According to the Center for the Study of Global Christianity there are over 635 Christian denominations in the United States alone (Wilson, p.145). Why is there such a diverse number of denominations all coming from the same foundation, from one religion? How and why did the Christian Church split into denominations in the first place? Duke University assistant professor of church history, Ted A. Campbell, explains denominations this way: “...those who ended up starting new denominations did not set out to do so...Instead, denominations are, by and large, formal and final results of various theological/social/political/ ecclesial movements that took shape over the course of several years, perhaps decades” (Campbell, p. 33-35). Every branch off of Christianity comes from a differing idea or belief regarding an individual or a group of people’s interpretation of scripture and or its application.
First century churches evolved from the apostles traveling from city to city and country to country, expanding Christianity and meeting in their homes. As these house churches grew in number and in distance the understanding and application of the teachings of the apostles began to differ. Peoples’ language, culture, and traditions impacted their understanding and practice of these Christian tenants. Thus began earliest foundations of denominationalism. The first real, organized Christian “denominations” occurred in 1054 C.E., when something called the Western-Eastern Schism, or the Great Schism, occurred. This schism, or split, in the Church happened after many years of disagreements between the Roman church, which led western Christianity and the Constantinople church, which led the eastern (Greek) church bodies. The Great Schism caused ...
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The purpose of this reflective outline is to demonstrate a thorough understanding of theories, concepts, and/or strategies relating to cultural and social religions. “Whale Rider” (Caro, 2002) , is a depictive representation of a cultural religion that has survived on the belief of male inheritance as their form of guidance; however, history has shown that change is inevitable. For example, throughout history, religion has played a pivotal role in the development of individuals, including the evolution of societies. This shows that because religion/s around the world have practiced their core beliefs in an attempt to guide humanities behaviors, yet , as we can observe with the “Whale Rider,” even the most influential community and cultural leaders can become miscued in their ideologies. Because The Maori of New Zealand have developed deep seated beliefs within natural creatures; Katu is term used to relate to their god (Maori.com, 2014) steaming for their ancestral Polynesian descendants. In addition to what can be observed, such as beliefs, practices, and/or symbolic terminologies, each religion will ensure its presidential knowledge is passed to those who receive it accordingly. The factual concept stands and history has proven is evolution that without guidance and continuous religious and cultural support, decedents of a heritage may become lost and/or miscued within their mislead ideology. Although many religions are centered on the belief of normality’s cultural expectance, often times we can observe drastic changes in the reorganization of a cultural religion.
The history of Christianity throughout the world encompasses a significant number of differing theological interpretations. These theological differences gave way to many movements that are a part of the transcending history of the Christian Faith. A sector of these theologically driven movements is the Protestant reform. As a movement, Protestant Reform represents the protest of the traditionally widely practiced religion of the time which was Catholicism. There are four different movements that are a part of the Protestant reform. Each harbors its own identity in that they all seek to establish the church according to the New Testament. Lead by Martin Luther, the Lutheran movement unintentionally began the reformation. “The Reformation of Martin Luther was primarily a movement of doctrinal and theological reform.” (Steinmetz 1979) The impact that Martin Luther had on movements the protestant ideals that followed is prevalent. Although each of these four movements do not agree in their entirety they are interconnected by their yearning to reform the practice of Christianity. In an attempt to express the relevance of the protestant movement to the ascension of the Christian faith, particularly the Protestant church, the explication of each movement is imperative.
At the start of the sixteenth century, the Reformation had put an ungracious end to the dependent unification that had prevailed under the Roman Catholic Church. In response to the growing sense of corruption in the church, the reformation began. Many people began opposing views of how Christian practices were expressed, which led to the formation and spread of Protestantism. While the Pope is head of the Catholic Church, Protestantism is a general term that refers to Christianity that is not subject to papal authority. (1.)
One of the earliest trends in Christianity was the need for Councils to settle disagreements on the religion. There have been many times where Christians had disagreements on what to consider as the base concepts of Christianity. Some
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Throughout the early centuries of the church’s existence, the Roman government suppressed the spread of Christianity. Many emperors did their absolute best to try to stop the Christian populace from spreading with none succeeding (demonstrated by the fact that Christianity is still in existence today). It was not until 322 A.D. when Constantine united all of Europe under his throne that Christianity could be spread without threat of persecution. Under Constantine, Christianity, in terms of numerically, thrived. Councils were held, doctrine developed, and great strides were taken in order to have Christianity be one catholic church. However, in the next couple centuries, the church would grow apart and rulers would fall resulting in mass turmoil throughout the Western Empire. The Roman Catholic Church (as it would later be called) used these events to secure its grip over the entire western empire.
The protestant reformation movement enabled the Counter Reformation for the Roman Catholic’s and greatly influenced many changes, but most importantly the spread of “nearly 21,000 independent churches denominations, falling under 156 main groups”. (Fisher 335) during the reformation area Lutheran, Calvinist, Anglicans, Protestant and Roman Catholics were the major reforms of the Protestant and Roman Catholic Reformations. The main idea of the reformations was to break away to form their own
During the Late Middle Ages, Christian followers and clergy were becoming increasingly concerned about the corruption of the church. Some had even declared that the dogma was false, however, the church had dealt with similar challenges before. In the 1500’s a new series of attacks on the church’s authority had started to destroy Christianity creating both political and cultural consequences.
Lutzer, Erwin. The Doctrines That Divide: a Fresh Look at the Historic Doctrines That Separate Christians. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1998.