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82-481: The Apostolic Christian Church ( ACC ) is a worldwide Christian denomination from the Anabaptist tradition that practices credobaptism , closed communion , greeting other believers with a holy kiss , a capella worship in some branches (in others, singing is with piano), and the headcovering of women during services. The Apostolic Christian Church only ordains men , who are authorized to administer baptism,

164-455: A "proving", typically takes place the night before the baptism and is a closed member meeting. Because baptism is identified with a "death to sin" in Romans 6 and other New Testament writings, congregational recognition of the convert's repentance and death to sin is desired prior to baptism. The baptism service is open for anyone to attend and is performed before the entire congregation. Before

246-455: A congregation may have more than one. The office of elder is seen as equivalent to that of a bishop as described in the epistles of 1 Timothy and Titus . The elder of each congregation has the oversight of the local congregation but is subject to the authority of the other elders throughout the denomination. Once put in place, Ministers, Deacons and Elders can only be removed of their position by death, voluntary retirement or in extreme cases by

328-447: A denomination and a denominational family is sometimes unclear to outsiders. Some denominational families can be considered major branches. Groups that are members of a branch, while sharing historical ties and similar doctrines, are not necessarily in communion with one another. There were some movements considered heresies by the early Church which do not exist today and are not generally referred to as denominations: examples include

410-464: A denomination, that is, "an organized body of Christians." Historically, Catholics would label members of certain Christian churches (also certain non-Christian religions) by the names of their founders, either actual or purported. Such supposed founders were referred to as heresiarchs . This was done even when the party thus labeled viewed itself as belonging to the one true church. This allowed

492-586: A great council is called, the patriarch sits as president of the council. He has no more power than any other bishop. Currently, the largest synod with the most members is the Russian Orthodox Church . Others include the ancient Patriarchates of Constantinople , Alexandria , Antioch and Jerusalem , the Georgian , Romanian , Serbian and Bulgarian Orthodox churches, and several smaller ones. The second largest Eastern Christian communion

574-459: A leaf of a codex which is dated to the 3rd century (330–360). Other early manuscripts containing some or all of the text of this book are: The epistle opens by stating that it was written by Paul, to Timothy. Paul reminds Timothy that he has asked Timothy to stay in Ephesus and prevent false teaching of the law by others. Paul says that law is to be applied to sinners like rebels, murderers, and

656-474: A literary dependence by Ignatius, this would move the date of 1 Timothy even earlier. However, Irenaeus (writing c.  180 AD ) is the earliest author to clearly and unequivocally describe the letter to Timothy and attribute it to Paul. The original Koine Greek manuscript has been lost, and the text of surviving copies varies . The earliest known writing of 1 Timothy has been found on Oxyrhynchus Papyrus 5259, designated P133, in 2017. It comes from

738-421: A man; she must be silent. The epistle justifies this by saying that Adam was formed before Eve , and that Eve was tricked by the serpent . Leaders of the church are to conduct themselves in a manner worthy of respect, avoiding overindulgence in wine and managing their affairs well. Timothy is advised to avoid false teachings and focus on the truth. The author discusses a list of widows to be supported by

820-531: A part of the same family but have distinct doctrinal variations within each group— Lutherans see themselves not to be a part of the rest of what they call "Reformed Protestantism" due to radical differences in sacramental theology and historical approach to the Reformation itself (both Reformed and Lutherans see their reformation in the sixteenth century to be a 'reforming' of the Catholic Church, not

902-507: A particular group with specialized needs, such as students or ethnic groups. A related concept is denominationalism , the belief that some or all Christian groups are legitimate churches of the same religion regardless of their distinguishing labels, beliefs, and practices. (Conversely, "denominationalism" can also refer to "emphasizing of denominational differences to the point of being narrowly exclusive", similar to sectarianism .) The views of Protestant leaders differ greatly from those of

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984-508: A rejection of it entirely). From these come denominations, which in the West, have independence from the others in their doctrine. The Catholic Church , due to its hierarchical structures, is not said to be made up of denominations, rather, it is a single denomination that include kinds of regional councils and individual congregations and church bodies, which do not officially differ from one another in doctrine. The initial differences between

1066-727: A rift in Western Christianity . In England , Henry VIII of England declared himself to be supreme head of the Church of England with the Act of Supremacy in 1534, founding the Church of England, repressing both Lutheran reformers and those loyal to the pope. Thomas Cranmer as Archbishop of Canterbury introduced the Reformation, in a form compromising between the Calvinists and Lutherans. The Old Catholic Church split from

