Differences in Denominations

Ask Me Anything

Week 3: Differences in Denominations

What are the differences in Christian denominations? Why are there so many?

Diversity of Early Christianity

Christianity has been widely diverse in belief and doctrine since the beginnings. Early believers were trying to make sense of a man being the Son of god, flipping cultural norms on their head, sharing messages of love and redemption, and then being violently murdered at the hands of the state. They were all seeking to make sense of that in light of previously held beliefs whether they were Jewish or "gentile." We are still trying to make sense of some of the same things. It seems to me, from our history, it has never served us well to finger point and scream "heretic!" Difference of opinion is in our Church's DNA, well before the Catholic, orthodox or protestant.

In the second century, Christianity was not uniform. This was a time of a lot of self-definition. Within Rome alone, there was Justin Martyr's school, a sect of Gnosticism headed up by Valentinus, and then Papal St. Peter's See. These sects disagreed vastly on topics such as the dates for Easter and the divinity of Christ. By the third and fourth century there were more gospels than you could count or ever read in one bible. The Gospel of Mary Magdalen shows her as a disciple and argues that women should be able to teach. There were also Gospels containing stories of Jesus as a child or about disciples going to strange lands. The Gospel of Thomas is only sayings of Jesus, it does not account for the story of Jesus' life.

One person to push for orthodoxy early on was Irenaeus. He was an 18-20-year-old Greek bishop from the first century when he witnessed 50-70 people executed in his community. He was very wary of fragmentation and tried to rally his people under a uniform message. Irenaeus wanted orthodoxy, not heterodoxy. He didn’t want people making choices about what to believe, but being told what to believe from a bishop. Irenaeus was very vocal about having just the four gospels that we have today. This was before the canonized bible and so there was a lot of discussion of what should and shouldn’t be included. When the bible was canonized there were some criteria put into place, but it wasn’t a call for full belief of one brand rather, an attempt to rally diverse people together under one church.

Constantine’s Conversion

Another figure who wanted conformity in belief was Constantine. Everything changed when Constantine became emperor. He was a successful general, fighting a war for control over parts of Rome. Constantine was promoted to become the empire of the Western Empire. The rival emperor, Maxentius, waged a war for control of the entire empire in 311. There was a battle at Milvian Bridge, where Constantine had a celestial vision with the sun and a cross shape overlaying it and with words underneath the cross saying "by this, conquer." The story says he painted shields of soldiers with crosses and attributed the victory to Jesus. Constantine issued a series of propaganda to help unite the empire and slander Maxentius and had historian Eusebius write Life of Constantine. The Life of Constantine painted Constantine as God's chosen leader. In 313, Constantine and Licinius, another Roman official, issued the edict of Milan. However, Licinius was worried Christians would be more loyal to Constantine, so he continued persecution. Constantine and Licinius went to war and in 324, Licinius surrendered, and then was executed by Constantine. In 337, Constantine fell fatally ill. In preparing for death he trained as a catechumen and started the journey to Constantinople to be baptized. He made it to Nicomedia and was baptized there by a bishop. The Authenticity of Constantine's conversion remains in question.

Religion of the State

Regardless of the authenticity of his conversion, Constantine changed the face of Christianity. He saw the opportunity to unite and strengthen the empire under one God. He favored Christianity and gave money to churches. It seems that his Mother, Helena, sponsored several churches such as the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, St Catherine's Monastery in Sinai, and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. However, to unite the empire under one religion, the religion itself needed to be unified. In order to do that, he had to get everyone on the same page. Constantine gathered the Christian Bishops in Nicaea in 325 to agree on one brand of theology, or orthodoxy. Prior to this, Christianity had heterodox, or a variety of opinions and beliefs. His priority was imperial unity. He presided over the bishops and took on a unique role of emperor and bishop. This council is when the date of Easter was agreed upon, and there was a lot of debate around Jesus' divinity. Through this, Constantine was able to demand and enforce a prescription for Christian identity that served to promote Roman identity. Christianity became so synonymous with Roman identity that any non-Roman nation was seen as non-Christian even if there was a history of indigenous Christian expression there. Kingdom of God and the Roman Empire became synonymous. However, not everyone agreed with the new orthodox theology. In order to have everyone on the same page, Constantine had to force everything to become black and white, and therefore those who disagreed were labeled ‘heretics’. A lot of the established Christian churches in Egypt, Nubia and Persia, disagreed with key pieces of Orthodox theology and therefore were all labeled ‘heretics’. Therefore Roman and Western identity is seen as Christian, and Eastern is seen as ‘heretical’.

