A really silly question...

Skendit said:

I am sorry to ask such a silly question but I'm really struggling to get my head around the difference between different denominations... Eg Catholics, Orthodox, Lutherans, Anglicans or Baptists, Evangelicalism, Pentecostal, Pilgrim, Uniting etc.

can someone please explain the differences?!

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Don't feel sorry or think it's a silly question. It's actually a very good question as I dunno either, and I'm sure there are many also in the same shoe.

I'll bookmark this thread as I like to find out for myself.

But whatever the denomination one decides on, the most important thing is to focus, keep pushing on an intimate relationship with Father God and follow the teachings of Jesus.

Glad you brought up this subject.

Skendit said:

Thank you! I don't feel so silly now!
I've had my sister explain it (briefly) to me and tried to look it up online but my brain has a meltdown and just doesn't understand. Then I get frustrated and give up trying to find out!

I appreciate that you're going to have a look into it, though!!

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Ahh, actually I'm bookmarking this thread to follow in hopes of finding out the answer if someone is willing to reply with an explaination.

I joined this site about 2 weeks ago trying to help others come to know Father God better. Denomination was something never on my mind, however, since you mention it, I'll try and look it up whenever I can. No guarantees that I can find an answer nor will it be reliable.

Just wanna let you know up front so I don't burst anyone's bubble.

It's not a silly question, but it is a BIG question, as there are several differences between the different denominations.
The differences are and could be about beliefs, and about what the worship service is like.
I think you get a pretty good idea if you look them up on Wikipedia..
Sorry my answer isn't more detailed but it's getting late and I don't have the energy to type a more detailed answer.

I found these sites. I dunno if they'll answer your question but I think they will at least point you in the right direction. The last link has interesting charts and comparisons of Christian denominations.

I still hope others with knowledge of this area can shed some light, so I could learn a thing or two as well.

Good luck.

Religious denomination - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

List of Christian denominations - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Comparison Charts of Christian Denominations - ReligionFacts

It's easier if you ask questions about specific doctrines, i think.

The most evident difference to you or me would be worship style. Catholic, Orthodox, and some Mainline Protestant (e.g. Lutheran) denominations tend to be "liturgical" which has more ceremony and structure to the services. Evangelical Protestant churches (some of which don't have denomination affiliations) tend to center around the pastor's teaching of scripture. Some denominations are more physically demonstrative and louder with praise, while others are reverent and quiet. There is no right or wrong... just different.

The splitting into different denominations came mostly from doctrine differences, many of which are non-essential or not even remembered, or based on political corruption at the time. All Christians share a set of core beliefs. On this forum, the statement of faith is the Nicene Creed. I should also mention that the official position of some denominations are commonly misrepresented (even by members of those congregations at times!). For example, many people say that Roman Catholics believe a person is saved by his or her works, but their official position is that "all persons depend completely on the saving grace of God for their salvation."

Finally, I will say that every individual church has its own identity that may or may not follow denominational norms. In my town, there are two Methodist churches - one is more like an Evangelical mega-church with informal services and a big worship band. The other is smaller, more liturgical, and typically mainline.

as long as you follow our lord Jesus does it matter...

This site also breaks it down

Comparison of Beliefs

Comparison of Practices

Comparison of Positions on Social and Ethical Issues

... and more.

A lot of people start by looking for what they're comfortable with in service style -- formal liturgical, contemporary, contemplative, group-led, etc.

But after they settle in they start wondering why odd statements are made, and they realize the doctrine is not a good fit for them.

Also, church structure and practices can make a difference. The nondenominational churches are often started by a few people who want to define their way of worship together, or a impassioned believer with a desire to pastor. That can make the church more headstrong when a newcomer questions the budget or the doctrine. Founders have already invested a lot of time, money, and effort, and they hold a sense of ownership.

There are denominations like Free Methodist who hire short-term pastors or itinerant preachers, and the congregation owns the church and the votes.

The traditional Protestant churches (Presbyterian, Lutheran, etc) tend to be run by a board of elders who check back and forth with the congregation. The pastors are hired for a term to lead, but they do not vote in annual meetings, or take more from the budget than their contracted salary. That prevents lavish lifestyles that do not give glory to God, or represent the heart of Christianity well.

You probably weren't asking for the politics, but being aware of them can be helpful.

