic beliefs and practices 51 The Catholic Church refers to itself simply by the terms Catholic and Catholicism which mean universal Sometimes Catholics based on a strict interpretation of extra ecclesiam nulla salus Outside the Church there is no salvation rejected any notion those outside its communion could be regarded as part of any true Catholic Christian faith an attitude rejected by the Second Vatican Council 1962 1965 52 Catholicism has a hierarchical structure in which supreme authority for matters of faith and practice are the exclusive domain of the Pope who sits on the Throne of Peter and the bishops when acting in union with him Each Protestant movement has developed freely and many have split over theological issues For instance a number of movements grew out of spiritual revivals such as Pentecostalism Doctrinal issues and matters of conscience have also divided Protestants Still others formed out of administrative issues Methodism branched off as its own group of denominations when the American Revolutionary War complicated the movement s ability to ordain ministers it had begun as a movement within the Church of England In Methodism s case it has undergone a number of administrative schisms and mergers with other denominations especially those associated with the holiness movement in the 20th century The Anabaptist tradition made up of the Amish Hutterites and Mennonites rejected the Roman Catholic and Lutheran doctrines of infant baptism this tradition is also noted for its belief in pacifism Many Anabaptists do not see themselves as Protestant but a separate tradition altogether 53 54 Some denominations which arose alongside the Western Christian tradition consider themselves Christian but neither Catholic nor wholly Protestant such as the Religious Society of Friends Quakers Quakerism began as an evangelical Christian movement in 17th century England eschewing priests and all formal Anglican or Catholic sacraments in their worship including many of those practices that remained among the stridently Protestant Puritans such as baptism with water They were known in America for helping with the Underground Railroad and like the Mennonites Quakers traditionally refrain from participation in war Many churches with roots in Restorationism reject being identified as Protestant or even as a denomination at all as they use only the Bible and not creeds and model the church after what they feel is the first century church found in scripture the Churches of Christ are one example African Initiated Churches like Kimbanguism mostly fall within Protestantism with varying degrees of syncretism The measure of mutual acceptance between the denominations and movements varies but is growing largely due to the ecumenical movement in the 20th century and overarching Christian bodies such as the World Council of Churches Christians with Jewish roots Edit Main articles Jewish Christian Messianic Judaism and Hebrew Christian movement Messianic Jews maintain a Jewish identity while accepting Jesus as the Messiah and the New Testament as authoritative After the founding of the church the disciples of Jesus generally retained their ethnic origins while accepting the Gospel message The first church council was called in Jerusalem to address just this issue and the deciding opinion was written by James the Just the first bishop of Jerusalem and a pivotal figure in the Christian movement The history of Messianic Judaism includes many movements and groups and defies any simple classification scheme The 19th century saw at least 250 000 Jews convert to Christianity according to existing records of various societies 55 Data from the Pew Research Center has it that as of 2013 about 1 6 million adult American Jews identify themselves as Christians most as Protestants 56 57 58 According to the same data most of the Jews who identify themselves as some sort of Christian 1 6 million were raised as Jews or are Jews by ancestry 57 Modern history EditUnitarianism Edit Further information Biblical Unitarianism Within Italy Poland Lithuania Transylvania Hungary and Romania Unitarian Churches emerged from the Reformed tradition in the 16th century 59 60 They adopted the Anabaptist doctrine of credobaptism 61 The Unitarian Church of Transylvania is an example of such a denomination that arose in this era and is represented in the Protestant Theological Institute of Cluj Due to their rejection of the Athanasian Creed which contains the doctrine of the Trinity many mainstream Christian Churches do not recognize Unitarians as Christians 62 Restorationism Edit Second Great Awakening Edit Main articles Second Great Awakening Restorationism and Restoration Movement The