Im catholic, but I wasnt raised in a religious household.
Im totally clueless about most Protestant denominations especially, and If any would tell me the differences between them, or point me to a site that would help, that would be great. :-)
This article was posted back in August. Not quite sure how to link back to it, so I cut & pasted...
Denominations: An Overview
DeusVitae ^
Posted on 08/06/2004 9:00:30 AM CDT by xzins
The following list is useful, but there there are some difficulties with it. The short reviews are a handy reference, especially on some of the early heresies. The author does not seem to be a friend of catholicism, and I'm sure the Romans Catholics will reject his explanation of their history, but the other categories outweighed his few snide comments, imo.
Phase I: to 1054
The first phase begins with the church as founded by the Apostles to the end of the "catholic" church in the division of 1054. A large number of the denominations that began in this period are no more, yet many of their doctrines abound in denominations today.
The first such groups even existed during the time of the Apostles. Let us now examine them:
The "Judaizers": A term given to a group of "Jewish" Christians, most probably originating in Jerusalem by about 51 who wished to connect the rites and rituals of Judaism with the new religion of Christianity, notably, the celebration of circumcision, Passover, the Sabbath, and other doctrines. Paul especially fought against this movement, and it appears from 2 Corinthians that this same group attempted to slander him in Corinth. The destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD essentially ended this movement.
Gnosticism: A term from the Greek word gnosis, which means "knowledge." The Gnostics were divided on many issues, but in general, they attempted to reconcile the Platonic philosophic tradition with Christianity: the existence of dualism, with good and evil forces active in creation. The Gnostics are also known for rejecting the God of the Old Testament, believing Him to be an inferior god compared to the Son. The beginnings of this group can be seen as early as the Colossian letter, where Paul warns against philosophy in Colossians 2:8; however, the group proper seems to originate in the 90s, when John explicitly writes in his Gospel and his letters that Christ was in the flesh. These Gnostics were most prevalent in the middle of the second century, with one Gnostic in particular, Valentius, almost elected "bishop" of Rome. When so-called "orthodox" Christianity triumphed in the Roman Empire in the fourth century, Gnosticism per se declined sharply. By this time, however, the Gnostic mentality had impacted other groups heavily, such as the Manichaeans, and later on in the Paulicians, Bogomils, and the Cathari.
All of the Apostles had died by 100; therefore, direct connections to Jesus the Christ had become few and far between. The main bulk of Christianity began to slowly but surely stray from the truth, accepting too many conventions from the world around them. The multiple elders of a church soon was changed to an elder of the church, and these individual elders began to appoint more regional overseers. Pagan festivals celebrating the spring equinox and the winter solstice were "Christianized" into Easter and Christmas, respectively. Many of these developments and changes had developed throughout the second and third centuries, yet they had certainly crystallized a new denomination by 312, when the "Catholic" church received official sanction from the Roman Empire. This entity would develop and last until 1054, when the western and eastern Mediterranean churches split, the former becoming the Roman Catholic Church, the latter, the Eastern Orthodox Church.
The period of 100-1054 saw many divisions and dissensions over multiple issues, mostly concerning the nature of God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Let us now examine these divisions:
Marcionism. Marcionism owed its existence to Marcion, an individual who gained popularity in Rome around 144. His theology was influenced heavily by the Gnostics, and he denied the power of the God of the Old Testament. He promulgated the use of a limited form of the New Testament, including Luke's Gospel and Acts, and many of the Pauline epistles, the former since Luke was a Gentile and the latter since he was sent to preach to the Gentiles. He found the God of the Old Testament contradictory and inhumane. The "orthodox" Christianity of the time rejected his argumentation, upheld the value of the Old Testament, and dutifully began the work of canonization of the Old and New Testaments. As for Marcionism, its end came soon after the passing of its originator, with its members most probably incorporated into various forms of Gnosticism.
Montanism. Montanism receives its name from its founder, Montanus, a Phrygian and a former priest of Cybele. Around either 156 or 172, he believed that he along with two women were given a dispensation of the Spirit, and uttered prophecies without control over their faculties. They believed that they were the last manifestation of the Paraclete (the Comforter), and that the battle of Armageddon would be fought soon and the "new Jerusalem" would come to earth in a small village in Phrygia. This movement was highly charismatic; one of the "church fathers," Tertullian, eventually joined the North African branch of this movement. When the apocalyptic hopes of the Montanists were left unfulfilled, this movement died out.
