Christian movements

Christian movements are theological, political, or philosophical interpretations of Christianity that are not generally represented by a specific church, sect, or denomination.

Religious

* The House Church or Simple Church movement is a worldwide shift of Christian expression in small groups rather than in formal institutionalized buildings.
* The modern 24-7 Prayer Movement a movement spanning denominations focusing on the pursuit of God as the focus of one's life. Extended periods of prayer, fasting, and giving are emphasised. Most in this movement believe that the power and gifts of the Holy Spirit emphasised by the Pentecostal movement are an enjoyable side-benefit to the pursuit of Jesus Christ. The International House of Prayer in Kansas City, MO is a visible example of this concept
* The Brethren movement — a non-denominational movement which arose in various places in Britain and Ireland during the 1830s, and which continues to have considerable influence on Evangelicalism today.
* British Israelism or Anglo-Israelism The Christian belief that many modern descendants of British and European heritage might be descended from The Lost Ten Tribes or directly from the Tribe of Judah and there-by the heirs of the covenants with Abraham Isaac and Jacob.
* Charismatic movement or "Neo-pentecostalism": Pentecostalism beliefs and practices spread to churches outside of the Holiness tradition.
* Charismatic Restorationism: Pentecostalism beliefs and practices together with restorationist elements that reject denominationalism. Closely related to Latter Rain Movement.
* Christian anarchism is the belief that the only source of authority is God, embodied in the teachings of Jesus. Christian anarchists feel that government and established churches should not have power over them.
* Christian ecumenism: The promotion of unity or cooperation between distinct religious groups or denominations of the Christian religion.
* Christian naturism: A movement which believes that God never intended for people to be ashamed of their bodies. Christian naturists live completely nude.
* Christian Torah-submission: A movement of Christians that pursue lifestyles that are both fully dedicated to Jesus Christ and also obedient to God’s commands found in the Torah
*Eastern Catholicism: A movement on the part of some particular Eastern churches to join in visible communion with the Bishop of Rome after the Great Schism
* Christian Identity: A label applied to a wide variety of loosely-affiliated groups and churches with white supremacists beliefs.
* Christian Zionism (called Restorationism until the mid-twentieth century): The belief that the return of the Jews to the Holy Land, and the establishment of the State of Israel, is in accordance with Biblical prophecy, and is a necessary precondition for the return of Jesus to reign on Earth.
* Confessing Movement: a neo-Evangelical movement within several mainline Protestant churches to return those churches to what members see as greater theological orthodoxy.
* Conservative Christianity: a sub-division of the Judeo-Christian community that adhere to what many consider to be conservative religious values of the Christian faith.
* Conservative Evangelicalism: a division of evangelicalism characterised by reformed theology
* Convergence Movement: a move among evangelical and charismatic churches in the United States to blend charismatic worship with liturgies from the Book of Common Prayer and other liturgical sources.
* Creationism: There are several schools of creationist thought, but all include some belief in the divine creation of human beings over a short period of time (distinguishing them from theistic evolutionists).
* Emerging church movement: a transdenominational movement that seeks to reshape Christian epistemology, doctrines, and practices to fit into a postmodern mold.
* Evangelicalism: emphasis on faith in Jesus as necessary and sufficient for salvation.
* Free Grace Movement: Originally a reaction against Reformed soteriology making inroads in Dispensationalism, it has since developed away from some dispensational soteriology, like its understanding of "repentance".
* Fundamentalist Christianity: sought to assert a minimal set of traditional Judeo-Christian beliefs against the influences of Modernist Christianity; became a movement of separation from the "mainline" Protestant churches.
* Grace Movement: A movement beginning in the 1930s embracing the Mid-Acts Position Dispensational System of Bible Interpretation. Adherents do not consider the movement to be "hyper" or "ultra" in dispensational terms.
* Holiness movement: A Wesleyan movement beginning in the 19th century which emphasized a personal experience of holiness, and which gave rise to Pentecostalism and the Charismatic movement.
* Hebrew Roots movement: Emphasizes the Jewish roots of Christianity and understanding Jesus and the New Testament in the light of Old Testament observances and Jewish tradition
* Latter Day Saint movement or Mormonism: started by Joseph Smith Jr. and the publication of the Book of Mormon, it claims to be a Restoration of the primitive Christian church.
* Liberal Christianity (Protestant) or Modernism (Catholicism): school of Christian thought which rose as a direct challenge to more conservative traditional Judeo-Christian orthodoxy.
* New Age Christians: A synthesis of new age, eastern and Christian ideologies and principles. Consider all scriptures and spiritual writings to be "inspired," but not infallible, and that the only religion is truth.
* Neo-orthodoxy: emphasis on the transcendence of God, the reality of sin, and an existentialist encounter with the word of God.
* New Thought Movement: belief in metaphysical interpretation of the Bible. Phineas Quimby is generally considered the founder of New Thought. His influence on the New Thought movement can be traced through Unity Church, Divine Science, Religious Science, Understanding Principles for Better Living Church and Seicho-No-Ie.
* Oxford Movement: A nineteenth century movement to more closely align Anglicanism with its Roman Catholic heritage; part of Anglo-Catholicism, a movement that continues into the 21st century.
* Paleo-Orthodoxy: evaluating later theology in light of the writings of the early Church.
* Pentecostalism: the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit are a normal part of the "Full Gospel"
* Positive Christianity: a movement to "purify" Christianity of Semitic elements.
* Postmodern Christianity: an understanding of Christianity that has been influenced by continental philosophy.
* Restorationism: a group of religious reform movements that sought to renew the whole Christian church. The movements overlap historically but are independent and doctrinally diverse. Mormonism, Christadelphians, Jehovah's Witnesses, Unificationism and other distinct movements are counted among them.
* Restoration Movement, also known as the "Stone-Campbell movement": a group of religious reform movements that sought to renew the whole Christian church "after the New Testament pattern", in contrast to divided Christendom, of Catholicism and Protestantism; a Restorationist movement that sparked the Second Great Awakening.
* Torah-movement: See Christian Torah-submission above.
* Weak theology: a form of postmodern Christianity that emphasizes the idea of the weakness of God.

