All closeness scores
Every score below is generated by scripts/build_data.py from the doctrine pages and cites the post-750 row (or verdict) it comes from; hover a score or read the note under it for the basis. Scores marked * were set by a documented override (rule O in the method).
Coverage: how many cells each ranking rests on
A ranking based on fewer cells is less certain. Where a tradition's position on a question could not be sourced, the cell is left "not assessed" rather than guessed, and its percentages average only the cells that were scored. A tradition with many unscored cells can therefore rank higher or lower than it would with full data. ⚠ marks coverage more than 10 points below the median of the nine (Scripture median 92%, fathers median 90%). Coverage is the number of question-cells scored for a tradition out of those that could be scored (Scripture: questions that are Scripture questions; fathers: all questions). A tradition is flagged when its coverage is more than 10 points below the median of the nine. A score resting on fewer cells is less certain, and a high rank on low coverage may reflect what was left unscored.
| Tradition | Scripture: all | I | II | III | Fathers: all | I | II | III |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Catholic | 155/164 (95%) | 49/50 | 63/64 | 43/50 | 166/178 (93%) | 49/50 | 71/73 | 46/55 |
| Orthodox | 145/164 (88%) | 49/50 | 60/64 | 36/50 | 156/178 (88%) | 49/50 | 68/73 | 39/55 |
| Oriental Orthodox ⚠ low coverage | 125/164 (76%) | 46/50 | 45/64 | 34/50 | 134/178 (75%) | 46/50 | 52/73 | 36/55 |
| Lutheran | 156/164 (95%) | 49/50 | 61/64 | 46/50 | 167/178 (94%) | 49/50 | 69/73 | 49/55 |
| Anglican | 155/164 (95%) | 49/50 | 62/64 | 44/50 | 166/178 (93%) | 49/50 | 70/73 | 47/55 |
| Presbyterian | 158/164 (96%) | 49/50 | 63/64 | 46/50 | 168/178 (94%) | 49/50 | 71/73 | 48/55 |
| Reformed Baptist | 151/164 (92%) | 47/50 | 60/64 | 44/50 | 161/178 (90%) | 47/50 | 68/73 | 46/55 |
| General Baptist | 138/164 (84%) | 47/50 | 52/64 | 39/50 | 149/178 (84%) | 47/50 | 60/73 | 42/55 |
| Anabaptist ⚠ low coverage | 127/164 (77%) | 46/50 | 45/64 | 36/50 | 135/178 (76%) | 46/50 | 51/73 | 38/55 |
Where tiers are contested
The traditions don’t all agree on which doctrines are first-order (see triage §3). This table shows whether any ranking depends on the default tiers.
| Tradition | Most correct (default tiers) | Under its own tiers | In the faith (default) | In the faith (own first-order list) | Coverage (Scripture · fathers) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Catholic | #9 · 82% | #9 · 81% | holds all (98%, 16/16) | denies one or more (90%, 20 doctrines) | 155/164 · 166/178 |
| Orthodox | #8 · 85% | #8 · 85% | holds with qualifications (97%, 16/16) | holds with qualifications (96%, 19 doctrines) | 145/164 · 156/178 |
| Oriental Orthodox | #6 · 88% | #6 · 88% | holds with qualifications (98%, 16/16) | holds with qualifications (95%, 17 doctrines) | ⚠ 125/164 · 134/178 (low) |
| Lutheran | #1 · 92% | #1 · 92% | holds all (99%, 16/16) | holds all (99%, 18 doctrines) | 156/164 · 167/178 |
| Anglican | #2 · 92% | #2 · 92% | holds all (99%, 16/16) | holds all (99%, 16 doctrines) | 155/164 · 166/178 |
| Presbyterian | #5 · 90% | #5 · 90% | holds all (99%, 16/16) | holds with qualifications (98%, 18 doctrines) | 158/164 · 168/178 |
| Reformed Baptist | #3 · 91% | #3 · 91% | holds all (99%, 16/16) | holds with qualifications (98%, 17 doctrines) | 151/164 · 161/178 |
| General Baptist | #4 · 91% | #4 · 91% | holds all (98%, 16/16) | holds all (98%, 16 doctrines) | 138/164 · 149/178 |
| Anabaptist | #7 · 87% | #7 · 87% | holds with qualifications (95%, 16/16) | holds with qualifications (95%, 16 doctrines) | ⚠ 127/164 · 135/178 (low) |
"Own tiers" moves the doctrines a tradition ranks differently (listed under "Where the tier is contested" on each doctrine page) into that tradition's tier, then recomputes the tier-weighted Scripture score for that tradition only. The rank compares it with the other traditions' default scores.
