• Catholics and Methodists believe in the holy Trinity (the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit).
• Methodists and Catholics share the same Doctrine of Justification.
• Both follow some form of Apostolic Succession.
• Sign of the cross and votive candles, though more common in Catholicism are used in both.
• Hagiography, or study of the Saints, is encouraged.
• Both practice infant bapitsm.
• Prayer beads (rosaries) can be used in both churches, but are more common in Catholicism.
• Both use altars and have either an altar cross or crucifix.
• Both recite the same Creeds (Nicene, Apostle's, etc).
• Both consider themselves part of the Communion of Saints and the Holy Catholic Church. (In this case "Holy Catholic Church" means part of the church on a global scale.)
• Both bow when aproaching the altar.
• Ministers and Bishops must be ordained.

• Catholics hold that the Roman Catholic Church's teachings and traditions are as important as the Scripture, whereas Methodists teach that truth comes from Scripture only.
• Though the Methodist church does not deny the historical content of the Apocrypha, it does not consider it to be a Holy Book as the Catholic church does.

• The most important piece of the Catholic Mass is receiving the body and blood of Jesus Christ through communion; the focus of a Methodist service is on the readings and liturgies. When Methodists receive communion, they believe that Jesus is spiritually, not physically, present. Catholics serve a closed table 9only Catholics may partake) while Methodists serve an open (anybody who feels inclined may partake).

• Catholics Have 7 Sacraments but Methodists have only 2 ,the Eucharist and Holy Baptism.
• Confession is required in the Catholic faith, but optional in Methodism.

• Methodists ordain women, Catholics do not.

Answer 1: to me as a christian it doesn't mean nothing. I do believe in a new and transformed glorious body, but not to be incorporated into someone else's body or any other type of body. Jesus was conceived by the Holy Ghost, but then again was God in a human body, his own body. Incarnation means "out of flesh born." Answer2: Incarnation literally means "the embodiment of a deity or spirit in some earthly form," or "a concrete or actual form of a quality or concept."

The Incarnation, to most Christians, refers to God coming down to Earth as a man, Jesus, also called the Christ. The Bible indicates that Jesus claimed to be God Incarnate, or in the flesh, on several occasions, although some segments debate this interpretation. The only way Jesus' death could be the once-for-all atonement for our sins is for Him to have been sinless, which would be impossible had he been a mere man. Only by being both God *and* man could His death on the cross substitute for our own.

I would presume that incarnation for a non-Christian would refer to the second definition above, or perhaps to the possession of a body or object by a ghost or spirit, depending on one's view of things spiritual.

Possible answer for non-Christians:

We are all incarnate using the definition of the previous answer. God is the father of us all. Jesus claimed to be the son of God, not the only one. Answer 3: Jesus never claimed to be the 'Son of God' - that title was given to him by others. He claimed much more. He claimed to be 'God the Son' - something very very different. By forgiving sins (only God could do that), by his miracles (only God could heal), by his teaching with authority (rather than second hand from the law) and by his claim to be 'I AM' (ja-whe, jehovah) - 'My father and I are one', Jesus claimed to be God incarnate. That is one of the reasons why Christians follow him.

This is a critical question. How do we modern Christians, post-Christians or non-Christians understand the Incarnation today and still be true to ourselves and our God? I think it comes down to the recognition in the prayer or meditation experience that we are part of the all, that we are not really separate from the dynamic flow of matter and energy that constitutes the Universe, but that we are a part of it, sharing in the dynamic transformations of energy and matter at a given time in phase space. In this way we are incarnations of God, the very Ground of Being. People who value Jesus see in Him that he recognized the incarnation in himself, and early on especially in St. Paul's writings the thought was that we all had the power to become sons of God. The early community believed that when they looked at Jesus, his life, his death and his resurrection, that they could see the saving power of God. At some point this got distorted and frozen in a somewhat lifeless formula that highlighting Jesus' breakthrough to God, forgot that the rest of us could also recognize that we too are a part of the divine mystery. Thank God that at least some of this was retained for us mere humans in the doctrine of the eucharist where the mystery of the incarnation is seen in the fact that the bread and wine are identical with Jesus and this becomes for us a portal where we can discover our own communion with God. This may be getting a bit fuzzy but what I'm trying to get across is that our connection to god is the true mystery, Jesus saw it and we honor that in him, and we can find it in ourselves too. Answer4: As a Christian this means at least three important things.