Monarchianism. A term meaning "rule of one," this doctrine permeated Christianity in the second and third centuries. The idea of this doctrine is that there is one authority involved with God. One form was dynamistic Monarchianism, espoused first by the Theodotians (beginning around 190, and lasting until the fourth century), believing that Jesus was born a man and became God at His baptism. This dynamistic monarchianism was also present in the beliefs of Paul of Samosata around 260, and in the Adoptionism movement in Spain around 782. The other form, modalistic monarchianism, was presented by Sabellius (around 215), posited that God is inherently unknowable, and that only though manifestations can He be seen-- the implication of this idea that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are the same thing in different manifestations, thus, the Father and the Spirit suffered on the cross since the form of God known as Christ was on the cross. Modalistic monarchianism is also known as modalism or patripassianism. Monarchian concepts would later be found in Nestorianism and possibly in the Paulicians.
Manichaeism. The name comes from Mani, an eastern mystic, who believed that he was the manifestation of the Christ, God on Earth. Around 250, he developed his theology, which included tenets of Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, and Gnosticism, a blatant attempt to combine Western and Eastern religions. They believed in reincarnation with an eventual deliverance from life, and that good and evil came from a primeval war between light and darkness. This doctrine persevered for awhile; Augustine's first contact with religion was Manichaeism. The infiltration of Islam tempered the growth of Manichaeism, yet a small group of Mani's followers in Iran, deeming themselves Mandeans, have persevered to the modern day. Manichaeism does have direct influence on the later Paulician movement, and by extension the Bogomils and the Cathari.
Donatism. The term comes from one Donatus, a "bishop" who was one of the founders of the movement. Donatists are known primarily for their positions on the Lord's Supper, that the one giving it to the people must be free from sin or the blessings are not provided. They are also known for their position on the church, believing that the individual was the focus, not the organization: the church should be simply the collective of individual Christians, not a hierarchial organization. This group was destroyed, however, along with the Catholic church in northern Africa in the sixth century when the Vandals conquered the area.
Arianism. Named from Arius, a bishop who disagreed with the theology of the Catholic church and believed that the Son was equal, if not superior to, the Father, since the Son suffered and the Father did not. This belief also began in the early fourth century, and was condemned as heretical at the Council of Nicaea in 325. Arianism remained prevalent, with many leading bishops holding to the belief in the fourth century; in the fifth century, they converted many of the German tribes that overran the Roman empire. Arianism began to falter, however, when Justinian re-conquered the Italian peninsula for the Eastern Roman Empire in the sixth century, and was all but extinguished when Charlemagne gained control over most of central Europe in the eighth century.
Nestorianism. The name derives from Nestorius, a bishop of Constantinople. His belief system was influenced by the dynamistic monarchianism of Paul of Samosata, and in 428, he condemned the popular use of the title "Mother of God" for Mary, since the title seemed to deny the fleshly nature of Christ. His belief was declared heretical at the Council of Chalcedon; however, his doctrines persevered. To this day, there are Nestorian churches (known as the Church of the East) in central Asia. There is some Nestorian influence upon the Paulicians of the sixth century.
Monophytism. This term derives from Greek words meaning "one nature." Monophytism is generally considered to be a reaction to the Nestorian disputation, initiated by another bishop named Cyril in 431, who posited that Christ had one nature, which was manifested as flesh and as God. This was codified at a council in Ephesus in 449; however, resistance grew later in the century. The council of Chalcedon reversed the council of Ephesus, and schism was inevitable. Reconciliation was attempted, especially by Justinian and his wife Theodora, with the philosophy of Monothelitism, the idea that while Christ had two natures He had only one will. This combination of Chalcedon and Ephesus was unsuccessful; Monothelitism was soundly denounced, and the eastern church had split into Catholic and Monophysite factions. Monophytism remained prevalent in many places until around the eighth century; today, the only Monophysite groups left are a group in Syria and the Coptic church of Egypt.
Pelagianism. The term comes from Pelagius, an individual from England who in 411 questioned the doctrine of original sin and believed that man was responsible for only his own sins, also denying the total depravity of man. Pelagius and Augustine debated on the issue, and in the end Pelagius was killed for his positions. The debate between the two positions, however, was by no means over: the Roman Catholic church debated for hundreds of years and in the end affirmed "semi-pelagianism," the belief that man has free will but God is the source of faith and belief. One can also see the debates in the sixteenth century and beyond concerning free will vs. total depravity in the Pelagian/Augustinian controversy.
