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Protestantism
[Denominations]Protestantism is a major branch of Christianity that separated from the Roman Catholic Church during the sixteenth-century Reformation. The term refers collectively to a number of denominations, including the Lutheran, Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist, Holiness, and Pentecostal churches.
Eastern Orthodox Church
[Denominations]The Eastern Orthodox Church is one of the three major traditions of Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. It is a communion of Eastern churches that take the tradition of the early church and the decisions of the seven ecumenical councils as their standard of faith. It is also commonly called the Orthodox Church.
Catholic Church
[Denominations]The Catholic Church, also called Catholicism or the Roman Catholic Church, is a Christian church under the leadership of the Pope in Rome. Together with Protestantism and the Orthodox Church, it is regarded as one of the three main branches of Christianity.
Independent Church
[Denominations]An independent church is a Protestant church that does not belong to a denomination; each congregation manages its own affairs and makes its own decisions. Because such churches do not identify with any particular denominational tradition, they are also called "nondenominational churches."
Plymouth Brethren
[Denominations]The Plymouth Brethren are a Protestant denomination rooted in the Brethren movement that began in Dublin, Ireland, in the 1820s. They have no clerical order separating pastors from laity and no denominational organization. Instead, their church life centers on local assemblies led by elders.
Congregational Church
[Denominations]The Congregational Church is a Protestant denomination that follows congregational polity, in which the entire membership (the congregation) of each local church makes the final decisions on church matters. It arose from the Puritan and Separatist movements of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century England.
Exodus
[Bible]Exodus is the second book of the Old Testament. It recounts how the people of Israel escaped bondage in Egypt, entered into a covenant with God at Mount Sinai, and erected the tabernacle.
Genesis
[Bible]Genesis is the first book of the Old Testament. It recounts the creation of the world, the fall of humanity, the Flood, and the stories of Israel's ancestors from Abraham to Joseph. It contains fifty chapters.
2 Kings
[Bible]Second Kings is a historical book of the Old Testament that records, in twenty-five chapters, the later history of the divided kingdom, from Elijah's ascent into heaven through the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah to the release of the captive King Jehoiachin.
1 Kings
[Bible]1 Kings is the eleventh book of the Old Testament. It is a historical book that records the final years of David, the reign of Solomon and his construction of the temple, the division of the kingdom, and the ministry of the prophet Elijah.
Isaiah
[Bible]Isaiah is the first of the prophetic books of the Old Testament and consists of sixty-six chapters. It contains prophecies of judgment, restoration, and the Messiah, and Christians have long read it as a book containing many passages that point to Jesus Christ.
Joshua
[Bible]Joshua is the sixth book of the Old Testament. It records how Joshua, the leader who succeeded Moses, led the people of Israel into the land of Canaan, conquered it, and divided it among the tribes.
Micah
[Bible]The sixth book of the Minor Prophets in the Old Testament, containing the message of Micah, a prophet of Judah in the eighth century BC. It is known for its proclamation of judgment on social injustice, its promise of restoration, and its prophecy of a ruler who would come forth from Bethlehem.
Nehemiah
[Bible]Nehemiah is a historical book of the Old Testament. It records how the people of Judah, having returned from the Babylonian exile, rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem and reorganized their community of faith under the leadership of Nehemiah, an official of the Persian court.
Numbers
[Bible]Numbers is the fourth book of the Old Testament and part of the Pentateuch. It records the roughly forty-year journey of the people of Israel through the wilderness, from their departure from Mount Sinai to their arrival on the plains of Moab.
Deuteronomy
[Bible]Deuteronomy is the fifth book of the Old Testament and the last book of the Pentateuch. It consists of Moses' farewell addresses to Israel on the plains of Moab, delivered before the people entered the land of Canaan, in which he expounds the law anew.
Gospel of John
[Bible]The Gospel of John is the fourth book of the New Testament and the last of the four Gospels. It presents Jesus as the Son of God and the Word made flesh, and it consists of twenty-one chapters.
Book of Ruth
[Bible]The Book of Ruth is the eighth book of the Old Testament. It tells the story of Ruth, a Moabite woman who follows her mother-in-law Naomi to Bethlehem, marries Boaz, and becomes the great-grandmother of David.
Ezra
[Bible]Ezra is the fifteenth book of the Old Testament, a historical book recounting how the people of Judah who returned from the Babylonian exile rebuilt the temple in Jerusalem and restored their community around the Law.
Gospel of Luke
[Bible]The Gospel of Luke is the third book of the New Testament and one of the four Gospels, recording the life of Jesus Christ from his birth to his ascension. It is regarded as the first volume of a two-part work, continued in the Acts of the Apostles by the same author.