What is the difference between all the Christian denominations?

Question

I'm Jewish and I really don't know the answer to this question. Why are there so many different kinds of Christians? There are the Catholics and the Protestants. Within the Protestant faith, there are Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Baptist, Methodists, Lutherans, etc. Do they all accept Christ as their savior? Do they all believe in the Trinity? If so, why aren't they all just Protestants?

Answer 1

Name a way of being different and there is probably at least one Christian denomination that fits it. The Christian Church began with the miraculous descent of God's Spirit on the Apostles, as described in the first chapters of the Acts of the Apostles. At that time, the return of Jesus was expected immediately, and communities concentrated on living righteous lives of friendship and compassion. As Christ's return delayed, issues of practice, governance and doctrine developed that couldn't be answered by either the Hebrew scriptures or the recalled teachings of the Christ. Who is in charge? How do we handle disagreements? What do we do with Gentiles, or with apostates who repent? Exactly WHAT was Jesus, God or man? In time, the leaders of the Church determined that by meeting in counsel, invoking the Holy Spirit and debating among themselves, they could rule on such issues with the assurance that Christ was still with his church.

Some issues were not easily resolved, particularly the theological analysis of Jesus' nature. Proponents of different positions actually fought each other in public, and forced bishops to flee their communities. It became enough of a problem that Constantine legalized Christianity and ordered the bishops to convene and hammer out their differences. They did so, formulating their orthodoxy and suppressing the resulting heretics. A vigilant unity emerged and endured for several centuries.

But there were administrative problems. As the Western Roman Empire crumbled, the Eastern Empire continued fairly well. But the bishop of Rome, as successor of Peter, the leader of the Apostles, felt he had a higher authority than other bishops. (This was enhanced when Rome fell and he was left as the closest thing to a civil authority there.) But the Eastern bishops felt they were the sole authorities for their own areas. Frictions developed whenever it appeared Rome was trying to interfere in local affairs. It finally broke open in the 11th Century CE, when the bishops of Rome and Constantinople excommunicated each other in what is known as the Great Schism, and despite a later attempt to heal it, the Orthodox and the Western Churches have not been in full communion and do not heed each others' proclamations.

Further trouble developed in the Western Church with the rise of Scholasticism. As scholars wrestled with reconciling Christian theology with classical philosophy and logic, new questions were asked about what had previously been assumed. Those who could read wanted direct access to the scriptures. The Church knew that some of it was confusing and reserved its right to properly interpret scripture for the Church for the sake of Christian unity. Those who actively disagreed were excommunicated, losing their legitimacy as debaters of the issues.

The Rennaissance, with its technical advancements like the printing press, travel and the rediscovery of the Greek language, provided an opportunities to test and judge the artifacts of history outside of Church influence. English translations of scripture allowed ever more people to discuss the finer points of doctrine. WIth this flowering of the spirit of inquiry, the Church was beginning to look like an obstacle to truth. But there were no other options, only Christendom and heresy.

The solution was to delegitimize the authority of Rome. Rome claimed an unbroken historical chain of authorial succession going back to the Apostles. So the dissidents had to show both how it was wrong and when it went wrong. A priest, Martin Luther, found a passage in Romans that stated that Christians were saved by faith in God and Christ, not by their own works (a doctrine the Roman Church had long upheld). And since the Christian scriptures predated the doctrinal councils of the 4th Century, an argument could be made that scripture had prior authority to the Church's treasured "apostolic succession", and that none of Rome's authority was legitimate.

Luther tried to debate his premises but the Church wasn't interested. For his persistence, it excommunicated him. He didn't intend to start a new "church", and possibly didn't think it was possible. But he had the attention of the princes of Europe, who were eager to throw off the administrative shackles of Rome's "Christendom". With their support, Luther built a new type of Christianity, a "Protestant" version that preached a direct relationship with God, free of intervention by anyone but Jesus Christ. Notions such as sacraments, liturgical rites and symbols, prayers by and for the dead and the teachings and traditions of the historical Church were either discarded or minimalized. People were free to seek God in their own way.

But with the rejection of traditional authority, Luther couldn't claim to be the sole interpreter of scripture. John Calvin and John Zwingli established their own churches, after scripturally determining that the supernatural fate of every person had been predetermined from the beginning and could not be changed. The Anabaptists felt that infant baptism, established during the days of persecution, was an abomination and insisted that people be rebaptized as adults. Mennonites felt that only an authentic, primitive experience of Church was valid. And on it went.

Not all divisions were doctrinal. King Henry VIII of England, long a defender against Protestantism, found himself married to a Catholic queen who could not produce a male heir, so when the Pope refused to annul his marriage, he declared himself head of the Church in England. This pleased some Englishmen and terrified others. As the Anglican Church developed, dissenters complined that it was still too "Catholic" and broke away to become the Puritans, the Presbyterians and the Methodists.

Some of the divisions are based on a sense of sprituality. There are denominations who practice "head" religion, parsing the fine points of doctrine. Others practice "heart" religion, focusing on the charitable social works commanded by Christ. Still others practice "spirit-filled" religion, focusing on rapturous "pentcostal" or "charismatic" worship experiences. One denomination may be able to tolerate such diversity without splitting, another may not.

Some split over hierarchy. One denomination believes in a system of bishops and synods, another in loosly related comunities, and another in rule solely by individual congregations. And some Christians just form spontaneous, "non-denominational" communities without any imported rules.

