Toward a Classification System of Religious Groups ... - Prolades.com

Any religious group that does not share these convictions cannot be
considered part of the Protestant movement, which is formed by church
bodies, whether denominations or independent congregations, that are
an integral part of the Universal Body of Christ, composed of “all true
believers in the Lord Jesus Christ;” conversely, no single church body
(denomination, independent church or any other organization) represents
the totality of the Church of Jesus Christ on planet Earth; the concept of
"denominationalism" means that each church body constituted of “bornagain
believers” forms part of the invisible Universal Body of Christ, and
have received the gift of the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of their spiritual
heritage as members of the Family of God; those who seek to obey the
Lord Jesus Christ as His disciples meet regularly in congregations of
believers to share their common faith, study the Holy Scripures, share
the Lord’s Supper, worship together, and support and encourage one
another in the endeavors of the Christian life, in obedience to the Great
Commandent and in fulfilment of the Great Commission.
The various congregations and denominations of the Protestant movement
are related to each other as a “family of believers,” but may have
different forms of church government: the basic types are episcopal,
presbyterian and congregational; individual congregations of believers
may be affiliated with other congregations in associations of churches
(typically called "denominations") whether locally, regionally, nationally
or internationally; each of these denominational organizations are selfgoverning
and usually have a legal status before their respective civil
governments; the various congregations and denominations may have
some historical, doctrinal and life-style affinity so as to be grouped
into Families of Denominations and Major Traditions within the
Protestant movement such as those listed below in this annotated
outline, which is based largely on Dr. J. Melton Gordon’s Encyclopedia
of American Religion (Detroit, MI: Gale Research, 1996, Fifth Edition);
see the following links for basic definitions:
http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/profiles/listmelton.htm
http://www.kentaurus.com/domine/protestant.HTM
http://bpc.org/reading_room/books/wylie/protestantism.html
The Protestant Reformation had many causes and players, but it
represents a major shift in the history of the Christian Church, with the
emergence of a new worldview (known as “the spirit of the Protestant
Reformation”—the freedom of the individual to question authority and
make his own choices, as later typified in the American Bill of Rights)
that produced many radical changes in Europe and North America, and
the repercussions of this Reformation have been felt around the world.
For more information, check out the following links:
http://www.newgenevacenter.org/west/reformation.htm
http://www.educ.msu.edu/homepages/laurence/reformation/index.htm
http://www.markers.com/ink/classic.htm
http://history.hanover.edu/early/prot.html
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