Christian sects and groups (all of them declare each other infidels)

 

Christianity branched out into many sects that were known to fight among themselves, each of which claimed to monopolize the Christian truth and denied the others. It confined to its church alone the correct understanding of religion, Christ, the Trinity, and so on.

Among the most famous ancient Christian sects are:

the Melkites:

It was said that they were called thus because they supported the decision that Constantine supported in the council that he held, and it was said that they supported the decision taken by the Council of Chalcedon in 451 AD, against the heresy of Eutyches the Monophysite who said that Christ had only one nature, so their opponents called them Melkites because they stood with Marcianus who supported the council.

Both statements mean that this group followed the statement that the kings supported, so they were attributed to that, and their belief is that part of the divinity was inhabited in the humanity. They went to the fact that the word, which is the hypostasis of knowledge according to them, united with the body of Christ and took on his humanity and mixed with it as wine mixes with milk or water with milk. They do not call knowledge before it is nourished a son, but Christ and what he took on is the son. And as they say, the essence is not the hypostases as in the described and the attribute, declaring the trinity, saying that each of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is God.

They also say, “Christ is ancient and eternal from ancient and eternal, and that Mary gave birth to an eternal God, so they attribute fatherhood and sonship to God Almighty and to Christ in reality.” They say, “Christ is a complete humanity, not a partial one, and that the killing and crucifixion occurred on the humanity and the divinity together,” as Al-Shahrastani reported in “Al-Milal wa Al-Nihal.”

Their sect spread in Syria, Egypt, Jordan, and Palestine, and most of them speak Arabic.

Nestorianism:

A Sect It arose during the reign of Al-Ma'mun Al-Abbassi, and is attributed to Nestorius the Wise, Patriarch of Constantinople. Al-Shahrastani stated that he dealt with the Gospels based on his own opinion and said: God Almighty is one with three hypostases: existence, knowledge, and life, and that these hypostases are not additional to the self nor are they Him, and that the Word united with the body not by way of mixing as the Melkites said, nor by way of appearance as the Jacobites said, but like the sun shining in a window on a crystal, and like the appearance of an engraving in wax when it is stamped with a seal.

They said that Mary did not give birth to a god but gave birth to a human being, and that God Almighty did not give birth to a human being but gave birth to a god, and that divinity and humanity are, for them, two essences and hypostases, but they united in will.

They differ with the Melkites and Jacobites in killing and crucifixion, and say that killing and crucifixion occurred to Christ in terms of His humanity, not in terms of His divinity, because the god is not subject to pain.

These people deny the killing and crucifixion of Christ (peace be upon him), and believe that this was the reason for the salvation of divinity from humanity. Whoever denies that Christ was killed and crucified has left the Christian religion. In fact, denying that he was crucified is committing a forbidden act.

When Nestorius the Wise objected to calling the Virgin Mary the Mother of God, and he was a patriarch in Constantinople, the Council of Patriarchs met and rejected his statement and cursed him, and decided that Mary gave birth to a god who is Jesus Christ. This sect spread among the Christians of the East from the Euphrates Peninsula, Mosul, Iraq and Persia.

The Jacobites:

Opinions and statements differed regarding the reason for the name Jacobites. Ibn al-Amid says in his history: “They are followers of Dioscorus, Patriarch of Alexandria, and they were called that because his name in the youth was Jacob.” It was said that they were even attributed to Jacob al-Bardaghani, a disciple of Sweiser, Patriarch of Antioch, who was a monk in Constantinople. He used to travel around the country and call for the doctrine of Dioscorus, and other statements.

Their doctrine revolves around saying that Christ is God, and they said that there are three hypostases, except that they said that the Word turned into flesh and blood, so God became Christ and He is the one who appeared in His body, rather He is He, so they say that God is united with man in one nature, which is Christ, so God, in their belief, is Christ, so He died, was crucified, and was killed, and the world remained for three days without a ruler.

Some of them say that the divinity appeared with humanity, so the humanity of Christ became the manifestation of the truth, not by way of the incarnation of a part in Him, nor by way of the union of the word, which is in the rule of an attribute, rather He became He, as it is said: The angel appeared in the form of a human and the devil appeared in the form of an animal, and as the revelation from Gabriel (peace be upon him) informed us in the words of God Almighty. Most of them say that Christ is one essence, except that He is from two essences, and perhaps they said one nature in two natures.