Stone Campbell Restoration Movement began on the American frontier during the Second Great Awakening 1790 1870 of the early 19th century The movement sought to restore the church and the unification of all Christians in a single body patterned after the church of the New Testament 63 54 Members do not identify as Protestant but simply as Christian 64 65 66 213 The Restoration Movement developed from several independent efforts to return to apostolic Christianity but two groups which independently developed similar approaches to the Christian faith were particularly important 67 27 32 The first led by Barton W Stone began at Cane Ridge Kentucky and called themselves simply as Christians The second began in western Pennsylvania and Virginia now West Virginia and was led by Thomas Campbell and his son Alexander Campbell they used the name Disciples of Christ Both groups sought to restore the whole Christian church on the pattern set forth in the New Testament and both believed that creeds kept Christianity divided In 1832 they joined in fellowship with a handshake Among other things they were united in the belief that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God that Christians should celebrate the Lord s Supper on the first day of each week and that baptism of adult believers by immersion in water is a necessary condition for salvation Because the founders wanted to abandon all denominational labels they used the biblical names for the followers of Jesus 68 27 Both groups promoted a return to the purposes of the 1st century churches as described in the New Testament One historian of the movement has argued that it was primarily a unity movement with the restoration motif playing a subordinate role 69 8 The Restoration Movement has since divided into multiple separate groups There are three main branches in the US the Churches of Christ the Christian churches and churches of Christ and the Christian Church Disciples of Christ Other U S based groups affiliated with the movement are the International Churches of Christ and the International Christian Churches Non U S groups include the Churches of Christ in Australia the Evangelical Christian Church in Canada the Churches of Christ in Europe The Plymouth Brethren are a similar though historically unrelated group which originated in the United Kingdom Some churches such as Churches of Christ or the Plymouth Brethren reject formal ties with other churches within the movement Other Christian groups originating during the Second Great Awakening including the Adventist movement 70 the Jehovah s Witnesses 71 and Christian Science 72 founded within fifty years of one another all consider themselves to be restorative of primitive Christianity and the early church Some Baptist churches with Landmarkist views have similar beliefs concerning their connection with primitive Christianity 73 Latter Day Saint movement Edit Main articles Latter Day Saint movement and Mormonism See also List of denominations in the Latter Day Saint movement and Mormonism and Christianity Most Latter Day Saint denominations are derived from the Church of Christ Latter Day Saints established by Joseph Smith in 1830 which is categorized as a Restorationist denomination 21 The largest worldwide denomination is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints colloquially referred to as Mormonism Various considerably smaller sects broke from this movement after its relocation to the Rocky Mountains in the mid 1800s Several of these broke away over the abandonment of practicing plural marriage after the 1890 Manifesto Most of the Prairie Saint denominations see below were established after Smith s death by the remnants of the Latter Day Saints who did not go west with Brigham Young Many of these opposed some of the 1840s theological developments in favor of 1830s theological understandings and practices Other denominations are defined by either a belief in Joseph Smith as a prophet or acceptance of the Book of Mormon as scripture Mormons generally consider themselves to be restorationist believing that Smith as prophet seer and revelator restored the original and true Church of Christ to the earth Some Latter Day Saint denominations are regarded by other Christians as being nontrinitarian or even non Christian but the Latter Day Saints are predominantly in disagreement with these statements Latter Day Saints see themselves as believing in a Godhead comprising the Father Son and Holy Ghost as separate personages united in purpose Latter Day Saints regard traditional definitions of the Trinity as aberrations of true doctrine and emblematic of the Great Apostasy 74 but they do not accept certain trinitarian