Every major creed and confession, from the first summaries of the faith around 180 AD to today. For each one: when and where it was written, why, a short passage in its own words, and which churches hold it. Below the timeline, a card for each family of churches says where it came from.
Short summaries of the faith, taught to new Christians before any council met.
c. 150–750 AD
Apostles' Creed
from the Old Roman Symbol
Old Roman form 2nd-4th century; received form by the 8th centuryRome (Old Roman Symbol); received text settled in the Latin West by the 8th century
Why it was written
A short summary of the faith confessed at baptism in the church of Rome. Over several centuries the Old Roman form grew a few clauses and became the received Apostles' Creed of the Western church.
I believe in God the Father Almighty; Maker of heaven and earth. And in Jesus Christ his only (begotten) Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary; suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried;
CatholicHolds itliturgical and catechetical.Catechism of the Catholic Church 194 calls it 'the ancient baptismal symbol of the Church of Rome'.
LutheranHolds itconfessional and liturgical.Printed first among the three ecumenical creeds in the Book of Concord.
Reformed and PresbyterianHolds itconfessional and catechetical.Belgic Confession art. 9 accepts it; the Heidelberg Catechism (Q&A 23) teaches it line by line.
AnglicanHolds itconfessional and liturgical.Thirty-nine Articles art. VIII; the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral names it 'the baptismal symbol'.
MethodistHolds itliturgical.Printed in the United Methodist Hymnal; not among the Methodist Articles of Religion.
BaptistAffirms its contentused by some congregations; not binding.Baptists recognize only the Bible as binding (WCC). Use varies by congregation.
PentecostalAffirms its contentused by some congregations; not binding.The AG Statement of Fundamental Truths names the Bible as the all-sufficient rule; it does not adopt any creed.
AnabaptistAffirms its contentused by some congregations; not binding.Many Mennonite and Brethren congregations say it; their own confessions are their statements of faith.
Not held, or held differently
Eastern OrthodoxDoes not hold itnot used.A Western creed; Eastern churches confess the Nicene Creed.
c. 180 AD (Irenaeus, Against Heresies 1.10.1) and about 200 AD (Tertullian, Prescription against Heretics 13)Lyon, Gaul (Irenaeus); Carthage, North Africa (Tertullian)
Why it was written
Before any council wrote a creed, teachers summed up the faith that the churches had received from the apostles. Irenaeus and Tertullian set these summaries against teachers who claimed a secret tradition of their own. Tertullian calls it the rule of faith. The later baptismal creeds grew from summaries like these.
The Church, though dispersed throughout the whole world, even to the ends of the earth, has received from the apostles and their disciples this faith: [She believes] in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are in them; and in one Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who became incarnate for our salvation; and in the Holy Spirit, who proclaimed through the prophets
Irenaeus, Against Heresies 1.10.1 (ANF translation). Source page
there is one only God, and that He is none other than the Creator of the world, who produced all things out of nothing through His own Word
Tertullian, Prescription against Heretics 13 (ANF translation) Source page
Not a fixed text that any church adopts as its creed; it is the shared summary the later creeds grew from.
Bishops met in councils to settle disputes about Christ and the Trinity. Some churches did not accept the councils of 431 and 451.
325 AD
Creed of Nicaea
First Council of Nicaea
325 (council c. 20 May - 25 August; creed c. 19 June)Nicaea, Bithynia (modern Iznik, Turkey)
Why it was written
Arius of Alexandria taught that the Son had a beginning and was not God in the same sense as the Father. The council answered that the Son is 'of one substance' (homoousios) with the Father.
We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of all things visible and invisible; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only-begotten of his Father, of the substance of the Father, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten (γεννηθέντα), not made, being of one substance (ὁμοούσιον, consubstantialem) with the Father.
381 (council called May 381); first attested as the creed of the 150 fathers at Chalcedon, 451Constantinople
Why it was written
Called by Emperor Theodosius to confirm Nicaea and to answer the Macedonians (Pneumatomachians), who denied that the Holy Spirit is fully God. The enlarged creed adds the clauses on the Holy Spirit 'the Lord and Giver of life'.
And in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of life, who proceedeth from the Father; who, with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, who spake by the prophets
CatholicHolds itliturgical (Mass) and dogmatic.Catechism 195: 'common to all the great Churches of both East and West'. Western text adds the Filioque.
Eastern OrthodoxHolds itliturgical (Divine Liturgy) and dogmatic.Recited without the Filioque.
Oriental OrthodoxHolds itliturgical and dogmatic.Accept the council of 381.
LutheranHolds itconfessional and liturgical.One of the three ecumenical creeds in the Book of Concord.