Thus they combined the Creator and the created, or as some scholars said, “they combined the ancient and the modern.”

They believe that the divinity and humanity united and mixed like the mixing of water and wine, so they are one essence, one hypostasis, and one nature.

The Jacobites lived in Egypt, Sudan, Nubia, and Ethiopia.

The most important modern sects are:

Catholicism:

It has its own beliefs in many issues:

Mary: She is the Virgin Mary, innocent of lust, original sin (mortal sin), and all sin. The Council of Thirty 1545-1563 declared her complete innocence and purity; and placed her above all saints, and established her right to a special type of worship (the cult of the Virgin/Hyperdolia). The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, which absolves Mary of original sin, was introduced in 1854.

Angels: They were created before humans; they are spiritual beings. Angels are organized into ranks, the first of which is: (the Seraphim), then the Quorites, then the Thrones. There are other ranks that are reminiscent of feudalism, and parallel to the divisions of land and power in Europe during some ages (Zeor, Augustine, Chapter VI).

Divine Mysteries: A central principle in Christianity, resorting to what is secret, that is, mysterious or latent and sacred, is a prominent phenomenon in Christianity. There is always a reference to the mysteries or to presenting these as beliefs above and beyond reason. It may sometimes be said that they are not against it or contradictory to it; they are only of a special scope or have their own logic that some may not understand; but in themselves they are capable of being explained and understood. What are the sacraments of the Church now?

The Roman Catholic Church, since the twelfth century AD and with the Council of Thirty, recognizes seven ecclesiastical sacraments: baptism, confirmation, the Eucharist, penance, final unction, priesthood, and marriage. The sacrament of the Church is a prayer, or a kind of life that the Catholic receives through a sign; so he is purified and his soul is purified, and he receives the grace that God gives him.

Baptism: It is the ecclesiastical sacrament that restores with water and words the life that sin has killed. It removes sins and the punishments that result from those sins. Baptism, which is one and never repeated, is called the sacrament of the dead. It must be performed before any other sacrament. It has a special garment, and gives the baptized a name; its water is poured out on clean agricultural land, and is administered by a bishop, or any licensed priest.

Confirmation: It is intended to strengthen the spiritual life of the baptized (the one being baptized), to strengthen the soul to complete what the first sacrament began with, and to bring down the gifts of the Holy Spirit upon the baptized. Confirmation is performed for the child after he reaches the age of ten, in a special ceremony by the bishop of the city: he anoints the forehead with the ointment of chrism (a mixture of balm and olive oil previously blessed on the Thursday before Easter) and draws a cross on it, saying: "I name you with the sign of the cross, and I confirm you with the chrism of salvation in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit." Then he strikes him on the face with a gentle, light slap, as a reminder of what may hinder the confirmed for the love of Christ, and then the bishop grants a blessing to the public.

Communion: It is the sacrament of sacraments; or the sacrament of the Eucharist. It essentially and effectively contains the Spirit of Christ and His divinity within the bread and wine. Through it, Christ Himself enters into the body of the communicant under the signs of the bread and wine. Communion nourishes the soul as ordinary bread nourishes the body. It forgives sins; Catholics are required to receive communion at least once a year during the Easter season or if they are in danger of death. The conditions include: repentance, and fasting from food and alcohol - three hours before - except in the case of illness. It was established and recommended by Christ himself. Its material is unleavened bread and wine from the vine without requiring a specific color. Its celebration is not simple, and is governed by several movements or drawings that symbolize movements that return to the life of Christ or indicate it. It is only performed by bishops and priests...

Repentance: It is the sacrament of confession of the sinner. The sins committed against the commandments of God and the Church are confessed before the priest, in private. The confessor is absolved of these sins and is forgiven, after fulfilling what is required of him by the priest in the form of compensation such as alms, physical mortification, and fasting. The Catholic Church attaches great importance to the sacrament of repentance, as it and baptism are considered the only two paths to salvation. This sacrament has details, conditions, and situations, and the confessor’s absolution from his sins has degrees. Christ is the one who gave his disciples this authority of absolution, as he said to Peter: “Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose will be loosed.” Christ also said to his disciples after his resurrection: “Whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven.”

