This history of the origins and development of Christian denominations is in layman's language. Readers will not become bogged down in technical or archaic terms. Begin by reading about the Christian groups, denominations, that developed in the time between Jesus' crucifixion and the formal origins of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches. Learn how the Roman empire came to accept Christianity as its religion, of the cooperation and struggles between the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches and how that led to their separation. Read about how the Black Death, the Crusades, the struggles within the Roman Catholic Church led some church leaders, such as Martin Luther, to attempt to reform the church, and how those attempts led to The Reformation. That opened the door to England declaring that the Church of England, the Anglican Church is the true Christian church. John Calvin laid the ground work for what became the Presbyterian and the Reformed churches. Then came the Huguenots and the Walloons, and the Puritan-Pilgrims who came to America and evolved into such as the Congregationalists. Back in England the Quakers experienced persecution that encouraged them to move to America. John Wesley began what evolved into Methodism. The American Revolution caused American churches of English origin to separate from their English roots and to become such as the Episcopalians and the Methodists. Read about the history of the many denominations that have come into being in The United States. There are the numerous "Christian" churches, the Unitarians, Spiritualist churches, Mormons, Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Christian Science, Pentecostalism and many independent non-denominational churches. It is fascinating history, and all in layman's language.
A Layman's Guide to -
Why Are There So Many Christian Denominations? Who started them? When? Why?By C. Jack TricklerAuthorHouse
Copyright © 2010 C. Jack Trickler
All right reserved.ISBN: 978-1-4490-4576-0Contents
Acknowledgments.........................................................................v1 - Getting Started.....................................................................12 - From Crucifixion to Emperor Constantine, about AD 300...............................103 - Roman Emperor Constantine Makes Christianity Legal..................................214 - From Proto-Orthodox to Roman Catholic...............................................305 - Defeat of the Roman Empire and Division of the Church...............................426 - The (Eastern) Orthodox (Byzantine) Church...........................................507 - The Dark Ages.......................................................................568 - Christian Missionaries, from the Disciples and Paul Onward..........................619 - Roman Church Unintentionally Prepares the Way for Protestantism.....................6610- Martin Luther, the Reformation, and Lutherans.......................................8111- Anabaptists, Baptists and Baptism...................................................9712 - Henry VIII, the Anglican Communion, and Episcopalians..............................11113- John Calvin, Presbyterians, and the Reformed Churches...............................12114- The Huguenots and the Walloons......................................................14015 - The Puritans and the Congregational/United Church of Christ........................14516 - Friends/Quakers....................................................................15417 - John Wesley and Methodism..........................................................16218 - The Great Awakening................................................................18119 - Christian Churches.................................................................18520 - Unitarian Universalists............................................................19221 - Spiritualist Churches, Such as the Swedenborgian...................................19622 - Mormons/Latter-day Saint...........................................................20023- Adventist Churches, including Seventh-day Adventist.................................21224- Jehovah's Witnesses.................................................................21825 - Christian Science..................................................................22426 - Pentecostalism.....................................................................22727 - The Catholic Church in America.....................................................23728 - The Orthodox Churches in America...................................................24729 - Independent, Non-Denominational Churches...........................................25430 - What Have We Learned?..............................................................262Appendix A - Books That Provided Significant Reference Material.........................264Appendix B - Time-Line of Relevant History Up To 1906...................................266Appendix C - Keeping the Calendar Correct...............................................272Appendix D - One Version of the Nicene Creed............................................276
Chapter One
Getting Started
Most Americans have a truncated view of early Christianity and the development of its denominations. That view usually runs something like this: Jesus chose his disciple Peter to be the rock on which Christianity would be built. After Jesus was crucified, Peter went to Rome and started what became the Roman Catholic Church. When the Roman Empire broke into its eastern and western parts the Eastern Orthodox Church split from the Roman Catholic Church. The Protestant movement began when Martin Luther disagreed with the Roman Catholic Church's practice of raising money by selling indulgences and he nailed his 95 theses to the door of a church. The discussions that resulted led some Christians to leave the Roman Catholic Church and start their own churches. Those Christians protested the Roman Catholic Church's practices and that protesting led to their being known as protest-ants, Protestants.
While containing some accurate elements, this limited vision creates a significant distortion of historic reality. The compression of 2,000 years of church history into one paragraph is comparable to condensing the history of the United States into four lines of type. Much too much would be left out of the story.
This book focuses on the historical situations and the differences of opinion that led to the creation of our many denominations. As was my prior book, this book is history. There will be no preaching and no attempt to sway you from one denomination to another.
We will look at the people who created Christian denominations and at the beliefs and characteristics of those denominations that distinguish them from other denominations. We will begin with a quick look at what can be thought of as pre-Jesus denominations and then at what can be thought of as the Christian denominations that began shortly after Jesus' crucifixion. We will look at the people and events that led to the development of denominations. That road was far from peaceful. As Christians gained political power, all too often that led to the torture and murder of those who held contrary beliefs. We humans are a feisty bunch and do horrible things to each other in the name of God! Recognizing that will help us understand why there are so many denominations and why Christians sometimes defend denominational differences so emphatically. Looking at such matters cannot help but cause us to draw parallels to other religions and to the divisions within those religions. Think of Muslims as Sunnis, Shiites, Wahhabis, etc., and think of what caused Muhammad's followers to break into denominations. Examining and understanding what has caused Christians to create so many denominations should help us understand why humans have created so many religions. Hmm! Does that make us wonder if God views Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, etc., as members of various denominations?
If you who have read my previous book, A Layman's Guide to Who Wrote the Books of the Bible? When? Why?, you know that I am a Christian layman with an abiding interest in the history of Christianity. The good reception of that first book and my continuing interest in the history of Christianity led to this book. As with the first book, this book deals with a subject about which there are many reference books. What sets this book apart from at least many of the others is that this one, as with my prior book, is in layperson's language and presents a more complete yet concise summary of the subject.
As you read this introduction, you may wonder what is the author's denomination. Well, I am a United Methodist. Does that in any way affect my objectivity regarding the subject of this book? I do not think so. I believe that learning the origins of, the bases of, and the beliefs of other denominations helps each of us understand more clearly our own denomination's history and doctrines. I hope this book is devoid of Methodist bias. And I must share a bit of humorous family history that should help dispel any concern of author bias. My mother was raised as a German Lutheran. My father was raised as a Methodist back in the days when it was the Methodist...
