Researching the Secondary Areas of Belief, Finding a Specific Denomination That Suits You:

Next you want to find out who believes what in the finer or secondary areas of belief and worship. At this point I would highly recommend that you purchase a copy of “Handbook of Denominations in the United States” by Frank S. Mead & Samuel S. Hill, 11th Edition Revised by Craig D. Atwood, currently available from http://www.amazon.com for $14.00, not a bad price at all. There is far too much material in that book to even begin to list here, but it is fairly comprehensive. Online URL resources for searching the denominations and sending them direct questions are listed at the back of this book.

One thing that will help you to understand some of the various terms of beliefs which may be briefly described in this handbook is a short paper written by a friend at Harvard Theological School. In it he defines the major differences in eschatological beliefs that you will encounter in the various denominations. I am inserting his paper right here after this paragraph. [Eschatology is the study of end-time prophecies in the Bible.] But I wish to make one thing very clear about the prophetic interpretation this web site feels is a danger to the Christian’s belief system, and that is the amillennialist interpretation of Bible prophecy. To read a description of why I feel it absolutely necessary to take this stand, log onto http://www.UNITYINCHRIST.COM/prophecies/2ndcoming1.htm and read the introduction section.

“Christian Views on the Millennium"

In this paper, I want to give a very basic definition of some important terms as they relate to the nature of the Millenium and what is believed by certain Christians with regard to how the end of the ages will occur.

Premillennialism (Historic or Classical, which also means non-dispensational) The belief that Jesus Christ will return to earth (personally and bodily) to defeat the forces of evil and establish the millenium (a literal thousand years). During this time, Christ and the saints will reign from Jerusalem and the earth will be filled with holiness, justice, peace and prosperity. This was the dominant understanding of prophecy during the first three centuries of the Christian church. Some early church fathers who held this view were Papias, Justin Martyr, Tertullian, and Lactantius. Many modern day Baptists, some Presbyterians, Seventh-Day Adventists, Jehovah’s Witnesses (with their own unique belief system), almost all fundamentalists (across denominational lines) and various Seventh-day Sabbatarian groups hold this view.

Amillennialism: This is the belief that there will be a continuous growth of good and evil in the world before the Second Coming of Christ. The kingdom of God is present now in the world through his Word, his Spirit, and the church. Amillennialist do not believe that Christ will have a literal thousand-year rule on earth. They believe that this refers (symbolically) to the time in history (between Christ’s first and second coming) when Satan is bound by Christ and the saints rule with Christ on the earth (in the sense that Christ is ruling through his church). [Pastor Chuck Smith’s comment about this belief is “If this is the Millennium, then Satan’s chain is too long” (cf. Rev. 20:1-3).] They believe the first resurrection in Rev. 20:6 refers to personal conversion when a new Christian has been “resurrected” from spiritual death to new life. They also state that when Christ returns he will judge the wicked, reward the righteous, and begin eternity. There will be only one resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked. This framework for this view was laid out by Origen (AD 185-254), Eusebius (263-340), Tyconius (d. 400) and St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430). Almost all Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox Christians, Episcopalians, Lutherans (though some conservative Lutherans might differ on details), some Presbyterians, and Congregationalists hold this view

Postmillennialism: Just like amillennialists, postmillennialist deny that we should take the thousand years in Revelation literally. They believe that Christ will return after the millennium (which for them means a indefinite time period when the church will evangelize most of the world and do great works of missionary work, preaching, and teaching). They are far more optimistic about the future events on earth than either premillennialists or amillennialists. After the earth is evangelized and large numbers of people are converted, then Christ will return. This view was held by Jonathan Edwards, Charles Finney, Charles Hodge, and B. B. Warfield. It was quite common among American Protestants during the 18th and 19th centuries. It is held by some individuals today, but very rarely espoused by an entire denomination (though a group called the Christian Reconstructionists holds this view in a modified form).

Dispensational Premillennialism: Just like classic premillennialists, they believe in a literal thousand-year reign of Christ. They differ on the details of what will precede Christ’s return and what role the church will play in the end times. Dispensationalists hold that Christ’s coming will take place in two stages. He will come for his church (the rapture) and then with his church (his final revelation and appearance). These events will be separated by a seven-year tribulation. They take three positions on the rapture: 1) pretribulationists: say that Christ will come for his saints; afterward he will come with his saints. Christ will rapture the church (they will disappear from earth and be with Christ in heaven). Thus the saints will be protected during the seven years of the tribulation because they will be in heaven while all hell breaks on earth. 2) posttribulationist: the church remains on the earth for the seven years of the tribulation. Believers won’t be raptured until after the tribulation ends. God will preserve his true believers, even though they must suffer persecution and perhaps death during the tribulation. 3) midtribulationists: it is thought that the church will go through the less severe part (usually the first half, or three-and-a-half-years) of the tribulation, but then will be miraculously removed (translated) from the world. It will suffer persecution during the first part of the tribulation, but it will be removed when God’s wrath is poured out on a wicked and unrepentant world.