1148-410: A set of grievances to reform the pre-Reformation Western Church. Luther's writings , combined with the work of Swiss theologian Huldrych Zwingli and French theologian and politician John Calvin sought to reform existing problems in doctrine and practice. Due to the reactions of ecclesiastical office holders at the time of the reformers, these reformers separated from the Catholic Church, instigating

1230-472: A statement that the Chalcedonian Creed restored Nestorianism, however this is refuted by maintaining the following distinctions associated with the person of Christ: two hypostases, two natures ( Nestorian ); one hypostasis, one nature ( Monophysite ); one hypostasis, two natures (Eastern Orthodox/Roman Catholic). In Western Christianity, a handful of geographically isolated movements preceded

1312-527: A term they associate with membership of the Latin Church, and speak of themselves in relation to whichever Church they belong to: Maronites , Melkites , Ukrainian Catholics , Coptic Catholics , Chaldean Catholics , etc. And finally the smallest Eastern Christian group founded in early 20th century is Byzantine Rite Lutheranism where accept Byzantine Rite as Church's liturgy while retaining their Lutheran traditions like Ukrainian Lutheran Church . It

1394-553: Is Oriental Orthodoxy , which is organized in a similar manner, with six national autocephalous groups and two autonomous bodies, although there are greater internal differences than among the Eastern Orthodox (especially in the diversity of rites being used). The six autocephalous Oriental Orthodox churches are the Coptic (Egyptian), Syriac , Armenian , Malankara (Indian), Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox churches. In

1476-480: Is administratively grouped into several autocephalous jurisdictions (also commonly referred to as "churches", despite being parts of one Church). They do not recognize any single bishop as universal church leader, but rather each bishop governs only his own diocese . The Patriarch of Constantinople is known as the Ecumenical Patriarch, and holds the title " first among equals ", meaning only that if

1558-744: Is considered part of Eastern Protestant denominational movement. Denominational associations Regional associations Churches Together in England Oriental Orthodox African-American Baptist Oriental Orthodox Eastern Protestant Finished Work Pentecostal Oneness Pentecostal The Latin portion of the Catholic Church , along with Protestantism , comprise the three major divisions of Christianity in

1640-478: Is known as ecumenism . Many denominations participate in the World Council of Churches . Christianity has not been a monolithic faith since the first century or Apostolic Age , though Christians were largely in communion with each other. Today there exist a large variety of groups that share a common history and tradition within and without mainstream Christianity. Christianity is the largest religion in

1722-646: Is less developed than the one Ignatius of Antioch (who wrote c.  110 ) presupposes, as well as the fact that not only is "antithesis" itself a Greek word which simply means "opposing arguments" but as it has been noted, the attack on the heretics is not central to the three letters. Late in the 2nd century there are a number of quotations from all three pastoral epistles in Irenaeus' work Against Heresies . Irenaeus also makes explicit mention of Timothy in his book and ascribes it as being written by Paul The Muratorian Canon ( c.  170–180 ) lists

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1804-633: Is one of three letters in the New Testament of the Bible often grouped together as the pastoral epistles , along with Second Timothy and Titus . The letter, traditionally attributed to the Apostle Paul , consists mainly of counsels to his younger colleague and delegate Timothy regarding his ministry in Ephesus (1:3). These counsels include instructions on the organization of the Church and

1886-428: Is the root of all kinds of evil." In closing, Timothy is told he should continue to "fight the good fight of the faith" by helping others to be virtuous and by running his church well. Several composers, including Johann Sebastian Bach , set a line from the epistle as a Christmas cantata , including Stölzel's Kündlich groß ist das gottselige Geheimnis beginning with 1 Timothy 3:16. 1 Timothy 2:12 has been

1968-403: Is the second-largest Christian body in the world and also considers itself the original pre-denominational Church. Orthodox Christians, 80% of whom are Eastern Orthodox and 20% Oriental Orthodox, make up about 11.9% of the global Christian population. The Eastern Orthodox Church is itself a communion of fully independent autocephalous churches (or "jurisdictions") that recognize each other, for

2050-808: Is what since 1976 is officially called the Assyrian Church of the East and which from 1933 to 2015 was headquartered first in Cyprus and then in the United States , but whose present Catholicos-Patriarch, Gewargis III , elected in 2015, lives in Erbil , Iraq . The third is the Ancient Church of the East , distinct since 1964 and headed by Addai II Giwargis , resident in Baghdad. There are also