AnglicanHolds itconfessional and liturgical.Art. VIII; Quadrilateral calls it 'the sufficient statement of the Christian faith'. Lambeth 1978 and 1988 recommended leaving out the Filioque in future prayer books.
MethodistHolds itliturgical.Printed in the United Methodist Hymnal (No. 880) for worship; creeds are not among the UMC's doctrinal standards (umc.org).
BaptistAffirms its contentcontent affirmed; not binding.Most Baptist confessions do not name the creed. One exception: the General Baptist Orthodox Creed (drafted 1678, printed 1679), art. 38, says the Nicene, Athanasian and Apostles' Creeds should be received and believed.
PentecostalAffirms its contentcontent affirmed in their own statements; not adopted as binding; used in some congregations.Trinitarian Pentecostal statements, such as the Assemblies of God's, teach the same faith in God. Oneness Pentecostals, who confess one God revealed as Father, Son and Holy Spirit rather than three persons, do not use it.
AnabaptistAffirms its contentcontent affirmed in their own statements; not adopted as binding; used in some congregations.Mennonite confessions such as Dordrecht (1632) confess the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in their own words.
Not held, or held differently
Church of the EastSources differsources differ.Sources differ on whether this church formally received the council of 381. It confesses a Syriac form of the Nicene faith.
Nestorius, bishop of Constantinople, preferred to call Mary Christotokos (Christ-bearer) rather than Theotokos (God-bearer), to guard the full humanity of Christ. Cyril of Alexandria held that the one born of Mary is God the Word made flesh. The council, opened by Cyril before John of Antioch and the Eastern bishops arrived, approved Cyril's letter; the two sides were reconciled in the Formula of Reunion of 433. It wrote no new creed.
therefore they ventured to call the holy Virgin, the Mother of God, not as if the nature of the Word or his divinity had its beginning from the holy Virgin, but because of her was born that holy body with a rational soul, to which the Word being personally united is said to be born according to the flesh
From Cyril's letter to Nestorius, which the council read and approved in its first session. Source page
Eastern OrthodoxHolds itconciliar dogma.Third of the seven councils.
Oriental OrthodoxHolds itconciliar dogma.The last council they accept; Cyril is the foundation of their Christology (WCC).
LutheranHolds its teachingdoctrine received; councils not binding in themselves.Protestant confessions accept the ancient creeds and what agrees with Scripture.
AnglicanHolds its teachingdoctrine received; councils may err (art. XXI).
Reformed and PresbyterianHolds its teachingdoctrine received.Belgic art. 9: 'what the ancient fathers decided in agreement with' the creeds.
Not held, or held differently
Church of the EastDoes not hold itnot received.Not received (McGuckin, Encyclopedia of Eastern Orthodox Christianity). The 1994 Common Christological Declaration addresses the old dispute.
451 (8 October - 1 November)Chalcedon, Bithynia (opposite Constantinople)
Why it was written
After Eutyches taught that Christ's humanity was absorbed into one nature, the council, drawing on the Tome of Pope Leo, confessed one Christ 'in two natures' without confusion or division. Churches of Egypt, Syria and Armenia did not accept its wording, holding to Cyril's 'one nature of the Word incarnate'; this became the largest lasting division of the early Church. They saw the two-natures wording as leaning toward Nestorius, and they honour Dioscorus, whom the council deposed.
the peculiar property of each nature being preserved and being united in one Person and subsistence, not separated or divided into two persons
The better-known phrase 'in two natures, unconfusedly, immutably, indivisibly, inseparably' sits in the same sentence but is broken by footnote and page markers in the CCEL text, so a clean adjacent span was used. Source page
Oriental OrthodoxDoes not hold itrejected.They reject the council but also reject Eutyches. They call their teaching Miaphysite (one united nature); the WCC calls the old label 'Monophysite' erroneous.
Church of the EastDoes not hold itnot received as a council.Its own dyophysite (two-nature) Christology follows Theodore of Mopsuestia (GEDSH).
Late 5th or early 6th century (by about 540, when Caesarius of Arles quotes it); not by AthanasiusLatin West, probably southern Gaul (disputed)
Why it was written
A Latin teaching creed on the Trinity and the person of Christ, written in the West after the 5th-century debates. Its author is unknown; it was later named after Athanasius.
And the Catholic Faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity;
LutheranHolds itconfessional.One of the three ecumenical creeds in the Book of Concord.
Reformed and PresbyterianHolds itconfessional.Belgic art. 9; listed by the CRC among its three creeds.
AnglicanHolds itconfessional.Art. VIII of the 1571 English text; the American Episcopal revision of 1801 leaves it out.
CatholicHolds itreceived; rarely used in worship today.Formerly said at Sunday Prime; rarely used since Vatican II.
