The Branches of Christianity

This page covers the branches of Nicene Christianity, the churches that accept the teaching on God set out by the early councils at Nicaea and Constantinople.¹²³⁴ Their history is on the History page.

What are the main branches of Christianity?

Christianity's main branches are the Catholic Church, the Orthodox churches, and the Protestant churches, and Orthodoxy has two families of its own.⁵⁶ Pew's 2025 report does not split Christians by branch, so the sizes below are its 2010 estimates, published in 2011 and since revised overall.⁷⁸

Branch	Size	Where most live	What sets it apart
Catholic	About 1.1 billion in 2010, half of all Christians5	The Americas (48 percent) and Europe (24 percent)5	Full communion with the pope, the bishop of Rome5
Eastern Orthodox	About 80 percent of the world's nearly 260 million Orthodox (Pew, 2017)6	Central and Eastern Europe6	Self-governing churches in full communion, with no single head5
Oriental Orthodox	About 20 percent of Orthodox (Pew, 2017)6	Africa above all; also India, Armenia, and Syria6	Accept the first three councils, but not the Council of Chalcedon (451 CE)5
Protestant	About 801 million in 2010, 37 percent5	Sub-Saharan Africa (37 percent) and the Americas (33 percent)5	Began in the 16th-century Reformation; includes Anglicans and independent churches5
Other Christians	About 28 million in 2010, about 1 percent5	The Americas (63 percent)5	Outside the three largest traditions; many hold a different teaching on the Trinity (see the last section)5

What is the Catholic Church?

The Catholic Church is the largest branch: the worldwide body of churches in full communion with the pope. It includes the Latin church and, in Pew's count, 22 Eastern Catholic churches with their own forms of worship.⁵ Catholic teaching holds that Jesus made Peter the rock of his church. The pope, as Peter's successor, is the perpetual and visible source and foundation of the unity both of the bishops and of the whole company of the faithful⁹.⁹

The church teaches that its shepherds cannot err when they define doctrine on faith and morals.⁹ Its worship centers on the Eucharist, in which it teaches that bread and wine become the body and blood of Jesus.¹⁰ Catholics celebrate seven sacraments, rites through which, the church teaches, divine life is given and nourished: baptism, confirmation, the Eucharist, penance, anointing of the sick, marriage, and holy orders.³ Catholic teaching accepts baptized members of other churches as fellow Christians, and it holds that its communion with the Orthodox churches lacks little to be complete.¹¹

What are the Eastern Orthodox churches?

The Eastern Orthodox churches are a family of self-governing churches that share full communion but no single head. Each church is autocephalous, or self-governing.⁵ All grant the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople a primacy of honor and the right to call councils of all the Orthodox churches, though no common authority governs them.⁵¹²

The Orthodox Church sees itself as the unbroken continuation of the church founded by Jesus and his apostles.¹² Its churches hold the faith of the seven ecumenical councils¹²¹³ and acknowledge seven sacraments, or "mysteries," alongside other sacramental actions. Icons, painted images of Jesus and the saints, have an important place in worship, and many parish priests are married.¹²

On the split with Rome, the two churches tell the story differently. Catholic teaching holds that the pope's authority over the whole church goes back to Peter.⁹ In the Orthodox account, Rome pressed its authority beyond its own region, against the early pattern of each bishop governing his own territory.¹⁴

The Orthodox also reject the filioque, the Western addition to the creed saying that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father "and the Son."¹⁴¹² Catholic teaching holds that the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son as from one source, which it sees as compatible with the Eastern "through the Son," and it names the phrase a point of disagreement to this day.⁴

What are the Oriental Orthodox churches?

