History UsefulNotes / Christianity

* Communion: Did Jesus say that the bread and wine was literally His body and blood, or was it purely symbolic, or something in between? If it's more than symbolic, what are the metaphysics behind the bread turning into God's body?

* Communion: Did Jesus say that the bread and wine was literally His body and blood, or was it purely symbolic? If it's more than symbolic, what are the metaphysics behind the bread turning into God's body?

* Does literally only ''one'' Christian denomination have it right and everyone else is wrong? If so, how can you tell which one is correct? Are they all imperfect in their own ways but still ultimately valid? If so, what does the multitude of different denominations of Christianity say about God's plan for Christians, if anything?

'''This section is not a test. These are meant to be rhetorical questions, and answering them here is not something a wise person would do. Some questions are also issues which were important in earlier centuries, but have since been resolved or largely dropped.'''

* Circumcision. Are we required to do it? Paul says it's unnecessary, else God would have done it for us. Can we do it anyway? Is it encouraged but not required? Discouraged but not forbidden? Forbidden entirely?

* Communion: Did Jesus say that the bread and wine was literally His body and blood? Or was it purely symbolic? Neither? If it's more than symbolic, what are the metaphysics behind the bread turning into God's body?

* Is salvation from "faith alone" or does how we act also matter? Do we have free will and a role in our own salvation, or is everything controlled and predestined by God? Is it possible to "lose" or reject salvation if one has been predestined to Heaven? Does God predestine some to Heaven and "pass over" the rest, or does he actively predestine some people to Hell? Did Jesus die for every member of the human race, whether or not they are ultimately saved, or just for "the elect"?

* Does literally only ''one'' Christian denomination have it right and everyone else is wrong? If so, how can you tell which one is correct? Or are they all imperfect in various ways but still ultimately valid? If so, what does the multitude of different denominations of Christianity say about God's plan for Christians, if anything?

Much like the Anglicans, they have a split between catholicizing "high church" and reforming "low church", although none of the catholicizers are quite as high-church as the Anglican ones. The "high church" Lutheran denominations are ''mostly'' Nordic state churches (the Church of Sweden in particular, but the Church of Denmark, Church of Iceland, and Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland all have significant high church movements) or the former state churches of North German states, though there's also a strong high church strain in North American Lutheranism (particularly the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, whose roots are mostly Swedish and North German). A further subdivision are the "Confessional" Lutherans, who subscribe to the Book of Concord[[note]]The doctrinal book of Lutheranism, compiled in 1580[[/note]] ''because'' (''Quia'' in Latin) it is faithful to the Scriptures while mainline Lutherans subscribe to the Book of Concord ''insofar as (Quatenus)'' it agrees to the scriptures[[note]]This may appear as unsignificant and pedantic, but the Quatenus subscription implies that the subscriber leaves room for the possibility that there might be a contradiction of the Scriptures in the Book of Concord in which case the subscriber may hold to the Scriptures against the Book of Concord[[/note]]. Because of this, Confessional Lutherans are more conservative, as they emphasize the importance of maintaining doctrinal purity (one key area of difference, for example, is the ordination of women), and are more popular in the Americas and Africa (while in Europe they are small "alternative" to the large state churches).

%% And he was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate,and suffered and was buried;and on the third day rose again according to the scriptures.

* '''Moonies''' -- also known as the Unification Church[[note]]complete name: [[OverlyLongName Family Federation for World Peace and Unification]][[/note]]. Founded by Sun Myung Moon (from where the moniker "Moonies" comes from) in South Korea. Moon was a former Presbyterian pastor that in 1954 broke from the church, affirming to be the the Second Coming of Christ, and introduced a new holy book known as the "Divine Principle", published in 1966. Moon claimed he was completing the mission Jesus Christ was unable to because of his crucifixion, that of beginning a new ideal family, and a larger human lineage, free from sin (as Eve was impregnanted by Satan, and thus most of mankind are offsprings from Satan himself). Thus, Moon and his wife, Hak Ja Han, are regarded as the "True Parents" who have come to fulfill Jesus' mission on Earth of creating a sinless lineage. Because of this, the Moonies are famous for their focus on marriage and family values, especially on their "Holy Marriage Blessing Ceremonies", a mass marriage ceremony where thousands of couples can be wed. The Moonies are also famous for the heavy involvement of the church in business, owning factories and enterprises, and their political activism and intermingling with politics, especially on the topic of the Korean unification and anti-communism. This relationship with conservative groups led to the assassination of Japanese Prime-Minister Shinzo Abe in 2022, as the assassin, whose mother lost most of her possessions donating to the church, killed Abe because of his ties with the Unification Church.