Paulicians. The Paulicians originate in Armenia in the sixth century, first associated with Nestorianism, but by the next century seen further west and demonstrably as its own movement. The Paulicians derive their name from the Apostle Paul, whose writings were held in high esteem. The Paulicians seem to have been heavily influenced by Marcionism, the dynamistic monarchianism of Paul of Samosata, and Gnostic/Manichaean philosophy. The group reached the height of its power in 844 with the formation of a Paulician state in modern-day Turkey, but soon after persecution from the Eastern Roman Empire intensified. In 970, many of the Paulicians of Syria were deported to the Balkan region of Europe, where they were incorporated into the Bogomils. A group of Paulicians remained in Armenia until around the eleventh century.
Bogomils. The Bogomils were active in the area around Bulgaria beginning in around the ninth century. The Bogomils inherited a dualist theology from the Gnostics through the Manichaeans and the Paulicians. Harassed by the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, the Bogomils were eventually wiped out by the expansion of Islam into the Balkan region in the fifteenth century. Some Bogomil missionaries, however, traveled to southern France in the twelfth century and helped to establish the Cathari there.
After the sixth century, the real schism between the western and eastern factions of the Catholic church became more and more apparent. For the next four hundred years, the two entities drifted further apart, due to linguistic and cultural differences and political boundaries. A controversy over how the Spirit was imparted, through the Father alone (which the east believed) or through either the Father or the Son (as the west believed) proved to be the final straw; in 1054, the bishop of Rome sent a bull of excommunication to the Patriarch of Constantinople, who responded in kind. This act effectively created the Roman Catholic Church in the west, and the Eastern Orthodox Church in the east.
Phase II: 1054 to 1500
Let us now examine the period from the schism between east and west to just before the period of the Reformation in the west. The Eastern Orthodox Church did not go through any major alterations after the eleventh century, but as we shall see, the Roman Catholic church was continually beset by many divisions and schisms even before the Reformation. Let us examine these groups now:
Waldenses. The Waldenses come from Peter Waldo, a wealthy merchant around 1175 who sold all of his property and urged a return to "apostolic poverty." The group that eventually followed him was called the Poor Men of Lyons, and were later deemed the Waldenses. The Roman Catholic church at first accepted the group, but later the preaching of the Waldenses led to persecution. The group survived, however, and in the sixteenth century agreed to combine with the Reformed Church in the Calvinist tradition.
Cathari. The Cathari, or the "Elect," began as a group around the same time as the Waldenses in southern France. They were also named the Albigensians, from the city of Albi, where many such Cathari lived. The Cathari were heavily influenced by the Bogomils, and held to an essentially Gnostic theology. The Cathari were heavily persecuted in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries for their beliefs.
It may also be noted that there is also some evidence that around the eleventh century in southern France, the truth of the Gospel was being preached.
There were also some groups that were established because of the groundbreaking work of certain individuals, known today as the "pre-Reformers." Let us examine them now:
John Wycliffe. An English priest of the fourteenth century, John Wycliffe taught that Christ is the only King of men and rested his authority in the Bible. He began the work of translating the Bible into English, and for both his preaching and his actions, he was strongly denounced by the Roman Catholic officials. The Lollards followed after him for some time, although the movement dies out within the fourteenth century. After the "heresy" of Jan Hus, Roman Catholic officials dug up Wycliffe's bones and burned them.
Jan Hus. In the Holy Roman Empire, the portion of which we now call the Czech Republic, Jan Hus also began to question the Roman Catholic church's practices in the fifteenth century. Many of his difficulties with the Roman Catholic church would be echoed by Luther about a hundred years later. Hus was burned at the stake in 1415; his followers, the Hussites, were strongly persecuted; however, they were able to survive, and are recognized later as the Moravian Brethren, affiliated with the Pietist movement of the seventeenth century.
Phase III: 1500 to 1800
Now let us examine the time of the Reformation, beginning proper in 1519 with the beginning of Luther's quarrels with the Roman Catholic church and ending in the eighteenth century with Wesleyanism, the reformation of theology that occurred within the Church of England.