Every question
The Trinity
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F01.1 | One God, three co-equal, consubstantial persons: consensus from T1 (deity of Christ) to the councils | High (1) | 4* Lateran IV; Athanasian Creed | 4* Dositheus 1 | 4* Nerses: 'one essence, one sovereignty, one power and one glory' (verified) | 4* AC I | 4* Art. I | 4* WCF II.3 | 4* 1689 2.3 | 4* Orthodox Creed 38 receives 'The Nicene Creed, Athanasius his Creed, and the Apostles Creed' (verified, EEBO OCR) | 4* Dordrecht I: 'one eternal, almighty, and incomprehensible God, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost' (verified) |
| F01.2 | Father, Son and Spirit are really distinct persons, not modes of one person: consensus from Era II (against Praxeas and Sabellius) | High (1) | 4* Lateran IV c.1 | 4* Dositheus 1 (verified) | 4* Nerses (verified) | 4* AC I: 'three persons' (verified title) | 4* Art. I: 'three Persons' | 4* WCF II.3 (verified) | 4* 1689 2.3 (verified) | 4* Athanasian Creed received (Orthodox Creed 38, verified) | 4* Dordrecht I (verified) |
| F01.3 | The Son is eternally begotten of the Father, not made: Nicaea against Arius; consensus thereafter | High (1) | 4* Nicene Creed; Lateran IV: eternally begotten | 4* Dositheus 1: 'begotten of the Father before the ages' (verified) | 4* Nicene Creed (Armenian form) | 4* AC I (Nicene) | 4* Art. II: 'begotten from everlasting of the Father' | 4* WCF II.3: 'the Son is eternally begotten of the Father' | 4* 1689 2.3 (verified) | 4* Nicene and Athanasian creeds (Orthodox Creed 38, verified) | 4* Dordrecht IV: 'from everlasting, without beginning of days' (verified) |
Deity of Christ
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F02.1 | The Son is true God, of one substance with the Father: consensus from Era I (Ignatius) to Nicaea | High (1) | 4* Nicene Creed and Lateran IV (1215) confess the Son consubstantial with the Father | 4* Nicene Creed; Dositheus, decree 1: the Son 'consubstantial with Him' (verified) | 4* Nerses Shnorhali: the three persons share 'one essence, one sovereignty, one power and one glory' (verified) | 4* AC III: 'true God and true man' | 4* Art. II: 'very and eternal God, of one substance with the Father' | 4* WCF VIII.2: 'very and eternal God, of one substance and equal with the Father' | 4* 1689 8.2 (same wording as WCF) | 4* Orthodox Creed receives the Nicene and Athanasian creeds (art. 38: 'Three Creeds ... The Nicene Creed, Athanasius his Creed, and the Apostles Creed', OCR-verified) | 4* Dordrecht I: one God, 'the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost' (verified) |
| F02.2 | The Son is eternal, begotten not made, with no beginning: consensus from Era I | High (1) | 4* Nicene Creed: 'begotten, not made' | 4* Dositheus 1: 'begotten of the Father before the ages' (verified) | 4* Nicene Creed (Armenian form) | 4* AC I (Nicene) | 4* Art. II: 'begotten from everlasting of the Father' | 4* WCF II.3: 'the Son is eternally begotten of the Father' | 4* 1689 2.3: 'the Son is eternally begotten of the Father' (verified) | 4* Nicene and Athanasian creeds (Orthodox Creed 38, verified) | 4* Dordrecht IV: 'from everlasting, without beginning of days' (verified) |
| F02.3 | Christ receives the worship due to God in the NT and in Era I (Ignatius; Martyrdom of Polycarp) | High (1) | 4* Liturgical worship of the Son with the Father and the Spirit | 4* Dositheus 1 / liturgy: Son worshipped with the Father | 4* Nerses: one glory of the three (verified) | 4* AC III / Nicene Creed in worship | 4* Art. II; BCP worship of the Son | 4* WCF XXI.2: worship to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost | 4* 1689 22.2 (same line as WCF XXI.2) | 4* Nicene and Athanasian creeds (Orthodox Creed 38, verified) | 4* Dordrecht I (verified) |
True humanity of Christ
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F03.1 | The Son took a full human nature, body and rational soul, from Mary: consensus from Era I | High (1) | 4* Chalcedon received; Trent creed | 4* Chalcedon received | 4* Nerses: Christ 'as a man, he died ... drank the chalice of death by his will' (verified); full humanity confessed | 4* AC III: born of the Virgin, 'true God and true man' | 4* Art. II: 'took Man's nature in the womb of the blessed Virgin, of her substance' | 4* WCF VIII.2: 'took upon him man's nature, with all the essential properties, and common infirmities thereof, yet without sin' | 4* 1689 8.2 (same as WCF) | 4* Orthodox Creed, 'Of the Union of the two Natures in Christ': 'without change of either Nature, or mixture of both'; art. 38 (Athanasian): 'as the reasonable Soul and Flesh is one Man, so God and Man is one Christ' (verified, EEBO 1679 OCR, archive.org) | 3* Menno: 'truly flesh and blood ... like unto us in all things, yet without sin' (verified), but generated 'in', not 'of', Mary |
| F03.2 | Christ has a rational human soul and mind (against Apollinarius): consensus from Era III, assumed earlier | High (1) | 4* Constantinople I; Chalcedon ('rational soul') | 4* Chalcedon | 4* Nerses: Christ 'as a man' died by his will (verified); Apollinarius rejected | 4* FC VIII (true human nature) | 4* Art. II: 'perfect ... Manhood' | 4* WSC 22: 'a true body, and a reasonable soul' (verified) | 4* 1689 8.2 | 4* Orthodox Creed 6 (two natures) | 4* Menno: 'like unto us in all things' (verified) |
| F03.3 | Christ’s humanity is without personal sin: consensus (Scripture; Chalcedon ‘sin only excepted’; Leo’s Tome) | High (1) | 4* Chalcedon: 'like us … sin only excepted'; Leo's Tome: 'without stain of sin' | 4* Chalcedon: 'sin only excepted' | 4* Nerses / Nicene faith: holy humanity; sinlessness of Christ | 4* AC III / FC: true man without sin | 4* Art. XV: Christ 'alone without sin' (verified heading) | 4* WCF VIII.2: 'yet without sin' | 4* 1689 8.2: 'yet without sin' | 4* Orthodox Creed / Athanasian: holy Christ; sinlessness | 4* Menno: 'like unto us in all things, yet without sin' (verified) |