definitions in the post apostolic creeds such as the Athanasian Creed Spiritual Christianity Edit Spiritual Christianity inclusive of the Molokans and Doukhobors emerged in Russia each containing a unique tradition 75 The Doukhobor have maintained close association with Mennonite Anabaptist Christians and Quaker Christians due to analogous religious practices all of these groups are furthermore collectively considered to be peace churches due to their belief in pacifism 76 77 78 Other movements Edit Protestant denominations have shown a strong tendency towards diversification and fragmentation giving rise to numerous churches and movements especially in Anglo American religious history where the process is cast in terms of a series of Great Awakenings The most recent wave of diversification known as the Fourth Great Awakening took place during the 1960s to 1980s and resulted in phenomena such as the Charismatic Movement the Jesus movement and a number of parachurch organizations based in Evangelicalism Many independent churches and movements consider themselves to be non denominational but may vary greatly in doctrine Many of these like the local churches movement reflect the core teachings of traditional Christianity Others however such as The Way International have been denounced as cults by the Christian anti cult movement Further others may have similar doctrine to mainline churches but incorporate a multi faith and ecumenical model such as the Interfaith Ecumenical Church IEC that is based entirely in a virtual and international model Two movements which are entirely unrelated in their founding but share a common element of an additional Messiah or incarnation of Christ are the Unification Church and the Rastafari movement These movements fall outside of traditional taxonomies of Christian groups though both cite the Christian Bible as a basis for their beliefs Syncretism of Christian beliefs with local and tribal religions is a phenomenon that occurs throughout the world An example of this is the Native American Church The ceremonies of this group are strongly tied to the use of peyote Parallels may be drawn here with the Rastafari spiritual use of cannabis While traditions vary from tribe to tribe they often include a belief in Jesus as a Native American cultural hero an intercessor for man or a spiritual guardian belief in the Bible and an association of Jesus with peyote There are also some Christians that reject organized religion altogether Some Christian anarchists often those of a Protestant background believe that the original teachings of Jesus were corrupted by Roman statism compare Early Christianity and State church of the Roman Empire and that earthly authority such as government or indeed the established Church do not and should not have power over them Following The Golden Rule many oppose the use of physical force in any circumstance and advocate nonviolence The Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy wrote The Kingdom of God Is Within You 79 and was a Christian anarchist See also Edit Christianity portalChristian tradition Great Church List of Christian denominations List of Christian denominations by number of membersNotes Edit The Oxford Dictionary s full list of synonyms for denomination includes religious group sect Church cult movement faith community body persuasion religious persuasion communion order fraternity brotherhood sisterhood school faith creed belief religious belief religion rare sodality References Edit Ellwood Robert S 2008 The Encyclopedia of World Religions Infobase Publishing p 115 ISBN 978 1 4381 1038 7 Press Altamira Swatos William H 1998 Encyclopedia of Religion and Society Rowman Altamira pp 134 136 ISBN 978 0 7619 8956 1 Becchio Bruno Schade Johannes P 2006 Encyclopedia of World Religions Foreign Media Group p 32 ISBN 978 1 60136 000 7 Richey Russell E 2013 Denominationalism Illustrated and Explained Wipf and Stock Publishers pp 1 9 ISBN 978 1 61097 297 0 Publishing Rose 2013 Denominations Comparison Rose Publishing Inc ISBN 978 1 59636 539 1 Rhodes Ron 2015 The Complete Guide to Christian Denominations Understanding the History Beliefs and Differences Harvest House Publishers pp 13 22 ISBN 978 0 7369 5292 7 Wootten Pat 2002 Divisions and denominations Christianity Heinemann ISBN 978 0 435 33634 9 a b Pewforum Christianity 2010 PDF Archived from the original PDF on 2013 08 05 Retrieved 2014 05 14 Pubblicazione dell Annuario Pontificio e dell Annuario Statistico della Chiesa 25 03 2020 in Italian Holy See Press Office 25 March 2020 Archived from the original on 12 May 2020 Retrieved 12 May 2020 a b Olson Roger E 1999 The story of Christian theology twenty centuries of tradition