2132-415: The Apostle Paul , although in pre-Nicene Christianity this attribution was open to dispute. He is named as the author of the letter in the text ( 1:1 ). Nineteenth- and twentieth-century scholarship questioned the authenticity of the letter, with many scholars suggesting that First Timothy, along with Second Timothy and Titus , are not the work of Paul, but of an unidentified Christian writing some time in

2214-828: The Catholic Church in the 1870s because of the promulgation of the dogma of papal infallibility as promoted by the First Vatican Council of 1869–1870. The term 'Old Catholic' was first used in 1853 to describe the members of the See of Utrecht that were not under Papal authority. The Old Catholic movement grew in America but has not maintained ties with Utrecht, although talks are under way between independent Old Catholic bishops and Utrecht. The Liberal Catholic Church started in 1916 via an Old Catholic bishop in London, bishop Matthew, who consecrated bishop James Wedgwood to

2296-554: The Church of the East . However Roman Catholicism is to be seen as a distinct denomination within Western Christianity. Protestantism includes diverse groups such as Adventists , Anabaptists , Anglicans , Baptists , Congregationalists , Methodists (inclusive of the Holiness movement ), Moravians , Pentecostals , Presbyterians , Reformed , and Unitarians (depending on one's classification scheme) are all

2378-891: The Continental Reformed , Presbyterian , Evangelical Anglican , Congregationalist , and Reformed Baptist traditions. Anabaptist Christianity itself includes the Amish , Apostolic , Bruderhof , Hutterite , Mennonite , River Brethren , and Schwarzenau Brethren traditions. Within the Restorationist branch of Christianity, denominations include the Irvingians , Swedenborgians , Christadelphians , Latter Day Saints , Jehovah's Witnesses , La Luz del Mundo , and Iglesia ni Cristo . Christianity has denominational families (or movements) and also has individual denominations (or communions). The difference between

2460-681: The Eastern Catholic Churches , most of which are counterparts of those listed above, sharing with them the same theological and liturgical traditions, but differing from them in that they recognize the Bishop of Rome as the universal head of the Church . They are fully part of the Catholic communion , on the same level juridically as the Latin Church . Most of their members do not describe themselves as " Roman Catholics ",

2542-872: The Gnostics (who had believed in an esoteric dualism called gnosis ), the Ebionites (who denied the divinity of Jesus), and the Arians (who subordinated the Son to the Father by denying the pre-existence of Christ , thus placing Jesus as a created being), Bogumilism and the Bosnian Church . The greatest divisions in Christianity today, however, are between the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox, Catholics, and

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2624-488: The Gospel of Luke and ten of the canonical Pauline epistles excluding 1–2 Timothy and Titus. The reasons for these exclusions are unknown, and so speculation abounds, including the hypotheses that they were not written until after Marcion's time, or that he knew of them, but regarded them as inauthentic. Proponents of Pauline authorship argue that he had theological grounds for rejecting the pastorals, namely their teaching about

2706-546: The Hussites defied Catholic dogma , creating the still-extant Moravian Church , a major Protestant denomination. Although the church as a whole did not experience any major divisions for centuries afterward, the Eastern and Western groups drifted until the point where patriarchs from both families excommunicated one another in about 1054 in what is known as the Great Schism . The political and theological reasons for

2788-687: The Lord's Supper , and the laying on of hands . The origins of the Apostolic Christian Church are found in the conversion experience of Samuel Heinrich Froehlich (1803–57) of Switzerland. Froehlich was baptized in 1832 and soon founded the Evangelical Baptist Church. The first American church was formed in Lewis County, New York , in 1847 by Benedict Weyeneth (1819–87), who had been sent by Froehlich at

2870-477: The Middle East , Northeast Africa , and India . Christians have various doctrines about the Church (the body of the faithful that they believe Jesus Christ established) and about how the divine church corresponds to Christian denominations. The Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Church of the East and Lutheran denominations, each hold that only their own specific organization faithfully represents

2952-615: The Second Diet of Speyer mandated the burning of Luther's works and the end of the Protestant Reformation . Anglicanism is generally classified as Protestant, being originally seen as a via media , or middle way between Lutheranism and Reformed Christianity, and since the Oxford Movement of the 19th century, some Anglican writers of Anglo-Catholic churchmanship emphasize a more catholic understanding of