Jesus created the Catholic church and men created the others. That's my view (Which people will object to) but if we are just speaking about doctrines then it is way to broad of a question. All denominations that I consider to be Christian hold the same core which is Jesus is the Divine son of God, who died for our sins and he was resurrected. After that the specific beliefs will differ from group to group.

football5680 said:

Jesus created the Catholic church and men created the others. That's my view (Which people will object to) but if we are just speaking about doctrines then it is way to broad of a question. All denominations that I consider to be Christian hold the same core which is Jesus is the Divine son of God, who died for our sins and he was resurrected. After that the specific beliefs will differ from group to group.

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Do you have a scriptural reference regarding Jesus' creation of the catholic church?

TPeterY said:

Ahh, actually I'm bookmarking this thread to follow in hopes of finding out the answer if someone is willing to reply with an explaination.

I joined this site about 2 weeks ago trying to help others come to know Father God better. Denomination was something never on my mind, however, since you mention it, I'll try and look it up whenever I can. No guarantees that I can find an answer nor will it be reliable.

Just wanna let you know up front so I don't burst anyone's bubble.

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so am I, it would be cool to give a description of all the denominations and stuff.

not. a. silly. question. at. all.

mandyhug

Some links regarding Orthodox Christianity:
OCA - The Orthodox Faith
What Orthodox Christians Believe
Teachings of the Orthodox Church — Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
Excerpts from the Orthodox Church by Bishop Kallistos Ware Part 1
Excerpts from the Orthodox Church by Bishop Kallistos Ware Part 2

Regarding some of the links posted earlier in the thread- there was missing information on a lot of the Orthodox stuff. Also, it mentioned that we believe in transubstantiation, but that isn't a term we really use, as it is more Scholastic terminology. Transubstantiation tends to also refer to a specific time during the liturgy- when in Orthodoxy we say don't pinpoint the mystery of the Eucharist to any particular moment- but say that it must be completed from beginning to end.

First and foremost, the Body of Christ is not divided. That means that no matter what kind of traditions and doctrines men cling to, Jesus always has His people who are in communion with Him. Sadly, that means there people in denominations who don't know Jesus whatsoever, but there are also those who do.

How do we "know" Jesus? Through an intimate prayer devotion that is daily. We need to spend time with Him, talking to Him, praising Him, worshiping Him, thanking Him, and asking Him for help to become stronger and more mature.

This kind of relationship must also be coupled with study of the Bible. The Bible is God's written instructions for us for when we get confused, discouraged, or even when we're feeling great and simply need to learn and grow.

These are the most important things to begin with. If you have a prayer relationship with Father God, through Jesus Holy Spirit, everything else will fall into place. He will guide you to the right place.

All that being said, I do have some practical advice. I was born again outside of any church setting, but did grow up Catholic. I spent many months nurturing my relationship with Jesus through prayer and reading His Word before I stepped out to any church setting.

What I found out is that many of the biggest denominations are relatively spiritually dead. The catholic, lutheran, methodist, presbyterian denominations, and others, are often operating in dead religion. Still others have gone apostate, meaning they don't even hold to basic truth and doctrine such as the Bible being God's truth, homosexuality being a sin, or even that there is a hell.

You need to trust God to establish you in a relationship and then guide you to a Spirit-filled church to connect with real believers. Hopefully, the place will be full of authentic love and life that reflects Jesus.

If you believe, you have the Spirit of God within you! This is awesome. Go after God with all your heart and see how He pours His love into you and shines His revelation knowledge on you. When you are this firmly established, you will have no problem telling if a church is alive or dead. Don't waste your time in dead religion, you will only starve. Churches that are alive will have teaching and preaching that will feed you and build you up. The worship will stir the Spirit of God within you, too. Don't be afraid, you can trust God to help guide you in where to God, just get firmly established in a relationship with Him.

AGTG said in post 17:

First and foremost, the Body of Christ is not divided.

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Amen (Ephesians 4:4-6).

Believers shouldn't be identified or identify themselves after any man-made denomination (1 Corinthians 1:12-13; 1 Corinthians 3:4), but should simply be "Christians" (Acts 11:26b, 1 Peter 4:16).

If people haven't become Christians yet, all they need to do in order to become Christians is believe Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ and the human/divine Son of God (John 20:31, John 3:36; 1 John 2:23), and that he died on the Cross for their sins and rose from the dead on the 3rd day (1 Corinthians 15:1-4, Luke 24:46-47, Matthew 20:19, Matthew 26:28).