BaptistAffirms its contentcontent affirmed; not binding.Most Baptist confessions do not name it; the General Baptist Orthodox Creed (1679), art. 38, received it.
Not held, or held differently
Eastern OrthodoxDoes not hold itnot used.Unknown to the Greeks until the 11th century; rejected or modified because of the Filioque clause (Schaff).
Called by Emperor Justinian, it condemned the 'Three Chapters' (writings of Theodore of Mopsuestia, Theodoret of Cyrus and Ibas of Edessa) and stressed that Christ is one person, 'one of the Holy Trinity'. It hoped to win back the churches that rejected Chalcedon.
that such union is made synthetically and hypostatically, and that therefore there is only one Person, to wit: our Lord Jesus Christ, one of the Holy Trinity: let him be anathema.
The Filioque ('and the Son') in the Western Nicene Creed
589 (Third Council of Toledo, as traditionally dated) to 1014 (sung at Mass in Rome); defined as doctrine at Lateran IV (1215), Lyon II (1274) and Florence (1439)Toledo, Spain; then Frankish lands; then Rome
Why it was written
At Toledo III (589, as traditionally dated) the Visigoths, newly turned from Arianism, professed the creed with 'and the Son' added to the procession of the Spirit, to stress the Son's full equality with the Father. The addition spread through Frankish lands. After the Frankish council of Aachen (809), Pope Leo III accepted the teaching but declined to add the words to the creed; the creed with the addition was sung at Mass in Rome from about 1014. The Orthodox hold that the Spirit proceeds from the Father and that no council may change the creed. The question became one of the issues behind the estrangement of East and West, marked by the excommunications of 1054.
And [I believe] in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceedeth from the Father [and the Son]; who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified
Schaff brackets the Western additions; [and the Son] is the Filioque. Source page
AnglicanHolds itliturgical and confessional.Inherited. Lambeth 1978 and 1988 recommended leaving it out in future prayer books, and some provinces now do; the Episcopal Church accepts the creed 'with or without the filioque'.
680-681 (7 November 680 - 16 September 681)Constantinople (domed hall of the imperial palace)
Why it was written
Monothelites taught that Christ had only one will. The council, following the letter of Pope Agatho, confessed two natural wills and two natural operations in Christ, the human will freely following the divine. It also condemned earlier leaders who had backed the one-will teaching, among them Pope Honorius I.
we likewise declare that in him are two natural wills and two natural operations indivisibly, inconvertibly, inseparably, inconfusedly, according to the teaching of the holy Fathers.
787 (24 September - 23 October)Nicaea; final session in the Magnaura Palace, Constantinople
Why it was written
Iconoclasts, holding that images of Christ and the saints broke the commandment against idols, had removed and destroyed them. The council ruled that images of Christ, Mary and the saints may be set up and given honour and reverence, but that worship (latreia) belongs to God alone.
and to these should be given due salutation and honourable reverence (ἀσπασμὸν καὶ τιμητικὴν προσκύνησιν), not indeed that true worship of faith (λατρείαν) which pertains alone to the divine nature
Rome's legates and the Patriarch of Constantinople exchange excommunications; the estrangement of East and West deepens. The formal break came later, and the excommunications were regretted by both sides in 1965.
New churches set out their faith in confessions, and Rome answered at the Council of Trent.
1527 AD
Schleitheim Confession
Brotherly Union
24 February 1527Schleitheim, canton of Schaffhausen, Switzerland
Why it was written
Swiss Brethren under persecution met to agree on seven points that set them apart: believers' baptism, church discipline (the ban), the Lord's Supper, separation from the world, pastors, refusal of the sword, and refusal of oaths. It was not a full confession, but the points they could not give up.
Baptism shall be given to all those who have learned repentance and amendment of life, and who believe truly that their sins are taken away by Christ
Emperor Charles V asked the evangelical princes to state their faith at the imperial diet. Philip Melanchthon drafted 28 articles to show that their teaching agreed with Scripture and the ancient church, and to list the abuses they had corrected.
Also they teach that men cannot be justified before God by their own strength, merits, or works
13 December 1545 - 4 December 1563 (in three periods)Trent (Trento), northern Italy
Why it was written
The Catholic Church's response to the Reformation and a centre of the Catholic Reform. It defined Catholic teaching on Scripture and tradition, justification, the seven sacraments and the Mass, and began wide reform of clergy and church life.
we are therefore said to be justified by faith, because faith is the beginning of human salvation, the foundation, and the root of all Justification
Decree on Justification (Session VI, 13 January 1547), chapter VIII. Source page
Held by
CatholicHolds itconciliar dogma.Nineteenth ecumenical council in Catholic reckoning.