3034-508: The Second Great Awakening and collectively affirms belief in a Great Apostasy , thus promoting a belief in restoring what they see as primitive Christianity. It includes Mormons , Irvingians , Christadelphians , Swedenborgians , Jehovah's Witnesses , among others, although beliefs between these religions differ greatly. Generally, members of the various denominations acknowledge each other as Christians, at least to

3116-621: The Syriac and Coptic churches dividing themselves, with some churches becoming today's Oriental Orthodox . The Armenian Apostolic Church , whose representatives were not able to attend the council did not accept new dogmas and now is also seen as an Oriental Orthodox church. In modern times, there have also been moves towards healing this split, with common Christological statements being made between Pope John Paul II and Syriac Patriarch Ignatius Zakka I Iwas , as well as between representatives of both Eastern and Oriental Orthodoxy. There has been

3198-478: The one holy catholic and apostolic Church , to the exclusion of all others. Certain denominational traditions teach that they were divinely instituted to propagate a certain doctrine or spiritual experience, for example the raising up of Methodism by God to propagate entire sanctification (the "second blessing"), or the launch of Pentecostalism to bestow a supernatural empowerment evidenced by speaking in tongues on humanity. Restorationism emerged after

3280-793: The "two lungs" concept to relate Catholicism with Eastern Orthodoxy. World Christianity by tradition in 2024 as per World Christian Database Worldwide Christians by denomination as of 2011 Christianity can be taxonomically divided into six main groups: the Church of the East , Oriental Orthodoxy , Eastern Orthodoxy , Catholicism , Protestantism , and Restorationism . Protestantism includes many groups which do not share any ecclesiastical governance and have widely diverging beliefs and practices. Major Protestant branches include Adventism , Anabaptism , Anglicanism , Baptists , Lutheranism , Methodism , Moravianism , Quakerism , Pentecostalism , Plymouth Brethren , Reformed Christianity , and Waldensianism . Reformed Christianity itself includes

3362-583: The 1st century A.D., but has not been in communion with them since before the Council of Ephesus of 431. Largely aniconic , the Church of the East represents a third Eastern Christian tradition in its own right. In recent centuries, it has split into three Churches. The largest (since the early 20th century) is the Baghdad -based Chaldean Catholic Church formed from groups that entered communion with Rome at different times, beginning in 1552. The second-largest

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3444-541: The Aramaic-speaking areas of the Middle East , the Syriac Orthodox Church has long been dominant. Although the region of modern-day Ethiopia and Eritrea has had a strong body of believers since the infancy of Christianity, these regions only gained autocephaly in 1963 and 1994 respectively. The Oriental Orthodox are distinguished from the Eastern Orthodox by doctrinal differences concerning

3526-913: The Catholic Church as a result of the Reformation , a movement against doctrines and practices which the Reformers perceived to be in violation of the Bible. Together, Catholicism and Protestantism (with major traditions including Adventism , Anabaptism , Anglicanism , Baptists , Lutheranism , Methodism , Moravianism , Pentecostalism , Plymouth Brethren , Quakerism , Reformed , and Waldensianism ) compose Western Christianity . Western Christian denominations prevail in Sub-Saharan Africa , Europe (excluding Eastern Europe), North America , Oceania and South America . The Eastern Orthodox Church , with an estimated 230 million adherents,

3608-464: The Catholic party to say that the other church was founded by the founder, while the Catholic church was founded by Christ. This was done intentionally in order to "produce the appearance of the fragmentation within Christianity" – a problem which the Catholic side would then attempt to remedy on its own terms. Although Catholics reject branch theory , Pope Benedict XVI and Pope John Paul II used

3690-555: The East and West traditions stem from socio-cultural and ethno-linguistic divisions in and between the Western Roman and Byzantine empires . Since the West (that is, Western Europe) spoke Latin as its lingua franca and the East (Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and northern Africa) largely used Aramaic and Koine Greek to transmit writings, theological developments were difficult to translate from one branch to

3772-518: The Ephesians ( c.  110 ) and Polycarp to the Philippians ( c.  130 ), although it is difficult to determine the nature of any such literary relationships. Modern scholars generally place its composition some time in the late 1st century or first half of the 2nd century AD, with a wide margin of uncertainty. The term Gnosis ("knowledge") itself occurs in 1 Timothy 6:20 . If