Firstly it means that Jesus Christ who was and is the eternal God and creator of the universe understands us (although He probably did anyway since He knows everything). At least we are able to see that since He became a man and walked and talked and saw and ate and slept etc that He knows what the human condition is about. Obviously He didn't need to experience absolutely everything but He did become flesh and blood as we are.

Secondly, He may have understood but we need to know that He cares. If He knew about things but was indifferent that would not be a God worthy of worship. But His every move showed compassion both for the lost sheep as well as for the sick and suffering, even though healing was not the main reason why He came.

Thirdly, He came to die. That says more than anything else, given the terrible pain and suffering involved. He did it for everyone on the planet, including anyone who reads this.

The answer is simplicity it's self There is nothing outside of god We man are as much a part of god as as rock or a beam of light or for that matter a pile of manure. God is omnipotent and there is nothing outside of omnipotence. Answer 5: As a Christian, I do not believe in incarnation. When you die, God will choose what your faith will be. The Bible does not answer many questions about after death such as, is there a Purgatory? I don't think God would reincarnate someone, but he could. Answer 6: This is my answer from the view of an Evangelical Christian.

I think most the people are confusing the word incarnate with reincarnation. which would be a very easy mistake.

the word incarnate simply means ( embodied in flesh; given a bodily, esp. a human, form: a devil incarnate.)

In the view of a christian the anti-Christ would actually be Satan incarnate. More importantly Jesus took human form here on earth so at that time he would be God incarnate.

I'll explain reincarnation after reincarnate so i can teach the difference, there actually two different words.

Answer 7: Now Christians believe in being reincarnated. They may not know it but they do. you see reincarnate means ( to give another body to; incarnate again.)and, another definition says (To cause to be reborn in another body; incarnate again.) and one more (To cause to appear in a new form; refurbish or revitalize) any of these sounding familiar now guys?.

once again i believe people would be confusing words. reincarnation means (the belief that the soul, upon death of the body, comes back to earth in another body or form.)

When you become a Christian your born into the family of God, you become one of his children. then when you die you go to heaven and take on a new glorified body.

Answer:

Christians do not believe in reincarnation. but however believe in being reincarnated. and the incarnation of Jesus Christ when he walked here on earth.

non-Christians? Some people believe in reincarnation and some may not believe in incarnation or being reincarnated.

References:

Christians go to heaven.

(NIV) John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

Clarifying:

this may be a little hard to understand because of all the similar words. Just keep in mind that reincarnation is different from incarnation,reincarnate and reincarnated.

I found the good answer.
Almighty God says,"God become flesh is called Christ, and so the Christ that can give people the truth is called God. "
"The meaning of incarnation is that God appears in the flesh, and He comes to work among man of His creation in the image of a flesh. So, for God to be incarnated, He must first be flesh, flesh with normal humanity; this, at the very least, must be true. In fact, the implication of God's incarnation is that God lives and works in the flesh, God in His very essence becomes flesh, becomes a man. His incarnate life and work can be divided into two stages. First is the life He lives before performing His ministry. He lives in an ordinary human family, in utterly normal humanity, obeying the normal morals and laws of human life, with normal human needs (food, clothing, shelter, sleep), normal human weaknesses, and normal human emotions. In other words, during this first stage He lives in non-divine, completely normal humanity, engaging in all the normal human activities. The second stage is the life He lives after beginning to perform His ministry. He still dwells in the ordinary humanity with a normal human shell, showing no outward sign of the supernatural. Yet He lives purely for the sake of His ministry, and during this time His normal humanity exists entirely in service of the normal work of His divinity; for by then His normal humanity has matured to the point of being able to perform His ministry. So the second stage of His life is to perform His ministry in His normal humanity, is a life both of normal humanity and of complete divinity. "
" The Christ with normal humanity is a flesh in which the Spirit is realized, possessing normal humanity, normal rationality, and human thought. "Being realized" means God becoming man, the Spirit becoming flesh; to put it plainly, it is when God Himself inhabits a flesh with normal humanity, and through it expresses His divine work-this is what it means to be "realized," or incarnated. "(from The Word Appears in the Flesh)