-->-- [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicene_Creed#Comparison_between_creed_of_325_and_creed_of_381 The Nicene Creed]] of 325

* '''Moonies''' -- also known as the Unification Church[[note]]complete name: [[OverlyLongName Family Federation for World Peace and Unification]][[/note]]. Founded by Sun Myung Moon (from where the moniker "Moonies" comes from) in South Korea. Moon was a former Presbyterian pastor that in 1954 broke from the church, affirming to be the the Second Coming of Christ, and introduced a new holy book known as the "Divine Principle", published in 1966. Moon claimed he was completing the mission Jesus Christ was unable to because of his crucifixion, that of beginning a new ideal family, and a larger human lineage, free from sin (as Eve was impregnanted by Satan, and thus most of mankind are offsprings from Satan himself). Thus, Moon and his wife, Hak Ja Han, are regarded as the "True Parents" who have come to fulfill Jesus' mission on Earth of creating a sinless lineage. Because of this, the Moonies are famous for their focus on marriage and family values, especially on their "Holy Marriage Blessing Ceremonies", a mass marriage ceremony where up to thousands of couples are wed. The Moonies are also famous for the heavy involvement of the church in business, with themn owning factories and enterprises, and their political activism and intermingling with politics, especially on the topic of the Korean unification and anti-communism. This relationship with conservative groups led to the assassination of Japanese Prime-Minister Shinzo Abe in 2022, as the assassin, whose mother lost most of her possessions donating to the church, killed Abe because of his ties with the Unification Church.

* '''Two-by-Twos''' -- a highly peculiar denomination. They do not have an official name or organization. Instead, their priesthood is formed by pairs of wandering preachers (from where their most common name "Two-by-Twos" is derived), who sell everything they have and live out off people's hospitality, and meet in small groups in people's homes. They are also known for begin particularly secretive, they publish no materials or books, an dhide their existance, practices, origins, and even their names from outsiders. The church was founded by Irishman William Irvine in 1897, who wanted not only a return to the early Christianity of the 1st Century, but that the only valid form of preaching was the manner in which the disciples had been sent out in Matthew 10:5-14[[note]]''These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of zthe Samaritans, go rather to bthe lost sheep of the house of Israel. And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay. Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics or sandals or a staff, for the laborer deserves his food. And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart. As you enter the house, greet it. And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let iyour peace return to you. And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town''.[[/note]]. Later Irvine was excommungated from his own church (in an action that most of the members and clergy not even knew it happened), and the Two-by-Twos then started to claim that [[OrwellianRetcon they always had no earthly founder, and that only they represent the "true Christian Church" originating directly with Christ during the 1st century AD]]. Thus, the Two-by-Twos believe all other churches, religions and ministries are false, and rejects most common doctrines such as the Trinity (believing in a form of Modalism), predestination, original sin, justification by faith alone, and redemption.

A group of autonomous "particular Churches" of the Eastern traditions that are in full communion with Rome and recognize the Pope as head of the Church. Almost every Eastern Rite has a counterpart among the Eastern Orthodox and other Eastern churches, and largely keep the same traditions. They are pejoratively termed "uniates" by their counterparts that are not in communion with Rome. "Roman Catholicism" as it's commonly known in the West ([[NunsNRosaries you know, Latin, priestly celibacy, Mass, unleavened bread, old ladies wearing headcovers praying the Rosary in front of a statue of Mary]]) is actually more properly called the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church. Eastern Catholics have Divine Liturgy (not Mass) and use leavened bread at communion. Most Eastern rites don't require priests to be celibate (a ''discipline'' of the Latin Rite, not a ''dogma'' of the Catholic Church). However, unlike Eastern Rite priests and like their Latin Rite counterparts, bishops may ''not'' be married in the Eastern Rite; much like the Orthodox, much of the upper Eastern Rite hierarchy is therefore taken from the ranks of monks and monastics. Byzantine Catholics cross themselves right-to-left just like their Eastern Orthodox brethren. Among the one billion or so Catholics in the world, only about 17 million are from one of the Eastern Rites. Eastern Catholics are every bit as Catholic (in terms of being in communion with Rome) as the Latin Rite Catholics, but due to their small numbers and their more prominent Orthodox counterparts, most people (heck, most Latin Rite Catholics) don't even know that they exist except in places where they are locally prominent, like western Ukraine or certain parts of the Middle East, and places with significant diasporas of people from those places (e.g. UsefulNotes/{{Pittsburgh}} for western Ukrainians[[note]]Fun fact: Creator/AndyWarhol came from the Eastern Catholic community of Ruthenians--basically ethnic western Ukrainians who ended up being ruled by Poland and Austria rather than Russia--in Pittsburgh[[/note]] or UsefulNotes/NewJersey and UsefulNotes/{{Detroit}} for Middle Eastern communities).

