The questions that still divide the churches. Each answer names the churches that hold it and the document that first set it down. Open a question to see each answer explained, or follow the link under it to what the early Church said.
Jump to: Holy Scripture · Christ · The Holy Spirit · Salvation · The Church · Mary, the Saints and Images · Baptism and the Eucharist · The Last Things · How to Live
Scripture the only infallible ruleLutheran, Reformed, Anglican, Methodist, Baptist, Anabaptist, Pentecostal
Formal statement: Formula of Concord (1577)
Scripture with binding Church traditionCatholic, Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox
Formal statement: Council of Trent, Session 4 (1546)
This church has no settled answer listed here.
Hebrew canon onlyReformed, Methodist, Baptist
Formal statement: Westminster Confession (1646)
Read for example of life, not for doctrineLutheran, Anglican
Formal statement: Thirty-Nine Articles, Article VI (1563/1571)
Wider canon as full ScriptureCatholic, Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox
Formal statement: Councils of Hippo (393) and Carthage (397), local
This church has no settled answer listed here.
Two natures in one person (Chalcedon)Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran, Reformed, Anglican, Methodist, Baptist, Pentecostal
Formal statement: Tome of Leo (449)
One incarnate nature of God the Word (miaphysite)Oriental Orthodox
Formal statement: Cyril of Alexandria's 'one nature of God the Word incarnate' (letters to Succensus, c. 433)
Two natures, each with its own qnoma, in one person (Church of the East)Church of the East
This church has no settled answer listed here.
From the Father as sole sourceOrthodox, Oriental Orthodox
From the Father and the Son as one principleCatholic, Lutheran, Reformed, Anglican, Methodist, Pentecostal
Formal statement: Third Council of Toledo (589, local)
This church has no settled answer listed here.
Baptism in the Spirit, first shown by tonguesPentecostal
Formal statement: Charles Parham's 'Bible evidence' teaching (Topeka, 1901)
Gifts continue as the Spirit gives themCatholic, Oriental Orthodox, Methodist, Anabaptist
New revelation ceased with the apostles
Formal statement: Westminster Confession 1.1 (1646)
Divided. Westminster 1.1 says God's 'former ways' of revealing his will 'being now ceased', which speaks of new revelation, not of healing or tongues as such; Reformed churches today differ on the gifts.
Divided. The 1689 Confession 1.1 has the same words as Westminster; the Baptist Faith and Message (2000) is silent.
This church has no settled answer listed here.
By faith alone, with Christ's righteousness imputedLutheran, Reformed, Anglican, Methodist, Baptist
Formal statement: Augsburg Confession IV (1530)
By faith working through love, with righteousness infusedCatholic, Orthodox
Formal statement: Council of Trent, Session 6 (1547)
Salvation as union with God (theosis)Orthodox
Not placed. The 1995 Mennonite Confession's commentary says justification 'is experienced as a covenant relationship with God', and that justification by faith and faithful obedience 'are inseparable'.
This church has no settled answer listed here.
Election to life onlyLutheran
Formal statement: Formula of Concord, Article XI (1577)
Election and reprobation (double predestination)Reformed
Formal statement: Synod of Dort (1619)
Predestination according to foreseen free choiceOrthodox, Pentecostal
Formal statement: Synod of Jerusalem, Decree 3 (1672)
This church has no settled answer listed here.
Entire sanctification in this lifeMethodist, Pentecostal
Formal statement: Methodist Protestant article on sanctification, placed in the Methodist Discipline (1939)
Progressive, made complete at deathLutheran, Reformed, Anglican, Baptist
Formal statement: Augsburg Confession (1530) and Formula of Concord (1577)
Completed by purification after death if not in this lifeCatholic
Formal statement: Councils of Florence (1439) and Trent (1563), as cited in Catechism 1031
Placed for the Holiness churches (Church of God, Cleveland; IPHC). The Assemblies of God and Foursquare do not hold a second work of grace and are not placed.
This church has no settled answer listed here.