1561 (revised by the Synod of Dort, 1619)Southern Netherlands (modern Belgium)
Why it was written
Guido de Bres wrote it for persecuted Reformed believers in the Low Countries, to show the authorities they were law-abiding Christians, not rebels. A copy was sent to King Philip II in 1562. De Bres was martyred in 1567.
We all believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths that there is a single and simple spiritual being, whom we call God
1563 (preface dated 19 January 1563)Heidelberg, Electoral Palatinate
Why it was written
Elector Frederick III wanted one teaching tool for a Palatinate divided between Lutheran and Reformed views. A team of ministers, traditionally credited to Zacharias Ursinus and Caspar Olevianus, wrote 129 questions and answers for youth, preaching and unity.
Q. What is your only comfort in life and in death? A. That I am not my own
Reformed and PresbyterianHolds itconfessional and catechetical.A confession of Continental Reformed churches, e.g. the CRCNA, alongside the Belgic Confession and Canons of Dort.
Latin 1563 (Convocation of "1562", old-style year); English text 1571Convocation of Canterbury, London
Why it was written
Under Elizabeth I the Church of England revised Cranmer's Forty-two Articles (1553) to set its position between Rome and the Anabaptists and other radical reformers. Convocation ratified them in 1563; the English text was settled and subscription required in 1571.
We are accounted righteous before God, only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by Faith, and not for our own works or deservings
AnglicanHolds itconfessional (historic formulary).Printed in the Book of Common Prayer; weight given to them varies across Anglican provinces (not verified per province).
Not held, or held differently
MethodistDoes not hold itsource.Wesley abridged them into the Methodist Articles of Religion (1784).
Formula completed 1577; Book of Concord published 25 June 1580Dresden (publication); Formula drafted at Kloster Bergen near Magdeburg
Why it was written
After decades of dispute among Luther's heirs, theologians including Jakob Andreae and Martin Chemnitz wrote the Formula of Concord to settle the questions. It was published with the three creeds and the earlier Lutheran confessions as one book on the 50th anniversary of the Augsburg Confession.
We believe, teach, and confess that the sole rule and standard according to which all dogmas together with [all] teachers should be estimated and judged are the prophetic and apostolic Scriptures of the Old and of the New Testament alone
LutheranHolds itconfessional.The LCMS accepts the Book of Concord of 1580 as binding; some Lutheran churches give primary weight to the Augsburg Confession and Small Catechism.
13 November 1618 - 9 May 1619Dordrecht, Dutch Republic
Why it was written
Followers of Jacob Arminius set out five points in the Remonstrance of 1610 (election on foreseen faith, resistible grace, and others). A national synod with foreign Reformed delegates answered them on election, the atonement, grace and perseverance.
Election is God’s unchangeable purpose by which he did the following: Before the foundation of the world, by sheer grace, according to the free good pleasure of his will, God chose in Christ to salvation a definite number of particular people out of the entire human race
Flemish and Frisian Mennonite preachers adopted 18 articles, first drafted by Adriaan Cornelisz, as a basis of union between divided Mennonite groups. It teaches believers' baptism, foot washing, church discipline and shunning, non-resistance, and refusal of oaths.
we confess with the mouth, and believe with the heart, with all the pious, according to the holy Scriptures, in one eternal, almighty, and incomprehensible God, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost
AnabaptistHolds itconfessional for Amish and conservative Mennonites.Adopted in Alsace 1660 and by Pennsylvania Mennonites 1725; still recognized by the Amish (GAMEO, Third Way).
Completed and presented to Parliament 4 December 1646; proof texts 1647; adopted by the Church of Scotland 27 August 1647Westminster Abbey, London (Westminster Assembly)
Why it was written
During the English Civil War, Parliament called an assembly of divines to reform the Church of England, partly to secure an alliance with Scotland. The confession became the doctrinal standard of Presbyterian churches worldwide.
The authority of the Holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed, and obeyed, dependeth not upon the testimony of any man, or church; but wholly upon God (who is truth itself) the author thereof
Reformed and PresbyterianHolds itconfessional (Presbyterian).Adopted by the Church of Scotland in 1647; the confessional standard of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church today (OPC site). Other Presbyterian bodies not verified individually.
Not held, or held differently
BaptistDoes not hold itsource.The Second London Baptist Confession is modelled on it.
First published 1677; approved by the first General Assembly of Particular Baptists, 1689London
Why it was written
Particular (Calvinistic) Baptists modelled a confession on Westminster to show their agreement with other Reformed Protestants, changing it on baptism, church order and the Lord's Supper. After the 1689 Act of Toleration, delegates from over 100 churches approved it openly.