One person, God and man
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F04.1 | One person, fully God and fully man (consensus from T1); the formula splits after 451 between ‘in two natures’ (Chalcedon) and ‘one incarnate nature’ (Cyril, Severus) | High (1) | 4* Chalcedon received | 4* Chalcedon received | 4* Severus: 'one nature of God the Word incarnate' (verified); full deity and humanity confessed, Chalcedon rejected | 4* AC III; Formula of Concord VIII | 4* Art. II: 'two whole and perfect Natures ... joined together in one Person' | 4* WCF VIII.2 | 4* 1689 8.2 | 4* Orthodox Creed: Christ's two natures 'without change of either Nature, or mixture of both' (verified, EEBO OCR) | 3* Menno Simons, *True Confession ... of the Incarnation*: Christ 'the Lord from heaven ... generated and nourished in Mary' ('in', not 'of', Mary: the celestial-flesh position), yet 'truly flesh and blood ... like unto us in all things, yet without sin' (verified) |
| F04.2 | Θεοτόκος is a Christological title (the one born of Mary is God the Son): consensus from Ephesus (431) | High (1) | 4* Ephesus received | 4* Theotokos in the liturgy | 4* Ephesus received; Theotokos central | 4* FC Epitome VIII: Mary 'rightly called and truly is the mother of God' (verified) | 3* Not used in the Articles, Homilies or 1662 BCP (the 1544 Litany's 'mother of God' was removed in 1549; ARCIC-II archive survey, secondary); Art. II confesses one person | 3* Not used in WCF; one person confessed (WCF VIII.2, verified) | 3* Not used; 1689 8.2 | 3* Not used; creeds received | 2* Not used; Menno's 'in Mary, not of Mary' sits uneasily with the title |
| F04.3 | Both natures’ properties are predicated of the one Christ (communicatio idiomatum): consensus from Leo’s Tome and Chalcedon | High (1) | 4* Leo's Tome received; Chalcedon; communicatio in the one person | 4* Chalcedon / liturgy: one Christ; attributes of both natures | 4* Cyril / Ephesus: common predications of the one incarnate Word | 4* FC VIII: communication of attributes | 4* Art. II: two natures in one Person; creeds | 4* WCF VIII.2: distinct natures inseparably joined in one person | 4* 1689 8.2 | 4* Orthodox Creed 6: two natures in one Christ without change or mixture (verified) | 3* Menno: true God and true man (verified); celestial flesh qualifies |
| F04.4 | The Word is everywhere and never confined to the flesh; the body keeps its human limits and is now in heaven, though filled with divine power: Era III–IV (Athanasius, Augustine, Leo, John of Damascus) | Medium-high. The Greek and Latin witnesses agree; most are Era III–IV (0.75) | 4* Trent XIII ch. 1: Christ 'always sitteth at the right hand of the Father in heaven, according to the natural mode of existing', and is 'in many other places, sacramentally present'. Matches the fathers: the body is in heaven by its natural mode. The added account of sacramental presence is scored in S04 | 4* Dositheus, Decree 17: the Eucharist is 'not because the Body of the Lord that is in the Heavens descends upon the Altars', for 'it is one Body of the Lord in many places, and not many'. Keeps the body in heaven, as the fathers do; the eucharistic presence is scored in S04 | not assessed | 2* Formula of Concord, Epitome VIII, rejects the claim 'That because of the property of the human nature it is impossible for Christ to be able to be at the same time in more than one place, much less everywhere, with His body', and (rejected proposition 13) presence 'only according to His divinity'. It also rejects a flesh 'everywhere present in the same manner as the divine nature'. Keeps the fathers' life-giving flesh (Cyril; John of Damascus III.17) but goes against John of Damascus III.4 and III.7 and Augustine, Tractate 50 | 3* Art. IV: Christ took his body 'wherewith he ascended into Heaven, and there sitteth, until he return'. The 1662 Black Rubric: 'the natural Body and Blood of our Saviour Christ are in Heaven, and not here; it being against the truth of Christ's natural Body to be at one time in more places than one'. Follows Augustine's Tractate 50 but rests on a rule about bodies that the fathers did not state | 3* WCF VIII.4: Christ 'ascended into heaven, and there sitteth'; VIII.7: 'that which is proper to one nature is sometimes in Scripture attributed to the person denominated by the other nature'; XXIX.7 denies a presence 'corporally or carnally, in, with, or under the bread'. Matches the fathers on the body and the Word; describes the human nature's gifts as being 'anointed with the Holy Spirit, above measure' (VIII.3) rather than as receiving the divine energies (John of Damascus III.17) | 3* 1689 8.7 uses the same words as WCF VIII.7; 30.7 follows WCF XXIX.7. Same assessment as Presbyterian | not assessed | not assessed |
Virgin birth and incarnation
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F05.1 | Virginal conception by the Holy Spirit: consensus from Era I | High (1) | 4* Apostles' and Nicene Creeds | 4* Nicene Creed | 4* Nerses Shnorhali; Gregory of Tatev: 'descended into the Mother of God, the Virgin Mary' (verified, St Nersess ordination service) | 4* AC III: 'born of the blessed Virgin Mary' | 4* Art. II: 'in the womb of the blessed Virgin' | 4* WCF VIII.2: 'conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost, in the womb of the Virgin Mary' | 4* 1689 8.2 | 4* Orthodox Creed; the three creeds (art. 38) | 4* Menno: 'generated and nourished in Mary' (verified); Dordrecht IV |