When Christianity became a religion of the state, it became synonymous with Roman thought. Forcing orthodoxy began a trend of silencing non-Roman, Christian voices. We are still paying the price. Many people incorrectly think that Christianity did not reach non-Western countries until colonialism, however, there were deeply vibrant Christian communities in Egypt, Nubia, and northern Africa through the first six centuries. In the book, A Multitude Of All Peoples, author Vince L Bantu states that "we have two tasks to move forward: the deconstruction of western, white cultural captivity of the Christian tradition; and elevating non-western expressions of Christianity.” Western and white captivity of the church has been a stumbling block for the reception of the gospel for centuries. In the Western world, the growth of secularism, agnosticism, and atheism is due in large part to historical atrocities committed by western Christians.

The Protestant Reformation

In 1517, Martin Luther, who was a German, Catholic, monk, saw room for change within the Catholic church. He wrote the Ninety-five Theses, which he sent in a letter to an Archbishop, and posted it to the doors of churches and cathedrals in Wittenberg. The printing press was on the rise, so the letter was quickly circulated and translated to other languages. Luther did not set out to start a new church, he merely protested against some of the Catholic practices, and was seeking change. One of the major practices he was against was the sale of plenary indulgences. Catholics believe in purgatory, which is an in-between space where the dead work off their sins before being admitted into heaven. There was practice at the time, where you could essentially pay money to buy off that debt for loved ones who had passed, therefor purchasing their admittance to heaven. Those who followed Luther out of the Catholic church where coined Protestants, as they protested some Catholic teachings. Though this was certainly not the first division in Christianity, it did set the stage for subsequent reformations in Europe, and we have continue dividing and subdividing. Below is a timeline of some major splits in Christianity, and some brief bullet points on a few key denominations.

Catholicism – First Century CE

The Apostle Peter is considered the first Pope
7 sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance, Anointing the Sick, Matrimony, Holy Orders
Transubstantiation – communion is transformed into the literal body and blood of Christ.
Priests cannot marry
Priests have authority over scripture, and scripture is held alongside—not higher than—other faith practices/traditions

Orthodox Churches

There is a wide range of orthodox churches that split from Catholicism before the reformation that get little attention
The East-West Schism was a separation from the Catholic church that happened in 1054, there were many things, and breaks before this point, all the way back to the first century
Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch, Armenian Apostolic Church, Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, Eastern Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox

Lutheran - 1500s

Started by Martin Luther
Only 2 sacraments: communion and baptism
Believe in infant baptism
Elevated scriptures above the authority of the pope and Catholic church
Re-canonized scripture
Lutheran ministers can marry
Grace by faith alone, no penance, actions, etc.

Church of England (Anglican) – 1534

Split over King Henry VIII's annulment of his marriage with Catherine of Aragon
Episcopal – US faction of Anglican church
Allow all couples seeking marriage to be married
Allows LGBTQ+ clergy

Presbyterian – 1500s

Started by John Knox
Church governed by elders or Presbyters
Influenced by John Calvinism
God initiates salvation, thus our salvation is secure and we cannot loose salvation
Presbyterian Church (USA)
- allows all couples seeking marriage to be married
- allows LGBTQ+ clergy

Baptist – 1609

Started by John Smyth
Separated from Church of England over differences of belief in baptism (hence name)
Disagreed with infant baptism, believed in "believer's baptism" or that baptism is only for believers
Believed in full submersion during baptism, no sprinkling
Once saved, always saved (salvation is always secured)
Operate more independently than other denominations and have no unifying set of doctrine that binds them together

Methodist – John Wesley 1738

Christian life should be carried out in a more methodical way in terms of worship and practice
Salvation – salvation is something that God initiates, but you could lose your salvation. Salvation is up to us. We can detach or distance ourselves from our faith. Working out of our salvation. Not a one and done.
Social Holiness and Personal Holiness

7th Day Adventists – 1831

Started by James & Ellen White
A lot of views that were controversial for a while, they were believed to be a religious cult for quite some time
They strictly adhere to sabbath being on Sundays and therefore worship on Saturday

Pentecostal – 1896

Started by Charles Harrison Mason
Azuza Street Revival 1906-1915
Pentecostals place a heavy emphasis on the Holy Spirit
Sanctification, is an event of faith, when you receive a baptism of the spirit that you will speak in tongues. Believe heavily in gifts of spirits
Charismatics – a split from Pentecostals that focus a lot on spiritual gifts

Non-Denominational