The Holy Scripture is the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience
BaptistHolds itconfessional for Reformed Baptists.Adopted in America by the Philadelphia Association (1742). Many other Baptists use later confessions or none.
New churches, two councils at the Vatican, and agreements between churches long divided.
1784 AD
Methodist Articles of Religion
1784 (Christmas Conference, Baltimore): Wesley's 24 articles plus Article XXIII on the rulers of the United States, added by the conference; wording of XXIII revised 1804Baltimore, Maryland (Christmas Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church)
Why it was written
After American independence, John Wesley abridged the Thirty-nine Articles to 24 for the new Methodist Episcopal Church, leaving out Calvinist-leaning and some other articles. The conference itself added an article recognizing the United States.
We are accounted righteous before God only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, by faith, and not for our own works or deservings.
Compare Thirty-nine Articles art. XI, from which it is drawn. Source page
Held by
MethodistHolds itconfessional (protected by a restrictive rule).In the United Methodist Book of Discipline; also historic standard of other Methodist Episcopal descendants (not verified individually).
8 December 1869 - 20 October 1870; Pastor Aeternus 18 July 1870St Peter's Basilica, Rome
Why it was written
Facing rationalism and the threatened loss of the Papal States, the council taught on faith and reason (Dei Filius) and defined the primacy of the pope and his infallibility when he speaks ex cathedra on faith or morals.
he possesses, by the divine assistance promised to him in blessed Peter, that infallibility which the divine Redeemer willed his church to enjoy in defining doctrine concerning faith or morals
October 1916St. Louis, Missouri (fourth General Council)
Why it was written
Two years after the Assemblies of God formed, some ministers adopted Oneness teaching: baptism in Jesus' name only, and one God revealed as Father, Son and Holy Spirit rather than three distinct persons. The General Council adopted a statement that affirmed the Trinity and tongues as the initial sign of Spirit baptism; 156 ministers left and formed Oneness bodies.
The baptism of believers in the Holy Spirit is witnessed by the initial physical sign of speaking with other tongues as the Spirit of God gives them utterance.
Fetched through the Wayback Machine copy because ag.org blocks automated requests. This is the current AG wording; the exact 1916 wording was not checked. Source page
Held by
PentecostalHolds itconfessional basis of fellowship (AG).The AG says it is 'intended simply as a basis of fellowship' and that 'The Bible is our all-sufficient rule'.
11 October 1962 - 8 December 1965St Peter's Basilica, Rome
Why it was written
Pope John XXIII called the council to renew the church's life and to seek Christian unity. Its 16 documents treat the church, revelation, liturgy, ecumenism and the modern world; it called other Christians 'brothers' and opened official dialogues.
This Church constituted and organized in the world as a society, subsists in the Catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the Bishops in communion with him
Pope John Paul II and Catholicos-Patriarch Mar Dinkha IV declared that their churches share one faith in Christ, true God and true man, despite the 5th-century split over Nestorius. Each church's way of naming Mary was recognized as a legitimate expression of the same faith.
the Assyrian Church of the East is praying the Virgin Mary as "the Mother of Christ our God and Saviour". In the light of this same faith the Catholic tradition addresses the Virgin Mary as "the Mother of God" and also as "the Mother of Christ".
Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification
31 October 1999 (later associations 2006, 2016, 2017)Augsburg, Germany
Why it was written
Lutherans and Catholics stated a consensus on basic truths of justification, so that the remaining differences no longer warrant the 16th-century condemnations. Methodists, Anglicans and the Reformed later associated themselves with it.
By grace alone, in faith in Christ's saving work and not because of any merit on our part, we are accepted by God and receive the Holy Spirit, who renews our hearts while equipping and calling us to good works.
Eleven families of churches, in the order they began. Each card describes the church as its own members do. The Catholic, Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Church of the East cards each trace their church to the apostles.
Catholic Church
Began
Apostolic age (Catholics date the church to Christ and Pentecost, 1st century AD)
Where
Jerusalem, then Rome and the whole Roman world; centred on the see of Rome
Came from
Sees itself as the church founded by Christ, with no parent body. Its Latin West and the Greek East parted in stages, with 1054 as the usual marker.
Catholics believe Christ founded the church on the apostles, gave it the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and promised to stay with it to the end of time. They hold that this one church subsists in the Catholic Church, led by the bishop of Rome as Peter's successor with the bishops in communion with him. They also teach that real elements of grace and truth are found in other churches. Besides the Latin Church it includes Eastern Catholic churches with their own rites and laws.
Key people
Apostles Peter and Paul
Pope Leo I (his Tome was read at Chalcedon, 451)
Pope Gregory I (sent Augustine to England, 597)
Pope Pius IX (Vatican I)
Popes John XXIII and Paul VI (Vatican II)
Key events
325-787 Seven ecumenical councils, shared with the Orthodox.
