Expanding our horizons

I've been struck lately by how little Christians of one theological stripe know about Christians of other theological stripes. I guess my perspective is unusual, having spent so many years in seminary. But I just sort of assumed that most Christians had some kind of basic framework to understand different theological traditions. In case you don't, let me explain a bit...

In what follows, I'll list three of the major categories of difference of opinion, then give some examples of different traditions/denominations that hold these various views. This is not intended to be a hard and fast rule, nor is it exhaustive - I'm painting with a broad brush here.

Let's take personal salvation, for example. As most know, there are two dominant evangelical ways of looking at this issue: you either believe in what's called 'eternal security' or you don't. There are variations on the theme, but generally some evangelicals are of the mind that once a person has truly accepted Christ as their saviour, they are assured of their salvation. Others, however, believe that a person could conceivably commit certain sins (or certain amounts of sin, etc...) and thereby lose the salvation Jesus gave them.

Eternal security (generally): Baptist, Bible, Brethren, Assembly of God
No eternal security (generally): Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Nazarene


Here's another major difference: systematic theology. There are (again) two primary ways of viewing the whole nature of the Bible, especially the distinction between the Old Testament and the New Testament. There are those (called Dispensationalist, and they come in at least three flavors) that take a more literal view of the Old Testament and see it as applying directly to Israel (not the church). There are those (in the fold of Covenant Theology) that believe the Church has spiritually inherited the promises once made literally to Israel. What's the difference? Well, among other things, this accounts for why some baptize babies and others don't.

Dispensationalism (generally): Baptist, Bible, Brethren
Covenant Theology (generally): Methodist, Lutheran, Christian Reformed


What about worship? There are two broad categories here: high church and low church. High church folk believe worship gatherings should be more reverent, quiet, and organized. They tend to come to these gatherings dressed well. Their pastors/ministers often wear robes or collars. Think stained glass, high pulpit and dark wood. Low church folk, on the other hand, view worship gatherings as more celebratory. They tend to come to these gatherings 'as they are'. Their pastors/ministers likely only wear a ties, if that.

High church: Lutheran, Episcopalian, Presbyterian
Low church: Methodist, Baptist, Mennonite

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Hopefully I've not insulted any one's intelligence - I just find that some of these broad categories aren't very well known across denominational boundaries. I meet lots of people who are only familiar with their own tradition and haven't a clue about others.

So what about you? What other categories have you noted (there are plenty!)? What differences strike you as interesting or curious?

Hatushili