Dancing in the Kingdom- Table of Contents

Appendix K – The family tree

There are many, complex events in church history which have caused one part to branch off from another which have resulted in more than 30,000 denominations worldwide. Part of the issue is lack of agreement on which differences in theology amount to heresies. The following is only a brief history of some of the major branches of the church.

In the beginning there was One Holy, Catholic, Apostolic Church. Jesus describes the group who follows him as His Body. After the resurrection of Jesus, the apostles guided the church. The apostles had established churches in which leaders (sometimes called elders or bishops) were selected. Prominent leaders emerged out of this who we call the early church Fathers. The church spread through the Roman Empire and beyond.

Within the Roman Empire, Christian centers were established in some of the major cities despite times of persecution: initially in Antioch of Syria where the apostles gathered after the persecution in Jerusalem (Aramaic was the primary language), Alexandria which was evangelized by the apostle Mark (Greek was the primary language) and Rome which was evangelized by the apostles Paul and Peter (Latin was the primary language).  Carthage became a primary center in the 2nd century.

By the 4^th century, the church had also expanded outside the Roman Empire into places like Armenia, Ethiopia and Persia. Also in the 4^th century, after a severe empire-wide persecution by the Roman Emperor Decian, the Roman Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity, which started a new era for the church in which it was exposed to the corruptions of secular power. Emperor Constantine also created change when he moved the capital city from Rome to Constantinople.

The Church of the East began with the missionary efforts Apostle Thomas in Persia and India, By the 6th century it had spread through Syria, Arabia, Persia, Armenia, India, the East India Islands and China. 

The Oriental Orthodox Church consists of those churches that began outside the Roman Empire in places like Armenia (the Armenian Orthodox Church), Egypt (Egyptian Coptic Church), and Ethiopia (Ethiopian Coptic Church).

Initially within the Roman Empire, the heads of the church in the major metropolitan areas considered themselves equals. But eventually, the bishop of Rome tried to assert himself as the “first among equals.” This effort over time, along with some theological differences eventually led to the final separation. In AD 1024, the Roman Catholic Church separated from the rest of the church, which became the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Around the year 500, the western part of the Roman Empire (which held the Roman Catholic Church) imploded and was conquered by nations in northern Europe. The conquerors were Christians but with some different beliefs that the church in Rome. They continued to use the administrative apparatus of the church which recorded births and deaths and so on. Monasteries also continued to operate and were crucial in the preservation of literature. During this time, the eastern empire still remained active, until the Muslim conquered much of northern Africa, western Europe (including what is now Spain and France), the Middle East and much of Eastern Europe (this included Armenia and the area we now call Turkey, with its capital Constantinople).

In the 1500s, in Germany, Martin Luther responded to corruptions in the Roman Catholic Church and tried to reform it. The church did not respond well, and a schism happened resulting in the Protestant Reformation. The Lutheran Church began in Germany following the teachings of Martin Luther. Later on, the Pietist movement would spawn the Evangelical Covenant Church, General Baptist Church, Church of the Brethren, Evangelical Free Church and Moravian Church

The Reformed Church begam in Switzerland following the teachings of Huldrych Zwingli, from which the Presbyterian Church and Christian Reformed Church would form. Later on, the movement would spawn the Congregational Church, Particular Baptist Church and Quakers

The Anabaptist Church began from those who thought that the Reformed Church had gone far enough in its break from the Roman Catholic Church. Four movements in this movement would later split off from the Anabaptist Church: the Mennonites, the German Baptists, the Amish and the Hutterites.

Also in the time period, the Church of England (or Anglican Church) was formed by Henry VIII of England because the Pope would not grant him a divorce. Henry VIII made himself the head of the church. Later on, this church would spawn the Episcopal Church, Methodist Church (which would spawn the Holiness Church, Church of the Nazarene and Salvation Army) and the Pentecostal Church (which would spawn the Church of God, Apostolic Church, Full Gospel Church, Assemblies of God Church, the Foursquare Gospel Church.

Major Movements

Very brief (very simplified) descriptions of ideas and movements in church History. Within each movement/idea there are a range of beliefs.