Political

* Christian anarchism: the rejection of all authority and power other than God, including the organized church. Christian anarchists believe that Jesus of Nazareth was an anarchist, and that his movement was reversed by strong Judaist and Roman statist influences.
* Christian communism: is a form of religious communism based on the teachings of Jesus and the way of life of the Apostles and first Christians.
* Christian Democracy: is a political ideology, born at the end of the 19th century, largely as a result of the papal encyclical Rerum Novarum of Pope Leo XIII, in which the Vatican recognizes workers' misery and agrees that something should be done about it, in reaction to the rise of the socialist and trade-union movements.
* Christian left: those who hold a strong Christian belief and share left-wing or liberal ideals.
* Christian right: encompasses a spectrum of conservative Christian political and social movements and organizations characterized by their strong support of social values they deem traditional in the United States and other western countries.
* Christian socialism: those on the Christian left whose politics are both Christian and socialist, broadly including Liberation theology and the doctrine of the social gospel.
* Dominionism: a movement among socially conservative Christians to gain influence or control over secular civil government through political action — seeking either a nation governed by Christians or a nation governed by a Christian understanding of biblical law.
* Evangelical left: part of the Christian evangelical movement but who generally function on the left wing of that movement, either politically or theologically, or both.
* Green Christianity: Christian-based opposition to climate change and other environmental problems
* Liberation theology: an important and controversial school movement in the theology and praxis of the Roman Catholic Church after the Second Vatican Council, it has been officially condemned. It had broad influence in Latin America and explores the relationship between Christian theology and political activism, particularly in areas of social justice, poverty, and human rights. It gave priority to the economically poor and oppressed of the human community. See also Black theology, Dalit theology, Feminist theology, Minjung theology & Queer theology.
* Progressive Christianity: focuses on the biblical injunctions that God's people live correctly, that they promote social justice and act to fight poverty, racism, and other forms of injustice.
* Rexism A Belgian fascist movement derived from the Roman Catholic social teachings concerning Christus Rex, and it was also the title of a conservative Catholic journal
* Social Gospel movement: a Protestant Christian intellectual movement that was most prominent in the late 19th century and early 20th century. The movement applies Christian principles to social problems, especially poverty, liquor, drugs, crime, racial tensions, slums, bad hygiene, poor schools, and the danger of war. Theologically the Social Gospel leaders were overwhelmingly post-Millenarian.

Philosophical

* Christian asceticism: a life which is characterised by refraining from worldly pleasures, such as wealth, possessions and alcohol.
* Christian existentialism: a school of thought founded by the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard.
* Christian vegetarianism: the dietary practice of vegetarianism or veganism based on the idea that Jesus, the twelve apostles and the early Messianic Jewish followers of Jesus (the Ebionites) were vegetarians.
* Christian pacifism: Christian churches, groups or communities teaching that Jesus was himself a pacifist who taught and practiced pacifism, and that his followers must do likewise.
*Postmodern Christianity: an understanding of Christianity that has been influenced by continental philosophy.
*Weak theology: a form of postmodern Christianity that emphasizes the idea of the weakness of God.
*Quiverfull: considers childbearing in marriage a Christian duty, emphasizes the continual role of Providence in controlling whether or not a woman conceives, and eschews all forms of human-mediated contraception.
* Wedding of the Weddings in Poland: considers the wedding celebration as a deeply religious acting that should not be distorted by alcohol consumption ("Jesus should enter the wedding house and not be driven away by alcohol")

See also

* Anglican devotions
* Christian denomination
* Liturgical Movement
* Ritualism

References