Following are some of the differences we can see in the principles and practice of these two religions:

• Hinduism is not founded by any particular prophet. Buddhism was founded by the Buddha.
• Hinduism believes in the efficacy and supremacy of the Vedas. The Buddhist do not believe in the Vedas or for that matter any Hindu scripture.
• Buddhism does not believe in the existence of souls as well in the first cause, whom we generally call God. Hinduism believe in the existence of 'Atman', that is the individual soul and Brahman, the Supreme Creator.
• Hinduism accepts the Buddha as an incarnation of Mahavishnu, one of the gods of Hindu trinity. The Buddhist do not accept any Hindu god either as equivalent or superior to the Buddha. Buddhism acknowledge the existence of some gods and goddesses of Hindu pantheon, but give them a rather subordinate status.
• The original Buddhism as taught by the Buddha is known as Theravada Buddhism or Hinayana Buddhism. Followers of this do not worship images of the Buddha nor believe in the Bodhisattvas. The Mahayana sect considers the Buddha as the Supreme Soul or the Highest Being, akin to the Brahman of Hinduism and worship him in the form of images and icons.
• The Buddhists consider the world to be full of sorrow and regard ending the sorrow as the chief aim of human life. The Hindus consider that there are four chief aims (arthas) in life which every being should pursue. They are Dharma (religious duty), Artha (wealth or material possessions), Kama (desires and passions) and Moksha (salvation.)
• Hindus also believe in the four Ashramas or stages in life. This is not followed in Buddhism. People can join the Order any time depending upon their spiritual preparedness.
• Buddhists organize themselves into a monastic Order (Sangha) and the monks live in groups. Hinduism is basically a religion of the individual.
• Buddhism believes in the concept of Bodhisattvas. Hinduism does not believe in it.
• Buddha, the Sangha and Dhamma are the three cardinal requirements on the eight-fold path. Hinduism offers many choices to its followers on the path of self-realization.
• Although both religions believe in Karma and rebirth, they differ in the manner in which they operate and impact the existence of individual beings.

Pentecostal is a reference to the individual who has been born again and received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which Pentecostals believe is evidenced by speaking in tongues. They define speaking in tongues as uttering sounds which are not in any human language, but they are considered the language of angels. It is also used as a reference to their churches.

Pentecostals believe that the present Pentecostal movement, which features the speaking in tongues, is in fulfillment of Bible promise. They maintain that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and during the first century did not exhaust the miraculous visible manifestations of the Spirit. They interpret the early and latter rains, mentioned at James 5:7 (AV), as applying to the outpouring of God's spirit. Believing that the outpouring of God's Spirit in the first century was the early rain, they conclude that there must also be a latter rain. The Pentecostal movement, they claim, is a result of the outpouring of this latter rain.

Other Christian Churches however, note that Acts Chapter 2 states that when the speaking in tongues on which the Pentecostal Movement is based took place, "every man heard them speak in his own language." So the other Christians believe the "tongues" were actual human languages. Also, According to 1Corinthians 14:27, 28, tongues are not to be spoken in a church unless there is an interpreter. Tongues may be gifted even in Baptist Churches; however, there must be an interpreter or else it is not considered to be a gift. Also, they are not any part of a requirement for salvation.

It is a distinctive teaching of the Pentecostal movement that speaking in tongues always accompanies the baptism with the Holy Spirit. All persons have this tongues experience as evidence of baptism, Pentecostals say, but not everyone afterward receives the gift of tongues. This Pentecostal teaching, however, does not have Scriptural backing.

