I have long been mystified by the number of flavours the Christian Religion
is available in. This (as so aptly described by the late, great John Peel)
Medieval Belief System has spawned dozens of sects: their arguments over the
fine points of interpretation of a strange book compiled under stranger
circumstances have inspired acts ranging from kindness to warfare. On this page
I will explain what they all believe, but have no hope of explaining why. While
intending to take a worldwide perspective, I will concentrate particularly on
the British situation, as that is my natural interest: just as I cannot see the
reason for more than one or two banks, building societies or shoe shops in every
neighbourhood, I cannot understand why there are so many Christian sects in
every town. or why there is such antipathy between them.
'No kingdom has ever seen so many civil wars as the Kingdom of Christ',
Montesquieu.
'A faith is something you die for, a doctrine is something you kill for. There
is all the difference in the world',
Tony Benn
From the British perspective,
this is where it started, as this is what
Henry VIII split away from.
However, as the prefix 'Roman' implies, this was not the first split: in the
Great Schism of 1054 the Eastern Orthodox churches broke to leave the RC. Beliefs: The Roman Catholic Church teaches that the world was created
by God. God is One, but subsists in three distinct, co-equal, and co-eternal
persons - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Trinity. Adam, the
first man, disobeyed God and so separated mankind from Him, bringing death
into the world. To bring humans back into reconciliation with God, and so to
eternal life, God sent His Son, Jesus Christ to redeem humanity. Jesus
became incarnate, (literally was born as a real man), of the Holy Spirit and
the Virgin Mary, and remains both fully man and fully God. He taught
humanity how to live, and died on the cross for the sins of mankind. After
three days He was resurrected and rose from the dead. At the end of time
there will be a general resurrection of the dead, and a final judgement.
(from Wikipedia). Organisation: Worldwide, there are 2700+ dioceses, each with a
bishop. Dioceses are divided into parishes. Hierarchy: Deacon, Priest, Bishop, Cardinal, Pope. (also Nun -
Abbess; Monk - Abbot in the consecrated orders). Priests and up should be single and celibate. Married men
can become deacons but then cannot progress to the priesthood. Standards: Homosexuality and contraception are not allowed for any
members or officials of the church. Founded: The RC church regards itself as the original Christian
church and so I guess the answer is around 30 AD, otherwise, 1054
As noted above, in 1054, the
Eastern Orthodox churches, based largely in Greece and Russia, split away
from what became the Roman Catholic church because of theological and
political disputes between the churches' patriarchs. Beliefs: Eastern Orthodoxy is Christocentric, viewing Christ
Jesus as the head of the Church, and the Church as his body; with authority
derived directly from this relationship. This authority is held to be
intrinsic to the whole Church in all her members and mediated by the Holy
Spirit dynamically in Tradition. Eastern Orthodoxy has an extensive oral
tradition that predates the actual texts of the New Testament, hence, it
does not consider itself to be bibliocentric; which is the case with
most forms of Protestantism. Strict rules and laws are deėmphasized in the
Orthodox Church in favour of guidelines with love, compassion and mercy
considered in all things. The Fathers of the Orthodox Church are not
legalistic in their views of sin. Sin does not exist as an abstract entity
and must be approached on an individual basis. What is a sin for one man may
not be for another; neither does the Orthodox Church see all sin as being
the same. The Orthodox Church does not seek any conflict with science.
The most visible difference between the Catholic and Orthodox churches is
their ecclesiology, and definitions of papal primacy. The Orthodox views all
bishops as fundamentally equal with the Patriarch of Constantinople as
"First Among Equals". The Catholic Church, on the other hand, views
the Patriarch of Rome as the supreme head of the Church and ascribes to him
wide-ranging authority on all matters of Church theology and administration,
going so far as to adopt the doctrine of papal infallibility in certain
specific contexts. After the split, Roman Catholics defined other dogmas
that the Eastern Orthodox also considers heretical, among them papal
infallibility, the immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary, and purgatory.
