Articles

How Old Is Your Church?

The Lutheran Religion is about 500 years old and was founded by Martin Luther, an ex-priest of the Catholic Church. He began the Church in 1517.

If you are an Anglican or Church of England, your religion started because the Catholic Church denied King Henry VIII a divorce so he could remarry. He left the Church and started his own in 1534.

The Presbyterian religion was started in Scotland in the year 1560 by John Knox.

Protestant Episcopalianism, which split from the Church of England, led by Samuel Seabury in the American Colonies, was established in the 17th Century.

If you are a Congregationalist, your Church started with Robert Brown in Holland in the year 1582.

The Methodist Church started in England in 1744; founded by John and Charles Wesley.

If you are Unitarian, your religion was founded by Theophilus Lindley in London in 1774.

Michaelis Jones founded the Dutch Reformed Church in New York in 1628.

Are you a member of the Church of the Latter-Day Saints (Mormon, LDS)? Your religion began in Palmyra, N.Y., in 1829, founded by Joseph Smith.

The Christian Scientists began in 1879 from Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy.

The Church of the Nazarene was founded in 1908 by several people, including Phineas F. Bresee, Hiram F. Reynolds, William Howard Hoople, Mary Lee Cagle, Robert Lee Harris, J.B. Chapman, C. W. Ruth, in
Pilot Point, Texas, U.S.

And if you attend the Baptist Church, you owe your beliefs to John Smyth, who started the religion in Amsterdam in 1605.

If you worship with Salvation Army, your religion began in London in 1865 by William Booth.

If you are a member of one of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, your sect began in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, in the 1870s, founded by Charles Taze Russell.

But if you are Catholic, your Church was started in 33 A.D. by Jesus Christ, Son of God. He commissioned his Apostles to spread the very faith you profess today, and those have continued to pass both the message and the priestly ministry from one generation to the next in an unbroken link of Apostolic Succession. Your religion is over 2000 years old!

“[the Catholic Church is].. the world’s oldest and largest continuously functioning international institution” 

 Mark A. Noll. The New Shape of World Christianity (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2009), 191.

If there are inaccuracies in our texts, please share them below. Also add othes we have missed 🙂

Read More

Related Articles

85 Comments

  1. Tshwane university of Technology,South Africa, Arcadia campus,Nelson Mandela Drive Private Bag 0001,Pretoria. says:

    Guys all the heated debate have nothing to save us from the recent troubles Christians are going through.if your fellow christian is being persecuted by another believer,what are we thinking about? if it is me today,tomorrow is yours,why should Christians keep on dieing and fellow believers are quite.what strategies are we putting in place to save ourselves rather than making unnecessary debate,yet every single moment millions of Christians are in pains.colleague Christians think about it for yourselves.stop the debate and look forward for your enemy is getting closer,so be careful and beaware otherwise……

Leave a Reply