| F05.2 | Christ’s flesh was taken from Mary, of David’s seed: consensus from Era I (against ‘passing through’ Mary) | High (1) | 4* Creeds; Chalcedon 'of Mary the Virgin' | 4* Chalcedon | 4* Ephesus; Cyril | 4* AC III: 'born of the Virgin Mary' (verified) | 4* Art. II: 'in the womb of the blessed Virgin, of her substance' (verified) | 4* WCF VIII.2: 'in the womb of the virgin Mary, of her substance' (verified) | 4* 1689 8.2: 'made of a woman of the tribe of Judah, of the seed of Abraham and David' (verified) | 4* Orthodox Creed 6 (heading verified) | 1* Menno: Christ 'generated and nourished in Mary' (verified), not of her substance |
| F05.3 | The Word became man without ceasing to be God (against adoptionism / mere indwelling): consensus from Era I | High (1) | 4* Nicene Creed: 'and was made man' | 4* Nicene Creed: ἐνανθρωπήσαντα | 4* Nerses / Ephesus: Word became man | 4* AC III: true God and true man | 4* Art. II: the Son took Man's nature | 4* WCF VIII.2: the Son of God … take upon him man's nature | 4* 1689 8.2 | 4* Orthodox Creed / Nicene: made man | 4* Menno: the Word became flesh (verified theme) |
Deity and personhood of the Holy Spirit
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F06.1 | The Spirit is Lord and Giver of life, a divine person (381): consensus | High (1) | 4* Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed | 4* Creed of 381 | 4* Nerses: the Holy Spirit 'equal to the Father and the Son' (verified) | 4* AC I | 4* Art. V: 'of one substance, majesty, and glory, with the Father and the Son, very and eternal God' | 4* WCF II.3 | 4* 1689 2.3 | 4* Orthodox Creed; Athanasian Creed received (art. 38) | 4* Dordrecht I (verified) |
| F06.2 | The Spirit regenerates, indwells and sanctifies believers: consensus from Era II | High (1) | 4* Trent VI.7 (renewal by the Spirit; verified chapter) | 4* Chrismation; Dositheus 16 | 4* Armenian Badarak | 4* AC V: through Word and Sacraments 'the Holy Ghost is given, who works faith' (verified) | 4* Art. XXVII | 4* WCF X.1, XIII.1 | 4* 1689 10.1, 13.1 | 4* SC 1660 art. 12 (verified) | 4* Dordrecht VI (verified heading) |
| F06.3 | The Spirit is worshipped and glorified with the Father and the Son (381 συμπροσκυνούμενον): consensus against the Pneumatomachi | High (1) | 4* Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed: worshipped with Father and Son | 4* Creed of 381: συμπροσκυνούμενον with Father and Son | 4* Nerses: Spirit equal in glory (verified) | 4* AC I / Nicene Creed in worship | 4* Art. V: of one majesty and glory with Father and Son | 4* WCF XXI.2: worship to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost | 4* 1689 22.2: worship to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost | 4* Nicene and Athanasian creeds (Orthodox Creed 38, verified) | 4* Dordrecht I: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost (verified) |
Creation out of nothing
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F07.1 | God created all things out of nothing; he alone is eternal: consensus from Era I | High (1) | 4* Lateran IV: God 'creator of all things ... from nothing' | 4* Nicene Creed; Dositheus 4: 'maker of all things visible and invisible' (verified) | 4* Gregory of Tatev: 'Creator of all visible and invisible things' (verified, St Nersess) | 4* AC I: 'maker and preserver of all things' | 4* Art. I: 'Maker, and Preserver of all things both visible and invisible' | 4* WCF IV.1: 'to create, or make of nothing, the world' | 4* 1689 4.1: 'to create or make the world ... of nothing' | 4* Orthodox Creed art. 11 'Of Creation': God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, 'for the manifestation of the Glory of his eternal Power, Wisdom' and goodness, did 'create, or make out of nothing' the world (verified by fresh OCR of p. 12 of the 1679 printing, EEBO scan on archive.org; a few letters damaged) | 4* Dordrecht I: 'Creator of all things visible and invisible' (verified) |
| F07.2 | Creation is good; evil is not a created substance but a corruption of good: consensus | High (1) | 4* Lateran IV c.1 (against Cathars) | 4* Dositheus 4–5 (verified headings) | 4* Armenian creed | 4* AC XIX: God not the cause of sin | 4* Art. I | 4* WCF IV.1: 'all very good' (verified) | 4* 1689 4.1: 'all very good' (verified) | 4* Orthodox Creed art. 11 (verified, fresh OCR of the 1679 printing) | 4* Dordrecht I (verified) |
| F07.3 | The one God created and sustains all things through his Word; there is no lesser demiurge: consensus from Era I–II | High (1) | 4* Lateran IV: one Creator of all, against dualism | 4* Nicene Creed / Dositheus 4: maker through the Son (verified) | 4* Armenian / Nicene: one God, Maker, through the Word | 4* AC I: maker and preserver of all things | 4* Art. I: Maker and Preserver of all things visible and invisible | 4* WCF IV.1 / VIII: Father by the Son creates and upholds (verified) | 4* 1689 4.1 / 8: by his Word / Son creates and upholds | 4* Orthodox Creed art. 11: Father, Son and Holy Ghost create out of nothing (verified) | 4* Dordrecht I: Creator of all things visible and invisible (verified) |
Sin and the need for grace
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F08.1 | Real fall; death and corruption passed to all | High (1) | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': F08.1 | 4* Overall verdict: 'No tradition departs on O1.' | 4* Affirmed | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': F08.1 | 4* Affirmed | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': F08.1 | 4* Affirmed | 4* Affirmed | 4* Affirmed |
