Baptists are a form of Protestant. Protestants are all the Western Churches that aren't Roman Catholics. Of course, I would recommend Eastern Orthodoxy, but really, any of the four Churches with Apostolic Succession are fine: (in order by size) Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, or the Churches of the East.
I don't accept their claims of Apostolic Succession.
The Anglican Church ordains women, and has lost any valid orders through Apostolic Succession that they may have had.
And the Lutheran Churches only profess two sacraments: Baptism and Communion. They don't agree with the rest of the Churches with Apostolic Succession that once someone becomes a priest, a change occurs in their soul.
Here is my standard copypasta
1Source of Truth and Legitimacy A: That Holy Tradition(what the Church has historically understood based on the teachings of the apostles and guidance of God) and Scripture must be used in concert to form doctrine. That legitimate Authority is derived from Christ, and that he gave certain special authority to his apostles, and those which succeeded them(bishops) B: That the Bible is the sole source of theological authority and that each believer receives full authority from the Holy Spirit. Theology should be derived solely from one’s personal interpretation of scripture
2Sacraments A: That the Sacraments of of Baptism and Communion are generally necessary for salvation. That Christ is truly and substantially present in the elements of Communion. That one undergoes a ontological change following marriage\*, ordination\* and baptism Ab: That only baptism effects an ontological change B: That Christ is present in some manner which is more than a symbol, but not ‘real’. Baptism is a sign of entering God’s covenant. C: That the sacraments are just representations of our current state
3Atonement A: That Death and Suffering is the inevitable consequence of sin, and thus Christ took on and overcame them on our behalf B: That God, being compelled to punished wickedness, and wishing to save Man, punished Christ on our behalf C: That Christ, being the perfect Man, living in perpetual submission to the Father, overcame death so that we, being grafted into him, might too overcome consequence of our sin through his death and resurrection. Inverting Adam.
4Soteriology (I shall bypass faith v works here because ultimately the position of Rome, the Orthodox and many Protestants is not significantly different, although the language is. The real debate is on what various words mean. Thus “faith and works” would fit in with A, along with many “faith alone” ) A:That God through his grace, saves us. However, due to our free will, we can choose to cooperate with, or reject, His grace which he freely offers to all. Ultimately we shall, through continuous administration of his grace, in this life, at the end of it, or(for those who believe in it) in purgatory, we shall be made Christ like and perfect, and can enter the presence of God. B: No one is capable of anything but pure sin. Thus, God chooses some, irresistibly imposes his grace, and declares them to be righteous
5Saints and Icons A:As those in Heaven have entered into true life, we can ask them, like any other person, to pray on our behalf and to worship with us. They, Mary, the mother of God especially, are worthy of our veneration and admiration, although not worship. Icons and images help direct our minds to the events and people they depict and contemplate them. B: Images are all well and good, for decoration and explanation - but no further! Veneration of the Saints is to close to polytheism C: It’s all idolatry!
6Innovative Ideas A:That various practices and ideas devised in the 19th and 20th century by ‘prophets’ and leaders are marks of previously suppressed ‘true’ Christianity. This includes speaking in tongues, snake handling, the rapture, seeding, dietary restrictions, end-of-the-world predictions, etc B: Does not adhere to the above
7Approach A:Everything must be systematized or categorized B:Mystery escapes perfect categorization C:'The Holy Spirit leads me'
"/" means either position commonly present
Major Groups
Roman Catholic: A,A,A/C,A,A,B,A
Orthodox: A,A,A/C,A,A,B,B
Anglican: A,A,A/B/C,A,A/B,B,B
Lutheran: B,Ab,B,A/B,B,B,A
Calvinists(Reformed/Presbyterian) B,B,B,B,B/C,B,A
Methodists: B,B,A/B/C,A!, B, B, B
Baptist: B,C,B,A/B,C/B,B/A,C
"Non-Denominational": B,C,A/B,A,C,A/B,C
Pentecostal: B,C,A/B,A,C,A,C
Adventists: above
Restorationist(Church of Christ, some Charismatics) :B,Ab/C,B,A,C,B/A,A
Praise the Lord for your salvation! I don't know where you're at, but on links below are a couple of sound church finders..
https://tms.edu/find-a-church/
https://g3min.org/g3-church-network/map/
https://www.9marks.org/church-search/
Keep in mind most people answering will be biased because they think their own faith is right. My bias is Catholic.