It should be noted that some believe that there will be a partial rapture of only those believers who are actively watching and waiting for the Lord’s return. They will be found worthy to escape the terrors of the tribulation by being taken up into heaven. After this first rapture, there will be a series of raptures, some during the tribulation, and some after (for those who were not quite mature as believers and who needed trial by fire). Dispensationalism arose in the 19th century primarily under the influence and teachings of John Nelson Darby (1800-1882). It spread to America through Bible prophecy conferences and the Scofield Reference Bible (which has sold millions of copies). A leading seminary that teaches dispensationalism is Dallas Theological Seminary (which was founded in 1934). Those who hold this view make a distinction between Israel and the church, which causes them to maintain steadfastly their position that God will fulfill his promises to Abraham through the Jews. Thus they reject the belief held by amillennialists that the church is the new Israel. They express a great interest in the Jews because they think that Jews will play a prominent role in end-time prophecies. Many Jews, it is held, will be converted and accept Christ as their Messiah. They will be blessed during Christ’s peaceful thousand-year reign on earth. This will also be God’s fulfillment of his promise to Abraham and his descendants. It might be added here that Classical pre-millennialist’s hold the same or similar views about the Jews and that God will fulfill his promises to Abraham through them and he nation of Israel during the Millennium-this is not just a Dispensational position, but generally includes all Pre-Millennialists.

I have found the following resources helpful in preparing this short sketch:

Gerald Bray, Biblical Interpretation: Past and Present (1996)
Joel Carpenter, Revive Us Again: The Reawakening of American Fundmantalism (1997)
Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology (1985)
H. Wayne House, Charts of Christian Theology and Doctrine (1992)
George Marsden, Fundamentalism and American Culture (1980)
Charles C. Ryrie, Basic Theology (1986)

Written by Curtis J. Evans”
Comments in brackets [ ] are my own. Editor, UNITYINCHRIST.COM

Look at this site: http://www.crosswalk.com/ . Just go to the section called “denominations” and you should be able to find any evangelical or other type of denomination or church you are looking for. It has extensive information on conservative Christianity in general.

The Assemblies of God statement of beliefs: http://www.ag.org/

One new denomination (although they don’t like calling themselves a denomination) is that of Calvary Chapel, headquartered in Costa Mesa, CA. They are very a unique and balanced blend between Pentecostal and Fundamentalist beliefs, very good in teaching the Word of God from the connective expository manner of verse by verse, chapter by chapter, book by book through the whole Bible. Their members become very Biblically knowledgeable after a few years of this style of preaching. Their worship music style is contemporary modern Christian music in their worship service. Dress is casual, and the congregations I’ve observed are all very warm and friendly. Doctrinal beliefs are fundamental Christian, with a literal interpretation of prophecy, and the belief in the direct return of Jesus Christ, at which time he will set up his kingdom on earth and rule the nations, and restore the kingdom to Israel as a nation. Their website is http://www.calvarychapel.org . Local congregations can be located on their clickable US map under the heading of “Churches”, and local pastors can be emailed in most cases right from this map listing. They are a new denomination that sprang up in the early 1970’s but for some reason was not listed in the “Handbook of Denominations in the United States”. A short excerpt from their founder’s history can be read on this site in this church history section, and is titled “The Calvary Chapel Revival”. Their resource web site is: http://www.thewordfortoday.org , and is full of valuable Christian resources that will also help you get to know this denomination better, and draw you closer to Christ as well. To read Calvary Chapel's own description of themselves, CLICK HERE."

Messianic Jewish

For Jews who have come to see that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, I strongly recommend you contact the Jews for Jesus organization for a list of non-Torah observant congregations. They can be contacted at jfj@jewsforjesus.org .

Their site is http://www.JewsforJesus.org , which also has a listing of links to most or all of the online Messianic Jewish groups and their congregations.

Here are few pertinent facts to keep in mind about the Messianic movement, as told to me by Stephen Katz, Minister-at-Large, with Jews for Jesus. He says, “The early messianic movement was just what we see in the New Testament: struggling to understand and define practice and belief; as well as prone to factions. The letter to the Hebrews was written to messianic Jews and we get a sense of their struggles to maintain the faith and not return to traditional Judaism.

Scholars have found two early groups of messianic Jewish believers: the Nazarenes and the Ebionites. The former were doctrinally sound, while maintaining their Jewish identification; while the latter were not doctrinally sound in the ways you’ve mentioned (denying the deity of Christ; making Law observance mandatory). Ray Pritz wrote a doctoral thesis on this subject that was later published. It’s called “Nazarene Jewish Christianity.” To view or order this book online, log onto:
http://www.jerusalemgifts.com/cgibin/shopper.cgi?key=bh&preadd=action.

The Messianic movement today is similar to what existed then, though it hasn’t been a straight developmental line between the two periods. Today, there are those in the movement that are not doctrinally sound (Jesus isn’t God, Law is mandatory, etc) as well as those who are sound. Each group and leader needs to be judged on its/his own merits.

To be a real Christian we at Jews for Jesus believe that one must affirm the deity of Christ and that he is the pre-incarnate Son of God, a person of the Triune Godhead.

Though there are many collections of links, here is a collection that probably has good and bad groups in it. I have not checked them out, but it may help you in your research. At the UMJC and MJAA sites they have links to all their member congregations. This may be useful to you.” http://www.jfjonline.org/links/messcong.htm.

Locally, in my neck of the woods, the local Messianic Jewish congregation is K’vod Yisrael, P.O. Box 187, Westminster 01473. Phone: 978-928-1345. Congregational Leader is Ken Levitt. His email address is: mailto:congleader.klevitt@iamcs.org .

The local Calvary Chapel in Fitchburg can be accessed on the Calvary Chapel website’s clickable map under the heading “Churches”, for those interested in looking up the local Fitchburg congregation of that fellowship (http://www.calvarychapel.org ).

Pastor: George Small, pastor@hcff.net
Horizon Christian Fellowship
356 Broad Street,
Fitchburg, MA 01420
Phone: 978-665-9111

Sunday Service: 10:00am

Website: http://www.hcff.net