Church History -- Scripturally Authorized Practices (The Bible Speaks:Subtopic)

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Church History & Scripturally Authorized Practices

Church Date Begun Founder Baptism of
Believers Only
(Mark 16:16)
(Acts 2:38) Baptism by
Immersion Only
(Romans 6:4)
(Colossians 2:12) Baptism for
Remission of Sins
(Acts 2:38)
(Acts 22:16) Autonomy of
Local Church
(Acts 14:23)
(1 Peter 5:1,2) Lord's Supper
Every 1st Day
(Acts 20:7)
(1 Corinthians 11:26) Believe Salvation
Can Be Lost
(James 5:19,20)
(2 Peter 3:17,18)

Christ's Church
(the pattern) ~33AD
(Acts 2) Jesus Christ
(Matthew 16:18) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Catholic ~325¹ Constantine¹ No¹ No¹ No¹ No¹ No⁷ Yes⁵

Lutheran ~1517¹ Martin Luther¹
No¹ No¹ No¹ No¹ No⁸ ?

Episcopal ~1535¹ Henry VIII¹ No¹ No¹ Yes¹ No¹ ? No²

Presbyterian ~1590¹ Calvin/Knox¹ No¹ No¹ No¹ No¹ No¹ No¹

Baptist ~1607¹ John Smyth¹ Yes¹ Yes¹ No¹ No² No¹ No¹

Methodist ~1729¹ John Wesley¹ No¹ No¹ No¹ No¹ No¹ Yes²

Christian Church
(Disciples of Christ) ~1832² Stone/Campbell¹
Yes² Yes² No² No² Yes² No²

Church of God ~1896² R.G. Spurling² Yes² Yes² No² No² No² Yes²

Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-Day Saints
(Mormons) ~1830³ Joseph Smith, Jr.³ No⁶ Yes⁶ Yes⁵ No⁵ Yes⁶ ?

Jehovah's Witnesses ~1879² Charles Russell/
Joseph Rutherford³ Yes⁶ Yes No¹ No¹ No³ ?

Seventh-Day
Adventists ~1843² William Miller/
Ellen G. White² Yes² Yes² No⁴ No² No¹ No²

Click here to see a list of congregations patterned after Christ's church.

SOURCES USED:
¹Jennings, Alvin. Traditions of Men versus The Word of God. Fort Worth, TX: Star Bible Publications, 1973.
²Steig, Shelly. Finding the Right Church: A Guide to Denomination Beliefs. Grand Rapids, MI: Word Publishing, 1997.
³Cochrane, Mike. Christianity, Cults & Religions. Torrance, CA: Rose Publishing, 1994.
⁴Stewart, John David. A Study of Minor Religious Beliefs in America. Austin, TX: R.B. Sweet Co., 1962.
⁵Stewart, John David. A Study of Major Religious Beliefs in America. Austin, TX: R.B. Sweet Co., 1962.
⁶Algermissen, Konrad. Christian Sects. New York: Hawthorn Books, 1962.
⁷Mead, Frank S. Handbook of Denominations in the United States. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1975.
⁸Tomlinson, L.G. Churches of Today in the Light of Scripture. Nashville: Gospel Advocate Company, 1962.