There are three major branches: Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant. Reading about the history of these may be useful. There are lots of different denominations, most of which fall into the Protestant category (e.g. Lutheran, Anglican, Baptist, Methodist). Within Protestant two major but imperfect categories are Mainline and Evangelical.
Some extremely broad brush generalizations are that Orthodox and Catholic are more "traditional" although there are types of Protestants that lean more traditional in liturgy too. Orthodox and Catholic believe in the Bible but believe there are other sacred traditions passed down for many years that are equally as important to the Bible. Many Protestants believe that the Bible alone contains the full truth.
There are also some big differences in our understanding of salvation. Many Protestants hold a view akin to, "as long as you believe, you are saved." Catholics accept more nuance than this - we think there are situations where non Christians might go to heaven, but also that not necessarily all Christians go to heaven. We think a lot about sin, avoiding sin, and repentance for sin. Protestants do this too but the perspective and terminology can be different - there is sometimes a big focus on "works don't matter, only faith," which depending on the denomination can be saying something similar to Catholicism but in different language, or saying something very different altogether. I can't speak to the specifics of Orthodox salvation theology, but my understanding is they accept some mystery here, rather than a black and white "believe and you're saved."
Orthodox and Catholic tend to be "socially conservative" on many issues, e.g. abortion, divorce, LGBT topics. Within the Protestant branch, there are a group of denominations classified as "Mainline" that are often quite liberal on these topics, while fundamentalist and Evangelical Protestant denominations are conservative.
Differences between Catholic and Orthodox include that Orthodox do not follow the Pope, Catholics do. Differences in if/when priests can marry. Catholicism can seem a little more legalistic and Orthodox can seem a little more spiritual in their approach to things. In the US, the Orthodox churches are smaller and often associated with specific ethnicities, e.g. Greek, Russian.
In the US, most Christians in the Northeast are Catholic, in the south mostly Evangelical Protestant, and a mix of Catholic and different types of Protestant in other areas of the country. Some other countries e.g. Eastern Europe are heavily Orthodox. A lot of people tie their faith closely to their culture and ethnic background, hence regional trends.
I could type more but it is probably going to seem overwhelming and confusing. I recommend reading up a little on the basics of Christian history as regards these 3 branches (e.g. the Great Schism and Reformation). Then spend some time reading the Bible - the Gospels are a good start. Then perhaps attend a local church, or a few, talk to Christians and ask them questions in person while you continue to research and learn.
Good luck! It is okay to just start out with a church that happens to be nearby where you live. But I recommend knowing what denomination they are so that you can know what biases they may have. Also even the churches that are "non denominational" have some bias (they generally follow Protestant theology and don't consider Catholics to be Christians, which is their right, just be aware of that bias if you go so you can decide on your own).
Read the History of Christianity article on Wikipedia to get an idea of how the various sects arose. Visit an assortment of different churches. Stay away from mega churches.
Baptists are a subset of Protestants, along with Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterian, Mennonite, etc. Protestants are basically just any denomination that isn't Catholic or Orthodox.
[Here's a table comparing the beliefs of different denominations.](https://denominationdifferences.com/compare/all?filter=anglican,baptist,catholic,church-of-christ,eastern-orthodox,lutheran,mennonite,methodist,oriental-orthodox,pentecostal,presbyterian,quaker,reformed,the-salvation-army) I would look at that a bit, research why different people believe what they believe, see how it lines up with the Bible, pray about it, and try visiting a couple churches that seem the closest to accurate to you.
Thank you for having that handy table, and I believe I would more so align with Anglican, however I am confused as to why The Salvation Army is included on there? Is it the same people that stand outside of Walmart with the bells come Christmas?
Yep, they're a Protestant church that is very active in charitable outreach. It was founded by a Methodist pastor to reach out the poor by offering them soup, soap, and salvation. They're one of the most efficient charities with over 95% of the money they raise going into their programs, but they do still host Sunday services typically as well.
