Christian Denominations

[TheLightWithin]

This channel, Ready to Harvest, is all about Christian denominations, what they believe, and how they differ.
The host, Joshua, is himself Christian, and I believe he says somewhere that he is an Independent Fundamental Baptist.
I can't recall if he is a pastor, but if I remember correctly, he is an instructor at a Christian college.
He has done a great deal of research to get correct information on Christian denominations.
He is extremely neutral and factual in his presentation, the way we might once have hoped journalists would be.
Sometimes I pick up a hint of disapproval when he presents heterodox denominations, but he's pretty good at hiding it.

Ready to Harvest

Christian Denominations explained in a neutral and concise way. Let's look into what these denominations have in statements of faith, published position papers, magazines, and websites and provide a concise, unbiased, and accurate description of the denomination that allows evaluation and...

www.youtube.com

 

[TheLightWithin]

Here he defines what a denomination is, as how he uses it.

 

[TheLightWithin]

The host, Joshua, makes, or used to make, short videos where he would explain a denomination in a nutshell, in just a few minutes, while often also making a more detailed long form video on the same denomination alongside.

This video talks about the Salvation Army denomination, which is of the Wesleyan Holiness family of denominations.

 

[TheLightWithin]

Here he explains the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, a rather conservative branch of Lutheran Church in the US. They are more conservative than the ELCA but less so than the Wisconsin Synod.

 

[TheLightWithin]

Here Joshua discusses whether there really are thousands of Christian denominations.

 

[TheLightWithin]

This is a video from a different channel, talking about how this particular host sees Baptists as not Protestant.
I remember knowing someone I knew as a teen claiming that, which confused me, but this is what at least one Baptist has to say about it.

 

[TheLightWithin]

This from another channel explains whey the Orthodox Church rejects Sola Scriptura.
The speaker defends the role of the authority and tradition. He argues that the oral tradition and the historical context are essential.
At least that is what I get out of what he says.
What does anybody else think?
The reason this fits into a thread about denominations is that the Sola Scriptura argument is one of the big ideas that make many Protestant denominations different from the Catholic and Orthodox churches, in that they argue for scripture alone rather than the church tradition.
Of course there is more nuance to what Sola Scriptura claims as outlined in this video and another one from an opposing point of view, defending sola scriptura, that I will put next.
This video is short and watchable, 6 minutes, it's a dialogue between the Orthodox priest and another man who is the host of the channel.

 

[TheLightWithin]

This is yet another channel.
In this video, the speaker defends the idea of Sola Scriptura.
This is related to denominations due to being one of the big differences between the Protestant denominations collectively and the Orthodox and Catholic traditions.
That's oversimplifying though as some Protestant denominations are not adamantly Sola Scriptura but are also into using Reason and Tradition.
This is also a short video, about 6 minutes.
I want to present mostly short videos on this thread at least at first, to make it practical for others to listen and comment on the content.

 

[TheLightWithin]

This short video describes the "Wesleyan Quadrilateral" which is made up of Scripture, reason, tradition, and experience.
The Wesleyan tradition has a large family so to speak, including not only self named Wesleyan churches, but (most) Methodist churches, the Salvation Army, the Church of the Nazarene, and most Pentecostal and Holiness denominations.

It's by Nazarene Theological College, Manchester Nazarene Theological College, Manchester
and it's called What is the Wesley Quadrilateral

 

[Thomas]

This from another channel explains whey the Orthodox Church rejects Sola Scriptura.
The speaker defends the role of the authority and tradition. He argues that the oral tradition and the historical context are essential.
At least that is what I get out of what he says.
What does anybody else think?

I think he's right.

Sola Scriptura does not mean the individual right to interpret 'scripture alone', but rather the particular denomination's interpretation of Scripture is the rule, to which all must comply.

The Reformers issued rules not founded on Scripture, while refuting 'tradition' on the one hand, whilst asserting what effectively became their own, on the other.

 

[EricPH]

We have fifteen denominations in our town. We meet together, pray together and pray for our community, this has resulted in opening food banks, homes for the homeless, Street Pastors, debt help and more.
I feel encouraged, that despite all our differences, we can work together for the good of our communities.