Besides the speaking in tongues, most Pentecostal churches do not believe in the security of the believer (once saved, always saved), and most Baptist churches do believe this. As do they belive to be baptised in the father son and Holy Ghost. Although no one ever in the bible not even the disciples of chirst him self were but even God in flesh (Jesus) was baptised in the name of Jesus Christ Acts 2:38

One of the main differences between the two is that the Pentecostal will have a daily necessity of commitment, while the Baptist is "saved for life". Another friction point is the speaking of tongues. In the Pentecostal church, you must first be baptized (in repentance), and then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, with the Biblical evidence of speaking in tongues.

Other denominations that accept the baptism of the Holy Spirit don't insist that the Bible mandates that the evidence of this baptism must be speaking in tongues.

Baptists and other Christians point to John 5:24 which explains, "He who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life." They therefore believe that once you believe (trust) in Christ, you have eternal salvation. This is evidenced by a change in behavior, a repenting (turning away) from the old sinful life. While this doesn't mean you'll never sin again, it does mean you will not have a generally sinful lifestyle. Baptism of the Holy Spirit means filling with the Holy Spirit, which is what happens to all believers when they are born-again.

(Pentecostal)

Theologically, most pentecostal denominations are aligned with Evangelicalism in that they emphasize the reliability of the Bible and the need for conversion to faith in Jesus Christ. While there is cross pollination with other movements, Pentecostals differ from Fundamentalists by placing more emphasis on personal spiritual experience (often emotional), and, in most cases, by allowing women in ministry.

Once saved, always saved? I think that some people say they are Christians but haven't fully grasped the truth completely and fall away only to come back again and be truly saved at a later date. It is also possible for your heart to grow cold against God and at the end of the day only God can say whether or not you will get to Heaven. If you truly are saved there is no going back in my opinion.

Pentecostals have deeper experiences with God that line up with the Book of Acts. Pentecostals believe we must grow spiritually and attain unto the perfect statue of Christ Himself as commanded by the Scriptures.

Pentecostals insist that the "initial or first evidence" of Baptism with the Holy Ghost is "speaking with other tongues as the Spirit gives utterance."

A few of my own comments:

1. Very few Pentecostals maintain that speaking in tongues is for salvation. We do believe that all Christians can, and should, be baptised with the Holy Spirit. Most of us believe that speaking in tongues is evidence of that (not all of us would assert that dogmatically, but I think all of us do believe that tongues is available to all Christians). But evidence of salvation? I know of only one Pentecostal church in my city which teaches that - it's an extreme group that shuns other churches, even other Pentecostal churches. It is NOT mainstream Pentecostal theology.
2. With some exceptions, Pentecostals do believe that salvation can be lost. Most of us do not believe that salvation is lost every time we sin, however. We believe that we are saved by faith in the blood of Jesus, nothing else. But most of us also believe that if we renounce our faith, we will lose our salvation. Unrepented sin will eventually undermine faith, leading to a loss of salvation. But I emphatically don't believe that every time I sin, I lose my salvation, and have to re-gain it. There may well be individual Pentecostals who believe that, but I haven't met any, and I know of no Pentecostal church that teaches that.
3. As for how Pentecostals differ from other Christians, you'll get different answers from just about every Pentecostal you ask! From personal observation, we hold the same core beliefs as most other evangelical and fundamentalist Christians - the Trinity, the virgin birth, the resurrection, the atonement, the second coming, the infallibility of the bible. Most of us are also strong creationists. We take conservative positions on divorce, abortion, homosexuality, premarital sex, and most of us are strong supporters of Israel - positions shared by the great majority of evangelicals. Where we differ is in our emphasis on the Holy Spirit, and more specifically, on the miraculous/supernatural manifestations of the Spirit. We believe emphatically that tongues, healings, miracles, etc. should be normative, not exceptional. I don't think you'll meet a Pentecostal who's prepared to compromise on that.
4. Having said that, the lines of demarcation are less clear than they used to be. Most denominations (at least in New Zealand) have been impacted by the Charismatic Movement, which believes in tongues and other supernatural manifestations (but not always with the theological package that Pentecostals are familiar with). American Baptists are often surprised to find that around 50 percent of New Zealand Baptist churches openly endorse much of the Pentecostal message (where they differ is in their belief that speaking in tongues, although available today, is not necessarily evidence of being baptised in the Holy Spirit). The Plymouth Brethren, among whom I worshipped for the best part of a decade, were historically hostile to Pentecostalism. In recent years, there has been a major shift in some Brethren assemblies, with some of them now supporting the charismatic movement (but again, not regarding tongues as the necessary evidence of being filled with the Holy Spirit). Recently, a large Brethren church in Wellington played a very prominent role in promoting Pentecostal evangelist Greg Laurie - that would have been unthinkable a couple of decades ago! Similar changes have happened in some sections of the Presbyterian, Anglican, and even Catholic churches. So the differences between Pentecostals and other Christians are much less striking than they once were.

