CHRISTIANITY FACTS

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CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS

Divisions And Branches In Christianity

Christianity has divided into four major branches Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodoxy, and Protestantism. Roman or Latin Catholicism represents the continuation of the historical organized church as it evolved over the centuries, and is headed by the Pope. However, if you see the diagram below, there are other divisions also. The first split was in the 5th century after the Council of Ephesus in 431 AD. The Council agreed Nestorianism (which emphasized the disunity of the human and divine natures of Christ) was wrong. The Roman Catholic Church decreed Jesus to be “two natures in one person. The Assyrian Church of the East did not agree and split from the rest. Later after 20 years at the Council of Chalcedon, again there was a disagreement and the decision of the Council was to excommunicate all those not agreeing, and all such became the Non-Chalcedonian Orthodox, or in general, all these churches are known as Oriental Orthodox Churches. The Oriental Orthodox aka Old Oriental churches acknowledges and recognize the first three ecumenical councils: Nicaea, Constantinople, and Ephesus, but reject the dogmatic definitions of the Council of Chalcedon.

The third split happened in the 11th century. It is called the Great Schism. It was mostly based on personal disagreements between the Bishops of Rome and Constantinople resulting in Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy respectively . It started when the Patriarch of Constantinople and the Pope excommunicated each other. Eastern Orthodoxy includes the Greek, Russian Orthodox Churches, and several others. They differ from Catholicism in its refusal of allegiance to the Pope, its emphasis on the use of icons in worship, and the date it celebrates Easter. Other cultural, political, and religious differences exist as well.

The fourth major division happened when during the industrial revolution and invention of the printing press, it became easier for the people to interact with each other more efficiently and to read and study the Bible. This led many thinkers over the years to come up with new ideas and to break away from the Catholic Church, and thus Protestantism arose in the 16th century. The most prominent leaders of this movement were Jan Hus, Martin Luther, and John Calvin. Protestants do not recognize the authority of the Pope, do not have the same affection for Mary, the mother of Jesus, that the Catholic and Orthodox churches have, reject many traditions and beliefs of the Catholic Church, and emphasize the importance of reading the Bible and the doctrine of salvation by faith alone. Protestantism further split into many denominational groups, including Baptists, Methodists, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Pentecostals, and Evangelicals. In England, a similar protest against the Pope, first political and later religious, led to the Church of England and formation of Anglican Christianity.

Distinctive Catholic practices include devotion to Mary and the saints, recognition of seven sacraments and veneration of relics and sacred sites associated with holy figures. Eastern Orthodoxy holds many practices similar to Catholicism but is mainly distinguished by the primary role of icons. The Nicene Creed, however, is typically accepted as authoritative by most Christians, including the Catholic, Oriental Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox and major Protestant, including Anglican, denominations.

CHRISTIANITY CHURCH RANKS

Religious Hierarchy: Church Clergy Titles, Church & Leadership Hierarchy

Below is a general description of Christian Religious hierarchy esp of the Catholic Church. Other denominations of Christianity have some differences in ranking and titles as shown by three pictures below for Protestants, Orthodox, and Anglican Churches.

Pope:

is the head of the Church, leader of the entire Catholic Church worldwide, a successor of the Saint Peter (it is believed that the Pope is a successor to Saint Peter and Saint Peter was appointed by Jesus as the leader of the Church), the Bishop of the Rome and head of the Vatican city. The Pope is impeccable in defining matters of faith and morals. The present Pope is Francis Jorge Mario Bergoglio born 17 December 1936. He is the first Pope from the Americas, the first from the Southern Hemisphere, the first to visit the Arabian Peninsula, and the first Pope from outside Europe after the 8th century. There are approx around 3000 Bishops working under the Pope and overall 219,583 priests.

The Patriarch:

A patriarch is known as the highest ranking bishop of the Roman Catholic church, above the Major Archbishop and Primate. The patriarchs have power and authority over the bishops and metropolitans of their particular Church. The patriarchs are the head of some autonomous churches like the Syrian Catholic Church, Coptic Catholic Church, Chaldean Catholic Church, Melkite Greek Catholic Church, the Maronite Church, and Armenian Catholic Church.

Cardinal:

Cardinals can be positioned second in the Christianity religious ranking, after the Pope. There are 178 cardinals appointed by the Pope which make up the College of Cardinals. This College is responsible for electing a new pope, whenever the seat becomes vacant. They are also called as the Prince of the Catholic Church.

Archbishop:

An archbishop is a bishop of a main or metropolitan diocese, also called an archdiocese. A Cardinal can side by side hold the title. They also act as head for some different Churches holding some local Churches under them. The authority of a major archbishop in his Church is almost equivalent to that of a patriarch in his Church.

The Primates/Bishop:

is a rank or a special title provided to some Bishops in certain Catholic Churches. He is a teacher of church law, a priest of holy worship, and a minister of church government. The Primates serve the first diocese developed in the country.

Priest:

An ordained minister who can administer most of the sacraments, including Baptism, The Eucharist and marriage. He can be with a particular religious order or committed to serving a congregation.

Deacon:

The function of the diocesan bishops is to govern the local regions within the Church, known as the dioceses. It is viewed as part of the clerical state or as a layperson. The bishops are collectively known as the College of Bishops. As a member of the College of Bishops, shares in the responsibility for the governance of the whole Church.

A GENERAL IDEA OF CHURCH TITLES & RANKING IN OTHER DENOMINATIONS