Protestants often refer to specific Protestant churches and groups as denominations to imply that they are differently named parts of the whole church. Some denominations, though, are less accepting of others, and some are so unorthodox as to be questioned by most. But there are also denominations where the theological differences are very small. Other denominations are simply regional expressions of the same beliefs found in other places under other names. The actual number of distinct denominations is hard to calculate, but has been estimated to be in the tens of thousands. Various ecumenical movements have attempted cooperation or reorganization of Protestant churches, according to various models of union, but divisions continue to outpace unions. Most denominations claim to have a certain unity with other groups of Christians, but contain doctrines which fundamentally contradict each other.
Protestant Families of Denominations
Please note that only general families are listed here (tens of thousands of individual denominations exist):
Anabaptist
Anglican
Baptist
Calvinist/Reformed/Presbyterian
Lutheran
Methodist
Pentecostal
Unitarian
Well-known Protestant Religious Figures
John Wesley, founder of the Methodist movement
Billy Graham, American evangelist
Jerry Falwell, American religious/political activist
Desmond Tutu, Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, peace activist
Auguste Sabatier, founder of the French fideo-symbolist tendency and of the Institut de Théologie Protestante [ITP], in Paris (1872)
Paul Tillich, Lutheran theologian, involved in Process Theology
John B. Cobb, theologian, involved in Process Theology
Martin Luther, Reformer, founder of Lutheranism
Ulrich Zwingli, early Swiss religious reformer,
John Calvin, Reformer, founder of Calvinism
Philipp Melanchthon, early Lutheran leader
John Knox, Scottish reformer,
William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury under Charles I of England
George Fox, Founder of the Society of Friends
George Whitefield, Great Awakening reformist preacher
Jonathan Edwards, Great Awakening reformist preacher
Menno Simons, founder of Mennonitism
Jacob Amman, founder of the Amish church
Andre Lortie aka Andrew Lortie, leading Huguenot theologian and exile
Pat Robertson, American fundamentalist leader
Ellen White, American prophetess, founder of Seventh-Day Adventism
1 -[Protestantism]
2 -[Protestantism : Origins of Protestantism]
3 -[Protestantism : Basic Protestant Theological Tenets]
4 -[Protestantism : Influences on the Development of Protestantism]
5 -[Protestantism : Protestant Denominations]
Source : Wikipedia, All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License
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