amp reform Internet Archive Downers Grove Ill InterVarsity Press p 278 ISBN 978 0 8308 1505 0 a b Status of Global Christianity 2019 in the Context of 1900 2050 PDF Center for Study of Global Christianity a b c d e Encyclopedia of World Religions Encyclopaedia Britannica 2008 ISBN 978 1 59339 491 2 Amid all this diversity however it is possible to define Protestantism formally as non Roman Western Christianity and to divide most of Protestantism into four major confessions or confessional families Lutheran Anglican Reformed and Free Church a b c d Melton J Gordon 2005 Encyclopedia of Protestantism Infobase Publishing ISBN 978 0 8160 6983 5 Most narrowly it denotes a movement that began within the Roman Catholic Church in Europe in the 16th century and the churches that come directly out of it In this narrow sense Protestantism would include the Lutheran Reformed or Presbyterian and Anglican Church of England churches and by extension the churches of the British Puritan movement which sought to bring the Church of England into the Reformed Presbyterian camp Most recently scholars have argued quite effectively that the churches of the radical phase of the 16th century Reformation the Anabaptist and Mennonite groups also belong within this more narrow usage Western Christianity www philtar ac uk Retrieved 2020 05 23 a b Orthodox Christianity in the 21st Century Pew Research Center s Religion amp Public Life Project 8 November 2017 Fairchild Mary Christianity Basics Eastern Orthodox Church Denomination about com Archived from the original on 5 June 2016 Retrieved 23 June 2014 Harvard Divinity School THE RELIGIOUS LITERACY PROJECT The Protestant Movement rlp hds harvard edu What Is Protestantism amp Why Is it Important Christianity com The Reformation HISTORY a b Riswold Caryn D 1 October 2009 Feminism and Christianity Questions and Answers in the Third Wave Wipf and Stock Publishers ISBN 978 1 62189 053 9 a b The Restorationist denominations in Christianity Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance 2012 Archived from the original on 11 May 2008 Retrieved 23 January 2021 Nondenominational amp Independent Congregations Hartford Institute for Religion Research Hartford Seminary Hartford Institute for Religion Research 2015 Archived from the original on 2016 04 23 Retrieved 2016 05 09 Shellnutt Kate The Rise of the Nons Protestants Keep Ditching Denominations News amp Reporting Retrieved 2020 05 23 What Are Non Denominational Churches Meaning amp Examples Christianity com Retrieved 2020 05 23 says An Ethnographical Study of Saint Francis United Methodist Church NCSU Studies in Religion 2017 08 08 What Does the Growth of Nondenominationalism Mean Facts amp Trends Retrieved 2020 05 23 Gallup Non denominational Protestants on the rise Baptist Press 21 July 2017 Retrieved 2020 05 23 Denomination Oxford Dictionaries English Archived from the original on February 23 2013 Retrieved 6 June 2015 Church Oxford Dictionaries English Archived from the original on November 17 2013 Retrieved 6 June 2015 Gilbert T B Church Membership and Church Fellowship Is there a difference Retrieved 6 June 2015 Hill Alec 1 July 2003 Church Intervarsity Christian Fellowship Archived from the original on 2015 06 01 Retrieved 6 June 2015 a b Jackson Wayne Denominationalism Permissible or Reprehensible Christian Courier Retrieved 2 June 2015 Denominationalism Merriam Webster Dictionary Retrieved 6 June 2015 Buell Denise Kimber 1999 04 04 Making Christians Clement of Alexandria and the Rhetoric of Legitimacy Princeton University Press ISBN 978 0 691 05980 8 Modern culture runs risk of amnesia Archived 2019 04 11 at the Wayback Machine from a speech given May 20th 2010 Pew Templeton Global Religious Futures Project December 2011 Global Christianity A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World s Christian Population PDF Report Pew Research Center p 10 Archived PDF from the original on February 1 2021 Retrieved May 28 2021 Mitchell Lynn 8 December 2010 Christian Denominations by Dr Dialogue Society Retrieved 23 January 2021 The New Encyclopaedia Britannica Encyclopaedia Britannica 1987 p 244 ISBN 978 0 85229 443 7 Brewer Brian C 30 December 2021 T amp T Clark Handbook of Anabaptism Bloomsbury Publishing p 564 ISBN 978 0 567 68950 4 Welle www dw com Deutsche The main differences between Catholics and Protestants DW 21 04 2019 DW COM Retrieved 2020 05 23 What Are the Differences Between Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Anyway National Catholic Register Retrieved 2020 05 23 Beyond Dialogue The Quest for Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Unity Today St Vladimir s Orthodox Theological Seminary www svots edu Archived from