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CHRISTIAN FAITH GROUPS

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, Gnostic Christians, 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.

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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:

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

Some individual denominations are listed below.

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Some individual denominations are:

bulletThe Amish
bulletThe Brethren
bulletCatholic Church (Roman Catholic)
bulletChildren of God
bulletChristadelphians
bulletChristian Science
bulletThe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons)
bulletCommunity of Christ: Formerly the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints:
bulletEastern Orthodox churches
bulletThe Family (David Berg), (a.k.a. Family of Love)
bulletFundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
bulletPolygynists in Bountiful, British Columbia, Canada
bulletThe "Garbage Eaters": common derogatory name for The Brethren
bulletGnosticism
bulletJehovah's Witnesses
bulletLDS Restorationists: a group of denominations who link their history to Joseph Smith's church
bulletMessianic Judaism & "Jews for Jesus"
bulletMormons (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)
bulletOrthodox churches
bulletThe Process
bulletProgressive Christianity
bulletQuakers (Society of Friends)
bulletReorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints: Now called the Community of Christ
bulletRoman Catholic Church
bulletSeventh-Day Adventist Church
bulletSociety of Friends (Quakers)
bulletTwo by Twos ("The Jesus Way", "The Church with no Name", etc)
bulletUnification Church
bulletUnitarian-Universalism (About 10% of UU members consider themselves to be Christian)
bulletUnited Pentecostal Church International
bulletUnity Church in Canada
bulletUnity School of Christianity
bulletUrantia Book
bullet Worldwide Church of God
bulletThe Way International

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Related information on this web site:

bulletReligious information menu: world data, North American data, religious holy days, etc. 
bulletReligious self-identification in the U.S.
bulletSize of various Christian faith groups
bulletRestorationists: 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.

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Site navigation:

 Home > Christianity >  Groups of denominations > here

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Latest update: 2006-NOV-07

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