AGTG said in post 17:

How do we "know" Jesus? Through an intimate prayer devotion that is daily. We need to spend time with Him, talking to Him, praising Him, worshiping Him, thanking Him, and asking Him for help to become stronger and more mature.

This kind of relationship must also be coupled with study of the Bible. The Bible is God's written instructions for us for when we get confused, discouraged, or even when we're feeling great and simply need to learn and grow.

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That's right.

After people become Christians, to help develop and keep up their relationship with God, they should pray to him every day, such as with the Lord's prayer (Matthew 6:9-13), praising and worshipping him (Revelation 4:11), confessing their sins to him (1 John 1:9), asking him for what they need today (Luke 11:3), and thanking him for all he's given them (Philippians 4:6). And throughout the day, they should immediately bring to him in prayer anything they become worried about at anytime (Philippians 4:6-7).

They should also fellowship with other Christians every day (Hebrews 3:13, Hebrews 10:25), at least in some fashion (Matthew 18:20), such as on this forum, being exhorted by them and exhorting them in turn (Hebrews 3:13).

They also need to examine themselves to make sure they're truly in the faith (2 Corinthians 13:5, Proverbs 28:26, Proverbs 14:12). The way to do this is to read every word of the Bible (Hebrews 4:12, Matthew 4:4) and see if they accept everything it teaches as having come from God (John 8:47; 2 Timothy 3:16). For just as a true faith will initially come from reading (or hearing) what the Bible teaches (Romans 10:17; 2 Timothy 3:15), so people can know they're remaining in the true faith if they continue to believe everything the Bible teaches came from God (John 8:31b; 2 Timothy 4:2-4; 1 Timothy 4:1, Mark 8:35-38).

In order to have any real relationship with Jesus, God the Father, and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19), most importantly people must believe the right things about Jesus (John 14:6-7): that he's God the Word made flesh (John 1:1,14), that he's the Christ (1 John 5:1; 1 John 2:22), and that he's the only begotten (only born) Son of God (John 3:16,36; 1 John 2:23), meaning he's the only person ever born without any human father (Luke 1:34-35). And people must believe Jesus lived a perfectly sinless life (Hebrews 4:15; 2 Corinthians 5:21) and so could die on the Cross for people's sins and rise from the dead on the 3rd day (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). He rose and will remain forever in an immortal flesh and bones human body (Luke 24:39; 2 John 1:7) as saved people's eternally-human high priest/mediator (1 Timothy 2:5, Hebrews 2:16-17, Hebrews 7:24-26).

Once people come into faith in Jesus, they must obey him, God the Father, and the Holy Spirit by repenting from their sins and getting water-immersion (burial) baptized into Jesus (Acts 2:38, Romans 6:3-5, Galatians 3:27). And they must partake of the divine flesh and blood of the bread and wine of communion (John 6:53, Matthew 26:26-28; 1 Corinthians 10:16; 1 Corinthians 11:27-30). And they can get hands laid on them to receive Holy Spirit baptism (Acts 8:17) and one or more of the Holy Spirit's wonderful Spiritual gifts (Acts 19:6; 1 Corinthians 12:8-10). Then, washed from their sins by water baptism (Acts 22:16) and empowered by the Holy Spirit within them (Acts 1:8, Ephesians 3:16), they must each and every day for the rest of their lives deny themselves, take up their crosses and follow Jesus (Luke 9:23; 2 Corinthians 5:15), by continuing in the faith to the end (Hebrews 3:6,12,14, Hebrews 6:4-8, John 15:6; 2 Timothy 2:12), by repenting to the end from every sin they might commit (Hebrews 10:26-29; 1 Corinthians 9:27, Luke 12:45-46), and by doing to the end the particular spiritual works which he's given them as individuals to do (Mark 13:34, Romans 12:6-8, Titus 3:8).

But if they as believers wrongly employ their free will to refuse to do these things, then they can't expect to have any continued real relationship with Jesus, God the Father and the Holy Spirit. For a continued real relationship with them requires people not only continue to believe in them but also continue to obey them (John 15:10, John 14:21,23). Faith without works is dead (James 2:20) and can't ultimately save people (James 2:14-26, Romans 2:6-8, Matthew 7:21, Hebrews 5:9).