No special authorityLutheran, Reformed, Anglican, Baptist
Formal statement: Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope (1537)
Primacy of honour among equalsOrthodox
Formal statement: Councils of Constantinople (381, canon 3) and Chalcedon (451, canon 28) on the order of sees
Primacy of jurisdiction by divine rightCatholic
Formal statement: Council of Florence (1439)
Infallibility of solemn papal definitionsCatholic
Formal statement: First Vatican Council, Pastor Aeternus, ch. 4 (1870)
This church has no settled answer listed here.
Bishops in apostolic successionCatholic, Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Church of the East, Anglican
Equal presbyters governing in councilsReformed
Formal statement: Belgic Confession (1561)
Self-governing congregationBaptist
Formal statement: Cambridge Platform (1648)
Divided. United Methodist bishops are not ordained as bishops but are clergy 'elected and consecrated to the office of bishop'; Methodist churches in the British line have no bishops.
Divided. Mennonite conferences describe both congregation-first and conference-first polity; Amish and Old Order bishops are chosen by lot.
Divided. The Assemblies of God mixes congregational and presbyterian features; the Church of God (Cleveland) and COGIC have strong central or episcopal offices.
This church has no settled answer listed here.
Mother of God (Theotokos)Catholic, Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Lutheran, Reformed, Anglican
Formal statement: Council of Ephesus (431)
Mother of Christ only
Formal statement: Condemned at Ephesus (431)
Not placed. It prays to Mary as 'the Mother of Christ our God and Saviour'; in 1994 it recognised with Rome 'the legitimacy and rightness' of calling her Mother of God. Before then it refused the title.
This church has no settled answer listed here.
Perpetual virginityCatholic, Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox
Formal statement: 'Ever-virgin' at the Second Council of Constantinople (553)
Mary had other children
This church has no settled answer listed here.
Mary had personal faults
Free from personal sinCatholic, Orthodox
Formal statement: Council of Trent, Session 6, Canon 23 (1547)
Immaculate ConceptionCatholic
Formal statement: Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus (1854)
Not placed. Pope Shenouda III (Coptic) rejects the Immaculate Conception; Ethiopian, Armenian and Syriac teaching has not been checked yet.
This church has no settled answer listed here.
Died and was buried; nothing further held
Died, then taken bodily to heaven (Dormition)Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox
Assumed body and soul (Catholic dogma)Catholic
Formal statement: Pius XII, Munificentissimus Deus (1950)
This church has no settled answer listed here.
Remembered as examples onlyReformed, Baptist
Formal statement: Westminster Confession, 21.2 (1646)
The saints pray for the Church, but are not to be invokedLutheran
Formal statement: Augsburg Confession XXI (1530)
Asking the saints to pray for usCatholic, Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox
Formal statement: Council of Trent, Session 25 (1563)
This church has no settled answer listed here.
Images veneratedCatholic, Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox
Formal statement: Second Council of Nicaea (787)
Images allowed as adornment, not veneratedLutheran
Formal statement: Apology of the Augsburg Confession (1531)
Images not to be used in worshipReformed, Baptist
Formal statement: Heidelberg Catechism (1563)
Not placed. Its canons and liturgy prescribe icons, but 'they have fallen out of use for many centuries, and have only remained in some Gospel lectionaries' (Diocese of California).
This church has no settled answer listed here.
MemorialBaptist, Pentecostal
Formal statement: Zwingli, Sixty-Seven Articles (1523)
Spiritual presenceReformed, Anglican, Methodist, Baptist
Formal statement: Consensus Tigurinus (1549)
Sacramental unionLutheran
Formal statement: Augsburg Confession, Article X (1530)
Real change, manner undefinedCatholic, Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Church of the East
TransubstantiationCatholic
Formal statement: Fourth Lateran Council (1215)
Divided. The Schleitheim (1527) and Dordrecht (1632) confessions keep the Supper in remembrance; the 1995 Mennonite Confession says the gathered body of believers shares in the body and blood of Christ.
This church has no settled answer listed here.
Not a sacrificeBaptist
Formal statement: Zwingli, Sixty-Seven Articles (1523)
Sacrifice of praise and commemoration onlyLutheran, Reformed, Anglican, Baptist
Formal statement: Augsburg Confession XXIV and Apology XXIV (1530-31)
Propitiatory sacrificeCatholic, Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox
Formal statement: Council of Trent, Session 22 (1562)
This church has no settled answer listed here.