1054 Rome's legates and the Patriarch of Constantinople exchange excommunications; the estrangement of East and West deepens.
1439 Council of Florence: a union with the Greek Church is agreed but not received in the East.
1545-1563 Council of Trent answers the Reformation.
1870 Vatican I defines papal primacy and infallibility (18 July).
1962-1965 Second Vatican Council; ecumenical dialogue opens.
1965 Joint declaration with Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras I regrets the 1054 excommunications (7 December).
1994 Common Christological Declaration with the Assyrian Church of the East.
1999 Joint Declaration on Justification with the Lutheran World Federation.
Apostolic age, 1st century AD (Orthodox self-understanding)
Where
The eastern Roman (Byzantine) world: Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem; later Slavic, Romanian, Georgian and other lands
Came from
Sees itself as the unbroken continuation of the church of Christ and the apostles. Its separation from Rome grew from 1054 to a formal break in the 15th century.
The Orthodox see their church as the same church founded by Christ and the apostles, keeping the faith of the seven ecumenical councils. It is a family of self-governing churches, with the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople as 'first among equals'. The split with Rome turned on the pope's claim to universal jurisdiction and on the Filioque added to the creed.
Key people
Athanasius of Alexandria
Basil the Great
Gregory of Nazianzus
John Chrysostom
Photios the Great
Gregory Palamas
Mark of Ephesus
Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras I (1965 declaration)
Key events
325-787 Seven ecumenical councils, the last being Nicaea II on icons.
988 Baptism of Kievan Rus'.
1054 Rome's legates and the Patriarch of Constantinople exchange excommunications; the estrangement of East and West deepens.
early 13th century The Fourth Crusade (sack of Constantinople, 1204) deepens the estrangement.
15th century Formal break with Rome (WCC dates it to the 15th century; the union agreed at Florence in 1439 was not received in the East).
1965 Patriarch Athenagoras I and Pope Paul VI regret the 1054 excommunications.
Apostolic age; separate from the Chalcedonian churches after 451
Where
Egypt, Syria, Armenia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, India
Came from
Founded in apostolic times by apostles or their first disciples (their own account, WCC). Not in communion with Rome or the Eastern Orthodox since the dispute over the Council of Chalcedon (451).
These ancient churches keep the faith of the first three councils and follow Cyril of Alexandria's formula 'one nature of God the Word incarnate'. They did not accept Chalcedon's wording 'in two natures', which they read as dividing Christ. They call their teaching Miaphysite: one united nature of God the Word incarnate, fully God and fully human, without mixing or division. They are not Monophysite in the sense of Eutyches, whom they also reject.
Key people
Cyril of Alexandria
Dioscorus of Alexandria (deposed at Chalcedon, honoured by these churches)
Severus of Antioch
Jacob Baradaeus
Key events
431 Council of Ephesus, the last council they accept.
451 Council of Chalcedon; these churches do not accept it, and the largest lasting division of the early Church follows.
6th century A separate line of Syriac Orthodox patriarchs takes shape.
1985 Official theological dialogue with the Eastern Orthodox begins; Christological agreements follow.
Assyrian Church of the East; Ancient Church of the East
Began
Earliest Christianity in Mesopotamia and Persia (1st-3rd century); organized as a church of the Persian Empire in 410
Where
Mesopotamia and the Persian (Sasanian) Empire; later Central Asia, China and South India; today Iraq, Iran, Syria and a large diaspora
Came from
Traces its origins to the see of Seleucia-Ctesiphon and the apostle Thomas, with Addai and Mari (WCC). It grew outside the Roman Empire and its councils.
Christians in the Persian Empire organized under their own Catholicos at Seleucia-Ctesiphon in 410 and received the faith of Nicaea. Following Theodore of Mopsuestia, they stress the full and distinct divinity and humanity of Christ; their theology took shape outside the councils of the Roman Empire. Opponents called them 'Nestorian', a name the church itself considers pejorative and scholars call misleading. It did not receive the Council of Ephesus (431) or later councils.
Key people
Catholicos Isaac (Synod of 410)
Catholicos Dadisho I (Synod of 424)
Catholicos Acacius (Synod of 486)
Theodore of Mopsuestia (theological source)
Patriarch Timothy I (780-820/23)
Catholicos-Patriarch Mar Dinkha IV (1994 declaration)
Key events
410 Synod of Seleucia-Ctesiphon under Catholicos Isaac officially receives the Council of Nicaea.
424 Synod of Markabta under Dadisho I ends appeals to 'Western' (Roman-Empire) bishops; sometimes read as a declaration of independence.