Some, such as the Unitarians and the Universalists, prefer their doctrine simple, to conform with their conception of God. Some denominations, such as Seventh Day Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses and Latter Day Saints, develop doctrines so radically different from previous ones that other denominations regard them as "post-Christian". (They obviously disagree.)

Essentially, people disagree. If a community cannot survive with the disagreements, it splits. Jesus left no organizational manual. And there is enough ambiguity in Christian scriptures and theology to allow a wide variety of interpretations and practices. Compare the Pharisees, Sadduccees, Essenes and Zealots of Jesus' day. According to John's gospel, one of Jesus' most fervent prayers was "that they may all be one."

Answer 2

Short answer to long story. In the beginning the Church was one. Then in 1054 there was a big fight over theology and the role of the bishop of Rome. Then there was a split between the Eastern Church which started to call itself Orthodox (meaning right belief and right practice) and the Western church which called itself Catholic (meaning Universal). Then in another 500 year or so in the Western church there arose a protest movement starting with Martin Luther and others. This is where the Protestant churches come in. These are the groups that broke away from Rome. Some think of the Anglican (called Episcopal in the U.S.) as a Protestant church. Actually it considers itself to be a separate thing altogether. It is a bridge church between the others. So today we have 4 major branches of the Christian church. Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Protestant.

All believe in the Nicene creed. Which is our declaration of faith. The first 3 branches are all what is call 'liturgical' churches and have many things alike. Some of the theology is different. The greatest differences are in the Protestant Churches and some of them border on being what the others would call heretics.

Answer 3

There are so many denominations for several reasons. (1) Each denomination has a slightly different doctrine or emphasis from the others. (2) As people started churches, they simply gave them different names. (3) Denominations are good in that if you attended a Baptist church in one town, and then moved to another town, you could attend a similar Baptist church in the new town. The Lutheran denomination was named after Martin Luther. The Methodists got their name because their founder, John Wesley, was famous for coming up with “methods” for spiritual growth. Presbyterians are named for their view on church leadership - the Greek word for elder is "presbyteros." Baptists got their name because they have always emphasized the importance of baptism.



We, as believers, must believe the same on the essentials of the faith, but beyond that there is great latitude in how a Christian should worship, serve, and live his life. This latitude is what causes so many different flavors of Christianity. Diversity is a good thing, but disunity is not. If two churches disagree doctrinally, it is fine that they remain separate. This separation, though, does not lift the responsibility Christians have to love one another (1 John 4:11-12) – and ultimately be united as one in Christ (John 17:21-22).

Recommended Resource: The Master's Plan for the Church by John MacArthur.

Answer 4

The difference is their traditions and church rules; all of them if they profess to be Christian, are to follow the Word of God.
There is no way, esspecially in this generation, that all could be one, because you have some who have satan at their pulpit. How do I know? Because they actually have the idea that a gay woman living and having sexual relations with another gay woman, is okay to be the Pastor of the church. Its bad enough to
knowingly and repeatedly commit a sin without wanting to repent of it, but these guys actually want others to say its fine to
get their sin and stick it right into the face of God, in His own house. They would be better off if they were ones who Christ says: "depart from me I never knew you",
because they would be much better off than whats really gonna happen, because I can assure you that Christ knows exactly who they are, just like you would surely remember someone who came into your home and disrespected you. Boy, are they ever gonna get it, but thats okay. Christ ushers in a 1000 year period of teaching and of the strictest disipline. I guarantee you they will be straightened out.

Answer 5

Rachel,
This is a great question! Many of the Denominational Christians are following Man's Ways rather than Biblical Ways. They are more interested in following the ways of man than the ways of GOD. I am a Non-Denominational Christian who attempts to follow the New Testament Scriptures as closely as possible. We read, study, and obey GOD's WORD each and every day and worship HIM as the New Testament Christians did in the First Century Church according to the Apostles. Have a great day and a wonderful week.
Thank you,
Eds, Christian


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Joseph is WRONG. The Catholic Church did not occur until about 300 AD. Christ's Church was begun in about 33Ad by HIS Apostles.

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Answer 6

Between the protestants not a great deal, Catholics, yes a lot of difference. Protestant beliefs seem to be a watered down Catholocism. I am neither.

Answer 7

you forgot non-denominational. those are the folks who got tired of all the crazy rules. like no dancing, women gotta wear dresses. your not really saved if you can't speak in tongues. that crazy stuff. The catholic church formed when Rome found they couldn't kill all the christians so they took control of the church. Luther broke from the catholics and from there every man who thought he knew what God really meant and could get enough followers started his own church. Then mormons believe that Christ appeared to some guy back in early America and left him some special rules. Man is it no wonder people look at us and wonder.

it's no wonder eastern religions and stuff look good to people. at least their beliefs and practices stay constant, even if they are wrong it looks consistant.

Answer 8

Among Protestants there are some differences in beliefs. Also worship styles may vary.

Answer 9

The Catholic Church was founded by Jesus Christ in 33 A.D. The Orthodox separated from the Catholic Church in 1054 over the authority of the Pope. Martin Luther separated from the church in the 1500's over a number of Church doctrines. He got rid of certain books in the OT and even wanted to throw out the Epistle of James. Thus denominations were continually be founded by those who separated themselves from the only church founded by Jesus Christ - the Catholic Church.

Answer 10

I am sure all believe in the trinity and Jesus as the saviour. the main differance is the catholics believe the bread and wine literaly become Jesus' body and blood when taken

Answer 11

See the table of Christian denominational beliefs here:
http://www.religionfacts.com/christianity/charts/denominations_beliefs.htm