* NunsNRosaries: To quote the page "just the basic stereotypical stuff."

* Does God materially reward the righteous in this life with health and wealth? Is being rich a sign of God's favor? Alternatively, is it ''bad'' to be rich?

* '''Lutherans''' -- A collection of predominantly Germanic and Scandinavian denominations that broke communion with Rome under the leadership of Martin Luther. The most important issues were salvation by faith alone, the total bondage of the will to sin, and scripture as the only infallible authority. Believe in the objective presence of Christ in communion (but in a different way than Catholics. Catholics believe in "transubstantiation", or that the bread and wine become the ''actual'' body and blood of Christ. Lutherans believe in the "sacramental union", which teaches that Jesus is real and present in the meal, but doesn't necessarily specify in what way). Unusual among Protestants for their identification of being 'born again' with baptism. Episcopal in polity[[note]]With some churches in the Americas and Africa adopting a congregational polity, and some a "synodical" polity, which can be described as modified congregational polity with episcopal polity elements. Although for Lutherans it is a question of organization and governance rather then theology[[/note]]; their services are very similar to Catholic masses. Originally known as 'Evangelicals'. They only recognize the sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist. Lutherans believe that people are predestined to heaven, but not to hell. Lutherans reject dispensationalist theology. Much like the Anglicans, they have a split between catholicizing "high church" and reforming "low church", although none of the catholicizers are quite as high-church as the Anglican ones. The "high church" Lutheran denominations are ''mostly'' Nordic state churches (the Church of Sweden in particular, but the Church of Denmark, Church of Iceland, and Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland all have significant high church movements) or the former state churches of North German states, though there's also a strong high church strain in North American Lutheranism (particularly the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, whose roots are mostly Swedish and North German). A further subdivision are the "Confessional" Lutherans, who subscribe to the Book of Concord[[note]]The doctrinal book of Lutheranism, compiled in 1580[[/note]] ''because'' (''Quia'' in Latin) it is faithful to the Scriptures while mainline Lutherans subscribe to the Book of Concord agrees ''insofar as (Quatenus)'' to the scriptures[[note]]This may appear as unsignificant and pedantic, but the Quatenus subscription implies that the subscriber leaves room for the possibility that there might be a contradiction of the Scriptures in the Book of Concord in which case the subscriber may hold to the Scriptures against the Book of Concord[[/note]]. Because of this, Confessional Lutherans are more conservative (one key area of difference is the ordination of women, for example), and are more popular in the Americas and Africa (while in Europe they are small "alternative" to the large state churches).