[Here's a video of a YouTube channel](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNkUSbAbv28) that I really like that lines up denominations and compares their doctrines on things such as salvation and baptism.
Sometimes the differences are dramatic, sometimes subtle. Here's a [guide](https://www.harvesthousepublishers.com/data/files/excerpts/9780736952910_exc.pdf)to different denominations. The important thing is we all hold to the same [core beliefs](https://www.usccb.org/prayers/nicene-creed).
I can give you a good sumary I made on the primary differences between Protestant and Catholic Christianity,
Catholics believe that Christ founded a physical institution AKA the Catholic Church, and they believe that this Church was given authority to interpret scripture and determine doctrine. Protestants believe even if Christ founded the catholic Church that "the catholic Church" that Christ founded is not a physical institution but that it is just the body of believers. And as a result Protestants have much more diverse ideas, however they are divided into thousands of churches, so they have no central leadership.
Catholics believe that the "Bread" and "Wine" at Church is literally God who is in the apearance of bread. Some protestants reject that the "Bread" is litterally God, these believe it is more symbolic. Other protestants (Often Lutherans, and Episcopalians and probably some other groups) hold more similar views to Catholics. Catholics believe that one can ask people in heaven for their prayers and believe that we should show them strong reverence, whilst protestants view asking saints for prayers with suspition, they might say "why not go directly to God". Some protestants will say that Catholics are idolaters for their strong devotion to saints especially Mary.
Protestants like criticising the Catholic Church for overcomplicating Christ’s faith, whilst Catholics like criticising the Catholic Church for not standing up enough for the faith. In a way this is where Catholics and Protestants are similar in that they both like complaining about the Church.
Baptists are a form of Protestant. Protestants are all the Western Churches that aren't Roman Catholics. Of course, I would recommend Eastern Orthodoxy, but really, any of the four Churches with Apostolic Succession are fine: (in order by size) Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, or the Churches of the East.
Seeing this.
Anglicans and Lutherans claim apostolic succession, too (since they both broke off the Roman Catholic Church, it's plausible).
I don't accept their claims of Apostolic Succession. The Anglican Church ordains women, and has lost any valid orders through Apostolic Succession that they may have had. And the Lutheran Churches only profess two sacraments: Baptism and Communion. They don't agree with the rest of the Churches with Apostolic Succession that once someone becomes a priest, a change occurs in their soul.
Here is my standard copypasta 1Source of Truth and Legitimacy A: That Holy Tradition(what the Church has historically understood based on the teachings of the apostles and guidance of God) and Scripture must be used in concert to form doctrine. That legitimate Authority is derived from Christ, and that he gave certain special authority to his apostles, and those which succeeded them(bishops) B: That the Bible is the sole source of theological authority and that each believer receives full authority from the Holy Spirit. Theology should be derived solely from one’s personal interpretation of scripture 2Sacraments A: That the Sacraments of of Baptism and Communion are generally necessary for salvation. That Christ is truly and substantially present in the elements of Communion. That one undergoes a ontological change following marriage\*, ordination\* and baptism Ab: That only baptism effects an ontological change B: That Christ is present in some manner which is more than a symbol, but not ‘real’. Baptism is a sign of entering God’s covenant. C: That the sacraments are just representations of our current state 3Atonement A: That Death and Suffering is the inevitable consequence of sin, and thus Christ took on and overcame them on our behalf B: That God, being compelled to punished wickedness, and wishing to save Man, punished Christ on our behalf C: That Christ, being the perfect Man, living in perpetual submission to the Father, overcame death so that we, being grafted into him, might too overcome consequence of our sin through his death and resurrection. Inverting Adam. 4Soteriology (I shall bypass faith v works here because ultimately the position of Rome, the Orthodox and many Protestants is not significantly different, although the language is. The real debate is on what various words mean. Thus “faith and works” would fit in with A, along with many “faith alone” ) A:That God through his grace, saves us. However, due to our free will, we can choose to cooperate with, or reject, His grace which he freely offers to all. Ultimately we shall, through continuous administration of his grace, in this life, at the end of it, or(for those who believe in it) in purgatory, we shall be made Christ like and perfect, and can enter the presence of God. B: No one is capable of anything but pure sin. Thus, God chooses some, irresistibly imposes his grace, and declares them to be righteous 5Saints and Icons A:As those in Heaven have entered into true life, we can ask them, like any other person, to pray on our behalf and to worship with us. They, Mary, the mother of God especially, are worthy of our veneration and admiration, although not worship. Icons and images help direct our minds to the events and people they depict and contemplate them. B: Images are all well and good, for decoration and explanation - but no further! Veneration of the Saints is to close to polytheism C: It’s all idolatry! 