| F08.2 | Grace precedes the beginning of faith (Western conciliar) | High (W) / medium (0.5) | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': F08.2 | 1 Listed under 'departs or sharpens on': F08.2 nearer Cassian than Orange | not assessed | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': F08.2 | 4* Art. X: 'without the grace of God by Christ preventing us, that we may have a good will' | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': F08.2 | 4* 1689 10.2: effectual call 'of God's free and special grace alone' | 3* SC 1660 art. 7: the Spirit makes them able, 'without which they are altogether unable'; art. 4 grace gives all a 'capacity' | 3* Dordrecht III: God calls fallen man despite 'utter inability' (prevenient call) |
| F08.3 | All have sinned, Christ alone without sin; Augustine reserves the question of Mary’s actual sins out of honour | High (1) | not assessed | not assessed | not assessed | not assessed | not assessed | not assessed | not assessed | not assessed | not assessed |
Christ's saving death
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F09.1 | Christ died for our sins and his death saves: consensus from Era I | High (1) | 4* Trent VI.7: Christ 'merited justification for us by His most holy Passion' | 4* Dositheus 8: 'in giving Himself a ransom for all He has through His own Blood made a reconciliation' (verified) | 4* Armenian Badarak: Christ 'sacrificed to the Father for reconciliation' (verified) | 4* AC III: Christ 'truly suffered, was crucified, dead ... that He might reconcile the Father unto us' | 4* Art. II and XXXI: 'the offering of Christ once made is that perfect redemption, propitiation, and satisfaction' | 4* WCF VIII.5 | 4* 1689 8.5 | 4* SC 1660 art. 3: Christ 'tasting death for every man' (verified) | 4* Dordrecht IV: Christ 'suffered under ... Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead' (verified) |
| F09.2 | Christ’s one sacrifice on the cross is once for all and sufficient: consensus (the Eucharistic ‘offering’ is a remembrance that is ‘one and not many’) | High (1) | 4* Trent XXII ch. 2: the same victim, 'the manner alone of offering being different' (verified) | 4* Dositheus 17 (sacrifice one with the cross; verified decree) | 4* Armenian Badarak | 4* AC XXIV (the one sacrifice; verified article) | 4* Art. XXXI: 'The Offering of Christ once made is that perfect redemption' (verified) | 4* WCF XXIX.2 | 4* 1689 30.2 | 4* Orthodox Creed (mediatorial office) | 4* Dordrecht IV |
| F09.3 | Christ truly died in the flesh, against Docetism: consensus from Era I | High (1) | 4* Apostles' / Nicene Creed: 'crucified … dead'; Trent creed | 4* Nicene Creed / liturgy: truly died | 4* Nerses: Christ 'as a man, he died' (verified) | 4* AC III: 'truly suffered, was crucified, dead' | 4* Art. II / Apostles' Creed: crucified, dead, and buried | 4* WCF VIII.4: was crucified, and died | 4* 1689 8.4: was crucified, and died | 4* SC 1660 / Orthodox Creed: tasting death; crucified | 4* Dordrecht IV: 'was crucified, dead' (verified) |
Bodily resurrection of Christ
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F10.1 | Christ rose bodily from the dead: consensus from Era I | High (1) | 4* Apostles' and Nicene Creeds | 4* Nicene Creed | 4* Armenian creed in the Badarak: 'ascended into heaven with the same body' (verified) | 4* AC III: 'truly rose again the third day' | 4* Art. IV: 'Christ did truly rise again from death, and took again his body, with flesh, bones' | 4* WCF VIII.4: 'with the same body in which he suffered' | 4* 1689 8.4 | 4* Orthodox Creed; Apostles' Creed (art. 38) | 4* Dordrecht IV: 'on the third day, rose from the dead' (verified) |
| F10.2 | Christ descended to the realm of the dead, announcing his victory: Era I–II (Ignatius, Irenaeus) | Medium–high (0.75) | 4* Apostles' Creed; Roman Catechism | 4* Paschal liturgy (harrowing of Hades) | 4* Armenian Apostles' Creed 'He descended into hell' and Holy Saturday hymns (verified: Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church, armenianchurch.us) | 4* FC IX: 'Christ descended into hell, destroyed hell for all believers' (verified) | 4* Art. III: 'he went down into Hell' (verified) | 2* WLC 50: 'continuing in the state of the dead ... otherwise expressed in these words, He descended into hell' (verified) | not assessed | 3* Apostles' Creed received (Orthodox Creed 38, verified) | not assessed |
| F10.3 | The risen Christ is the same body that died, now glorified — not a ghost or substitute: consensus from Era I | High (1) | 4* Creeds: same body risen | 4* Nicene / Paschal: same body glorified | 4* Armenian creed: same body (verified) | 4* AC III: truly rose | 4* Art. IV: took again his body, with flesh, bones (verified) | 4* WCF VIII.4: with the same body in which he suffered (verified) | 4* 1689 8.4 | 4* Orthodox Creed / Apostles' Creed | 4* Dordrecht IV: rose from the dead (verified) |
| F10.4 | A victorious descent: Christ’s soul, joined to his divinity, went to the dead, proclaimed his victory and freed the righteous; no father teaches that he suffered hell’s torments: Era I–IV (Ignatius, Irenaeus, Cyril, Rufinus, John of Damascus) | Medium-high. The witness is early and steady; the details (who was freed, and how) vary (0.75) | 4* Roman Catechism, Art. V: 'his soul also, really and substantially descended into hell', and 'To liberate these souls, who, in the bosom of Abraham, were expecting the Saviour, Christ the Lord descended into hell'. Matches the fathers closely; the 'bosom of Abraham' scheme adds detail that Scripture does not give | 4* Peter Mogila, Orthodox Confession I, Q. 49: 'The soul of Christ, although separated from his body, yet remained joined to his divinity, and together with it went down to hell', and 'having delivered from thence the Souls of the holy Fathers, he led them into Paradise'. Matches the fathers, John of Damascus most closely | not assessed | 3* Formula of Concord, Epitome IX: 'it is sufficient that we know that Christ descended into hell, destroyed