ANSWER

Born on the first day of the year in 1901.

Classical Pentecostals:

The Classical Pentecostals were the first in the latter century to be blessed with the Pentecostal Baptism with the Holy Ghost. The leaders were all Holiness Ministers with a firm belief in the New Birth or Regeneration according to the Scriptures. They also believed in the Second Blessing, that of Entire Sanctification where the old sin nature is circumcised from the heart by the Blood of Christ Jesus and received by Faith. The movement was started at Bethel Bible School in Topeka, Kansas in 1900. The first Baptism with the Holy Ghost with the expected manifestations of tongues was when Charles Fox Parham, the Schools leader, laid hands on Ms. Agnes Ozman on New Years Day, 1901. A few days later 12 students receive the experience then Charles Parham himself received it.

Charles Parham moved to Houston, Texas where he ran a Bible School and had a man named William Seymour, listen to his lectures while sitting in the hallway with the door ajar due to the Jim Crow Laws in effect at that time. William Seymour later traveled to Los Angeles, California and started a revival at the Azusa Street Mission which ran for three years and the message of Pentecost was carried around the world. The fire that fell at Azusa Street is still falling, many, each day are receiving the Baptism with the Holy Ghost with the initial evidence of 'speaking in tongues as the Spirit gives utterance.

The Classical Pentecostals believe in Regeneration as the First Work of Grace and in Sanctification as the Second and Last Work of Grace and in the Pentecostal Baptism with the Holy Ghost as empowerment to serve God and testify of Jesus Christ. They also believe in Divine Healing and the Imminent Return of Jesus Christ in the Rapture to 'catch away' His Bride at the end of this present church age.

There are other pentecostal denominations who came later, such as the Assemblies of God who were formed in 1914 at a camp meeting in Hot Springs Arkansas. In 1916 at a General Assembly, a group of ministers left the Assemblies of God and formed what is known today as the United Pentecostal Church. They rejected the Church Ordnance of baptising in water in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost and substituted water baptism in Jesus Name only. They further stated that unless a man is baptised in Jesus Name Only and speaks in tongues he is not saved.

There are those who are called 'Charismatics' and sometimes mistaken for Pentecostal who claim they received the Spirit Baptism without speaking in tongues. This group was formed in the 1960 in Van Nuys, California at a Catholic Church meeting.

Answer

Oneness Pentecostals believe Jesus is God the father, god the son and God the holy spirit. We believe in speaking in tongues as the necessary Evidence of baptism of the holy spirit. We believe in Jesus name baptism. Assemblies of God and others are branches of pentecostal. Pentecostals follow the same rules and restrictions as the apostles

Being a Pentecostal I know personally why it is different. Pentecostals try to follow the Bible. In some Pentecostal churches you would find that the women would have long hair, no make up or jewelry and wear long skirts. The men would have on a suit and have short hair with no jewelry also. A lot of time in many other Christian churches they don't really mind what you wear. Also The way that Pentecostals worship the lord is very different in the way that it is very out there, you can jump, roll run, cry, scream, speak in tongues and lift your hands. Whatever you feel like God has called you to do.

i want to friendship with ahle tashi girl from rawalpindi islamabad or faisalabad i like all momans

ANSWER

A Christian should not marry a non Christian (2 Corinthians 6:14). However, if a man and woman are already married and one of them becomes a believer, they need not divorce their partner. Allow that person to leave of their own initiative if they wish (1 Corinthians 7:12-13). Otherwise, they should plan on fulfilling their duty to their spouse.