486 Synod under Acacius issues its first Christological statement after Ephesus and Chalcedon, in Antiochene terms.
635-781 The monk Aluoben reaches the Tang capital Chang'an (Xi'an) in 635; a stone monument set up there in 781 tells the story of the mission.
mid-16th century A separate patriarchal line in communion with Rome forms (Chaldean Catholic Church).
1964-1968 Division over adopting the Gregorian calendar and the hereditary succession of the patriarch; the Ancient Church of the East consecrates its own patriarch (1968).
1994 Common Christological Declaration with the Catholic Church (11 November).
Wittenberg, Saxony; then much of Germany and Scandinavia
Came from
A reform movement within the Western (Latin) Catholic Church that became separate churches.
Martin Luther, a monk and professor, came to believe that sinners are made right with God by grace through faith in Christ, not by their own merit, and protested the sale of indulgences. When reform within the Roman church failed, evangelical princes and cities organized churches around the preached word, the sacraments and the Augsburg Confession.
Key people
Martin Luther
Philip Melanchthon
Jakob Andreae
Martin Chemnitz
Key events
31 October 1517 Luther publishes his 95 Theses at Wittenberg; the usual start of the Reformation.
1521 Excommunicated by Rome (January) and outlawed at the Diet of Worms (May); hidden at the Wartburg.
1529 Luther's Small and Large Catechisms.
25 June 1530 Augsburg Confession read before Charles V.
1546 Death of Luther (18 February).
25 June 1580 Book of Concord published.
1947 Lutheran World Federation founded.
1999 Joint Declaration on Justification with the Catholic Church.
1519-1541 (Zurich from 1519; Geneva from 1536/1541)
Where
Zurich and Geneva, Switzerland; then France, the Netherlands, the Palatinate, Scotland, Hungary and beyond
Came from
Grew from the Swiss and French Reformation within the Western Catholic Church.
Reformers such as Ulrich Zwingli in Zurich and John Calvin in Geneva sought to reform worship and doctrine strictly by Scripture, with Christ as the only head of the church. They stressed God's sovereign grace and governed churches through pastors and elders in local and regional assemblies. Presbyterians are the branch shaped in Scotland and England, chiefly by John Knox and the Westminster Assembly.
Key people
Ulrich Zwingli
Heinrich Bullinger
John Calvin
John Knox
Guido de Bres
Zacharias Ursinus
Key events
1519 Zwingli begins preaching reform in Zurich.
August 1536 Calvin is held in Geneva by William Farel; he settles there for good in 1541.
1560 Scots Confession and the Scottish Reformation under John Knox (First Book of Discipline).
1561-1563 Belgic Confession and Heidelberg Catechism.
1618-1619 Synod of Dort.
1646-1647 Westminster Confession; adopted in Scotland 1647.
2017 World Communion of Reformed Churches associates with the Joint Declaration on Justification.
Mennonite, Amish, Hutterite; the Church of the Brethren shares this heritage
Began
21 January 1525
Where
Zurich, Switzerland; then South Germany, Moravia and the Netherlands
Came from
Began among Zwingli's followers in Zurich, in what historians call the Radical Reformation.
A circle of Zwingli's followers believed Scripture required faster change, above all baptism only for those who confess faith and choose to follow Jesus. On 21 January 1525 they baptized one another in Zurich and formed free churches of committed believers, separate from the state, who refused the sword and the oath. Despite fierce persecution they spread, and Menno Simons gathered the Dutch and North German groups later called Mennonites.
Key people
Conrad Grebel
Felix Manz
George Blaurock
Michael Sattler
Menno Simons
Jakob Hutter
Key events
21 January 1525 First believers' baptisms in Felix Manz's house, Zurich.
24 February 1527 Schleitheim Confession.
1533 Jakob Hutter comes to lead the Moravian communities later called Hutterites.
1536 Menno Simons joins the Anabaptists.
21 April 1632 Dordrecht Confession.
1693-1697 Amish division among the Swiss Brethren.
English church from 597 (and earlier British Christianity); separate from Rome 1534; settled identity under Elizabeth I from 1558/1559
Where
England; then Ireland, Scotland, the United States and worldwide
Came from
The English church, part of the Western Catholic Church since the 597 mission and earlier Celtic and British streams, broke with papal authority under Henry VIII.
Anglicans see their church as the ancient Catholic church of England, reformed in the 16th century. The break with Rome came when the pope refused to annul Henry VIII's marriage and English rulers claimed authority over the English church; reform deepened under Edward VI and was settled under Elizabeth I. It keeps bishops, the Book of Common Prayer and continuity with the early Church, while holding Reformation teaching.