hell for all believers, and delivered them from the power of death and of the devil'; Solid Declaration IX: 'the entire person, God and man, after the burial descended into hell, conquered the devil, destroyed the power of hell, and took from the devil all his might'. Keeps the fathers' victory; places the descent after the burial and speaks of the whole person, where the fathers speak of the soul joined to the Word | 3* Art. III: 'As Christ died for us, and was buried, so also is it to be believed, that he went down into Hell'. Keeps the clause but gives no account of it, so it neither matches nor departs from the fathers' detail | 2* Westminster Larger Catechism 50: 'Christ's humiliation after his death consisted in his being buried, and continuing in the state of the dead, and under the power of death till the third day; which hath been otherwise expressed in these words, He descended into hell.' Close to Rufinus 18, but drops the victory and the freeing of the dead that all the fathers teach, and counts the clause as part of Christ's humiliation | not assessed | not assessed | not assessed |
Ascension and session
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F11.1 | Christ ascended in the flesh and reigns at the Father’s right hand: consensus from Era I | High (1) | 4* Creeds | 4* Creeds | 4* Armenian creed: 'ascended into heaven with the same body and sat at the right hand of the Father' (verified) | 4* AC III: 'ascended into heaven that He might sit on the right hand of the Father'; FC VIII adds the ubiquity of Christ's humanity | 4* Art. IV: 'ascended into Heaven, and there sitteth' | 4* WCF VIII.4 | 4* 1689 8.4 | 4* Apostles' Creed received (Orthodox Creed 38) | 4* Dordrecht IV: 'ascended to heaven ... sits on the right hand of God' (verified) |
| F11.2 | The ascended Christ is our high priest and intercessor: consensus from Era I | High (1) | 4* Trent XXII ch. 1 (eternal priesthood) | 4* Dositheus 8: 'advocate and propitiation' (verified) | 4* Armenian Badarak | 4* AC XXI: Christ 'the Mediator, Propitiation, High Priest, and Intercessor' (verified) | 4* Art. IV | 4* WCF VIII.4: 'sitteth at the right hand of his Father, making intercession' (verified) | 4* 1689 8.4 | 4* Orthodox Creed, 'Of Christ and his Mediatorial Office': 'by a continued Act of Intercession in Heaven, doth apply the Benefits he hath Purchased unto the Elect' (verified, EEBO 1679 OCR) | 4* Dordrecht IV (verified: sits at the right hand) |
| F11.3 | The same Jesus who ascended will return visibly from heaven: consensus from Era I | High (1) | 4* Creeds: from thence he shall come | 4* Creeds: come again with glory | 4* Armenian creed: 'He is to come with the same body' (verified) | 4* AC III / XVII: return to judge | 4* Art. IV: 'until he return to judge all Men at the last day' | 4* WCF VIII.4 / XXXIII: return to judge (verified) | 4* 1689 8.4 / 32: return to judge | 4* Apostles' Creed / Orthodox Creed 38: from thence he shall come (verified) | 4* Dordrecht IV: 'whence He will come again' (verified) |
Salvation by grace through faith in Christ
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F12.1 | No works precede initial justification (Clement, Chrysostom, Augustine, Orange; Hilary, Ambrosiaster, Basil ‘faith alone’, secondary). Justin and Irenaeus target Mosaic ordinances | High (initial) / medium (final) (0.5) | 4* Trent VI ch. 8: nothing that precedes justification merits it | 3* Dositheus 13: faith working through love; less sharp on prior works | 3* Grace and cooperation: Pope Shenouda III, 'There Is No Salvation Except By the Blood of Christ Alone', yet to the believer 'faith without works is dead' (verified, popeshenouda.org.eg, Salvation in the Orthodox Concept 1; modern statement of the classic position) | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': F12.1 | 4* Art. XI 'not for our own works or deservings'; Art. XIII works before grace 'are not pleasant to God' | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': F12.1 | 4* 1689 11.1: 'not for anything wrought in them, or done by them' | 4* SC 1660 art. 6: 'the way set forth by God for men to be justified in, is by faith in Christ' | 3* Dordrecht VI: ceremonies avail nothing 'without faith, regeneration'; strong stress on reformation of life |
| F12.2 | Christ is the only Saviour and mediator: consensus from Era I | High (1) | 4* Trent VI.3, 7 (verified): merit of Christ's passion | 4* Dositheus 8: 'the only mediator' (verified) | 4* Armenian Badarak | 4* AC XXI: 'one Christ as the Mediator' (verified) | 4* Art. XVIII: salvation only 'by the Name of Jesus Christ' | 4* WCF VIII.1 | 4* 1689 8.1 | 4* Orthodox Creed (Christ's mediatorial office heading verified) | 4* Dordrecht IV |
| F12.3 | Saving faith works through love; fruit follows as character of faith, not as its ground (Clement, Polycarp, Augustine) | High (1) | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': F12.3 | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': F12.3 | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': F12.3 | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': F12.3 | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': F12.3 | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': F12.3 | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': F12.3 | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': F12.3 | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': F12.3 |
Return of Christ and final judgement