As for cultures and languages, I would hope that a great deal of thought went into the marriage before it took place. Those are issues that might be a struggle for some people. For others, perhaps they have no affect on the relationship. It really depends on the people and the severity of their differences.

:

Ultimately, the most successful marriage partners will share religious beliefs, whether or not they belong to the same church. In other words, their values (family, respect, kindness, etc.) will be the same or very similar. People belonging to the same church may profess to be the same but may have opposing values, and those differences may not be apparent until tragedy or other difficulties arise. Finding someone who claims to have the same religion (they belong to the same church) is only the first step in choosing someone who will be truly compatible.

In my opinion , i think religion or anything shouldn't come between two people in love

The Lord never intended for His church to be divided up into hundreds of competing groups teaching vastly different doctrines. The Lord is not the Lord of confusion. It is man that has changed His doctrine and turned it into a mass of confusion and division. Much of this has be for filty lucre (1 Peter 5:2) and in Ephesians 4:5, Paul tells us that there is "One Lord, one faith,one baptism," not many Lords, many faiths and many different forms of baptism.

Christ set up His church while on earth and appointed Peter as the lead Apostle over his church. After Christ's death, Peter was to receive guidance from Christ to direct the church through a process called revelation. Christ established a particular leadership structure in His church, and this structure was to help unify the people within the church and to help avoid confusion on who was responsible for what components of the various roles within the church. In Apostle Paul's instructions to the Ephesian members of Christ's church, who were called Saints, he told them what the structure of the church should be. Christ's church was set up with apostles, prophets, evangelists (missionaries), pastors (bishops), and teachers and this structure was to help perfect the saints. Paul also told the members that this church leadership structure was to be the structure until there was unity in the faith and until the members were perfected [which would not be until the Second Coming of Christ ]. This leadership structure was designed to keep the saints from being confused about which doctrines were correct.

The reason there are so many different churches today is because the church Christ established was changed by men into a church that men wanted and the followers have become confused as to which doctrine is correct and where to find a church that teaches correct doctrine. We do know one thing and that is that Christ's church will have 12 apostles (the number in the original church), a prophet, a strong missionary component, and pastors (also called bishops) and teachers. If a church is missing these key leadership components, then it is not structured after the church that was originally established by Christ and described by the Apostle Paul as cited in Ephesians 4:11-14 below (KJV).

Ephesians Chapter 4 verses 11-14

11And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

12For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

13Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

14That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

Many factors have contributed to the development of new religious groups. Some have said that the various religions all represent different ways of presenting religious truth. But a comparison of their teachings and practices with the Bible indicates, rather, that the diversity of religions is because people have become followers of men instead of listening to God. It is noteworthy that, to a large extent, teachings they hold in common, but that differ from the Bible, originated in ancient Babylon.

Who is the instigator of such religious confusion? The Bible identifies Satan the Devil as "the god of this system of things." (2 Corinthians 4:4) It warns us that "the things which the nations sacrifice they sacrifice to demons, and not to God." (1 Corinthians 10:20) How vitally important, then, to make sure that we really are worshiping the true God, the Creator of heaven and earth, and that our worship is pleasing to him!

The real question is why are there denominations at all. The answer is the concepts of orthodoxy and heresy from the dark ages. Up until a few scant generations ago you could still be whipped publicly (in the American colonies) for refusing to go to church. Before that the punishments get even worse.

That is why there was one main church (the "holy church"/Vatican) for so long, it is only when they lost their hold on Christendom that other groups began to form, and now they have little real power, so these groups flourish.

