File talk:ProtestantBranches.svg

Image Offness

This picture seems a bit off to me. The Reformed (with Zwingli) killed Anabaptists - and the Anabaptists have roots outside of the Reformed, so I would give them their own string. Furthermore, the Methodists are NOT Anabaptistic (re-baptizers), the come out of the Anglican Tradition (although strongly influenced by the Moravians), the Anglicans and Reformed both find their roots within Lutheranism, and classical Anglicanism is probably better seen as a split out of Reformed.

I do not know what the second half of the image is meant to be - is it saying that the Awakenings are Restorationist? Rather, the First Awakening is Congregationalist (Reformed)...

24.10.246.149 17:14, 1 February 2007 (UTC)

Yeah, there are plenty of things that are very off about this image.

The beginning of it, laying Roman Catholicism as the root is alright.

Then Lutheranism being off on its own as the first branch off is fine as well.

Third branch is where the problems start.

Presbyterianism should be considered a branch off of the Calvinist/Reformed tradition, because as it was originally adherent to Reformed doctrine, many Presbyterian bodies no longer are Calvinist in orthodoxy or even at all. The one thing that today defines the Presbyterian is merely their church governance, not any theological system.

Next, it is incredibly inaccurate to place the Anabaptists as a branch off of the Reformed movement. Anabaptists were a group distinct from other Protestant groups, and were even persecuted by Lutherans, Calvinists, and Catholics alike. They are traditionally seen as the fourth major grouping of the initial Protestant Reformation, along with Lutherans, Calvinists, and Anglicans.

Also, Methodists really have nothing to do with the Anabaptist tradition, and shouldn't be considered as a branching off of them. Methodists broke off from the Anglican tradition, in actuality.

Same goes for Baptists. Though they have some theological similarities with Anabaptists, historically they broke off from the Anglican tradition.

Also, the Episcopal Church should not be considered a branching off from Anglicanism, because it is not a distinct movement. It's wholly a part of the Anglican Communion.

Last, by placing Pentecostalism as a branching off of the "Restoration", you are essentially calling it heretical to Christianity, which isn't really the case. It's true that Oneness Pentecostalism is heretical and part of the Restoration movement, the majority of the Pentecostal tradition is orthodoxy and broke off from the Methodist tradition. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by anon (talk • contribs).

Now, what's "heretical" to whome? According to Wikipedia policy, vandalism is heretical, but otherwise Wikipedia doesn't take party for either this or that religious movement. Rursus 22:41, 28 March 2007 (UTC)

Great comments. Thanks. I note that perhaps two charts are needed - to represent both the historical and theological branchings. -Ste|vertigo 02:17, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

No. A historical is enough. A so called theological taxonomy would be an unnecessary topic for arbitrary thinking and conflicts that we don't need on Wikipedia. A tree is a taxonomy, and should be based on historical/cultural heritage, not on arbitrary comparisons. Otherwise a bat is a bird because it's flying, and a dolphin is a fish. Using trees for anachronistic comparisons is in disaccord to the customary interpretation of tree representations in general – it would confuse much more than it would explain. Abstain! Rursus 22:49, 28 March 2007 (UTC)

Makes it seem like Catholicism just "stopped" right in 1517...

Methodist

I was reading the Protestant article and saw this wonderful image. However, there seems to be an error in it as far as Methodists are concerned. The current diagram shows that Methodism is a break of Anabaptism which is not the case. Methodism, founded by Anglican minister, John Wesley, has its roots in the Anglican tradition. The diagram should show the Methodist Church as being branched off from Anglicanism (Church of England). Please read The Methodist Church: Factsheets for verification of my statement. I would appreciate if this mistake can be corrected. Thanks! --Anupam^Talk 05:19, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

Noted. Thanks. PS. you can edit the image yourself with Inkscape. -Ste|vertigo 02:15, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

Blagosh!!

All comments above are too kind towards the image. The image is pure crap and erroneous beyond the acceptable. It's desinformation. I'll remove all usage in En .wikipedia! Rursus 21:06, 28 March 2007 (UTC)

Again - the picture is p'yoore desinformation and bu...it. The taxonomy tree according to the picture is:

• Roman Catholicism
  • Lutheranism
    • Reformed
      • Anabaptist
        • Methodist
          • Baptist
            • Adventist
      • Anglicanism
        • Episcopalians
        • Restorationism
          • Pentecostalism

A tree that has anything to do with truth could look about this way:

• Roman Catholicism
  • Anabaptism
  • Anglicanism ("Episcopalism")
    • Pentecostalism
    • Baptist
      • Millerites
        • Adventism
  • Protestantism
    • Lutheranism
      • Pentecostalism
    • Reformed churches
      • Arminianism
        • Methodism
          • Pentecostalism
      • Calvinism
        • Presbyterianism

Pentecostalism is a theological merger of outcasts somewhere in the range between Arminian Reformeds and Anglicans (while the Calvinists are far outside this range). There is nothing such as a restorationism movement, it's just a sweeping label onto otherwise unclassified oddball movements. Methodism actually broke off in Arminian direction (and therefore back to "protestant main stream", including Anglicanism) from Scottish Calvinism, not from Anglicanism. Rursus 22:23, 28 March 2007 (UTC)