* '''Lutherans''' -- A collection of predominantly Germanic and Scandinavian denominations that broke communion with Rome under the leadership of Martin Luther. The most important issues were salvation by faith alone, the total bondage of the will to sin, and scripture as the only infallible authority. Believe in the objective presence of Christ in communion (but in a different way than Catholics. Catholics believe in "transubstantiation", or that the bread and wine become the ''actual'' body and blood of Christ. Lutherans believe in the "sacramental union", which teaches that Jesus is real and present in the meal, but doesn't necessarily specify in what way). Unusual among Protestants for their identification of being 'born again' with baptism. Episcopal in polity[[note]]With some churches in the Americas and Africa adopting a congregational polity, and some a "synodical" polity, which can be described as modified congregational polity with episcopal polity elements. Although for Lutherans it is a question of organization and governance rather then theology[[/note]]; their services are very similar to Catholic masses. Originally known as 'Evangelicals'. They only recognize the sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist. Lutherans believe that people are predestined to heaven, but not to hell. Lutherans reject dispensationalist theology. Much like the Anglicans, they have a split between catholicizing "high church" and reforming "low church", although none of the catholicizers are quite as high-church as the Anglican ones. The "high church" Lutheran denominations are ''mostly'' Nordic state churches (the Church of Sweden in particular, but the Church of Denmark, Church of Iceland, and Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland all have significant high church movements) or the former state churches of North German states, though there's also a strong high church strain in North American Lutheranism (particularly the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, whose roots are mostly Swedish and North German). A further subdivision are the "Confessional" Lutherans, who subscribe to the Book of Concord[[note]]The doctrinal book of Lutheranism, compiled in 1580[[/note]] ''because'' (''Quia'' in Latin) it is faithful to the Scriptures while mainline Lutherans subscribe to the Book of Concord agrees ''insofar as (Quatenus)'' it agrees with the scriptures[[note]]This may appear as unsignificant and pedantic, but the Quatenus subscription implies that the subscriber leaves room for the possibility that there might be a contradiction of the Scriptures in the Book of Concord in which case the subscriber may hold to the Scriptures against the Book of Concord[[/note]]. Because of this, Confessional Lutherans are more conservative, and are more popular in the Americas and Africa (while in Europe they are small "alternative" to the large state churches).

* '''Lutherans''' -- A collection of predominantly Germanic and Scandinavian denominations that broke communion with Rome under the leadership of Martin Luther. The most important issues were salvation by faith alone, the total bondage of the will to sin, and scripture as the only infallible authority. Believe in the objective presence of Christ in communion (but in a different way than Catholics. Catholics believe in "transubstantiation", or that the bread and wine become the ''actual'' body and blood of Christ. Lutherans believe in the "sacramental union", which teaches that Jesus is real and present in the meal, but doesn't necessarily specify in what way). Unusual among Protestants for their identification of being 'born again' with baptism. Episcopal in polity[[note]]With some churches in the Americas and Africa adopting a congregational polity, and some a "synodical" polity, which can be described as modified congregational polity with episcopal polity elements. Although for Lutherans it is a question of organization and governance rather then theology[[/note]]; their services are very similar to Catholic masses. Much like the Anglicans, they have a split between catholicizing "high church" and reforming "low church", although none of the catholicizers are quite as high-church as the Anglican ones. The "high church" Lutheran denominations are ''mostly'' Nordic state churches (the Church of Sweden in particular, but the Church of Denmark, Church of Iceland, and Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland all have significant high church movements) or the former state churches of North German states, though there's also a strong high church strain in North American Lutheranism (particularly the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, whose roots are mostly Swedish and North German). Originally known as 'Evangelicals'. They only recognize the sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist. Lutherans believe that people are predestined to heaven, but not to hell. Lutherans reject dispensationalist theology.

* '''Reformed/Presbyterians''': As the name implies, these have a presbyterian polity; also, following the Reformed tradition of Zwingli, Calvin, and Knox, they typically have a Calvinist soteriology. The major origin point for this denomination is Geneva, but most extant churches originate in either the Netherlands (where the Reformed church became dominant for a number of reasons) or Scotland (where Knox successfully converted the Lowlands). In general, if a church calls itself Reformed, it's probably in the Dutch tradition (with Dutch actually having ''two'' words for "Reformed", the ''hervormde'' being somewhat laxer Calvinists and the ''gereformeerde'' being stricter and more doctrinaire), while if it calls itself Presbyterian, it's probably in the Scottish tradition. \\

** '''Restorationists''' are sometimes seen as either a branch of protestantism or a distinct grouping of Christianity (and sometimes both). The movement started at the 19th Century United States during the "Great Awakenings", started by Christians tired of the many denominations and doctrinal divisions within Christianity, longing for a return to the early, primitive church, before the "Great Apostasy", an ambiguous period when the church got lost and corrupted. What that actually means vary wildly, but what the Restorationists share is emphasis on the Bible as the sole source of authority and rejection of any prior tradition. Due their varied beliefs, Restorationist denominations will be grouped on this page in either "Protestantism" or "Other Denominations" depending on how unorthodox their believes are.