Believers and their infantsCatholic, Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Church of the East, Lutheran, Reformed, Anglican, Methodist
Formal statement: Council of Carthage (418)
Professing believers onlyBaptist, Anabaptist
Formal statement: Schleitheim Confession (1527)
This church has no settled answer listed here.
Baptism regenerates and forgives sinsCatholic, Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Church of the East, Lutheran
Formal statement: Council of Carthage (418)
Sign and seal of grace, not tied to the momentReformed
Formal statement: Westminster Confession 28 (1646)
Symbol of faith already receivedBaptist, Anabaptist, Pentecostal
Formal statement: First London Confession (1644)
Divided. Article XVII calls baptism 'a sign of regeneration or the new birth', which can be read either way; John Wesley affirmed 'the regenerating grace of infant baptism'.
This church has no settled answer listed here.
PurgatoryCatholic
Formal statement: Council of Lyon II (1274)
Prayer for the dead, purification not definedOrthodox, Oriental Orthodox
Formal statement: Synod of Jerusalem, Decree 18 (1672)
No purification or help after deathLutheran, Reformed, Anglican, Baptist
Formal statement: Thirty-Nine Articles XXII (1563/1571)
This church has no settled answer listed here.
IndulgencesCatholic
Formal statement: Clement VI, Unigenitus (1343)
No such powerLutheran, Reformed, Anglican, Methodist, Baptist
Formal statement: Thirty-Nine Articles XXII (1563/1571)
This church has no settled answer listed here.
Christ returns before a thousand-year reign on earthPentecostal
The thousand years is the present ageCatholic, Lutheran
Formal statement: Augustine, City of God 20.7-9 (c. 426), for the reading
Christ returns after a golden age of the gospel
Formal statement: Savoy Declaration 26.5 (1658, Congregationalist), in a mild form
Divided. The Second Helvetic Confession (1566) condemns a golden age on earth before the judgment; the Savoy Declaration (1658) expects a more peaceable age for the churches in the latter days; Westminster is silent.
This church has no settled answer listed here.
The magistrate may put the guilty to deathCatholic, until 2018, Orthodox, Lutheran, Reformed, Anglican
Formal statement: Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, on homicide (1271)
Christians do not bear the sword
Formal statement: Schleitheim Confession (1527)
The death penalty is inadmissibleCatholic, from 2018
Formal statement: Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective (1995)
Until 2018 the Catholic Church taught that the magistrate may put the guilty to death. The Roman Catechism (1566) and catechism paragraph 2267, as it stood through 1997, say so. In 2018 the Church changed that paragraph. The new text says the death penalty is inadmissible and that the Church works for its abolition. Leo XIV repeated that on 10 October 2026.
Placed from the Russian Orthodox Church, Basis of the Social Concept (2000), section IX. The death penalty was recognised in the Old Testament, and the Basis says the New Testament, Tradition, and the historical legacy of the Orthodox Church give no indication that it must be abolished. The same section says the Church has often asked for mercy, and that it welcomes abolition where a state chooses it, because mercy is preferable to revenge. Other Orthodox churches are not separately checked.
Placed from Luther's Large Catechism (1529), which says God has left the government the power to kill. The Augsburg Confession, Article XVI (1530), says Christians may hold civil office, sit as judges, and award just punishments, and it condemns Anabaptists who forbid those offices. Article XVI does not itself use the word death.
Placed by Article XXXVII of the Thirty-Nine Articles (1571): the laws of the realm may punish Christian men with death for heinous and grievous offences. Later statements by particular provinces are not checked here.
Divided. The Schleitheim Confession (1527) says the sword is ordained of God for worldly magistrates, and that Christians do not use it. The Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective (1995), Article 22, witnesses against capital punishment itself.
Not placed. No Baptist confession is quoted here yet. Baptist bodies differ, and Reformed Baptist confessions that follow Westminster are not quoted here.
Not placed. No Methodist text checked yet.
Not placed. No Pentecostal text checked yet.
Not placed. No text checked yet.
Not placed. No text checked yet.
This church has no settled answer listed here.
Creeds and churches puts every creed and confession on one timeline.