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The Definitive Guide to Christian Denominations

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It’s common for Christians today to think of their church bodies as denominations; that is, different varieties of a common religion. This tendency is so pervasive that churches who want to shed conventional labels will even call themselves “non-denominational.” People ask how many denominations there are, and critics will assert that the “thousands” of denominations are proof that Christians cannot agree about what is true. But what is a denomination in the first place? The term “denomination” originally simply meant the act of naming things or categorizing them according to common group labels (notice the nomina, Latin for “name”). It only began to be applied to churches in the eighteenth century.1 For Roman Catholicism, there is only “the Church” and then “separated brethren.”2 Reformation church confessions also tend to speak of only one church. Some of them contrast “the true Church” with “sects who call themselves the Church.”3 Others say that the church can be “more or less visi

Church History Culture and Context Theology The Definitive Guide to Christian Denominations Steven Wedgeworth 47 min read October 27, 2023 Share Facebook X LinkedIn Reddit Email It’s common for Christians today to think of their church bodies as denominations; that is, different varieties of a common religion. This tendency is so pervasive that churches who want to shed conventional labels will even call themselves “non-denominational.” People ask how many denominations there are, and critics will assert that the “thousands” of denominations are proof that Christians cannot agree about what is

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