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Christian denomination

"Branches of Christianity" redirects here. For the view that the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church includes different Christian denominations, see Branch theory.
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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] The total Protestant population has reached around 1.047 billion in 2024, accounting for about 39.8% of all Christians.[11][8][12] Sixteenth-century Protestants separated from the Catholic Church as a result of the Reformation, a movement against doctrines and practices which the Reformers perceived to be in violation of the Bible.[13][14][15] Together, Catholicism and Protestantism (with major traditions including Adventism, Anabaptism, Anglicanism, Baptists, Lutheranism, Methodism, Moravianism, Pentecostalism, Plymouth Brethren, Quakerism, Reformed, and Waldensianism) compose Western Christianity.[16][17] Western Christian denominations prevail in Sub-Saharan Africa, Europe (excluding Eastern Europe), North America, Oceania and South America.[18]

The Eastern Orthodox Church, with an estimated 230 million adherents,[19][12][20] 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.[19] 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, the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches, the Oriental Orthodox communion, the Assyrian Church of the East, the Ancient Church of the East, and the Eastern Lutheran Churches constitute Eastern Christianity. There are certain Eastern Protestant 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.

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 Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Church of the East and Lutheran denominations, each hold that only their own specific organization faithfully represents the one holy catholic and apostolic Church, to the exclusion of all others. Certain denominational traditions teach that they were divinely instituted to propagate a certain doctrine or spiritual experience, for example the raising up of Methodism by God to propagate entire sanctification (the "second blessing"),[21] or the launch of Pentecostalism to bestow a supernatural empowerment evidenced by speaking in tongues on humanity.[22]

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.[23] It includes Mormons, Irvingians, Christadelphians, Swedenborgians, Jehovah's Witnesses, among others, although beliefs between these religions differ greatly.[24][25][26]

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. Since the reforms surrounding the Second Vatican Council of 1962–1965, the 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,[27] though they sometimes are regarded as Protestants.[28][29][30][31]

  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 "Pewforum: Christianity (2010)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 August 2013. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
  9. ^ "Pubblicazione dell'Annuario Pontificio e dell'Annuario Statistico della Chiesa, 25.03.2020" [Publication of the Pontifical Yearbook and the Statistical Yearbook of the Church, 25.03.2020] (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. 25 March 2020. Archived from the original on 12 May 2020. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  10. ^ 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. ^ Cite error: The named reference WorldChristian Database was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ a b "Status of Global Christianity, 2019, in the Context of 1900–2050" (PDF). Center for Study of Global Christianity. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 July 2020. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
  13. ^ Harvard Divinity School, The Religious Literacy Project. "The Protestant Movement". rlp.hds.harvard.edu. Archived from the original on 2020-07-28. Retrieved 2020-05-31.
  14. ^ "What Is Protestantism & Why Is it Important?". Christianity.com. Archived from the original on 14 June 2020. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  15. ^ "The Reformation". HISTORY. 11 April 2019. Archived from the original on 9 June 2020. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  16. ^ Cite error: The named reference EB2008 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  17. ^ Cite error: The named reference Melton2005 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  18. ^ "Western Christianity". www.philtar.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 28 April 2017. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  19. ^ a b "Orthodox Christianity in the 21st Century". Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project. 8 November 2017. Archived from the original on 25 January 2021. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
  20. ^ Fairchild, Mary. "Christianity:Basics:Eastern Orthodox Church Denomination". about.com. Archived from the original on 5 June 2016. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
  21. ^ Davies, Rupert E.; George, A. Raymond; Rupp, Gordon (2017). A History of the Methodist Church in Great Britain, Volume Three. Wipf & Stock Publishers. p. 225. ISBN 978-1532630507.
  22. ^ Yongnan, Jeon Ahn (21 May 2019). Interpretation of Tongues and Prophecy in 1 Corinthians 12-14, with a Pentecostal Hermeneutics. Brill Academic Publishers. p. 9-10. ISBN 978-90-04-39717-0.
  23. ^ Cite error: The named reference Riswold2009 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  24. ^ "The Restorationist denominations in Christianity". Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance. 2012. Archived from the original on 11 May 2008. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  25. ^ Cite error: The named reference Bloesch2005 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  26. ^ Cite error: The named reference Spinks2017 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  27. ^ "Nondenominational & 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.
  28. ^ Shellnutt, Kate (20 July 2017). "The Rise of the Nons: Protestants Keep Ditching Denominations". News & Reporting. Archived from the original on 2020-05-20. Retrieved 2020-05-23.
  29. ^ "What Are Non-Denominational Churches? Meaning & Examples". Christianity.com. Archived from the original on 28 July 2020. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  30. ^ says, An Ethnographical Study of Saint Francis United Methodist Church-NCSU Studies in Religion (8 August 2017). "What Does the Growth of Nondenominationalism Mean?". Facts & Trends. Archived from the original on 24 July 2020. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  31. ^ "Gallup: Non-denominational Protestants on the rise". Baptist Press. 21 July 2017. Archived from the original on 28 July 2020. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
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