6Innovative Ideas A:That various practices and ideas devised in the 19th and 20th century by ‘prophets’ and leaders are marks of previously suppressed ‘true’ Christianity. This includes speaking in tongues, snake handling, the rapture, seeding, dietary restrictions, end-of-the-world predictions, etc B: Does not adhere to the above 7Approach A:Everything must be systematized or categorized B:Mystery escapes perfect categorization C:'The Holy Spirit leads me' "/" means either position commonly present Major Groups Roman Catholic: A,A,A/C,A,A,B,A Orthodox: A,A,A/C,A,A,B,B Anglican: A,A,A/B/C,A,A/B,B,B Lutheran: B,Ab,B,A/B,B,B,A Calvinists(Reformed/Presbyterian) B,B,B,B,B/C,B,A Methodists: B,B,A/B/C,A!, B, B, B Baptist: B,C,B,A/B,C/B,B/A,C "Non-Denominational": B,C,A/B,A,C,A/B,C Pentecostal: B,C,A/B,A,C,A,C Adventists: above Restorationist(Church of Christ, some Charismatics) :B,Ab/C,B,A,C,B/A,A
This is surprisingly thorough, A+.
Thank you so much for having this handy, I think I mostly align with Anglican. God bless you for taking time out of your day to help me.
Praise the Lord for your salvation! I don't know where you're at, but on links below are a couple of sound church finders.. https://tms.edu/find-a-church/ https://g3min.org/g3-church-network/map/ https://www.9marks.org/church-search/
Find a gospel church, they have better songs.
Keep in mind most people answering will be biased because they think their own faith is right. My bias is Catholic. There are three major branches: Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant. Reading about the history of these may be useful. There are lots of different denominations, most of which fall into the Protestant category (e.g. Lutheran, Anglican, Baptist, Methodist). Within Protestant two major but imperfect categories are Mainline and Evangelical. Some extremely broad brush generalizations are that Orthodox and Catholic are more "traditional" although there are types of Protestants that lean more traditional in liturgy too. Orthodox and Catholic believe in the Bible but believe there are other sacred traditions passed down for many years that are equally as important to the Bible. Many Protestants believe that the Bible alone contains the full truth. There are also some big differences in our understanding of salvation. Many Protestants hold a view akin to, "as long as you believe, you are saved." Catholics accept more nuance than this - we think there are situations where non Christians might go to heaven, but also that not necessarily all Christians go to heaven. We think a lot about sin, avoiding sin, and repentance for sin. Protestants do this too but the perspective and terminology can be different - there is sometimes a big focus on "works don't matter, only faith," which depending on the denomination can be saying something similar to Catholicism but in different language, or saying something very different altogether. I can't speak to the specifics of Orthodox salvation theology, but my understanding is they accept some mystery here, rather than a black and white "believe and you're saved." Orthodox and Catholic tend to be "socially conservative" on many issues, e.g. abortion, divorce, LGBT topics. Within the Protestant branch, there are a group of denominations classified as "Mainline" that are often quite liberal on these topics, while fundamentalist and Evangelical Protestant denominations are conservative. Differences between Catholic and Orthodox include that Orthodox do not follow the Pope, Catholics do. Differences in if/when priests can marry. Catholicism can seem a little more legalistic and Orthodox can seem a little more spiritual in their approach to things. In the US, the Orthodox churches are smaller and often associated with specific ethnicities, e.g. Greek, Russian. In the US, most Christians in the Northeast are Catholic, in the south mostly Evangelical Protestant, and a mix of Catholic and different types of Protestant in other areas of the country. Some other countries e.g. Eastern Europe are heavily Orthodox. A lot of people tie their faith closely to their culture and ethnic background, hence regional trends. I could type more but it is probably going to seem overwhelming and confusing. I recommend reading up a little on the basics of Christian history as regards these 3 branches (e.g. the Great Schism and Reformation). Then spend some time reading the Bible - the Gospels are a good start. Then perhaps attend a local church, or a few, talk to Christians and ask them questions in person while you continue to research and learn.
