Many partisans defend their particular Christian denominations by constructing arguments that have the conclusion, “This is the purest form of Christianity.” Look and see if I am not correct. Here, then, is a brief summary of how the various denominations think of their own claims to being the pure, primitive Church.1
| Our denomination… | …is the purest form of Christianity because… |
|---|---|
| Orthodox | we are the original, apostolic Church started by Christ and his Apostles, we demand the personal holiness they demanded, and our practices maintain continuity from the earliest Church Fathers. Therefore, our antiquity and holiness make us the pure, primitive Church. |
| Catholic | we are the original Church started by Christ and St. Peter, only we have maintained apostolic succession properly, and our doctrines and practices reflect those of the Apostles and of later Fathers, as guided by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, our papal lineage makes us the pure, primitive Church. |
| Lutheran | we are the Church restored to the pure doctrine of the Apostles, stripped of all unscriptural accretions that were added over the centuries [everything to this point is described below as “we are Protestant”]; also, we accept corrected, restored versions of the sacramental traditions, creeds, and councils that can be rooted in Scripture. Therefore, our adherence to all and only what the Apostles accepted makes us the pure, primitive Church. |
| Reformed and Presbyterian | we are Protestant, but we also reject the real presence in the Communion as precisely an accretion, and we also have more correct and refined ideas about divine sovereignty. Therefore, our superior theological insight into what the Apostles accepted makes us the pure, primitive Church. |
| Anglican | we are Protestant, but we do not require Lutheran or Catholic sacramentalism or, for that matter, anything except what can be clearly demonstrated from Scripture, yet we agree that traditions, creeds, and councils rooted in Scripture are valuable, and we are open to any Christian who has a sound interpretation within the bounds of Scripture and a specific set of writings based on them. Therefore, our broad-minded yet firm commitment to what the Apostles accepted makes us the pure, primitive Church. |
| Baptist | we are Protestant, but we firmly reject sacramentalism and any traditions not universal to the Church, and we also reject paedobaptism as an accretion. Therefore, our strict adherence to what Scripture alone reveals to have been apostolic doctrine and practice make us the pure, primitive Church. |
| Anabaptist and Mennonite | we are Protestant, but we, being more focused on individual spiritual experience and the peaceful and simple living taught by Christ, represent the spirit and practice of the Apostles. Therefore, our radical obedience to Christ’s commands makes us the pure, primitive Church. |
| Methodist and Holiness | what the Anglicans said (roughly), but we give more proper emphasis to personal holiness. Therefore, our sound doctrine married to proper Christian sanctification make us the pure, primitive Church. |
| Restorationist (Churches of Christ) | we are Protestant, but we have restored the exact pattern of doctrine and practice according to Scripture alone, with no creeds, instruments, or denominational structures. Therefore, our strict adherence to what Scripture alone reveals to have been apostolic doctrine and practice make us the pure, primitive Church. |
| Pentecostal | what the Baptists said (roughly), but we believe in the baptism of the Holy Spirit within us and his manifold, miraculous gifts. Therefore, our strict adherence to scriptural doctrine and practice, together with the indwelling Spirit of the Apostles, make us the pure, primitive Church. |
Having said all that, I can then actually explain what I like and concede—and where I am unconvinced and depart—about the different denominations:
| What I concede | Where I depart |
|---|---|
| Orthodox: Their antiquity and holiness are impressive. | Their common claim that all their doctrines are unchanged from the earliest Church Fathers lacks credibility. |
| Catholic: One cannot doubt their extreme antiquity and (with caveats) the continuity of their institution. | Many, many of their doctrines and practices cannot be shown to be apostolic. |
| Lutheran: Their doctrine and their approach to tradition and liturgy are excellent. | On my view, they are wrong about sacramentalism. |
| Reformed and Presbyterian: Similarly to Lutherans, their doctrine is excellent. | On my view, Calvinism is not, actually, superior theology. |
| Anglican: They make room for much of Protestant doctrine, while maintaining the best of traditional Christian practices. | Their claim to being the pure primitive Church is excellent. I disagree on details with some Anglicans, but such disagreement is welcome in Anglicanism. This is why I am an Anglican. |
| Baptist: They really do get doctrine almost perfectly right. | Their claim to being the pure primitive Church is excellent. They are doctrinally solid. The problem is that they reject the liturgy, which to my mind means they don’t worship God as fully as Scripture would have us do. |
| Anabaptist and Mennonite: Peaceful and simple living really does look like a Christian life. | Doctrinally, I find little wrong here, although I am skeptical of extreme pacifism, and I doubt that Christ required that we all live “simply” according to Mennonite ideas. |
| Methodist and Holiness: Christians, especially in modern times, desperately need more focus on sanctification, which makes this very attractive. | Their claim to being the pure primitive Church is excellent. My misgivings are mostly because I am not at all persuaded of the idea of “entire sanctification,” and due to their often (not always) having a “Low Church” approach to worship. |
| Restorationist (Churches of Christ): What Protestant can object to the project of discovering just what doctrines and practices are reflected by Scripture alone? | While doctrinally they seem fairly solid (apart from their de facto rejection of sola fide, through their doctrine of baptismal regeneration), there is a little too much in the way of idiosyncratic strictness not actually required by Scripture. |
| Pentecostal: The desire to live more closely with the Holy Spirit is indeed fundamental to pure Christianity. | I think a lot of the things Pentecostals believe to be miraculous are not. I also find their style of worship, sometimes, disorderly. |
One last note: I know that this is very, very short and reductionistic. Much more can be said. But the idea I was trying to execute here is simply that different denominations have relatively simple claims to what make them the “pure, primitive Church.”
Footnotes
- Note: many of the rows below read “we are Protestant”. See the “Lutheran” row for a gloss on what this means.[↩]
Leave a Reply to Robert Cancel reply