WHO STARTED YOUR CHURCH? (By Matthew Kelly) "I was praying for Pope Francis this morning, and it occurred to me that one fact got very little attention in the media circus that surrounded the recent Conclave to elect the new Pope. Today, there are officially more than 30,000 different Christian churches, all teaching different doctrines. How did this splintering and division happen? It all began 400 years ago. If you are a Lutheran, your religion was founded by Martin Luther, an ex-monk of the Catholic Church, in the year 1517. This is the oldest of the Protestant churches and began the splintering process. The Anabaptist religion splintered from the Lutherans in 1520, founded by Nicholas Storch and Thomas Munzer. If you are a Mennonite, your religion is an offshoot of the Anabaptist church founded in 1525, which takes its name from Menno Simons, a former Catholic priest. If you are Anglican, you belong to the Church of England, and your religion was founded by King Henry VIII in the year 1534 because the Pope would not grant him a divorce with the right to remarry. If you are a Presbyterian, your religion was founded by John Knox in Scotland in the year 1560. If you are a Protestant Episcopalian, your religion was an offshoot of the Church of England, founded by Samuel Seabury in the American colonies in the 17th century. If you are a Baptist, you owe the tenets of your religion to John Smyth, who launched it in Amsterdam in 1605. If you are a Congregationalist, your religion was originated by Robert Brown on Holland in 1582. If you are a Quaker, your religion was founded in 1647 by George Fox in England. If you are Amish, your church was founded by Jacob Anman in 1693. If you are a Methodist, your religion was launched by John and Charles Wesley in England in 1744. If you are a Unitarian, Theophilus Lindley founded your church in London in 1774. If you are Episcopalian, your religion was founded in 1784 by Samuel Seabury in the American Colonies and is an offshoot of the Church of England. If you are Mormon, Joseph Smith started your religion in Palmyra, New York in 1829. If you are of the Dutch Reformed Church, you recognize Michaelis Jones as founder because he originated your religion in New York in 1628. If you worship with the Salvation Army, your sect began with William Booth in London in 1865. If you are a Christian Scientist, you look to 1879 as the year in which your religion was born, with Mary Baker Eddy as its founder. If you are a member of the Assemblies of God, your religion was founded by Charles Parham in Topeka, Kansas in 1901. If you belong to the Church of the Nazarene, your religion was started in 1908. If you are a Jehovah’s Witness, your religion was founded by Charles Taze Russell in 1931. If you have stopped attending church, you founded your own religion and appointed yourself as pope. If you are Catholic, you belong to the Church that was founded around the year 33 by Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Jesus appointed the first Pope, Peter, and as Catholics we can trace our apostolic lineage from Peter to Pope Francis
Posted on: Fri, 21 Jun 2013 04:45:55 +0000
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