Church History

All church history was take from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Some groups are large (e.g. Catholics, Lutherans, Anglicans or Baptists), while others are just a few small churches, and in most cases the relative size is not evident in this list. Also, modern movements such as Fundamentalist Christianity, Pietism, Evangelicalism, Pentecostalism and the Holiness movement sometimes cross denominational lines, or in some cases create new denominations out of two or more continuing groups (as is the case for many United and uniting churches, for example). Such subtleties and complexities are not clearly depicted here. Additionally, some groups viewed by non-adherents as denominational actively resist being called a "denomination" and do not have any formal denominational structure, authority, or record-keeping beyond the local congregation; several groups within Restorationism fall into this category.

This is not a complete list, but aims to provide a comprehensible overview of the diversity that exists among denominations of Christianity. Some links may point to non-existent articles. There are approximately 300 branches listed here. According to one source, there are, in all, approximately 38,000 Christian denominations.[1]

Between denominations, theologians and comparative religionists, there are considerable disagreements about which groups can be properly called Christian. These disagreements rise primarily from doctrinal differences between groups. For the purpose of simplicity, this list is intended to reflect the self-understanding of each denomination. Explanations about different opinions concerning their status as Christian denominations can be found at their respective articles.