* '''Christian Scientists''' -- more properly "The Church of Christ, Scientist". Founded by a Boston woman, Mary Baker Eddy, whose sickness was not healed by "animal magnetism" (which worked by inadvertently hypnotizing the patient) but did get better after praying. Their main difference from other types of Christianity is denying the existence of the physical world (which peculiarly sounds rather like UsefulNotes/{{Buddhism}}). This leads to the conclusion that there is no need to rely on drugs and medical treatment, since these imply a reality to the physical. In practice, failing to be good enough at seeing that there is no physical world is not a sin, so members are allowed to seek medical help as a second resort. They also deny the existence of evil, Satan, and any need to evangelize or proselytize. They are very much in favor of reading, though. Not to be confused with the [[ChurchOfHappyology Church of Scientology]]. The sect established ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Christian_Science_Monitor The Christian Science Monitor]]'' as a response to criticism and ridicule of Eddy early on; it eventually became a top outlet for high-quality journalism in the United States. Currently, the church is in the process of a long and slow decline brought about by the invention of antibiotics and chemotherapy. The denomination is generally grouped with other Metaphysical Christian movements spawned during the 19th Century such as Christian Spiritualism and the Unity Church, of which Christian Science is the largest of these denominations still extant.

** There are some small unmistakably Christian Unitarian groups, maintaining the old traditions of Christian Unitarianism: that is, a combination of mild Calvinism with Deism, with Jesus being accepted as a great moral teacher and ''possibly'' the Biblical Messiah, after a (unique) fashion (they were rarely pure Deists), but not God himself. The movement started during the Protestant Reformation in Poland and Transylvania, where they were presecuted by Catholics and Protestants alike (one of them, Spaniard Michael Servetus, was burnt at the stake in 1553 after begin denounced by Jonh Calvin himself). Unitarianism eventually reached a small foothold in England where afterwards it went to the United States, where it wasn't particularly uncommon in the 18th and 19th centuries, being a highly intellectual offshoot of standard New England Congregationalism. Four US presidents (UsefulNotes/JohnAdams, UsefulNotes/JohnQuincyAdams, UsefulNotes/MillardFillmore, and UsefulNotes/WilliamHowardTaft) were Unitarians in this sense (Taft [[OlderThanTheyThink actually had to fight accusations of atheism]] because of this, as he had been offered the presidency of then-Congregationalist [[UsefulNotes/IvyLeague Yale]] before he became President of the US and responded "I do not believe in the divinity of Christ" and had to explain that he meant that he was a Christian Unitarian, ''not'' an atheist). UsefulNotes/ThomasJefferson was also a kinda-sorta Unitarian; his Christology and Deism match up, but even if he had been the churchgoing type, it would've been difficult to find a Unitarian church in Virginia (where Episcopalianism was the state religion until Jefferson himself signed the Virginia Charter of Religious Freedom in 1786, and which was not fertile country for Northeastern Congregationalisms of any kind until the Methodists softened the territory up enough for the originally-New Englander Baptists to take over the whole region). Along with the fundamental doctrine of the Oneness of God, certain characteristics have always marked those who profess unitarianism: a large degree of tolerance, a historical study of scripture, a minimizing of essentials, and a repugnance to formulated creed. By the late 19th century Unitarian churches had been steadily been accepting a more liberal theology, which would eventually lead to the formation of the Unitarian Universalism.

* '''Two-by-Twos''' -- a highly peculiar denomination. They do not have an official name or organization. Instead, their priesthood is formed by pairs of wandering preachers (from where their most common name "Two-by-Twos" is derived), who sell everything they have and live out off people's hospitality, and meet in small groups in people's homes. They are also known for begin particularly secretive, they publish no materials or books, an dhide their existance, practices, origins, and even their names from outsiders. The church was founded by Irishman William Irvine in 1897, who wanted not only a return to the early Christianity of the 1st Century, but that the only valid form of preaching was the manner in which the disciples had been sent out in Matthew 10:5-14[[note]]These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of zthe Samaritans, go rather to bthe lost sheep of the house of Israel. And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay. Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics or sandals or a staff, for the laborer deserves his food. And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart. As you enter the house, greet it. And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let iyour peace return to you. And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town.[[/note]] Later Irvine was excommungated from his own church (in an action that most of the members and clergy not even knew it happened), and the Two-by-Twos then started to claim that [[OrwellianRetcon they always had no earthly founder, and that only they represent the "true Christian Church" originating directly with Christ during the 1st century AD]]. Thus, the Two-by-Twos believe all other churches, religions and ministries are false, and rejects most common doctrines such as the Trinity (believing in a form of Modalism), predestination, original sin, justification by faith alone, and redemption.