Thanks for chiming in, Bible2. Confession of sin to Father God is a crucial aspect of staying close to Him. Don't fear, we can go boldly to the throne of grace when we stumble. God is merciful, it's worse if we try to cover up with fig leaves and pretend nothing is wrong.

While we're at the throne of grace, don't forget to appropriate another aspect of grace: Enabling power. Jesus resurrection life within you will enable you to overcome sin that's sticking so you can be free. This is all a part of the sanctification process.

I would also look at the Lord's prayer as a template for how we should pray. We should always praise and acknowledge His goodness at the outset. He is worthy, our first ministry is to worship the Father through His Holy Spirit. Then, we recognize that His will should be done and His Kingdom should come to earth (and to our lives). This establishes our tone for the rest of our prayers, as it's all about Him and His Kingdom and glory.

Then, we should spend time recognizing we're in His presence and just enjoying the fact He is right here with us. He really is our "daily bread." His presence is more important than food, it's true food! It will feed our spirit person and keep us strong.

Then we can confess our sins and forgive others for anything they've done to us.

Finally, we recognize His sovereignty in our life. He can keep us from temptation, He can keep us from the evil one and the evil of this world. He is enthroned on high and nothing can stop Him from protecting, delivering, guiding you in this world. No power of hell or scheme of man can stop Him! He is sovereign.

Lastly, I suggest everyone learn the parts of the armor of God in Ephesians 6. If you renew your mind with all the equipment God has furnished for us, we will be strong against the wickedness in the world. It really does empower and protect us, you can trust Him.

Bible2 said:

by repenting to the end from every sin they might commit (Hebrews 10:26-29; 1 Corinthians 9:27, Luke 12:45-46), and by doing to the end the particular spiritual works which he's given them as individuals to do (Mark 13:34, Romans 12:6-8, Titus 3:8).

But if they as believers wrongly employ their free will to refuse to do these things, then they can't expect to have any continued real relationship with Jesus, God the Father and the Holy Spirit. For a continued real relationship with them requires people not only continue to believe in them but also continue to obey them (John 15:10, John 14:21,23). Faith without works is dead (James 2:20) and can't ultimately save people (James 2:14-26, Romans 2:6-8, Matthew 7:21, Hebrews 5:9).

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If our relationship is genuine with Father God, we will be changed and transformed by His power through His Spirit and by washing ourselves with the Word (which should be a daily activity).

That being said, our relationship isn't an experience whereby we walk on eggshells fretting about every potential sin we "may" commit. Where is the Father/son relationship in that?

I would encourage anyone reading this to understand God is our Father. Consider the most beautiful, encouraging, patient, merciful earthly father you can imagine. These men would discipline their children in love and compassion, not because their sons were bad and bad sons need a whoopin'. They did it out of love in order to correct. And it wasn't their first attempt to correct, as Father God will correct in many other merciful and patient ways before it comes to that. In the end, if it has to come to that, may it be so and may we be mature enough to understand and appreciate it.

So... Sin is bad and it puts us in a weak spiritual state if we indulge it. Does that mean you had better repent of everything or else? No, father's don't treat their sons like that. God has made provisions of power and grace to help you get out of sin.

Additionally, in Leviticus, the high priest would make atonement for sins of ignorance of the people. Jesus is our High Priest now, and you can be assured He has atoned for sins you've committed in ignorance for you.

Does that mean we live by that as a doctrine for handling sin? No! It's just the kind of thing a loving Father would do for His children.

We live by the Spirit now that we are a new creation. The Spirit will bring to light things we are not to be indulging in if we spend time with Him. He helps keep our heart soft when we are in relationship with Him daily in prayer and study of His Word. He will convict when you cross a line, and we should be responsive and obedient when we feel that conviction.

Daily, we should be ready to recognize the prompting of the Spirit and we should confess our sins and recognize He has cleansed us from all unrighteousness immediately. Then, turn from that sin and ask Him for help to overcome it if it's a struggle.

Also, recognize the difference between the condemnation of our heart and the conviction of the Holy Spirit. The condemnation of your heart will always attack your faith. The conviction of the Holy Spirit will always attack your sin. There is a difference, and if we don't recognize it our heart will condemn us for things He isn't concerned with. But He is greater than our heart!

Additionally, Satan will use condemnation and accusation to weaken your faith. Discernment is required, and as you mature you will become aware of the difference between condemnation and conviction.

If you are unsure, confess the "sin" and take courage you have been washed clean by His blood! Thank You, Jesus!