the original on 2018 11 14 Retrieved 2020 05 23 Guenther Bruce Life in a Muddy World Reflections on Denominationalism Fresno Pacific Biblical Seminary first published in Fall Winter 2008 edition of In Touch Magazine For reprint permission contact the Director of Public Relations at 1 800 251 6227 Archived from the original on 2015 03 10 What is the World Council of Churches World Council of Churches www oikoumene org Archived from the original on 2019 03 31 Retrieved 2020 05 23 a b McAuliffe Garrett 2008 Culturally Alert Counseling A Comprehensive Introduction SAGE Publishing p 532 ISBN 978 1 4129 1006 4 About one third of the world s population is considered Christian and can be divided into three main branches 1 Roman Catholicism the largest coherent group representing over one billion baptized members 2 Orthodox Christianity including Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy and 3 Protestantism comprising many denominations and schools of thought including Anglicanism Reformed Presbyterianism Lutheranism Methodism Evangelicalism and Pentecostalism Mirola William Monahan Susanne C 2016 Religion Matters What Sociology Teaches Us About Religion In Our World Routledge ISBN 978 1 317 34451 3 Orthodox Churches represent one of te three major branches of Christianity along with Roman Catholicism and Protestantism CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA Monophysites and Monophysitism www newadvent org Retrieved 2023 05 10 Baum Wilhelm Winkler Dietmar W 8 December 2003 Wilhelm Baum Dietmar W Winkler editors The Church of the East A Concise History Routledge 2003 p 4 ISBN 9781134430192 Archived from the original on 2022 12 20 Retrieved 2018 10 19 Robert Spencer We are Non Roman Catholics in Crisis Magazine 22 November 2011 22 November 2011 Archived from the original on 20 July 2016 Retrieved 25 October 2016 Hanciles Jehu J 2019 The Oxford History of Protestant Dissenting Traditions Volume IV The Twentieth Century Traditions in a Global Context Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0 19 251821 7 The designation Protestant includes Lutherans and Anglicans although some Anglicans do not like the word Methodism arrived in Asia both from Britain and via America but with distinct traditions Both owed a debt to Moravian Lutheranism as did the Protestant missionary movement generally Evangelicals have long included many Anglicans and by 1967 Anglican evangelicalism was defining the movement in Britain Anglican and Episcopal History Historical Society of the Episcopal Church 2003 p 15 Others had made similar observations Patrick McGrath commenting that the Church of England was not a middle way between Roman Catholic and Protestant but between different forms of Protestantism and William Monter describing the Church of England as a unique style of Protestantism a via media between the Reformed and Lutheran traditions MacCulloch has described Cranmer as seeking a middle way between Zurich and Wittenberg but elsewhere remarks that the Church of England was nearer Zurich and Geneva than Wittenberg a b Ludwig Alan 12 September 2016 Luther s Catholic Reformation The Lutheran Witness When the Lutherans presented the Augsburg Confession before Emperor Charles V in 1530 they carefully showed that each article of faith and practice was true first of all to Holy Scripture and then also to the teaching of the church fathers and the councils and even the canon law of the Church of Rome They boldly claim This is about the Sum of our Doctrine in which as can be seen there is nothing that varies from the Scriptures or from the Church Catholic or from the Church of Rome as known from its writers AC XXI Conclusion 1 The underlying thesis of the Augsburg Confession is that the faith as confessed by Luther and his followers is nothing new but the true catholic faith and that their churches represent the true catholic or universal church In fact it is actually the Church of Rome that has departed from the ancient faith and practice of the catholic church see AC XXIII 13 XXVIII 72 and other places Unitatis redintegratio www vatican va Retrieved 2023 05 10 It remains true that all who have been justified by faith in Baptism are members of Christ s body and have a right to be called Christian and so are correctly accepted as brothers by the children of the Catholic Church Klaasen Walter 2004 Anabaptism Neither Catholic Nor Protestant Retrieved 15 May 2020 McGrath William The Anabaptists Neither Catholic nor Protestant PDF Hartville Ohio United States The Fellowship Messenger archived from the original PDF on December 27 2016 Gundry Stanley N Goldberg Louis 2003 How Jewish is Christianity 2 views on the Messianic movement Books p 