* The most influential group preaching this message was Herbert W. Armstrong's '''Worldwide Church of God''', publishers of the British-Israelite ''Plain Truth'' magazine to be found as a free publication at newsagents and news-stands all over the USA and Britain. The [=WWCoG=] did not survive Armstrong's death in 1986, and has splintered into many mutually opposed groupings (including one that abandoned British Israelism and has since been accepted into mainstream evangelicalism). At least three schismatic groups currently offer ''their'' version of ''The Plain Truth'' online, thus perpetuating British-Israelism into a new century.

* '''Two-by-Twos''': a highly peculiar denomination. They do not have an official name or organization. Instead, their priesthood is formed by pairs of wandering preachers (from where their most common name "Two-by-Twos" is derived), who sell everything they have and live out off people's hospitality, and meet in small groups in people's homes. They are also known for begin particularly secretive, they publish no materials or books, an dhide their existance, practices, origins, and even their names from outsiders. The church was founded by Irishman William Irvine in 1897, who wanted not only a return to the early Christianity of the 1st Century, but that the only valid form of preaching was the manner in which the disciples had been sent out in Matthew 10. Later Irvine was excommungated from his own church (in an action that most of the members and clergy not even knew it happened), and the Two-by-Twos then started to claim that [[OrwellianRetcon they always had no earthly founder, and that only they represent the "true Christian Church" originating directly with Christ during the 1st century AD]]. Thus, the Two-by-Twos believe all other churches, religions and ministries are false, and rejects most common doctrines such as the Trinity (believing in a form of Modalism), predestination, original sin, justification by faith alone, and redemption.

** There are some small unmistakably Christian Unitarian groups, maintaining the old traditions of Christian Unitarianism: that is, a combination of mild Calvinism with Deism, with Jesus being accepted as a great moral teacher and ''possibly'' the Biblical Messiah, after a (unique) fashion (they were rarely pure Deists). This wasn't particularly uncommon in the US in the 18th and 19th centuries, being a highly intellectual offshoot of standard New England Congregationalism. Four US presidents (UsefulNotes/JohnAdams, UsefulNotes/JohnQuincyAdams, UsefulNotes/MillardFillmore, and UsefulNotes/WilliamHowardTaft) were Unitarians in this sense (Taft [[OlderThanTheyThink actually had to fight accusations of atheism]] because of this, as he had been offered the presidency of then-Congregationalist [[UsefulNotes/IvyLeague Yale]] before he became President of the US and responded "I do not believe in the divinity of Christ" and had to explain that he meant that he was a Christian Unitarian, ''not'' an atheist). UsefulNotes/ThomasJefferson was also a kinda-sorta Unitarian; his Christology and Deism match up, but even if he had been the churchgoing type, it would've been difficult to find a Unitarian church in Virginia (where Episcopalianism was the state religion until Jefferson himself signed the Virginia Charter of Religious Freedom in 1786, and which was not fertile country for Northeastern Congregationalisms of any kind until the Methodists softened the territory up enough for the originally-New Englander Baptists to take over the whole region).

Also known for putting the Messianic in MessianicArchetype, though the trope itself is [[OlderThanTheyThink older than many of us think]]. The Messiah, just to let you know, is actually a Jewish trope (and Judaism the TropeNamer). Mashiah actually means Anointed One, and refers to the King of Israel, born of David's line, who will usher in a new era of peace and restoration of the Davidic/Solomonic kingdom (the Golden Age, so to speak).[[note]]The title was also used for any king of David's line, as well as some High Priests, [[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers and Cyrus the Great]].[[/note]] Christians just happen to believe Jesus is that Messiah, whereas non-Christian Jews (obviously) don't. Jews also do not believe that the Messiah's role involves any saving of souls, while Christians believe that to be the entire purpose of of the Messiah.