The interesting thing is that today catholicism almost doesn't even exist. A study was done some years ago asking American Catholics 10 simple, basic questions like "is the devil a real being or a symbol for evil", etc, and only 7% answered all ten questions in-line with the catholic doctrine.

So only 7% of American catholics are actually Catholic, they just don't realize it.

I think in the future there will be no denominations, if Christianity even exists anymore eventually.

Different denominations wind up with different minor emphases in their services for these and other reasons. One person called them "house rules." This can work out well, as long as those separate "house rules" aren't used to build walls of self-righteousness against other Christians.

Because the Bible is made up of many books written by different people at different times, in languages that are not currently spoken as they were then, therefore we read translations. There are passages which are difficult to understand, some which contradict others in other parts of the bible. So every time people cannot agree on what something means, they form a new church to follow that way.

And the Final Answer is...

Jesus said "go and teach all nations". He did not say, sit down and write a book. Jesus started his Church when he said to Peter "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build MY Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." We see in Acts that Peter has taken the leadership role of the disciples. He is the one whom Jesus entrusted his power here on Earth. We then see numerous times when Paul mentions the Church in his writings. Now, from this time on, we have a written record of successors to Peter as the Head of Christs Church. We refer to that person as the Pope. The term "Catholic" means "Universal" and was used to describe the Church as early as 46AD by one of Johns disciple, St Polycarp. The Catholic Church spread to all corners of the earth and was "One body" until 1517 AD when Martin Luther broker away. Shortly after that, John Calvin started his own religious following and these two events are referred to as the "Protestant Reform". The Catholic Church put the first bible together in 325, long after the Church had been established, but Martin Luther had the idea that "solu scripturo" was the way to go. Meaning, by Scripture Alone. If you think about it, Jesus said "go forth and teach all nations". He did not say, sit down and write a book. So if you are going to believe in the bible alone, you are missing a lot of what Jesus taught. The bible is by far the greatest book ever written, but Jesus did not found his Church on the bible as most have today. You can research history and discover that the Catholic Church is the Church started by Jesus himself and over 1 billion Catholics worldwide celebrate the exact same Mass with each other following the teachings of Jesus throughout the bible as well as the traditions past down from generation to generation.

Because there are so many ways to interpret the bible, not all denominations agree upon everything said.

1. God became incarnate (flesh) in the man Jesus.

2. Christ atoned (paid for) man's sin through His death on the cross.

3. Christ rose in bodily form from the grave, conquering death and proving He is God.

4. The Bible is the inspired, authoritative Word of God.

These are the absolute basics of Christian belief. No non-christian religion, cult, or sect in the world agrees with orthodox Christianity at all on all these points. Unfortunately, not all so-called Christian churches follow them either, and some purport to follow them but do not obey them. These 4 points are straight-forward - you either believe them or you don't, and then you may go off and start your own church.

Beliefs are important, but it is so easy to say you believe something and not actually mean it. Even when we are doing the right thing, the intent of our heart is moreimportant than the actual deed itself:-

Mat 7:16 You shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles?

Mat 7:17 Even so every good tree brings forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit.

Mat 7:18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruits, nor can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

Mat 7:19 Every tree that does not bring forth good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

Mat 7:20 Therefore by their fruits you shall know them.

Mat 7:21 Not everyone who says to Me, Lord! Lord! shall enter the kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in Heaven.

Mat 7:22 Many will say to Me in that day, Lord! Lord! Did we not prophesy in Your name, and through Your name throw out demons, and through Your name do many wonderful works?

Mat 7:23 And then I will say to them I never knew you!Depart from Me, those working lawlessness!

To avoid taking things out of context, I have included the entire section where Jesus said very plainly that obeying God was more important than following the traditions of men :-

Mat 15:1 Then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying,

Mat 15:2 Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.

Mat 15:3 But He answered and said to them, Why do you also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?

Mat 15:4 For God commanded, saying, "Honor your father and mother"; and, "He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him die by death."

Mat 15:5 But you say, Whoever says to his father or mother, Whatever you would gain from me, It is a gift to God;

Mat 15:6 and in no way he honors his father or his mother. And you voided the commandment of God by your tradition.

