User:ChristTrekker/list of Christian denominations

This is a overview summary, primarily for my own reference, as an attempt to understand the distinctives that divide as well as the commonalities that unite Christendom.

Comparison

Denomination	🚼	B Mode	B Sign.	Comm.	Polity	Pr.	♀	⚢⚣	Esch.	Canon	Insp./Inerr.​/​Infall.	Soter.	Theo.	Chr.	Pneum. (C/C)	Notes
	Eccl.								Esch.	Scripture		Soter.	Theo.
Anglican	yes	various	regeneration	C	episc.	ordained	some bishop; most priest, deacon	H	E	OT, NT	III	S	trin.	hypostatic union	proceeds from Father and Son, works through church	N
Apostolic Pentecostal	no	submersion	regeneration (along with spiritual baptism)	C	P	all believers	O	H	E	OT, NT	III	arminian	nontrin.	C	directly active today	N
Assemblies of God	no	submersion	symbolic proclamation of faith	C	presby.​/​congr.	all believers	O	H	E	OT, NT	yes​/​yes/yes	arminian	trin.	hypostatic union	proceeds from Father and Son, directly active today	N
Baptist	no	submersion	symbolic proclamation of faith	C	congr. (some episc.)	all believers	some	H	E	OT, NT	III	arminian (some calvinism)	trin.	hypostatic union	proceeds from Father and Son, works through church	N
Baptist, National (America)	B	B	B	C	P	P	O	H	E	OT, NT	III	S	T	C	P	split from USA denom., ~⅓ its size
Baptist, National (USA)	B	B	B	C	P	P	O	H	E	OT, NT	III	S	T	C	P	½ as large as SBC
Baptist, Progressive National	B	B	B	C	P	P	O	H	E	OT, NT	III	S	T	C	P	split from USA denom., ~¼ its size
Baptist, Southern	B	B	B	C	P	P	O	H	E	OT, NT	III	S	T	C	P	largest Protestant denom. in US
Catholic	yes	affusion (Latin), immersion (Eastern)	B	C	episc.	ordained, celibate for life	no	H	E	OT, NT, D	III	synergism w/o total depravity	trin.	hypostatic union, Mary as mediatrix and co-redemptrix	proceeds from Father and Son, works through church	N
Christian and Missionary Alliance	B	B	B	C	mixed	P	O	H	premill.	OT, NT	yes/yes/?	S	T	C	P	N
Lutheran, ELCA	yes	various	regeneration	C	episc.	all believers	yes	ord.	E	OT, NT	III	lutheran	trin.	hypostatic union	proceeds from Father and Son, works through church	largest Lutheran denom.
Lutheran, LCMC	yes	various	regeneration	C	congr.?	all believers	allowed	no	E	OT, NT	III	lutheran	trin.	hypostatic union	proceeds from Father and Son, works through church	started 2001, now 4th largest
Lutheran, LEPC	yes	various	regeneration	C	episc.	all believers	yes	H	E	OT, NT	III	lutheran	trin.	hypostatic union	proceeds from Father and Son, works through church	N
Lutheran, LCMS	yes	various	regeneration	C	episc.	all believers	no	H	E	OT, NT	III	lutheran	trin.	hypostatic union	proceeds from Father and Son, works through church	2nd largest
Lutheran, WELS	yes	various	regeneration	closed	episc.	all believers	no	no	E	OT, NT	yes/yes/yes	lutheran	trin.	hypostatic union	proceeds from Father and Son, works through church	3rd largest, more conservative than the bigger two
Methodist, Congregational	yes	various	regeneration (along with repentance and personal acceptance)	C	congr.	all believers	O	H	pretrib. premill.	OT, NT	yes​/​yes/yes	wesleyan	trin.	hypostatic union	proceeds from Father and Son, works through church	N
Methodist, Evangelical	yes	various	regeneration (along with repentance and personal acceptance)	C	connex.​/​congr.	all believers	deacons	no	E	OT, NT	III	wesleyan	trin.	hypostatic union	proceeds from Father and Son, works through church	conservative break from UMC