The last anointing: It is called this because it is the last that the religious person receives. It is given to the dying, or in danger of death, to comfort the soul and strengthen the body. It consists of the sick person or the anointed one - who is in a clean room on a bed covered with a white table, and near a table on which are several things - confessing before the priest who then provides him with spiritual provisions (the Eucharist), and anoints with olive oil (pure oil, without balm or wine, blessed by the bishop on Holy Thursday) the areas of his five senses while reciting special texts, then grants him a full papal absolution. The Church does not allow those of a lower rank to grant this sacrament to anyone.

Priesthood: A sacrament by which priestly authority - which Christ entrusted to his disciples - is conferred on some to perform a spiritual service for the Church. This transfer of authority continues until Christ returns at the end of time. Ordination takes place by laying hands on the head of the ordained person, with the recitation of specific texts, on condition that he is in a state of grace, born of a Catholic marriage, not bound by marriage, of age, possessing the required culture, and devoting himself to celibacy, poverty, and obedience throughout his life. The priestly sector played a prominent role in the development of Christian religious and historical awareness, in its diverse organization that constantly interacts with socio-economic conditions, and in the precise organization of rituals, costumes, and many systems such as monastic orders and feasts (On feasts in Christianity, see: Ze'or, Augustine, p. 47).

Marriage: A sacrament that unites two baptized adults for life in a lawful marriage, through which they receive the grace of performing family duties. The Catholic Church does not recognize divorce as legitimate. It is attended by the priest, in a ceremony called the crowning..., and is subject to certain rituals, and to regulations or rules governing its establishment, its invalidity, its appropriate times, etc...

Orthodoxy:

The Orthodox Church (Orthos = straight, Doxa opinion) complains of the injustice of the Catholic West towards it, and of its ignorance of its teachings, and its aversion or hatred of it. It says that it is the faithful guardian of theology since its first centuries, and is one and undivided, and has not added or deleted any belief, adhering to the pure ancient teachings that it inherited from the apostles and the first fathers. Therefore, it is accused, and rejects the accusation, of being a rigid organization and scattered churches with ancient, undeveloped rituals.

Proceeding from the general principle of Orthodoxy, the rejection of addition or deletion within the general belief, this Church does not recognize the modification of the central dogma, the Holy Trinity, by the Catholic West, a modification that comes from the addition of the word and the Son (Philok/Sons). If Catholicism believes that the Holy Spirit proceeded, overflowed from, issued from, from the Father and the Son before all ages, Orthodoxy here rejects the addition of the word and the Son that was included in the Symbole of Toledo in 584 AD. Orthodoxy also does not believe in the dogma of the Immaculate Conception that Catholicism introduced in 1854, thus contradicting the dogma that was defined by the Seven Ecumenical Councils and the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Councils. In the name of the same principle that rejects any modification, Orthodoxy does not recognize religious foundations or sacred texts that prove belief in purgatory (and even in hell). It does not recognize the authority of the Pope, nor his infallibility, since infallibility belongs to the entire Church, nor church indulgences.

Among the differences that are due to historical conditions and the special geniuses of nations, it is mentioned: the form of the sign of the cross, since in Orthodoxy it is with three fingers and from right to left, and the sacrament of confession (and absolution) differs somewhat. The same is the case with baptism, and in the sacrament of marriage, since divorce is sometimes permitted, and in fasts, holidays and religious celebrations or rituals and rites... There is also a gap, which is a difference in clothing, priestly ranks, positions, and the organization of monasteries and monasteries. As for the structure of the church or its divisions and services, in Orthodoxy it is devoid of seats, believers kneel on the feast of Pentecost, and musical instruments.

Protestantism

A reform movement; but in the eyes of the Church of Rome, and in the eyes of the historical Catholic, it was rejection, rebellion, and then schism. In France, for example, the Protestant, the rejector, the protester, feels that he is unknown; and that France - the spoiled daughter of the papal church - expelled its best sons because of their belief and that it also persecuted, exterminated, and still feeds a bad idea about them in order to justify the old excessive cruelty against them... The issue, in the eyes of the Protestant, was the issue of an elite who wanted to reform the situation, and reject the pitfalls or scandals in which the Catholic Church was drowned, which threatened its unity with cracking.