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F13.1 | Christ will return visibly to judge the living and the dead: consensus from Era I | High (1) | 4* Creeds | 4* Creeds | 4* Armenian creed: 'He is to come with the same body ... to judge the quick and the dead' (verified) | 4* AC XVII: 'Christ will appear for judgment' | 4* Art. IV: 'until he return to judge all Men at the last day' | 4* WCF XXXIII | 4* 1689 32 | 4* Orthodox Creed art. 38 (Athanasian): 'from whence he shall come to judge the Quick and the dead'; art. 50 'Of the last Judgment' (verified, EEBO 1679 OCR) | 4* Dordrecht IV: 'whence He will come again to judge the quick and the dead'; XVIII on the last judgement (verified) |
| F13.2 | The hour is unknown; the church must be ready: consensus from Era I | High (1) | 4* Catechism tradition | 4* Liturgical watchfulness | 4* Armenian creed | 4* AC XVII | 4* Collects of Advent (1662) | 4* WCF XXXIII.3: 'that day unknown to men' (verified) | 4* 1689 32.3 | 4* Orthodox Creed 50 (heading verified) | 4* Dordrecht XVIII (verified) |
| F13.3 | Christ will judge all people, living and dead, according to their deeds under the gospel: consensus from Era I | High (1) | 4* Creeds / Catechism: judge according to works | 4* Creeds / liturgy: according to deeds | 4* Armenian creed: judge the quick and the dead (verified) | 4* AC XVII: eternal punishment / eternal life according to works under the gospel | 4* Art. IV / Athanasian: judge according to deeds | 4* WCF XXXIII.1: 'according to what they have done' (verified) | 4* 1689 32.1: according to what they have done | 4* Orthodox Creed 50 'Of the last Judgment' (verified) | 4* Dordrecht XVIII: last judgement according to works (verified) |
General resurrection and eternal life
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F14.1 | Resurrection of the same flesh | High (1) | 4* Affirmed (creeds / shared afterlife) | 4* Affirmed (creeds / shared afterlife) | 4* Affirmed | 4* Affirmed (creeds / shared afterlife) | 4* Affirmed | 4* Affirmed (creeds / shared afterlife) | 4* Affirmed | 4* SC 1660 art. 20: 'the fleshy bodies of men ... shall be raised again' | 4* Affirmed |
| F14.2 | Eternal life is knowing and beholding God: consensus from Era II | High (1) | 4* Benedict XII, Benedictus Deus (1336): the souls 'see the divine essence with an intuitive vision and even face to face' (verified) | 4* Vision of God's glory (energies) | 4* Armenian liturgy | 4* AC XVII: 'eternal life and everlasting joys' (verified) | 4* Creeds; burial office | 4* WCF XXXIII.2: 'fulness of joy and refreshing' | 4* 1689 32.2: 'fulness of joy and glory ... in the presence of the Lord' (verified) | 4* Orthodox Creed 50 (heading verified) | 4* Dordrecht XVIII |
| F14.3 | The wicked as well as the righteous will be raised bodily for judgement: consensus from Era II | High (1) | 4* Creeds / Catechism: resurrection of the just and the unjust for judgement | 4* Creeds / liturgy: resurrection unto life or condemnation | 4* Armenian creed: resurrection and judgement of the quick and the dead | 4* AC XVII: Christ will raise all the dead; eternal life to the godly, condemn the wicked | 4* Athanasian Creed / Art. IV: all men shall rise; some to life, some to condemnation | 4* WCF XXXII.2–3: all the dead raised; unjust to dishonour, just to honour | 4* 1689 31.2–3: resurrection of the unjust and the just | 4* Orthodox Creed 50 / Standard Confession: resurrection and last judgement of all | 4* Dordrecht XVIII: resurrection of the dead and last judgement of all |
Authority and truthfulness of Scripture
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F15.1 | Scripture is the inspired, true word of God: consensus from Era I | High (1) | 4* Trent IV and Vatican I (Dei Filius 2): the books 'have God for their author' | 4* Dositheus 2: the Scriptures are 'God-taught', to be believed 'not otherwise than as the Catholic Church has interpreted' (verified) | 4* Armenian creed: the Spirit 'spoke in the law and the prophets and the Gospel' (verified) | 4* FC Epitome, Rule and Norm: 'the only rule and norm' | 4* Art. VI: 'Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation' | 4* WCF I.4: Scripture's authority depends 'wholly upon God (who is truth itself) the author thereof' | 4* 1689 1.1: 'the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule' | 4* Orthodox Creed 37: Scripture's authority 'only upon the Authority of God' (OCR-verified) | 4* Dordrecht V: the New Testament as Christ's testament, with the OT (verified heading) |
| F15.2 | Both Testaments are the one God’s Scripture, given through the one Word: consensus from Era II (against Marcion) | High (1) | 4* Trent IV (both Testaments, 'one God ... author of both') | 4* Dositheus 2 and its canon (verified wording of 2) | 4* Armenian canon | 4* FC Epitome, Rule and Norm: 'prophetic and apostolic Scriptures' | 4* Art. VII: 'The Old Testament is not contrary to the New' | 4* WCF I.2 | 4* 1689 1.2 | 4* Orthodox Creed 37 (verified) | 4* Dordrecht V (verified heading); Menno cites both Testaments |
| F15.3 | Things necessary for faith and life are plainly set out in Scripture; obscure passages are read by the plain (Irenaeus, Augustine) | High (1) | 4* Trent IV / Vatican I: Scripture teaches saving truth; church interprets (S07) | 4* Dositheus 2: Scriptures 'God-taught' (verified); Church interprets (S07) | 4* Armenian creed: Spirit spoke in law, prophets and Gospel (verified) | 4* FC Epitome, Rule and Norm | 4* Art. VI: 'Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation' | 4* WCF I.7: things necessary for salvation clearly propounded (verified, opc.org) | 4* 1689 1.7 (same line as WCF I.7) | 4* Orthodox Creed 37 (verified heading) | 4* Dordrecht V (verified heading) |
One holy catholic and apostolic Church