3854-639: The Episcopacy. This stream has in its relatively short existence known many splits, which operate worldwide under several names. In the Eastern world, the largest body of believers in modern times is the Eastern Orthodox Church , sometimes imprecisely called "Greek Orthodox" because from the time of Christ through the Byzantine empire, Greek was its common language. However, the term " Greek Orthodox " actually refers to only one portion of

3936-586: The West also contended that this primacy extended to jurisdiction, a position rejected by the Eastern patriarchs. Various attempts at dialogue between the two groups would occur, but it was only in the 1960s, under Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras , that significant steps began to be made to mend the relationship between the two. The Protestant Reformation began with the posting of Martin Luther 's Ninety-Five Theses in Saxony on October 31, 1517, written as

4018-516: The Western world. Catholics do not describe themselves as a denomination but rather as the original Church, from which all other branches broke off in schism . The Baptist , Methodist , and Lutheran churches are generally considered to be Protestant denominations, although strictly speaking, of these three, only the Lutherans took part in the official Protestation at Speyer after the decree of

4100-401: The baptism takes place, the convert makes a covenant with Christ in the presence of the entire congregation. Once the covenant is made, the convert is fully immersed in water (unless they are physically unable to do so). After the baptism service, there is a laying on of hands by one or more elders and an accompanying consecration prayer. This laying on of hands and prayer of consecration places

4182-486: The beard (moustache)-accepting side: The remainder of Europe is made up of independent congregations in communion: The conversion experienced by each member varies in timing and detail, but all include repentance for one's sins , making restitution , confessing sins to God while in the presence of an elder of the church, and finding peace with God. The word "convert" is used throughout the denomination to describe anyone who begins repentance but has not been baptized into

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4264-542: The books of the New Testament and ascribes all three pastoral epistles to Paul. Eusebius ( c.  330 ) calls it, along with the other thirteen canonical Pauline epistles , "undisputed". Exceptions to this positive witness include Tatian , as well as the gnostic Basilides . Possible earlier allusions are found in the letters from Clement of Rome to the Corinthians ( c.  95 ), Ignatius to

4346-533: The church adopted a uniform name: Apostolic Christian Church . There are currently at least five main divisions of this church in America. In the early 1900s a disagreement arose over the practice of some European customs (namely, the wearing of a mustache) and the church split into two bodies (from 1901 to 1911). In 1932 a second schism originated from a letter sent by elders in Europe asking for greater adherence to traditional teachings and practices. Those adhering to

4428-675: The church and characterize it as being both Protestant and Catholic. A case is sometimes also made to regard Lutheranism in a similar way, considering the catholic character of its foundational documents (the Augsburg Confession and other documents contained in the Book of Concord ) and its existence prior to the Anglican, Anabaptist, and Reformed churches, from which nearly all other Protestant denominations derive. First Epistle to Timothy The First Epistle to Timothy

4510-419: The church, setting restrictions on the types of women to help: only old widows who never remarry and who prioritize their family are to receive help. Widows younger than sixty have sensual desires that may cause them to remarry. Slaves should respect their masters, especially if their masters are believers. People should avoid envy and avoid the temptation to focus on becoming rich because "the love of money

4592-419: The church; it does not imply conversion from another denomination or religion, but from the carnal to the spiritual state. Once converts "receive peace from God," this is announced to the church and a baptism date is set. Converts give a testimony before the members of the church prior to the public baptism service, telling the story of their personal conversion experience. This testimony, commonly referred to as

4674-554: The definitions of several terms used throughout the article, before discussing the beliefs themselves in detail in following sections. A denomination within Christianity can be defined as a "recognized autonomous branch of the Christian Church"; major synonyms include "religious group, sect, Church," etc. "Church" as a synonym, refers to a "particular Christian organization with its own clergy, buildings, and distinctive doctrines"; "church" can also more broadly be defined as

4756-553: The entire Eastern Orthodox Church. The Eastern Orthodox Church believes itself to be the continuation of the original Christian Church established by Jesus Christ , and the Apostles . The Orthodox and Catholics have been separated since the 11th century, following the East–West Schism , with each of them saying they represent the original pre-schism Church. The Eastern Orthodox consider themselves to be spiritually one body, which

4838-558: The entire body of Christians, the " Christian Church ". Some traditional and evangelical Protestants draw a distinction between membership in the universal church and fellowship within the local church. Becoming a believer in Christ makes one a member of the universal church; one then may join a fellowship of other local believers. Some evangelical groups describe themselves as interdenominational fellowships, partnering with local churches to strengthen evangelical efforts, usually targeting