By the sixteenth century, the trials of the medieval world had faded. Western Europe was in the middle of what is deemed the Renaissance, a time of philosophical and theological regeneration. The invention of the printing press in 1450 by Johann Gutenburg allowed such knowledge to be spread and read quickly and easily. Soon after, many began to question the Roman Catholic church's positions and stances on theology. The first to question was Desiderius Erasmus, who wished to change the way the church was acting; however, it would be up to his friend Martin Luther to activate change in Europe.
Lutheranism. Lutheranism comes from Martin Luther, the original reformer. The Roman Catholic practice of indulgences (the belief that giving a specific donation to the Roman Catholic church would free one's soul from purgatory), among other things, troubled Luther. He established 95 theses about the church's practice and nailed them to the door of the church in Wittenburg, Germany, in 1519. After a debate with the local Catholic bishop on these things, Luther's ideas gained popularity. Although Luther only wished to reform the Roman Catholic church, the latter proved this to be impossible in 1525 when they excommunicated him. Seeing no other viable alternative, Luther split from the Roman Catholic church, thus forming his own organization. Within the next century, Luther and his theology of "faith alone" would spread throughout many portions of the Holy Roman Empire and all of Scandinavia.
Anabaptism. Anabaptism ("baptism again") derives its name from the belief that one must be baptized as an adult believer, thus requiring many individuals who were "baptized" as infants to be baptized "again." This group has its origins in the Switzerland/southern Germany area in 1525 with the group named the "Swiss Brethren." Many Anabapists followed after Menno Simons who in 1536 began preaching the need to be baptized as an adult; this group was thus named the Mennonites. Many smaller divisions occurred in the Anabaptism movement, yet there is one that stands out: in 1697, Jacob Amman split from the Mennonite group because of his more conservative views on fellowship, thereby forming the Amish. The Anabaptists were heavily persecuted by Roman Catholic and Protestant alike, and many attempted to find refuge in parts of Russia and Germany. Many later traveled to America, where many remain in the center of North America today.
Calvinism. In 1536, John Calvin, a native Frenchman, established his theology in Geneva, Switzerland, with his work The Institutes of Christian Religion; it was predicated on a belief that God has already determined the fate of every man, and therefore that God's grace alone saved men. This complete reversal from the tenets of the Roman Catholic church was accepted by many, and many of Calvin's disciples went out to spread his message. One named John Knox took Calvinism to Scotland, where the Presbyterian church was founded in the 1570s. In the seventeenth century, Calvinism took root in England in the form of Puritanism, which then took root in America. Today's Congregational church (also referred to as the United Church of Christ) is the descendent of the Puritans. Calvin's message was also taken to the area of the Netherlands in the early seventeenth century which led to the formation of the Reformed Church.
Anglicanism. Also known as the Church of England, this church began in 1537, when King Henry VIII of England split from the Roman Catholic church since the latter would not grant an annulment to his marriage with Catherine of Aragon. Anglicanism is still in existence in England and is known as the Episcopalian church in America.
Baptists. The Baptist movement begins in England, and in its beginning, they preached and taught the truth (hence, called the Baptists). "Officially" began by John Smythe in 1675, the movement spread quickly to America, where it took root and stayed. Doctrinally, however, they moved toward Calvinistic beliefs regarding salvation and baptism, where they stand today. Many Baptists are affiliated with the Evangelical line of thinking, which represents a broad range of conservative Protestants, with uniform belief on the ideas of salvation and eschatology.
Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). The Religious Society of Friends begins with one George Fox in England in 1648 as the result of supposed "revelations" given to him. He urged for reform in the thinking of Christians away from the concept of the "church" to a concept of a "society," a group of Christians who held each other in equal or better standing. His movement was often persecuted, and is best known for its colony in Pennsylvania in America.
Pietism. Pietism is a movement that began within the Lutheran church in Germany in the seventeenth century. The members of this group desired to have a deeper personal faith as opposed to the often cold liturgical faith of the Lutheran establishment. Although many pietists remained within the Lutheran fold, many others branched out and founded churches of their own. The Moravian Brethren are the supposed founders of the movement, dating back to the time of Jan Hus in the 1450s, although it is possible that the Hussites adopted the Pietist philosopies in the seventeenth century. The Church of the Brethren, the Brethren in Christ, and many other churches came out of this Pietist movement. There is also a group of Pietists that combined with some Mennonites, known as the Mennonite Brethren.
