Christianity

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Individual Christian denominations,
from the Amish to The Way

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Which faith groups are Christian?

Some Christians commit a great deal of energy debating precisely which of the 1,000 or so North American faith groups are Christian and which are either sub-Christian, quasi-Christian, non-Christian or even anti-Chrisitan. There are probably hundreds of lists of "valid" Christian denominations in existence -- all different.

This web site uses a very simple, inclusive description of Christianity. We define as Christian any faith group or individual that sincerely, thoughtfully, seriously, and prayerfully regards themselves to be Christian. We consider faith groups as diverse as the 1st century CE Jewish Christians under the leadership of James, Gnostic Christians ancient and modern, Eastern Orthodox church members. Roman Catholics, United Church members, Mormons, Unificationists, Jehovah's Witnesses and followers of hundreds of other faith groups to be Christian. We recognize that some groups and individuals have a much more restrictive definition of "Christian." In fact, we receive a lot of complaint E-mails on this very topic.

Another question that surfaces from time to time is which of the many denominations is the "true church." No resolution to that question appears to be possible. Many Christian denominations regard themselves to be the only "true" church, and view the other churches as partly or completely in error. Unfortunately, it does not appear to be possible to assess the will of God on this and other matters.

Divisions within Christianity:

In its earliest years, the Christian religion was divided into many different religious movements of which three groups: the Gnostic Christians, Jewish Christians, and Pauline Christians were the largest. The first almost disappeared. The second did disappear. Almost all current Christian groups trace their lineage back to the Pauline Christian movement.

Today, there are many ways of classifying the over 1,000 Christian faith groups in North America:

	Into three to eight meta-groups (e.g. Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, Anglican),
	By "wing" (e.g. conservative, mainline, and liberal),
	By theological belief system (Calvinism, Arminianism, etc.)
	By religious family, (Baptist, Lutheran, Pentecostal, etc.), and
	By individual denomination.

Some individual denominations are listed below.

Some individual denominations are:

	The Amish
	The Brethren
	Catholic Church (Roman Catholic)
	Children of God
	Christadelphians
	Christian Science
	The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons)
	Eastern Orthodox churches
	The Family (David Berg), (a.k.a. Family of Love)
	Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Polygynists in Bountiful, British Columbia, Canada
	The "Garbage Eaters": common derogatory name for The Brethren
	Gnosticism
	Jehovah's Witnesses
	LDS Restorationists: a group of denominations who link their history to Joseph Smith's church
	Messianic Judaism & "Jews for Jesus"
	Mormons (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)
	Orthodox churches
	The Process
	Progressive Christianity
	Quakers (Society of Friends)
	Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints: Now called the Community of Christ
	Roman Catholic Church
	Seventh-Day Adventist Church
	Society of Friends (Quakers)
	Two by Twos ("The Jesus Way", "The Church with no Name", etc)
	Unification Church
	Unitarian-Universalism (About 10% of UU members consider themselves to be Christian)
	United Pentecostal Church International
	Unity Church in Canada
	Unity School of Christianity
	Urantia Book
	Worldwide Church of God
	The Way International

Related information on this web site:

	Religious information menu: world data, North American data, religious holy days, etc.
	Religious self-identification in the U.S.
	Size of various Christian faith groups
	Restorationists: a group of Christian denominations who believe that Christianity went astray early in its history. They believe that they have restored Christianity to its original form.

Latest update: 2012-AUG-24

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