The Oriental Orthodox churches accept only the first three councils, held at Nicaea, Constantinople, and Ephesus.¹⁵ They include the Coptic Orthodox Church of Egypt, the Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox churches, the Syriac Orthodox Church, the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church of India, and the Armenian Apostolic Church.⁵ They trace their founding to the apostles, and the World Council of Churches describes their theology as biblical, liturgical, and rooted in the early church fathers.¹⁵

What sets them apart is how they describe Jesus. The Council of Chalcedon taught that he is one person in two natures, divine and human, united without confusion or change and without division or separation.¹⁶ The Oriental Orthodox churches follow Cyril of Alexandria and his formula "One nature of the Word Incarnate."¹⁵ An essay by Peter Farrington, published by a Coptic Orthodox parish, explains their concern: "in two natures" could be read as making Jesus two individuals, the error they found in Nestorius.¹⁷

The World Council of Churches calls the old label "Monophysite" mistaken.¹⁵ After official dialogue began in 1985,¹⁵ the Eastern and Oriental families agreed in 1990 that the natures are united without confusion, change, division, or separation, and are distinguished "in thought alone."¹⁸

What is the Assyrian Church of the East?

The Assyrian Church of the East is an ancient church of its own. It has been separated from the other churches since a dispute arising from the Council of Ephesus (431 CE).⁵¹⁹ In 1994, its patriarch and Pope John Paul II signed a common declaration of faith in Jesus, and their successors call the split the longest separation in the church's history.²⁰¹⁹

What are the Protestant churches?

The Protestant churches come from the 16th-century Reformation and later movements in its line. Their teachings vary, but most hold to grace through faith alone, the Bible as the final authority, and the priesthood of all believers.⁵¹²¹ Pew lists the largest denominational families as Anglican, Lutheran, Baptist, and Reformed, and counts pentecostals, about 279 million in 2010, separately as a movement, using estimates from the Center for the Study of Global Christianity that it notes are derived differently. Many Protestant churches are independent, nondenominational, or in families that are very small or hard to classify.²²

• Lutherans follow the Augsburg Confession, which teaches that people are justified freely through faith, not by their own merits or works.¹
• Reformed and Presbyterian churches stress God's sovereignty.²³ The Westminster Confession teaches that by God's decree some are predestined to everlasting life.²¹
• Anglicans belong to churches in communion with the Archbishop of Canterbury.²⁴ The Church of England's Thirty-Nine Articles name two sacraments of the Gospel, baptism and the Lord's Supper, and five other rites "commonly called Sacraments."²⁵
• Baptists baptize those who have consciously confessed their faith, not infants.²⁶²⁷ They recognize only the Bible, with no creed, as binding, and each congregation governs itself.²⁶
• Methodists grew from the 18th-century revival led by John and Charles Wesley within the Church of England. They teach that salvation by God's grace is possible for all.²⁸
• Pentecostals teach that every Christian should seek the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which may bring gifts such as healing and speaking in tongues.²²²⁹

Some well-known groups are movements across the branches, not branches. Evangelicals, who stress being "born again," the authority of the Bible, and sharing the faith, are found in many denominations. Charismatics practice gifts such as healing and speaking in tongues within Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant churches.²²

What divides the branches?

The branches divide most over authority in the church, how to describe Jesus, and the sacraments. Catholic teaching holds that the pope has full and supreme power over the whole church. The Orthodox churches govern themselves through their own bishops and patriarchs. Most Protestant churches hold that scripture alone has the final word.⁹⁵

Some old disputes have narrowed. In 1965, Pope Paul VI and Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras I removed from memory the excommunications of 1054.³⁰ In 1999, the Catholic Church and the Lutheran World Federation declared a consensus on basic truths of justification, how a person is made right with God.³¹

What about churches outside the Nicene tradition?

Some churches identify as Christian but stand outside the three largest traditions, and Pew counts them as "other Christians." Many began in the United States, among them The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Jehovah's Witnesses. Many hold a different teaching on the Trinity, and many hold added scriptures or their own authoritative readings of the Bible.⁵

The Nicene churches and these churches see the question differently. The Catholic Church, for example, ruled in 2001 that Latter-day Saint baptism is not valid, mainly because the Latter-day Saint teaching on the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit differs from the Trinity.³² Latter-day Saints affirm that they are Christians.³³ They teach that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are three separate beings, one in purpose, and that their church is the New Testament church restored.³⁴³⁵ Jehovah's Witnesses also describe themselves as Christians, and they teach that Jesus is the Son of God but not Almighty God.³⁶³⁷

For the Latter-day Saint faith in its own terms, see the Latter-day Saints guide, and for the two side by side, see Christianity vs Latter-day Saints.