Christian Church

==Divisions and controversies==
Today there is a wide diversity of Christian groups, with a variety of different doctrines and traditions. These controversies between the various branches of Christianity naturally include significant differences in their respective ecclesiologies.

===Christian denominations===
{{Main|Christian denominations}}
"Denomination" is a generic term for a distinct Christian body identified by traits such as a common name, structure, leadership, or doctrine. Individual bodies, however, may use alternative terms to describe themselves, such as "church" or "fellowship". Divisions between one group and another are defined by doctrine and church authority; issues such as the [[Christology|nature of Jesus]], the authority of [[apostolic succession]], [[Christian eschatology|eschatology]], and [[papal primacy]] often separate one denomination from another. Groups of denominations often sharing broadly similar beliefs, practices, and historical ties are known as branches of Christianity.

Individual Christian denominations vary widely in the degree to which they recognize one another. Several claim to be the direct and [[One true church|sole authentic successor]] the church founded by Jesus Christ in the 1st century AD. Others, however, believe in denominationalism, where some or all Christian denominations are legitimate churches of the same religion regardless of their distinguishing labels, beliefs, and practices<!--from Denominationalism 3/22/15-->. Because of this concept, some Christian bodies reject the term "denomination" to describe themselves, to avoid implying equivalency with other churches or denominations.{{Citation needed|date=August 2023}}

[[File:Petersorganfromsanctuary.JPG|thumb|right|The [[nave]] of [[St. Peter's Church Phibsborough, Dublin]], [[Ireland]]]]
[[File:St. Andrews Church situated in Darjeeling.jpg|thumb|right|St. Andrew's Church, [[Darjeeling]]. Built- 1843, Rebuilt- 1873]]
The Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church believe that the term ''one'' in the [[Nicene Creed]] describes and prescribes a ''visible'' institutional and doctrinal unity, not only geographically throughout the world, but also historically throughout history. They see unity as one of the four marks that the Creed attributes to the genuine Church, and the essence of a mark is to be visible. A church whose identity and belief varied from country to country and from age to age would not be "one" in their estimation. As such they see themselves not as a denomination, but as pre-denominational; not as one of many faith communities, but the original and sole true Church.{{Citation needed|date=August 2023}}
<!--
-- Not relevant to denomination -- In the New Testament, the word "church" or "assembly"—(translations for ''ekklesia'')—normally refers to believers on earth, and they conclude that the Creed's description "one" must be applicable to the Church on earth and must not be reserved for some [[eschatology|eschatological]] reality. The only exception to the normal New Testament use of the word "{{lang|grc|ἐκκλησία}}" is the mention of the "{{lang|grc|ἐκκλησία}} of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven".<ref>{{bibleverse|Heb.|12:23}}</ref> Even there the Christians to whom the letter is addressed are associated with that heavenly Church ("you have come to…"). In line with this passage, the ancient Churches mentioned see the [[saint]]s too—that is, the holy dead—as part of the one Church and not as ex-members, so that Christians both in the present life and the afterlife form a single Church.-->

Many [[Baptist]] and [[Congregational church|Congregationalist]] theologians accept the local sense as the only valid application of the term ''church''. They strongly reject the notion of a universal ([[catholic]]) church. These denominations argue that all uses of the Greek word ''ekklesia'' in the New Testament are speaking of either a particular local group or of the notion of "church" in the abstract, and never of a single, worldwide Church.<ref>[http://www.vor.org/truth/1689/1689bc26.html 1689 London Baptist Confession]</ref><ref>[http://www.reformed.org/master/index.html?mainframe=/documents/Savoy_Declaration/index.html Savoy Declaration]</ref>

Many [[Anglicanism|Anglicans]], [[Lutheranism|Lutherans]], [[Old Catholic Church|Old Catholics]], and [[Independent Catholic Churches|Independent Catholics]] view unity as a mark of catholicity, but see the institutional unity of the [[Catholicity|Catholic Church]] as manifested in the shared [[apostolic succession]] of their episcopacies, rather than a shared episcopal hierarchy or rites.{{Citation needed|date=August 2023}}

[[Reformed tradition|Reformed]] Christians hold that every person justified by faith in the Gospel committed to the Apostles is a member of "One, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church". From this perspective, the real unity and holiness of the whole church established through the Apostles is yet to be revealed; and meanwhile, the extent and peace of the church on earth is imperfectly realized in a visible way.{{Citation needed|date=August 2023}}

The [[Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod]] declares that the Christian Church, properly speaking, consists only of those who have faith in the gospel (i.e., the forgiveness of sins which Christ gained for all people), even if they are in church bodies that teach error, but excluding those who do not have such faith, even if they belong to a church or hold a teaching office in it.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.lcms.org/doctrine/doctrinalposition|title=Brief Statement of the Doctrinal Position of the Missouri Synod|date=1932|website=Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod|pages=Sections 24–26|no-pp=y|access-date=April 3, 2020}}</ref>

===World Christianity===
{{Main|World Christianity}}
A number of historians have noted a twentieth-century "global shift" in Christianity, from a religion largely found in Europe and the Americas to one which is found in the [[Global South|global south]].<ref name="Walls2015">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hNq6BwAAQBAJ|title=Missionary Movement in Christian History: Studies in the Transmission of Faith|date=1996|publisher=Orbis Books|isbn=978-1-60833-106-2|author=Andrew F. Walls}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=https://versefortheday.com/shifting-southward-global-christianity-since-1945/|title=Shifting Southward: Global Christianity Since 1945|first=Dana L.|last=Robert|pages=50–58|journal=International Bulletin of Missionary Research|date=April 2000|volume=24|issue=2|doi=10.1177/239693930002400201|s2cid=152096915}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b-hUWm88QGkC|title=The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity|last=Jenkins|first=Philip|year=2011|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780199767465|location=New York}}</ref> Described as "World Christianity" or "Global Christianity", this term attempts to convey the global nature of the [[Christianity|Christian]] religion. However, the term often focuses on "non-[[Western Christianity]]" which "comprises (usually the exotic) instances of Christian faith in 'the global South', in Asia, Africa and Latin America."<ref>{{cite book|page=2|title=Christianity as a World Religion|author-last1=Kim|author-first1=Sebastian|author-last2=Kim|author-first2=Kirsteen|publisher=Continuum|location=London|date=2008}}</ref> It also includes [[Indigenous peoples|indigenous]] or [[diaspora|diasporic]] forms in Western Europe and North America.<ref name="Hanciles2008">{{cite book|author=Jehu Hanciles|title=Beyond Christendom: Globalization, African Migration, and the Transformation of the West|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vmCDAwAAQBAJ|year=2008|publisher=Orbis Books|isbn=978-1-60833-103-1}}</ref>