4920-519: The extent that they have mutually recognized baptisms and acknowledge historically orthodox views including the divinity of Jesus and doctrines of sin and salvation , even though doctrinal and ecclesiological obstacles hinder full communion between churches . Since the reforms surrounding the Second Vatican Council of 1962–1965, the Catholic Church has referred to Protestant churches as ecclesial communities , while reserving

5002-400: The goodness of creation (cf. 1 Timothy 4:1 ff .). The question remains whether Marcion knew these three letters and rejected them as Tertullian says, since in 1 Timothy 6:20 "false opposing arguments" are referred to, with the word for "opposing arguments" being "antithesis", the name of Marcion's work, and so a subtle hint of Marcion's heresy. However, the structure of the Church presupposed

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5084-554: The late-first to mid-second centuries. Most scholars now affirm this view. As evidence for this perspective, they put forward that the pastoral epistles contain 306 words that Paul does not use in his unquestioned letters, that their style of writing is different from that of his unquestioned letters, that they reflect conditions and a church organization not current in Paul's day, and that they do not appear in early lists of his canonical works. Modern scholars who support Pauline authorship nevertheless stress their importance regarding

5166-445: The leaders of the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, the two largest Christian denominations. Each church makes mutually exclusive statements for itself to be the direct continuation of the church founded by Jesus Christ, from whom other denominations later broke away. These churches, and a few others, reject denominationalism. For the purpose of academic study of religion, the main families of Christianity are categorized as

5248-601: The most part. Similarly, the Catholic Church is a communion of sui iuris churches, including 23 Eastern ones. The Eastern Orthodox Church, the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches , the Oriental Orthodox communion , the Assyrian Church of the East , the Ancient Church of the East , and the Eastern Lutheran Churches constitute Eastern Christianity . There are certain Eastern Protestant Christians that have adopted Protestant theology but have cultural and historical ties with other Eastern Christians. Eastern Christian denominations are represented mostly in Eastern Europe , North Asia ,

5330-532: The national elder body. Christian denomination Individual denominations vary widely in the degree to which they recognize one another. Several groups say they are the direct and sole authentic successor of the church founded by Jesus Christ in the 1st century AD . Others, however, believe in denominationalism, where some or all Christian groups are legitimate churches of the same religion regardless of their distinguishing labels, beliefs, and practices. Because of this concept, some Christian bodies reject

5412-422: The other. In the course of ecumenical councils (large gatherings of Christian leaders), some church bodies split from the larger family of Christianity. Many earlier heretical groups either died off for lack of followers or suppression by the early proto-orthodox Church at large (such as Apollinarians , Montanists , and Ebionites ). Following the Council of Chalcedon in 451, the next large split came with

5494-430: The parallels between 1 Timothy and Polycarp's epistle are understood as a literary dependence by the latter on the former, as is generally accepted, this would constitute a terminus ante quem (cut-off date) of 50–65 AD. Likewise, there are a series of verbal agreements between Ignatius and 1 Timothy which cluster around a 14 verse section in 1 Timothy 1. If these parallels between Ignatius and 1 Timothy represent

5576-621: The question of authenticity: I. H. Marshall and P. H. Towner wrote that "the key witness is Polycarp , where there is a high probability that 1 and 2 Tim were known to him". Similarly M. W. Holmes argued that it is "virtually certain or highly probable" that Polycarp used 1 and 2 Timothy. Scholars Robert Grant , I. Howard Marshall , and Hans von Campenhausen believe that Polycarp was the actual author of First Timothy, which would date its composition to c.  140 . Marcion , an orthodox bishop later excommunicated for heresy , formed an early canon of scripture c.  140 around

5658-451: The request of Joseph Virkler, a Lewis County minister in an Alsatian Amish - Mennonite church. In 1848 a church was formed in Sardis, Ohio . The church experienced primary growth in the Midwest, where many congregations gained membership from other Anabaptist denominations, chiefly local Amish and Mennonite churches. Though sometimes referred to as the New Amish , these believers generally called themselves Evangelical Baptist . In 1917,