24 ISBN 9780310244905 How many Jews are there in the United States Pew Research Center a b A PORTRAIT OF JEWISH AMERICANS Chapter 1 Population Estimates Pew Research Center October 2013 American Jewish Population Rises to 6 8 Million haaretz Fahlbusch Erwin Bromiley Geoffrey William Lochman Jan Milic Mbiti John Pelikan Jaroslav 14 February 2008 The Encyclodedia of Christianity Vol 5 Wm B Eerdmans Publishing p 603 ISBN 978 0 8028 2417 2 J Gordon Melton Encyclopedia of Protestantism 2005 p 543 Unitarianism The word unitarian italics means one who believes in the oneness of God historically it refers to those in the Christian community who rejected the doctrine of the Trinity one God expressed in three persons Non Trinitarian Protestant churches emerged in the 16th century in ITALY POLAND and TRANSYLVANIA Bochenski Michael I 14 March 2013 Transforming Faith Communities A Comparative Study of Radical Christianity in Sixteenth Century Anabaptism and Late Twentieth Century Latin America Wipf and Stock Publishers ISBN 978 1 62189 597 8 Cameron Archibald Alexander 1872 Protestantism and Its Relation to the Moral Intellectual and Spiritual Developments of Modern Times A Lecture Delivered in the Baptist Chapel Ottawa on Sunday Evening Jan 21st 1872 Joseph Loveday p 12 Rubel Shelly I Just Want to Be a Christian 20th Century Christian Nashville Tennessee 1984 ISBN 0 89098 021 7 The church of Jesus Christ is non denominational It is neither Catholic Jewish nor Protestant It was not founded in protest of any institution and it is not the product of the Restoration or Reformation It is the product of the seed of the kingdom Luke 8 11ff grown in the hearts of men V E Howard What Is the Church of Christ 4th Edition Revised 1971 page 29 Batsell Barrett Baxter and Carroll Ellis Neither Catholic Protestant nor Jew tract Church of Christ 1960 ASIN B00073CQPM According to Richard Thomas Hughes in Reviving the Ancient Faith The Story of Churches of Christ in America Wm B Eerdmans Publishing 1996 ISBN 0 8028 4086 8 ISBN 978 0 8028 4086 8 this is arguably the most widely distributed tract ever published by the Churches of Christ or anyone associated with that tradition Samuel S Hill Charles H Lippy Charles Reagan Wilson Encyclopedia of Religion in the South Mercer University Press 2005 ISBN 0 86554 758 0 ISBN 978 0 86554 758 2 854 pages Monroe E Hawley Redigging the Wells Seeking Undenominational Christianity Quality Publications Abilene Texas 1976 ISBN 0 89137 512 0 paper ISBN 0 89137 513 9 cloth McAlister Lester G and Tucker William E 1975 Journey in Faith A History of the Christian Church Disciples of Christ St Louis MO Chalice Press ISBN 978 0 8272 1703 4 Leroy Garrett The Stone Campbell Movement The Story of the American Restoration Movement College Press 2002 ISBN 0 89900 909 3 ISBN 978 0 89900 909 4 573 pages Albin Barry A Spiritual History of the Western Tradition p 124 Van Voorst Robert E 2012 RELG World with Religion CourseMate with eBook Printed Access Card Cengage Learning p 288 ISBN 978 1 1117 2620 1 Eddy Mary Baker Manual of the Mother Church CSPS p 17 Albanese Catherine America Religions and Religion Cengage Learning p 122 Articles of Faith no 1 Archived from the original on 2013 05 31 Retrieved 2014 01 03 Campbell Ted A 20 March 2000 The Religion of the Heart Wipf and Stock Publishers p 138 ISBN 978 1 57910 433 7 Fleming John A Rowan Michael J Chambers James Albert 2004 Folk Furniture of Canada s Doukhobors Hutterites Mennonites and Ukrainians University of Alberta p 4 ISBN 9780888644183 The English Quakers who had made contact with the Doukhobors earlier as well as the Philadelphia Society of Friends also determined to help with their emigration from Russia to some other country the only action which seemed possible Dyck Cornelius J Martin Dennis D The Mennonite Encyclopedia Mennonite Brethren Publishing House p 107 Fahlbusch Erwin 14 February 2008 The Encyclodedia of Christianity Wm B Eerdmans Publishing p 208 ISBN 9780802824172 The only contact with Mennonites was the period 1802 1841 when they lived in the Molotschna where Johann Cornies q v rendered them considerable assistance Leo Tolstoy The Kingdom of God is Within You Archived 2012 02 05 at the Wayback Machine Kingdomnow org Retrieved on 2010 11 03 Further reading EditDenominational links from the Ecumenism in Canada site Christian denomination at Wikipedia s sister projects Definitions from Wiktionary Media from Commons Texts from Wikisource Resources from Wikiversity Data from Wikidata Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Christian denomination amp oldid 1155131362, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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