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I'm hoping someone can refer me to a graphic, flowchart or even a list of when various Christian denominations formed. For example, a biggie is the Lutheran church breaking off from the Catholic church. Or the Anglican church splitting off from the Catholic one. Will appreciate any help, thank you.

Nathaniel is protesting
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user34498
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  • Welcome to Christianity.SE, and thanks for taking the site tour. For more on what this site is all about, please see: How we are different than other sites. – Lee Woofenden Apr 05 '17 at 16:07
  • What is wrong with the numerous flowcharts you find if you google 'flowchart of christianity'? – depperm Apr 06 '17 at 14:29
  • I shall do just that - had been looking at some sources I was familiar with, to no avail, and simply didn't realize that the Google "Images" search results might do the trick. And it just did. Ran the search and got tons of charts, etc. As they say, sometimes the result is just under our nose. Thanks for pointing out the obvious, suppose I needed it. – user34498 Apr 07 '17 at 14:36

1 Answers1

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Wikipedia's article on Christian denominations appears to have what you are looking for. The major branches are listed in one graphic:

Major branches within Christianity

Branches of Protestantism are best shown separately, for ease of viewing:

Protestant branches

Note that these are simple representations of complex movements, so lines connecting one tradition with another won't provide the whole picture. But this should help get you started in seeing the big picture of Christian traditions.

Nathaniel is protesting
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  • This is a great answer! I guess I would only add that Adventism did not come directly from the Methodist denomination, but from many different denominations that came out of their churches and awaited the Second Coming of Christ. After the Great Disappointment many left, but then after careful study of Scripture, the Seventh Day Adventist church was organized. – JesusIsComingSoon Apr 05 '17 at 16:15
  • @jlaverde Yes, many Protestant denominations would say something similar – that they had a variety of influences that lead to their formation. Pentecostalism could also have a dotted line to the Baptists, for example. But that's what I try to convey in my last paragraph – a simple graphic like this can't handle all the subtleties of religious movements. – Nathaniel is protesting Apr 05 '17 at 16:17
  • Understood. Great job on this answer! – JesusIsComingSoon Apr 05 '17 at 16:19
  • The only nit I would have is that the upper graphic shows the Eastern Rite Catholic churches (called "Unia" by the Orthodox) somehow branching off before they united to the Catholic Church. I don't think this is the case. – guest37 Apr 05 '17 at 23:47
  • There also have been entire Protestant congregations who have joined/rejoined the Orthodox Church in the latter 20th century (e.g. 17 evangelical congregations in 1987). – guest37 Apr 05 '17 at 23:52
  • Great Answer. Is there a key that describes why the work "union" is linking together what seems the Oldest Traditions? – Marc Apr 06 '17 at 12:05
  • @Marc I'm no expert on this, but it refers to the many Eastern Catholic Churches that unified with the Roman See at different times following the Great Schism. The graphic is certainly a simplification of the many complex divisions, unifications, and realignments of small national and ethnic churches. – Nathaniel is protesting Apr 06 '17 at 13:19
  • Thank you Nathaniel, and to the other commentators, the flowcharts are informative as are the comments, though they also raise other questions for this layman. I'll take it one step at a time - thanks to all and God bless. – user34498 Apr 07 '17 at 14:44