The See of Rome considers the Eastern Orthodox churches to be in schism. The
general Orthodox consensus is that Roman Catholics are both schismatics and
heretics, although a minority of Orthodox Christians believe that the
difference in reality is smaller than it appears superficially.
There was an earlier schism when the Oriental Orthodox
churches separated from the Catholic church (then, of course including Roman
and Eastern components).
Organisation: The church is organised geographically, with around 15
independent Autocephalous churches and around 11 nearly independent
Autonomous churches. See
Wikipedia for
details. Hierarchy: The ordained roles are Subdeacon, Deacon, Priest and
Bishop. There is also a deaconess, but these are now rare. The Orthodox
Church has always allowed married priests and deacons, provided the marriage
takes place before ordination. In general, congregational priests should be
married, as they will be dealing with married couples; unmarried priests
should normally be in monasteries. Widowed priests and deacons are not
allowed to remarry. It is common for such a member of the clergy to retire
to a monastery. This also applies to the widowed wives of clergy, they do
not remarry and usually become nuns. Bishops are always celibate as they are
selected from the ranks of monks (who are celibate). Bishops, priests, and
deacons have always been men only because they represent Christ, who chose
to be male. Standards: ?
The Oriental Orthodox branch was
created in the first major split within Christianity, leaving what later
became the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches.
Beliefs: The separation resulted in part from the Oriental Orthodox
churches' refusal to accept the Christological dogmas promulgated by the
Council of Chalcedon, which held that Jesus has two natures one divine and
one human, although these were inseparable and only act as one hypostasis.
To the hierarchs who would lead the Oriental Orthodox, this was tantamount
to accepting Nestorianism. In response, they advocated a formula that
stressed unity of the Incarnation over all other considerations (from
Wikipedia).
I have no idea what this means.
Organisation: The organisation is geographical with 8 main
comonents, see
Wikipedia.
This is where the story gets
interesting in Britain. Although the church will trace its formal history back to
St. Augustin's mission of 597 and before then to the origins of christianity
in Britain and Western Europe, I would argue that Beliefs: [from their web site] What it means to be an Anglican: The
Scriptures and the Gospels, the Apostolic Church and the early Church
Fathers, are the foundation of Anglican faith and worship in the 38
self-governing churches that make up the Anglican Communion. The basic
tenets of being an Anglican are:
We view the Old and New Testaments 'as containing all things necessary for
salvation' and as being the rule and ultimate standard of faith.
We understand the Apostles' creed as the baptismal symbol, and the Nicene
creed as the sufficient statement of the Christian faith. (see Creeds)
The two sacraments ordained by Christ himself - Baptism and the Supper of
the Lord - are administered with unfailing use of Christ's words of
institution, and the elements are ordained by him.
The historic episcopate is locally adapted in the methods of its
administration to the varying needs of the nations and peoples called of God
into the unity of his Church.
Apostolic Church
founded, 1916
membership 5,500-6,000 in the UK web site
This is the church I was brought
up to attend. It arose out of the Welsh Revival of 1904-5 and was formally
established in 1916, splitting from the Apostolic Faith Church. Beliefs: The Unity of the Godhead and the Trinity of the Persons
therein; The utter depravity of human nature, the necessity of repentance
and regeneration and the eternal doom of the finally impenitent; The Virgin
Birth, Sinless Life, Atoning Death, triumphant Resurrection, Ascension and
Abiding Intercession of our Lord Jesus Christ; His Second Coming and
Millennial Reign upon Earth; Justification and Sanctification of the
Believer through the finished work of Christ; The Baptism of the Holy Ghost
for believers, with signs following; The Nine Gifts of the Holy Ghost for
the edification, exhortation and comfort of the Church, which is the Body of
Christ; The Sacraments of Baptism by immersion and of the Lord's Supper; The
Divine Inspiration and Authority of the Holy Scriptures; Church Government
by Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors, Teachers and Deacons; The
possibility of Falling from Grace; The obligatory nature of Tithes and
Offerings. Quoted directly from their
web site.
Organisation: Hierarchy: Standards:
