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Christian Denominations and the Early Church
The global body of more than 2 billion Christians is separated into more than 45,000 denominations - Pentecostal, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Baptist, Apostolic, Methodist — the list goes on.
Christianity has so many branches because of differences in belief, power grabs and corruption.
The early church, spanning from AD27 to AD 325, was divided chiefly based on geography. According to Professor Bruce Gordon, worship styles and interpretations of Jesus' teachings varied based on regional cultures and customs.
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The Arian Controversy
The Arian controversy in the early fourth century divided Christians in the Roman Empire. Arius, a priest from Alexandria, claimed that because Jesus was "begotten", he was a lesser divinity than God. However, Athanasius, an Alexandrian theologian, claimed Jesus was God incarnate.
In AD 325, at the Council of Nicea, a group of theologians gathered by Emperor Constantine and rejected the views of Arius. However, Christians continued to be divided on this subject for over a century.
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The Great Schism
In 1054, the Eastern Orthodox Christians split from the Western Roman Catholics.
The groups disagreed on the taking of the sacraments. The Eastern Orthodox Christians also disagreed with the Roman beliefs that
- priests should remain celibate
- that the Roman pope had authority over the head of the Eastern church
The Catholic Church successfully suppressed other potential Christian offshoots by sustained persecution against some labelled heretics and using a new system named inquisitions.
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Denominations explode
After the Protestant Reformation in 1517, the number of denominations began to multiply.
- The Reformation, started by Martin Luther's 95 Theses, claimed that the Bible was the ultimate authority over all people, not a church hierarchy.
- By the 17th century, the contemporary word "denomination" began to describe religious offshoots debated whose interpretation of scripture was correct. From these debates, denominations such as the Presbyterians, Mennonites, Baptists and Quakers, among others, took root.
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IDEAS CURATED BY
"If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea." - The little Prince
Nicole N.'s ideas are part of this journey:
Learn more about religionandspirituality with this collection
Different Easter traditions around the world
The significance of Easter eggs and bunnies in modern culture
The importance of the holiday in the Christian faith
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