5740-602: The request of the letter separated themselves from the Apostolic Christian Church of America and became known as the Christian Apostolic Church (later the German Apostolic Christian Church). The Apostolic Christian Church of America did not retain German language preaching. It is a common misconception that German language preaching was a primary issue in the division. The European German language bodies (Neutäufer) have also faced divisions. Although once united throughout Germany, Austria and Switzerland, there are now four sides. The following two (one could say also three) sides belong to

5822-406: The responsibilities resting on certain groups of leaders therein as well as exhortations to faithfulness in maintaining the truth amid surrounding errors. Most modern scholars consider the pastoral epistles to have been written after Paul's death, although "a small and declining number of scholars still argue for Pauline authorship". The authorship of First Timothy was traditionally attributed to

5904-530: The schism are complex, but one major controversy was the inclusion and acceptance in the West of the filioque clause into the Nicene Creed , which the East viewed as erroneous. Another was the definition of papal primacy . Both West and East agreed that the Patriarch of Rome was owed a " primacy of honour " by the other patriarchs (those of Alexandria , Antioch , Constantinople and Jerusalem ), but

5986-552: The seal of the Holy Spirit on the life of the newly baptized. In some of the branches, such as the Nazarene branch, this service is for members and converts only. The all-male leadership of an Apostolic Christian church consists of the "elders" of local congregations. The term "elder" has a somewhat different meaning from that in other denominations. Most congregations have one elder, however some have none and in rare instances

6068-506: The sexually immoral. The list of lawbreakers includes the Greek word ἀρσενοκοίτης , which is sometimes translated to mean "homosexual men" although there is some debate on the topic. The epistle details the roles of men and women in its second chapter, particularly the verse 1 Timothy 2:12 . In the NIV translation this verse reads: I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over

6150-440: The source of considerable controversy concerning gender equality. Some denominations use it as a justification to deny the ordination of women . Some theologians have interpreted it to mean that all women should be subordinate to all men, and others to mean women should not teach, pray, or speak in public. In An Historical Account of Two Notable Corruptions of Scripture , published posthumously in 1754, Isaac Newton argues that

6232-468: The spirit of the Protestant Reformation . The Cathars were a very strong movement in medieval southwestern France, but did not survive into modern times. In northern Italy and southeastern France , Peter Waldo founded the Waldensians in the 12th century. This movement has largely been absorbed by modern-day Protestant groups. In Bohemia , a movement in the early 15th century by Jan Hus called

6314-490: The term "church" for apostolic churches , including the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches, as well as the Ancient and Assyrian Churches of the East (see subsistit in and branch theory ) . But some non-denominational Christians do not follow any particular branch, though they sometimes are regarded as Protestants. Each group uses different terminology to discuss their beliefs. This section will discuss

6396-473: The term "denomination" to describe themselves, to avoid implying equivalence with other churches or denominations. The Catholic Church , which has over 1.3 billion members or 50.1% of all Christians worldwide, does not view itself as a denomination, but as the original pre-denominational Church. The total Protestant population has reached around 1.047 billion in 2024, accounting for about 39.8% of all Christians. Sixteenth-century Protestants separated from

6478-467: The union of human and divine natures in the person of Jesus Christ, and the two communions separated as a consequence of the Council of Chalcedon in the year 451, although there have been recent moves towards reconciliation. Since these groups are relatively obscure in the West, literature on them has sometimes included the Church of the East , which, like the Oriental Orthodox, originated in

6560-563: The various denominations formed during and after the Protestant Reformation . There also exists a number of non-Trinitarian groups. Denominationalism is the belief that some or all Christian groups are legitimate churches of the same religion regardless of their distinguishing labels, beliefs, and practices. The idea was first articulated by Independents within the Puritan movement. They argued that differences among Christians were inevitable, but that separation based on these differences

6642-588: The world (making up approximately one-third of the population) and the various divisions have commonalities and differences in tradition, theology , church government , doctrine, and language. The largest schism or division in many classification schemes is between the families of Eastern and Western Christianity . After these two larger families come distinct branches of Christianity. Most classification schemes list Roman Catholicism, Protestantism , and Orthodox Christianity , with Orthodox Christianity being divided into Eastern Orthodoxy , Oriental Orthodoxy and

6724-446: Was not necessarily schism . Christians are obligated to practice their beliefs rather than remain within a church with which they disagree, but they must also recognize their imperfect knowledge and not condemn other Christians as apostate over unimportant matters. Some Christians view denominationalism as a regrettable fact. As of 2011, divisions are becoming less sharp, and there is increasing cooperation between denominations, which

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