| Christian Denominations
- under construction President George Washington didn't want political parties. Christ didn't want divisions among Christians. However, we do have them in the form of Christian denominations. Roman Catholic = formed 325AD at the Nicene Council under Emperor Constantine. It's Ecclesiastical system began forming with Clement of Rome around 88AD. He desired that all the churches in Rome submit to his authority. Positives = largest Christian denomination worldwide, one of the oldest Christian denomination worldwide, very unified, has one central leader, everyone must submit to a universal belief system in the church, believe in the trinity, believe in the accuracy of the Bible, original sin, Christ�s substitutionary atonement Negatives = scriptures are translated from Alexandrian texts, most give unusual honor to Christ's earthly mother, indulgences are frequent, purgatory, infant baptism practiced, tend to not promote a point of salvation for individuals leaning toward the idea that people can be raised into being Christian, talking or praying to the deceased including Saints, there are more than two sacraments, works tend to overwhelm a walk with Christ, has a warlike history, works many times replaces repentance, alcohol consumption permitted, marriage and dating isn't permitted for priests, nuns, and monks, ritualistic Lutheran = founded in 1517AD by Martin Luther Positives = scripture alone is the final earthly authority on all matters of doctrine and life that it addresses, two sacraments, trinity, Christ is fully God and fully man, marriage permitted for ministry offices, original sin, Christ�s substitutionary atonement Negatives = infant baptism, has some Roman Catholic like tendencies, embrace teachings of Augustine of Hippo Methodist = founded by John and Charles Wesley Positives = generally believe that scripture alone is the final earthly authority on all matters of doctrine and life that it addresses, only two sacraments, don�t believe backslidden are born again, don�t believe suicide of backslidden go to Heaven, trinity, Christ is fully God and fully man, original sin, Christ�s substitutionary atonement Negatives = have become increasingly liberal, not as much unity as there could be, have become quite ecumenical, allow infant baptism Baptist = gets its name from the Anabaptist movement. The Anabaptist movement can be traced back to the 1st century church. Positives = believe the Bible is the final earthly authority on all matters of doctrine and life that it addresses, no infant baptism, believers baptism only, Christ�s substitutionary atonement Negatives = there's not a lot of unity among its churches, individualism is promoted, many use its eternal security teaching as a license to sin, members are told that suicides go to Heaven when they are backslidden, backslidden are considered born again, don�t all agree on the extent of the atonement, are divided on if Christ died for all people or not, tend to be cessationalist Free Will Baptist = 1700AD in North Carolina Positives = tend to be unified, believe the Bible is the final earthly authority on all matters of doctrine and life that it addresses, believe Christ died for all people, don�t believe the backslidden are secure, believers baptism only, no infant baptism, Christ�s substitutionary atonement Negatives = not many in existence, no working on Saturday, tend to be cessationalist Eastern Orthodox Catholic = formed as it broke away from Rome in 1056AD. Positives = trinity, Christ is fully God and fully man, unity among its congregations, Christ�s substitutionary atonement Negatives = ritualistic, purgatory, talking to and praying to deceased, scriptures translated from Alexandrian texts, Presbyterian = John Knox founded this movement basing it on the teachings of John Calvin Positives = trinity, Christ is fully God and fully man, Christ is the only way to Heaven, Christ�s substitutionary atonement Negatives = has split into several denominations where some have begun allowing homosexuality and other sexual sins, lacks unity, is ecumenical, lacks an enforced central belief system among its churches, several have become very liberal, God preselected who will go to Heaven and Hell, Christ didn�t die for everyone, those God preselected for Heaven can never be lost, freewill was destroyed when Adam sinned, nobody can do anything good unless God forces them, gambling permitted Pentecostal = The beliefs can be traced back through history much of the time alongside Anabaptists explaining why all Pentecostals only believe in believers baptism and a salvation event for indiduals. Positives = believe scripture alone is the final earthly authority on all matters of doctrine and life that it addresses, not cessationist, 5 offices of New Testament ministry is usually allowed, believe Christ died for everyone, don�t believe backslidden are secure, don�t believe suicides are allowed into Heaven, 2 sacraments, millenialist, Christ�s substitutionary atonement, Christ is the only way to Heaven Negatives = not much unity among its denominations, usually don�t have a centralized enforced belief system Oneness Pentecostal � Modalism, the belief that the Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit are the same