Wesleyanism. Wesleyanism derives from John and Charles Wesley, members of the Anglican church. In 1729, they performed missionary work in America, and on the trip back to England, John learned of the faith of the Moravian Brethren. When back in England, the brothers founded a Methodist society and began to speak about the need of personal faith, sanctification, and "personal holiness," the continual development of maturity in Christian faith. The brothers desired to preach the need for personal faith within the Church of England attempting to reform it. This worked well in England, but when the message spread to America, the Methodists split off from the Church of England and formed their own church. Wesleyan holiness theology was very persuasive in nineteenth century America, and many "holiness churches" were founded. Many of these churches amalgamated in the twentieth century to form the Church of the Nazarene.
Phase IV: 1800 to the Present
The nineteenth century saw the rise of America as a power in the world, the first government founded on the principles of freedom. The freedom of religion enjoyed in America led to a vast number of new ideas and thus divisions, and the story of these groups will occupy the majority of the rest of the history of denominations.
Plymouth Brethren: The Plymouth Brethren began in 1827 in the British Isles by five individuals who did not agree with the denominational attitudes of the "churches" around them and thus worshipped by themselves. This mentality spread, and the group (who simply are known to each other as the Brethren) had a large following in the town of Plymouth in England, and thus received their name. They are notable for the dispensational/premillennial belief system that would pervade much of ninteenth century American Christianity along with the modern Evangelical movement.
The Restoration Movement: The Restoration Movement fully began in the 1820s in America by the preaching of Thomas and Alexander Campbell and Barton Stone. These men recognized that denominations had departed from the message of the Scriptures with their creeds and doctrines and therefore desired to return to the faith of the Apostles. To this end, the Campbells established the Disciples of Christ and Stone the Christian Church. These two groups soon merged, forming the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). In the 1920s, as a response to what was viewed as growing liberalism in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) churches, many such churches split off and became independent Christian Churches.
By the end of the nineteenth century, many within the Restoration Movement began to question some of the doctrines of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), especially regarding missionary societies and instrumental churches, and these Christians thus returned to the faith of the Apostles as given in the New Testament and took on the description of the Church of Christ. Unfortunately, in the middle of the twentieth century, many such churches reverted to many doctrines of denominations, and therefore has caused many divisions.
Mormonism: Officially the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Mormonism began with Joseph Smith, who claimed to receive a special vision in New York in the 1820s, but the official beginning of the denomination was in 1830. He supposedly found plates written in "Reformed Egyptian" and tools by which to translate these plates. The resulting work was the Book of Mormon, used as additional Scripture by the LDS. Smith would later write other works, The Pearl of Great Price and The Doctrines and Covenants. The LDS believe in continuing revelation through their leaders; however, at the death of Joseph Smith and the declaration of Brigham Young as President, many Mormons departed from that denomination and established groups based either solely on the works of Smith or on the works of Smith combined with revelation given to their leaders. The most significant such group is the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (RLDS), now known as the Community of Christ, which uses only the texts of Smith.
Seventh-Day Adventism: The Seventh-Day Adventists began with some of those deemed Millerites, individuals who believed in the prophecies of a man named Miller who believed the world would end in 1844. When 1844 came and went, many deemed this the Great Disappointment; one such adherent, Ellen White, believed that she was given a prophetic gift and urged men and women to still prepare for the second coming of Christ (the Advent). Seventh-Day Adventism is also known for holding to many portions of the Law of Moses, including the Sabbath and dietary restrictions.
Christian Science: Beginning in the 1860s, a woman named Mary Baker Eddy believed that she was having revelations of truths kept silent since the Apostles concerning the illusion of reality and the superiority of "Mind" and spirit. Her work, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, posited that pain, illness, and even reality are merely mental conditions and that through correct discipline and training, one could control illness and disease.
Jehovah's Witnesses: Jehovah's Witnesses (JWs) originate around 1872 with Charles Taze Russell, who created the Watchtower Society to promote his beliefs. They derive their name from their practice of witnessing to others concerning the power in the "name" of God, the Tetragrammaton incorrectly translated as Jehovah. The New World Translation of the Scriptures was made by the Jehovah's Witnesses to support their doctrines concerning the name of God, the lesser divinity of Jesus Christ, the lack of person of the Holy Spirit, and the perpetual existence of the earth.