The cracking of the Roman Church came with the occurrence of the Great Schism in the East in 1054 AD; and the dominance and some moral issues surrounding the reputation of the clergy and the popes, and the great privileges or excessive wealth attached to the bishops, along with many other factors, were apparent reasons for the intensity of the conflict within the one great church. Then came the direct reason, which is the establishment of doctrines imposed by the councils on the believer without the slightest discussion, and even without support from the Holy Bible or not found in the Gospels.

It is known that among the doctrines that distinguish the multi-voiced religious reform movement and churches is its understanding of the doctrine of faith in the Lord Christ, its positions on the authority of the Holy Books, and those inspired by them in particular, and the freedom to interpret those books or to make a personal effort to understand them and extract the rules of faith and life from them alone (see: Synod of 1938; especially the act of faith explained there).

The Protestant movement is not one, it is multiple. We quickly mention among them: the Wesleyan churches, named after Wesley (d. 1791); spread in England and moved to America in 1784; and known as the Free Church. There is also the Waldoisian Church in France, and the French Reformed Church, which since 1938 has united within itself - without dissolving or eliminating the specific structures of each - the Calvinist, Scottish and Free Churches.

It is also necessary to mention other churches, such as the Lutheran Church and the Anglican Church, whose origins date back to the sixteenth century, with King Henry VIII. In 1534, he declared the abolition of the authority of the Bishop of Rome in England, and that the King was the only head of the Church after Christ. Then, in the days of Edward VI, the successor of the aforementioned King, the final break was declared, in the form of 42 and then 39 articles in 1563, under Queen Elizabeth.

Among them is also the Baptist Church, which says that there is no need to baptize newborns, and calls on its followers to rebaptize adults. It baptizes by immersion, not by pouring, and does not distinguish between the pastor and the believer, and does not believe in first communion... The United States of America is considered the most famous Baptist church. The Seventh-day Adventist Church, like the Jews, makes Saturday a day of rest, as it says that God sanctified the seventh day of the week, not Sunday. It awaits the one who is coming, that is, the Messiah, whose second coming it expects through signs that it projects onto events. It refuses to baptize newborns, and does not recognize any feast day; it dedicates worship to God alone, and acknowledges the authority of the Holy Bible alone. It is devoid of any liturgy. This Adventist Church was born in America; and has been recognized there since 1860, and its global center is in Washington.

In 1829, the Darbyste Church or the Brethren Church was established in Dublin, from within the Anglican Church. Its founder, Groves, became the most famous of its followers, saying that the apostles did not appoint successors, and that no one has the right to be a pastor in the church. Around Darby in 1832, it was established and clarified. Today, they are very keen on reading the Holy Scriptures and biblical prophecies about the end of the world.

Then came the Quakers, or the Christian Society of Friends, founded by George Fox, who was given the title of Quaker, meaning the trembling one. They reject all oaths, do not greet anyone, are characterized by asceticism, denounce singing, dancing, games and smoking, refuse to carry weapons, and are characterized by good morals and good conduct. Among the commendable things in this association is caring for the deprived, of every race or color: and here their view - within the United States - is distinguished by the Red Indians, the indigenous people, and the blacks. Among other churches, the Salvation Army. Its followers say that their mission is to make all of humanity submit to God and attain His salvation...

and schisms increase, or new churches arise from time to time within the reform movement, in the United States of America in particular. But Protestantism is united around general trends or is characterized by characteristics: reliance on the Holy Scriptures alone, recognition of Christ alone as the teacher, denial of the necessity of the Church’s mediation and its ministers in the relationship between God and the believer, acceptance of worship in the national language of the worshipper, interest in reading the Holy Scriptures, rejection of the worship of saints and the worship of Mary, forgiveness or anointing with oil, fasting, celibacy and celibacy, disbelief in the actual presence of Christ in the bread and wine of the Mass, belief in freedom of thought for the worshipper, rejection of images, statues, musical instruments and seats inside the temple, freedom from costumes, rituals, ceremonies and sales arrangements, not drawing the sign of the cross... and so on!!! Where the pursuit of simplicity, free action, and equality between the people and the clergy.