person, can be traced back to the 2nd century AD. Positives = its denominations can usually get along well, scripture alone is the final earthly authority on all matters of doctrine and life that it addresses, not cessationist, millenialist, 2 sacraments, Christ�s substitutionary atonement, Christ is the only way to Heaven Negatives = deny trinity, 3 events required for Heaven entry (salvation, water baptism, spirit baptism with evidence of tongues), hostile toward other denominations, don�t have a centralized enforced belief system, tend to focus on hair length and dress codes, works really focused on Messianic - Jewish Christianity Positives = scripture alone is the final earthly authority on all matters of doctrine and life that it addresses, Christ is fully God and fully man, a one time salvation event, 2 sacraments, Christ�s substitutionary atonement, Christ is the only way to Heaven Negatives = don�t always agree on the trinity, denominations are unified, Saturday services, no work on Saturday, festivals are observed, are divided on if a backslidden person is secure, divided on cessationism Fundamentalism � begun during the rise of Darwinian Evolutionism in the mid 1800s Positives = members agree on 5 points of doctrine, trinity, Christ is fully God and fully man, Christ�s substitutionary atonement, Christ is the only way to Heaven, scripture alone is the final earthly authority on all matters of doctrine and life that it addresses Negative = is often misquoted and misrepresented, often demonized, often linked to Muslem extremism and terrorism, divided on millennialism, divided on if Christ died for everyone, is a good unifying system for those who embrace the Bible as true Seventh Day Adventist � Have the same roots as Jehovah�s Witnesses but they do not deny Christ. Positives = trinity, Christ is fully God and fully man, scripture alone is the final earthly authority on all matters of doctrine and life that it addresses, two sacraments, Christ�s substitutionary atonement, backslidden people are not secure, suicide of backslidden don�t enter Heaven, Christ died for all people, original sin, a lot of unity among congregations, a central belief system is enforced Negatives = work on Saturday considered sin, church on Sunday considered sin, works required to obtain and keep salvation, church on Saturday required for salvation I deny that these denominations are Christian: 1) Latter Day Saints (any Mormon) � history of polygamy, used to enforce racism, believe Mormons can one day be gods and goddesses who will have their own world to rule, leadership believes their words become law, leadership has odd methods of congregational control, do not believe the scripture alone is the final earthly authority on all matters of doctrine and life that it addresses, believe books written by Joseph Smith are as good as the Bible 2) Jehovah�s Witnesses � deny trinity, deny Jesus is Messiah, deny Jesus is fully God and fully man, believe that only 144,000 males out of all of history will go to Heaven 3) United Church of Christ � music not permitted, homosexuality permitted, very liberal 4) Episcopalian � allow practicing homosexual clergy, allow homosexuality and other sexual sins, ecumenical, unity embraced at the sacrifice of scriptural doctrine, Note that not all Episcopalian members desire that the denomination continues its liberal path. 5) Presbyterian Church USA � allows homosexuality, gambling permitted, alcohol permitted, no longer believes scripture alone is the final earthly authority on all matters of doctrine and life that it addresses, voting overrides Biblical and historical Christian doctrine. Note that not all PCUSA members desire that the denomination continues its liberal path. 6) Emergent Christianity � allows members to decide what they want to believe and reject 7) Liberal Christianity � allegorical explanation of scripture, it is judging to call sin a sin, homosexuality and other sexual sins permitted, evolutionary theory upheld over scripture and historic Christianity, is in good standing with Unitarianism and Universalism, Christ not necessarily God, people are saved when they �realize� they belong to God 8) Unitarian / Universalist � the Christian belief in Christ is not enforced, Christ�s �philosophies� upheld, everyone is going to Heaven no matter what they do and no matter what religion they are, there is no Hell, belief in Satan is doubted My stances on other religions: Deism � God created all things but hasn�t gotten involved with man throughout history as religions say Atheism / Agnosticism � I�ve never met a true Atheist. They always turn out to be Agnostic. Agnostics aren�t sure if there is a God or not. They desire more evidence before believing in one. All professing Atheists are actually Agnostics. Satanism � founded by Satan Aryanism � first racist religion, is akin to king worship and Baal worship, formed by refugees from Babel from the plain of Shinar Hinduism � a mixture of Aryanism and other pagan religions, founded by fallen angels teaching humans, some fallen angels realized Satan�s deception and tried to teach Indus River valley people about the trinity then their plan was foiled and their teachings corrupted into the Hindu trinity known today Jeremy Brown 2006 BACK |