Methodist, Free	yes	various	regeneration (along with repentance and personal acceptance)	C	connex.	all believers	yes	no	E	OT, NT	III	wesleyan	trin.	hypostatic union	proceeds from Father and Son, works through church	slightly more conservative than UMC and less liturgical
Methodist, United	yes	affusion, aspersion, immersion	regeneration (along with repentance and personal acceptance)	juice exclusively	connex.	all believers	yes	no, but in conflict	E	OT, NT	III	wesleyan	trin.	hypostatic union	proceeds from Father and Son, works through church	2nd largest US denomination
Nazarene	yes	B	B	C	episc.​/​congr.	P	O	H	E	C	I/debated​/​I	wesleyan	trin.	hypostatic union	P	largest "holiness" denom. in US
Orthodox	yes	immersion	B	C	episc.	ordained, celibate after ordination	O	H	E	OT, NT, D+	III	S	trin.	miaphysitism​/​monophysitism	proceeds from Father	N
Presbyterian, Associate Reformed	yes	various	covenant membership	C	presby.	all believers	deacons not elders	H	E	OT, NT	III	calvinism	trin.	hypostatic union	proceeds from Father and Son, works through church	N
Presbyterian, Bible	yes	various	covenant membership	C	presby.	all believers	O	H	premill. dispen.	OT, NT	III	calvinism	trin.	hypostatic union	proceeds from Father and Son, works through church	N
Presbyterian, Covenant	yes	various	covenant membership	C	presby.	all believers	no	no	E	OT, NT	III	calvinism	trin.	hypostatic union	proceeds from Father and Son, works through church	N
Presbyterian, Cumberland	yes	various	covenant membership	C	presby.	all believers	yes	H	E	OT, NT	III	calvinism/arminian	trin.	hypostatic union	proceeds from Father and Son, works through church	3 "Cumberland" splinter denoms
Presbyterian, ECO	yes	various	covenant membership	open	presby.	all believers	yes	no	E	OT, NT	III	calvinism	trin.	hypostatic union	proceeds from Father and Son, works through church	N
Presbyterian, Evangelical	yes	various	covenant membership	C	presby.	all believers	ord. of women as deacons/elders or ministers is at the church or presby. level, resp.	H	E	OT, NT	III	calvinism/semi-arminian	trin.	hypostatic union	proceeds from Father and Son, works through church	more tolerant of charismatics than some other presby.
Presbyterian, Orthodox	yes	various	covenant membership	C	presby.	all believers	no	H	E	OT, NT	III	calvinism	trin.	hypostatic union	proceeds from Father and Son, works through church	N
Presbyterian, PCA	yes	various	covenant membership	C	presby.	all believers	no	H	E	OT, NT	III	calvinism	trin.	hypostatic union	proceeds from Father and Son, works through church	2nd-largest Presby. denom.
Presbyterian, PCUSA	yes	various	covenant membership	C	presby.	all believers	yes	yes	E	OT, NT	III	calvinism	trin.	hypostatic union	proceeds from Father and Son, works through church	6× as large as PCA
Presbyterian, Westminster	yes	various	covenant membership	C	presby.	all believers	no	H	E	OT, NT	III	calvinism	trin.	hypostatic union	proceeds from Father and Son, works through church	N
	B Inf.	B Mode	B Sign.	Communion	Polity	Priesthood	♀ Ord.	⚢⚣ Acc.	Eschatology	Canon	Insp./Inerr.​/​Infall.​	Soteriology	Theology	Christology	Pneumatology