The Salvation Army: The Salvation Army began in the 1880s in England as essentially a modified form of Wesleyan Methodism, focusing on the need for benevolence while literalizing the metaphors in the Bible concerning "military" organization within the church.
Pentecostalism/The Charismatic Movement: Pentecostalism originated in the beginning of the twentieth century from the Wesleyan Holiness movement of the nineteenth. It was believed in 1901 that a woman received the "baptism of the Holy Spirit," because of which she supposedly spoke in tongues and demonstrating the gifts of the Holy Spirit as seen in the time of the Apostles. In 1904 this movement took off in Los Angeles with a revival in a building on Azusa Street, and many individuals were strongly impacted by the "baptism of the Holy Spirit" that occurred there. Many denominations, such as the Church of God in Christ (COGIC), the Assemblies of God, many of the Churches of God, and others began around this time because of these events.
Some of these Pentecostals began to believe around 1914 that baptism ought to be administered in the name of Jesus alone, since all of the features of God may be found in Christ alone. These individuals became known as the Oneness Pentecostals, and the United Pentecostal Church and some other groups are a part of this movement.
Beginning in the 1950s and 1960s, many members of other denominations began seeking the "baptism of the Holy Spirit" and many found it, and began to preach the ability to have the gifts in their own denominations. This was to be known as the Charismatic Movement, from the Greek word charis, meaning "gift."
Finally, in the later years of the twentieth century, many televangelists and others began to synthesize the gifts of the Holy Spirit with standard Evangelical-type theology, creating the "third wave" of Pentecostalism. This is seen especially with the proliferation of televangelism and also many churches such as the Vineyard Association of Churches.
International Church of Christ: Also known as the Boston Movement, the International Church of Christ began with Kip McKean, who, in 1979, established a congregation near Boston, MA, based upon his teachings, which were a combination of the doctrines of the Crossroads movement (which taught the idea of "discipling") and his own beliefs. Originally tenuously accepted by other congregations of churches of Christ, McKean's doctrines soon demonstrated themselves to be too far to be accepted by other congregations. Their teachings change somewhat continually, but in general they believe in an ecclesiastical hierarchy for the church along with the need to be a disciple before one is a Christian.
Conclusion
We have now reached the present time and can see, if only quickly and without exhaustive detail, the development of the denominations that we currently see in the "Christian" world today. The path is difficult to determine and very confusing, yet we can see that the majority of these denominations were established on the basis of new ideas of men and those who would follow them. Let us now examine these ideas and doctrines and see which, if any, are in harmony with the teachings of the Scriptures.
Post #47 is probably one of the most direct answers to your question,...let me try also.
Historically, over some 2000 years, most denominations only last about 200 years.
Even within Catholicism, substantial differences have existed between the centuries within the Church and interpretation of Scripture and doctrine over the years.
One classical interpretation of the gospels of Matthew 16:13-20 is that the person 'Peter' is the foundation of the Church and a lineage of Church hierarchy followed thereafter. Another classical Protestant interpretation is that the passage refers to 'faith' as being the rock that will be the foundation of His Church. This is partly because the same word for rock in the Greek is the name of Peter or 'Petra'.
Here is one translation of that passage:
Matthew 16:13-20 13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" 14 And they said, "Some say John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets." 15 "But you," He asked them, "who do you say that I am?" 16 Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God!" 17 And Jesus responded, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father in heaven. 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the forces of Hades will not overpower it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will have been loosed in heaven."
Just as there may be well justified arguments defending either position in this fundamental disagreement between Catholicism and Protestantism, many denominations are discernible because of some basic interpretations and doctrinal differences in their respective theological studies.
It might also be well argued that even amongst those of the same denomination, agreeable in the same doctrine, if two believers fail to remain in fellowship, while they interpret those doctrines, differences in faith are manifest.
The doctrines of salvation in reality, though, tend to agree on one point. Faith alone in Christ alone is coincident with salvation from condemnation and accompanies eternal life. After that salvific faith, regardless the denominational interpretations of the mechanics involved, a continuing sanctification process occurs. The first hurdle is discerning of believer vs unbeliever. The second hurdle tends to discern between many denominational interpretations of Scripture.
A good seminary may provide textbooks on the history of Christianity and history of the Church which better amplify those differences and their respective justifications.
GB