How do you keep the Christian denominations straight?
This is reducto ad absurdium at best and historians should feel free to hate it, but once I started writing down my understanding, I realized that this series of oversimplifications really is how I keep much of Christian schism history straight in my head.
[Catholic" is often used below as a stand-in for the early, undivided Christian church. That's not necessarily accurate, but it simplifies the convention.]
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-Catholic minus Pope (in England) equals Anglican
--Anglican plus Enthusiasm equals Methodist
---Methodist plus Adrenaline equals Pentecostal
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--Anglican minus King equals Episcopalian.
---Episcopalian minus Bishops equals Presbyterian (English path to Presbyterian)
----Presbyterian minus Hierarchy equals Congregationalist
-----Congregationalist plus anxiety equals Puritan
------Puritan minus the State Church equals Separatist
-------Separatist minus Infant Baptism equals Baptist
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-Catholic minus Pope (in Germany) equals Lutheran.
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-Catholic minus Rome (in Switzerland) equals Reformed
---Reformed plus Geneva equals Calvinist
----Calvinist plus Scotland equals Presbyterian (Scottish path to Presbyterian)
----Reformed minus State Church equals Anabaptist
-----Anabaptist minus pitchforks equals Mennonite
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-Catholic minus Rome equals Orthodox
--Orthodox plus nationalism equals [Greek|Russian|Serbian] Orthodox
-Catholic minus Chalcedon equals Oriental Orthodox (Syrian, Coptic, Armenian, Ethiopian, others)
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In poor taste and inaccurate, but made me laugh:
Lutheran minus Luther's antisemitism equals what Lutherans wish Lutheranism was
Lutheran plus flat-pack furniture equals Church of Sweden
Lutheran plus fjords equals Church of Norway
Lutheran plus The Midwest equals the Great Casserole Schism of ELCA and LCMS.
Catholic plus broad literacy equals Protestant
(Yes, I grew up in the US Midwest. Please understand, Lutheran friends, that I loved growing up around y'all, have spent my adult life wishing more Christians were like Minnesota Lutherans, and mean all of this with sincere affection.)
Someone please do the same for Judaism and Islam?