Arminius vs Calvin vs Luther vs Wesley

The debate is primarily on how God's grace works in the believer to effect salvation, and what role (if any) man's will has in the process.

Terms

soteriology

The study of salvation and redemption.

monergism

The view that the work of salvation is solely on the part of God's grace working in the sinner.

synergism

The view that the work of salvation is jointly done by God's grace working within a sinner who accepts it.

antinomianism

The belief that moral law is of no use or obligation because faith alone is necessary to salvation. It is the the belief of justification through faith alone in Christ taken to an extreme. It can be seen as the polar opposite of legalism or "works righteousness". It does not necessarily endorse ethical permissiveness, but rather stresses the inner work of the Holy Spirit over written law.

TULIP

An acrostic for the five points of Calvinism: Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistable Grace, Perseverance of the Saints. These points were developed as a codification of Calvinist beliefs in response to Arminius' Five Articles of Remonstrance.

Total depravity

The notion that, because of original sin, everything that the unregenerate man does is tainted. Even the "good" things are faulty in premise, false in motive, and weak in implementation. This view is shared by Catholics and all Protestants, but not by Orthodox churches. (Pelagianism was an alternative view that holds that original sin did not completely corrupt man's nature, and was deemed heretical in 431.)

Unconditional election

The Calvinist teaching that before God created the world, He chose to save some people according to His own purposes and apart from any conditions related to those persons. God predestines those "elected" to receive His mercy. This belief emphasizes the importance of God's sovereignty.

Conditional election

The belief that God chooses for salvation those whom He foresees will have faith in Christ. The doctrine of conditional election derives from the view that Jesus's death on the cross was for all humanity (unlimited atonement). This belief emphasizes the importance of a person's free will.

Limited atonement

Christ's substitutionary atonement on the cross is specifically designed for the elect only. God foreknew/foreordained whom He would save, thus the act of atonement atones only for them. There are some "four point" Calvinists that exclude this one.

Unlimited atonement

Jesus died for all without exception, but while that atonement is available to all it is only effective for those who accept it.

Irresistible (or efficacious) grace

The idea that it is God's grace that overwhelms our sinful predilection to resist the call of the gospel. The willingness and ability to do God's will are seen as evidence of God's own faithfulness to save us, since because of man's corruption by sin we are unable to choose Him in our own power. Regeneration precedes faith.

Prevenient (or preceding) grace

This is the aspect of God's grace that precedes salvation, enabling but not ensuring that man's free will may choose to accept God's gift of salvation.

Perseverance of the saints

Also called "eternal security" and sometimes characterized "once saved, always saved" though that can be subtly different dependent on what you take "saved" to mean. The Calvinist view says that since God has predestined some to come to faith in Him, once His grace has irresistibly drawn them to Himself, they necessarily persevere (remain) as Christians.

Conditional preservation

The Arminian view says that perseverance of salvation is conditional upon the believer persevering in faith.

Positions

Lutheranism holds a monergistic soteriology that man in his unregenerate state cannot choose spiritual righteousness (though he may be able to work civil righteousness) without the work of God's grace. The corrupted natural power of man can do nothing to aid in his own salvation, it is entirely through God's grace. They believe that some are predestined to salvation (not because of the predestination itself but because of what Christ would do on the cross), but not that others are predestined to damnation. Damnation is a result of sin, rejection of forgiveness, and unbelief. "Falling away" is possible, but God does give assurance of preservation.

Calvinism

Arminianism

Wesleyanism differs from Arminianism primarily in that Wesleyans believe that Christians who have fallen away can regain salvation.

Another position, called Free Grace theology, states that the "call to believe" in Christ as Lord and Savior (and thus receive justification to salvation) is distinct from the "call to follow" Christ as a true disciple (and thus begin the process of sanctification). This allows for "carnal" or even "unbelieving" Christians who are saved but who don't display fruit. It could be characterized with the phrase "once saved, always saved". This is seen as wholly monergistic in that it is solely God's effort that brings the sinner to salvation; he need not respond at all. (By contrast, a Calvinist would say it is God's grace working in the sinner that allows him to choose faith—even though that grace is irresistable, and hence responding that way is the only possible choice. They would characterize free grace as antinomianism. Arminians reject this view because they believe that salvation can be lost by those who later turn away from Christ.) Some in this view say that "repentance" from the Greek means simply "to change one's mind", so changing your mind to believe in Christ is the repentance that assures salvation. Others say that repentance is distinct but still not necessary for salvation, that there is only one answer to, "What must I do to be saved?"