* '''Orthodox/Eastern Orthodox Christians''' agree with Catholics on the role of the Church as the earthly authority that can make statements of doctrine. But instead of the Pope, they rely on ecumenical councils (basically, gatherings of all the bishops in the world, where each of them gets one vote) as the final authority. The last ecumenical council recognized by the Orthodox was held in the 9th century, though the Catholic Church has held councils of its own since then, and the Orthodox have held synods (similar meetings of bishops on a smaller scale) numerous times since; [[DevelopmentHell plans have been in the works for a new Orthodox council since before World War I]]. Otherwise, the Orthodox Church is formed by a complex system of various churches, they are separated by seventeen separate ''autocephalous'' (i.e. self-governing) churches, ruled by a head bishop (usually with the titles of "Patriarch" or "Metropolitan"), and numerous smaller "autonomous" churches, usually outside the national territory of their mother church. The closest thing that Orthodoxy has to a supreme leader of the church is the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, who is actually considered a "first among equals" and has no jurisdiction of the churches of the other head bishops.

* '''Lutherans''' -- A collection of predominantly Germanic and Scandinavian denominations that broke communion with Rome under the leadership of Martin Luther. The most important issues were salvation by faith alone, the total bondage of the will to sin, and scripture as the only infallible authority. Believe in the objective presence of Christ in communion (but in a different way than Catholics. Catholics believe in "transubstantiation", or that the bread and wine become the ''actual'' body and blood of Christ. Lutherans believe in the "sacramental union", which teaches that Jesus is real and present in the meal, but doesn't necessarily specify in what way). Unusual among Protestants for their identification of being 'born again' with baptism. Episcopal in polity[[note]]With some churches in the Americas and Africa adopting congregational polity. Although for Lutherans it is a question of organization and governance rather then theology[[/note]]; their services are very similar to Catholic masses. Much like the Anglicans, they have a split between catholicizing "high church" and reforming "low church", although none of the catholicizers are quite as high-church as the Anglican ones. The "high church" Lutheran denominations are ''mostly'' Nordic state churches (the Church of Sweden in particular, but the Church of Denmark, Church of Iceland, and Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland all have significant high church movements) or the former state churches of North German states, though there's also a strong high church strain in North American Lutheranism (particularly the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, whose roots are mostly Swedish and North German). Originally known as 'Evangelicals'. They only recognize the sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist. Lutherans believe that people are predestined to heaven, but not to hell. Lutherans reject dispensationalist theology.

* '''Orthodox/Eastern Orthodox Christians''' agree with Catholics on the role of the Church as the earthly authority that can make statements of doctrine. But instead of the Pope, they rely on ecumenical councils (basically, gatherings of all the bishops in the world, where each of them gets one vote) as the final authority. The last ecumenical council recognized by the Orthodox was held in the 9th century, though the Catholic Church has held councils of its own since then, and the Orthodox have held synods (similar meetings of bishops on a smaller scale) numerous times since; [[DevelopmentHell plans have been in the works for a new Orthodox council since before World War I]]. Otherwise, the Orthodox Church is formed by a complex system of various churches, they are separated by seventeen separate ''autocephalous'' (i.e. self-governing) churches, and numerous smaller "autonomous" churches, usually outside the national territory of their mother church. The closest thing that Orthodoxy has to a supreme leader of the church is the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, who is actually considered a "first among equals" and has no jurisdiction of the churches of the other head bishops.

* '''Orthodox/Eastern Orthodox Christians''' agree with Catholics on the role of the Church as the earthly authority that can make statements of doctrine. But instead of the Pope, they rely on ecumenical councils (basically, gatherings of all the bishops in the world, where each of them gets one vote) as the final authority. The last ecumenical council recognized by the Orthodox was held in the 9th century, though the Catholic Church has held councils of its own since then, and the Orthodox have held synods (similar meetings of bishops on a smaller scale) numerous times since; [[DevelopmentHell plans have been in the works for a new Orthodox council since before World War I]]. They have convened the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan-Orthodox_Council Pan-Orthodox Council]] 19 to 26 June 2016.

'''This section is not a test. These are meant to be rhetorical questions, and answering them here is not something a wise person would do. Some questions are also issues which were important in earlier centuries, but have since been resolved or at least have stopped being discussed.'''

'''This section is not a test. These are meant to be rhetorical questions, and answering them here is not something a wise person would do.'''