• Anabaptist – aka Rebaptisers. Held that baptism was only valid for those who could voluntarily profess faith in Christ. Opposed Infant baptism and church affiliations with the state.
• Anglican – England’s Protestant movement. King Henry VIII wanted to divorce and remarry someone who could bear him a son. The Pope refused to allow it and so King Henry made himself the head of the Anglican Church, which did keep many of the Catholic traditions.
• Autocephalous – church is headed by a bishop who is not responsible to a higher authority
• Baptist –
  • General Baptists – Baptists with a Arminian or Provisionist soteriology
  • Particular Baptists – Baptists with a Reformed theology
• Church of the East – aka Nestorian Church, formed in 410AD
• Congregational Church – congregation is final authority of each church
• Dyophysite – maintains the Chalcedonian doctrine that full deity and full humanity exist in the person of Jesus Christ as two natures without confusion or change
• Eastern Orthodox – a family of 13 self-governing bodies headed by a “patriarch.” They hold to the equal authority of church tradition and Scripture, Baptism of infants.
• Emergent church – Emerging churches are communities that practice the way of Jesus within postmodern cultures. This definition encompasses nine practices. Emerging churches (1) identify with the life of Jesus, (2) transform the secular realm, and (3) live highly communal lives. Because of these three activities, they (4) welcome the stranger, (5) serve with generosity, (6) participate as producers, (7) create as created beings, (8) lead as a body, and (9) take part in spiritual activities.[1]
• Episcopal – Originally part of the Anglican Church, it was organized after the American Revolution because Anglican clergy were required to swear allegiance to the British monarchy.
• Evangelicalism – In general, evangelicalism represents a loosely confederated movement of Protestants from the eighteenth century to the present believing in the need for a conversion experience, a personal relationship with Jesus, and relying on the Bible as the standard for faith and practice. Nevertheless, there is great diversity of belief among Evangelicals, and the movement experiences great tension between Calvinist and Arminian (predestination vs. free will), amillennialism and premillennialism, pentecostalism and cessationism, and fundamentalism and post-fundamentalism groups.[2]
• Filioque – Refers to the phrase “and the son” which was added to the Nicene Creed to indicate that the Holy Spirit proceeded from both the Father “and the Son.” The original phrase indicated that the Spirit originated just from the Father.
• Fundamentalism – A reaction to the social gospel movement. Fundamentalism is built on five tenets of the Christian faith, 1) The Bible is literally true. 2) The virgin birth and deity of Christ. 3) The substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ on the cross. 4) The bodily resurrection of Jesus. 5) The authenticity of Jesus’ miracles as recorded in Scripture and the literal, pre-millennial second coming of Christ to earth.
• Gnosticism – a synthesis of Christian beliefs with Platonism which holds to a dualistic view of spirit and matter and the need to know special knowledge
• Holiness churches – a derivative of Methodism, with an emphasis on ethics and spiritual life
• Lutheran – The Reformed church that followed the teachings of Martin Luther
• Methodist – derived from the teachings of John and Charles Wesley who formed a group devoted to Bible study, prayer, and helping the underprivileged. The name “Methodists” referred to the orderly way they used rules and methods to go about their religious affairs.
• Miaphysite – the one person of Jesus Christ, Divinity and Humanity are united in one “nature” (“physis”), the two being united without separation, without confusion, and without alteration.
• Monasticism – a reaction to the “worldly ways” of the church. A rejection of worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual work.
• Montanists – named after Montanus who claimed the gift of prophecy, and promoted speaking in tongues and female leadership
• Moravian – Began in Moravia in the 9^th century and was formally organized in 1400s. “Moravians recognize the example of Christ’s life and proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord. Living the Christian life depends not only on our own effort, but upon God our Father, who in Jesus Christ accepts us as heirs of God and strengthens and sustains us.”[3]
• Novationism – Refused to readmit baptized Christians who had denied their faith or performed the formalities of a ritual sacrifice to the pagan gods under the persecutions sanctioned by Emperor Decius in AD 250.
• Nestorianism – Christ exists as 2 persons in one body. His human and divine natures are separate
• Non-creedal – states that the Bible as a whole specifies the creed of the church and does not define itself                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        rely on creedal
• Pentecostalism – emphasizes baptism of the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues
• Permissive vs. restrictive interpretation – When the Bible is silent about a matter: permissive silence means that if the Bible doesn’t expressly forbid it, it should be allowed), restrictive silence means that the Bible doesn’t expressly allow it, therefore it should be forbidden
• Pietists – emphasizes personal faith and living a Christian life
• Platonism – reality is based on the existence of abstract objects which do not exist in space or time. Physical objects are just individual instances of those abstract objects.
• Presbyterian – Reformed church which is governed by teaching elders (usually pastors) and ruling elders (layman within the church)
• Protestants – refers to those churches that broke from the Roman Catholic Church (Reformed, Anabaptists, Anglican) and their derivatives
• Quaker – aka Religious Society of Friends, emphasis on piety more than on doctrine. Believe that every person has a supernatural gift from God
• Reformed – Protestant movement that originated in Switzerland. Holds to the Westminster Confession of Faith
• Restorationism – seeks to correct faults in current church by referring to the primitive (early) church and to avoid denominationalism
• Roman Catholics – formed by the breakaway of the church in Rome from the other patriarchies (Constantinople, Antioch, Alexandria, Jerusalem)
• Soteriology – the study of salvation
  • Arminianism – all people are born morally unable to respond to God’s offer of salvation but a special (prevenient) grace is given to all people so that they can respond to God’s offer of salvation, people have the free will to accept or reject it, people believe in order to have life
  • Calvinism – all people are born morally unable to respond to God’s offer of salvation, grace is only offered to those whom God chose beforehand to be saved, original sin made people incapable of choosing God and so only those God chose would be irresistibly drawn to God, you must be made morally alive before you can believe
  • Provisionism – all people are born separated from God because of our sin but we can respond to God’s offer of salvation, people believe in order to have life
• Unitarian – emphasizes the unity of God. Jesus is not God

---

[1] McKnight, Scott. “Five Streams of the Emerging Church” Christianity Today 19 Jan 2007 www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/february/11.35.html

[2] A Study of Denominations “Evangelicalism” A Study of Denominations www.astudyofdenominations.com/movements/evangelicalism

[3] Moravian.org “What we Believe” Moravian.org www.moravian.org/what-we-believe