Mat 15:7 Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying,

Mat 15:8 "This people draws near to Me with their mouth, and honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.

Mat 15:9 But in vain they worship Me,teaching for doctrines the commandments of men."

Mat 15:10 And He called the crowd and said to them, Hear and understand.

Mat 15:11 Not that which goes into the mouth defiles a man; but that which comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.

Mat 15:12 Then His disciples came and said to Him, Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?

Mat 15:13 But He answered and said, Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted shall be rooted up.

Mat 15:14 Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.

There is nothing wrong with tradition so long as it does not become ritualistic, and does not conflict in anyway with the spiritual intent of Christ:-

Col 2:8 Beware lest anyone rob you through philosophy and vain deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the elements of the world,and not according to Christ.

The sticking-point for many is the 4th and last point: that the Bible is the inspired, authoritative Word of God.

2Ti 3:16 All scripture is given byinspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

2Ti 3:17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

Scripture includes Paul's writings, as Peter said they were part of the Scriptures:-

2Pe 3:15 And think of the long-suffering of our Lord as salvation (as our beloved brother Paul also has written to you according to the wisdom given to him

2Pe 3:16 as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which the unlearned and unstable pervert, as also they do the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction).

(By the time Peter wrote this in about 68AD, Paul already dead, beheaded by Nero about a year previously.)

God takes the Scriptures (which are His Words) very seriously and warns against changing them:-

Deu 4:2 You shall not add to the Wordwhich I command you, neither shall you take away from it, so that you may keep the commands of the LORD your God which I command you.

Deu 12:32 All the things I command you, be careful to do it. You shall not add to it, nor take awayfrom it.

Rev 22:18 For I testify together to everyone who hears the Words of the prophecy of this Book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add on him the plagues that have been written in this Book.

Rev 22:19 And if anyone takes away from the Words of the Book of this prophecy, God will take away his part out of the Book of Life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which have been written in this Book.

Any church that denies or does not teach all four of these points is not a Christian church and is therefore by definition heretical. This includes churches like the Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Christadelphians, Roman Catholic ( the 'Magisterium' takes precedence over Scriptures), and Scientology. However, just as a Christian church will have non-christians in it, so it is possible for a non-christian church have Christians in it.

The two basic reasons for the names of different denominations in churches are convenience and disagreements, (where a person will leave that congregation and start another church with his adherents.) Other reasons are:-

1. Different locations

eg Churches of Smyrna, England, Creek St,

2. Differentiating beliefs

eg Baptist Church, Orthodox, Seventh-day Adventist

3. Named after people

eg Luther, Wesley, St Therese,

4. Type of teaching

eg Method(ism)

5. Type of structure

eg Congregational, Presbyterian

6. Distinguishing attribute

eg Grace, Bible-believing, True, United, Loyal, Evangelical

7. Splits and divisions among a church congregation

eg Baptist (Baptist & United Baptist), United (Methodist & Presbyterian),

The larger Christian denominations are : (in order of numerical size): Catholic (both Roman and Eastern Rites), Eastern Orthodox (Russian, Greek, Romanian etc), Anglican/Episcopalian, Oriental Orthodoxy (Copts, Armenians, Syriacs, Eritreans), Uniting Church in Australia.

There are various other groups (in alphabetical order): Apostolic Church, Baptist, Brethren, Church of Christ, Church of God, Congregationalist, Disciples of Christ, Lutheran, Mennonite, Methodist, Pentecostal and Assemblies of God, Presbyterian, Salvation Army, Seventh Day Adventist, United Church of Christ. There are also many independent congregations.

Note: The claims of Mormons (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, often called the Mormon Church), the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society (the official name for the Jehovah's Witnesses) and Christian Science to be Christian are rejected by most of the denominations mentioned above, and those who leave Mormonism are re-baptised by some of the above groups. The reason for this rejection is that, for example, Mormons hold beliefs regarding God (and other things) which are unacceptable to other denominations e.g. Mormon belief that Christ and Lucifer are brothers.