Key people
Augustine of Canterbury (597)
Henry VIII
Thomas Cranmer
Elizabeth I
Matthew Parker
Richard Hooker
Key events
597 Mission from Pope Gregory the Great under Augustine lands in Kent.
664 Synod of Whitby joins the Roman and Celtic streams.
1534 Act of Supremacy names the king supreme head of the Church of England.
1549 First Book of Common Prayer (Cranmer); its 1662 revision is still standard in England.
1553 Cranmer's Forty-two Articles.
1558 Elizabeth I becomes queen; the Elizabethan settlement follows.
1609 (Amsterdam); first Baptist church in England 1611 or 1612
Where
Amsterdam, then London; later America and worldwide
Came from
English Separatists who had left the Church of England (John Smyth's congregation from Gainsborough).
John Smyth's exiled English congregation in Amsterdam concluded from the New Testament that the church is a fellowship of believers, so baptism should follow a personal confession of faith rather than be given to infants. Thomas Helwys led part of the group back to London and pleaded for religious freedom for all. Baptists hold the Bible as their only binding authority and give each local church freedom to order its life.
Key people
John Smyth
Thomas Helwys
Benjamin Keach
John Bunyan
Key events
1609 Smyth's congregation in Amsterdam adopts believers' baptism.
1611 or 1612 Helwys founds the first Baptist church in England, in London.
1638/1639 Roger Williams founds the first Baptist church in America, at Providence.
1644 Seven Particular Baptist churches in London issue the First London Confession; General Baptist churches number about 47.
1677/1689 Second London Confession.
1742 Philadelphia Baptist Association adopts the confession.
1891 General and Particular Baptists unite in the Baptist Union of Great Britain and Ireland.
1729-1739 (Oxford group 1729; movement from 1739); separate church in America 1784
Where
Oxford and Bristol/London, England; then America (Baltimore, 1784) and worldwide
Came from
A revival movement inside the Church of England that became separate churches. The Holiness churches grew out of American Methodism in the 19th century.
John and Charles Wesley sought to bring warmer faith and disciplined holiness to the Church of England. They taught that God's grace is offered to all, that faith changes character, and that perfect love is possible in this life. Their societies outgrew the established church, first in America after independence and later in Britain. The Holiness movement set out to recover Wesley's teaching on entire sanctification.
Key people
John Wesley
Charles Wesley
Francis Asbury
Philip William Otterbein
Martin Boehm
Key events
1729 John Wesley joins the Oxford student group led by Charles.
24 May 1738 John Wesley's conversion experience.
1739 Methodism as a movement begins.
1784 Methodist Episcopal Church organized at Baltimore; Articles of Religion adopted; Asbury and Coke as superintendents (called bishops from the late 1780s).
1795 Plan of Pacification lets British Methodist chapels give the sacraments.
1816 African Methodist Episcopal Church organized (Richard Allen).
1843, 1860 Wesleyan Methodist Connection and Free Methodist Church (Holiness).
1908 Church of the Nazarene (Holiness).
1968 United Methodist Church formed.
2006 World Methodist Council associates with the Joint Declaration on Justification.
1901-1906 (Topeka 1 January 1901; Azusa Street, Los Angeles, April 1906); Charismatic renewal from 1960
Where
Topeka, Kansas, and Los Angeles, California; spread worldwide within a few years; also independent beginnings in India (1905-1906), Korea (1907) and Chile (1909)
Came from
Mainly from the Wesleyan Holiness movement, with others from Reformed and Keswick circles. The later Charismatic renewal stayed inside historic churches (Episcopal 1960, Catholic 1967).
Believers seeking more of God's power prayed for a fresh Pentecost and began to speak in tongues. Many took this as the Bible evidence of baptism in the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4). They saw this as restoring the gifts of the apostolic church for holy living and worldwide mission. From the 1960s many in older churches had the same experience and stayed in their own churches as Charismatics.
Key people
Charles Parham
William J. Seymour
Eudorus N. Bell
J. Roswell Flower
Dennis Bennett
Charles Harrison Mason
Key events
1 January 1901 Students at Parham's Bethel Bible School in Topeka speak in tongues.
April 1906 Azusa Street Mission revival under William J. Seymour begins (to 1909).
2-12 April 1914 Assemblies of God organized at Hot Springs, Arkansas.
1916 AG Statement of Fundamental Truths; Oneness ministers, who hold one God revealed as Father, Son and Spirit, leave.
1960 Dennis Bennett's resignation at St Mark's Episcopal, Van Nuys, brings national attention to the Charismatic movement.
1967 Catholic Charismatic Renewal begins at a Duquesne University retreat.
Dates follow the sources listed under each item; where the sources differ, the item says so. The passages are quoted from public translations, word for word. This page describes what each church holds. It does not rank them.