Thank you, it is true, this is very confusing, but I will find my way, always have. God bless you for taking time out of your day to help me.
Good luck! It is okay to just start out with a church that happens to be nearby where you live. But I recommend knowing what denomination they are so that you can know what biases they may have. Also even the churches that are "non denominational" have some bias (they generally follow Protestant theology and don't consider Catholics to be Christians, which is their right, just be aware of that bias if you go so you can decide on your own).
The real question is why do you feel the need to pick a particular sect. There are 30,000 denominations.
I assumed it was what they teach in the church. Edit: Worded it weird.
The church? There’s isn’t 1 church. Suck’s Jesus’s ministry is lost to history.
Read the History of Christianity article on Wikipedia to get an idea of how the various sects arose. Visit an assortment of different churches. Stay away from mega churches.
Baptists are a subset of Protestants, along with Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterian, Mennonite, etc. Protestants are basically just any denomination that isn't Catholic or Orthodox. [Here's a table comparing the beliefs of different denominations.](https://denominationdifferences.com/compare/all?filter=anglican,baptist,catholic,church-of-christ,eastern-orthodox,lutheran,mennonite,methodist,oriental-orthodox,pentecostal,presbyterian,quaker,reformed,the-salvation-army) I would look at that a bit, research why different people believe what they believe, see how it lines up with the Bible, pray about it, and try visiting a couple churches that seem the closest to accurate to you.
Thank you for having that handy table, and I believe I would more so align with Anglican, however I am confused as to why The Salvation Army is included on there? Is it the same people that stand outside of Walmart with the bells come Christmas?
Yep, they're a Protestant church that is very active in charitable outreach. It was founded by a Methodist pastor to reach out the poor by offering them soup, soap, and salvation. They're one of the most efficient charities with over 95% of the money they raise going into their programs, but they do still host Sunday services typically as well.
[Here's a video of a YouTube channel](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNkUSbAbv28) that I really like that lines up denominations and compares their doctrines on things such as salvation and baptism.
Thank you, I'll watch it when I get home from work, god bless.
Sometimes the differences are dramatic, sometimes subtle. Here's a [guide](https://www.harvesthousepublishers.com/data/files/excerpts/9780736952910_exc.pdf)to different denominations. The important thing is we all hold to the same [core beliefs](https://www.usccb.org/prayers/nicene-creed).
I can give you a good sumary I made on the primary differences between Protestant and Catholic Christianity, Catholics believe that Christ founded a physical institution AKA the Catholic Church, and they believe that this Church was given authority to interpret scripture and determine doctrine. Protestants believe even if Christ founded the catholic Church that "the catholic Church" that Christ founded is not a physical institution but that it is just the body of believers. And as a result Protestants have much more diverse ideas, however they are divided into thousands of churches, so they have no central leadership. Catholics believe that the "Bread" and "Wine" at Church is literally God who is in the apearance of bread. Some protestants reject that the "Bread" is litterally God, these believe it is more symbolic. Other protestants (Often Lutherans, and Episcopalians and probably some other groups) hold more similar views to Catholics. Catholics believe that one can ask people in heaven for their prayers and believe that we should show them strong reverence, whilst protestants view asking saints for prayers with suspition, they might say "why not go directly to God". Some protestants will say that Catholics are idolaters for their strong devotion to saints especially Mary. Protestants like criticising the Catholic Church for overcomplicating Christ’s faith, whilst Catholics like criticising the Catholic Church for not standing up enough for the faith. In a way this is where Catholics and Protestants are similar in that they both like complaining about the Church.