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F16.1 | One holy catholic apostolic Church confessed by all; the fathers identify it with the visible communion | High (1) | 4* Creed; Vatican I/Trent identify it with the Roman communion | 4* Creed; the Orthodox communion as the one Church | 4* Armenian creed: 'only one, catholic, and apostolic, Holy Church' (verified) | 3* AC VII: 'one holy Church is to continue forever', the congregation of saints where the gospel is rightly taught | 4* Art. XIX: 'The visible Church of Christ is a congregation of faithful men'; Nicene Creed received (Art. VIII) | 3* WCF XXV.1–2: the catholic or universal Church is invisible; the visible church 'out of which there is no ordinary possibility of salvation' | 3* 1689 26.1–2: catholic or universal Church invisible; visible saints | 4* Orthodox Creed art. 29–30 (OCR-verified): the invisible catholic church 'can never fall away'; the visible church made up of several distinct congregations, 'that one Catholick Church' | 3* Dordrecht VIII: the church of God, a separated people; no creedal 'catholic' language |
| F16.2 | The visible church is a mixed body, disciplined but not pure, until the judgement (against Novatianists and Donatists) | Medium–high (0.75) | 4* Mixed church (Augustinian) | 4* Mixed church | 4* Mixed church | 4* AC VIII: 'many hypocrites and evil persons are mingled therewith' (verified title) | 4* Art. XXVI: 'in the visible Church the evil be ever mingled with the good' | 4* WCF XXV.5: 'The purest churches under heaven are subject both to mixture and error' | 3* 1689 26.2–3: visible saints; yet 'the purest churches ... subject to mixture and error' (26.3) | 3* Orthodox Creed 29–30: visible church of baptized believers (OCR) | 2* Schleitheim 2 and 4: the ban and separation from 'all who walk in disobedience'; Dordrecht XVI–XVII (verified titles) |
| F16.3 | The Church is built on the apostles and prophets, Christ the cornerstone: consensus from Era I–II | High (1) | 4* Nicene Creed 'apostolic'; Catechism: Church built on the apostles | 4* Nicene Creed 'apostolic'; apostolic succession of the faith | 4* Armenian creed 'apostolic' (verified) | 4* Nicene Creed received; Church founded on the apostles' teaching | 4* Nicene Creed 'apostolic' (Art. VIII); built on the apostles' doctrine | 4* WCF XXV.3: ministry, oracles, ordinances; apostolic foundation (Eph 2) | 4* 1689 26: Church of Christ; apostolic doctrine / Eph 2 foundation | 4* Orthodox Creed / Standard Confession: apostolic Church; built on the apostles' faith | 4* Dordrecht VIII: church founded by Christ through the apostles' teaching and practice |
Nature of justification
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S01.1 | Paul: declarative core. Fathers: forensic and transformative held together, undistinguished | High / high (1) | 1 Listed under 'departs or sharpens on': S01.1/S01.5 decided as a binary (can. 11) | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': S01.1 blend | not assessed | 2* FC III separates the declaration from renewal; the fathers hold them together | 2* Art. XI: 'accounted righteous before God, only for the merit of our Lord' | 2* WCF XI.1: 'not by infusing righteousness into them, but by pardoning their sins, and by accounting and accepting their persons as righteous' | 2* 1689 11.1: 'not by infusing righteousness into them, but by pardoning their sins, and by accounting and accepting their persons as righteous' (forensic, separated from renewal) | 3* SC 1660 art. 6: faith 'accounted unto them for righteousness', joined to a resolve of 'subjection to all his Commandments' | 4* Dordrecht VI: through faith 'we obtain forgiveness of sins, are sanctified, justified, and made children of God, yea, partake of His mind, nature, and image' |
| S01.2 | Augustine: free justification, works do not precede it; content ‘made righteous’; ‘reckoned’ allowed | High (1) | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': S01.2 (Augustine) | 2* Less Augustinian; follows the Greek fathers | not assessed | 1 Listed under 'departs or sharpens on': S01.2 (forensic distinct from renewal) | 2* Art. XI forensic; the Homily of Salvation appeals to Hilary, Basil and Ambrose for 'faith only' and names Augustine only in a list of others (verified, cofec.org text) | 1 Listed under 'departs or sharpens on': S01.2 | 1* Same as Presbyterian: separates 'reckoned' from 'made righteous' (1689 11.1) | 2* SC 1660 art. 6 joins 'accounted' with resolve of obedience | 3* Dordrecht VI: 'justified, and made children of God' together |
| S01.3 | Forgiveness tied to baptism; post-baptismal sin handled through almsgiving and penance (Cyprian) | High / medium (0.5) | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': S01.3 | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': S01.3 | 4* Coptic: baptism 'a redemptive Sacrament' (verified: Bishop Mettaous, copticchurch.net) | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': S01.3 | 3* Art. XXVII: 'as by an instrument ... the promises of forgiveness of sin ... are visibly signed and sealed' | 1 Listed under 'departs or sharpens on': S01.3 | 1* 1689 29.1: baptism a 'sign of his fellowship with him ... remission of sins' (sign, not instrument) | 2* SC 1660 art. 5: 'Baptizes in his name for the remission of Sins' | 1* Dordrecht VII: baptism follows regeneration, 'to the burying of their sins' |
| S01.4 | James: living faith perfected and vindicated by works; not a co-ground | Med–high (0.75) | 2* Trent VI canon 24: works increase justification | 2* Dositheus 13: works 'meriting' | 3* Shenouda III, *Salvation in the Orthodox Concept*: 'There is no salvation except by the blood of Christ'; after a man believes, 'speak to him about the good works that are fitting for his faith, because faith without works is dead (James 2:20)'; works are 'founded upon the merits of the blood of Christ' (verified) | 4* Works are fruits (AC VI) | 4* Art. XII: good works 'spring out necessarily of a true and lively Faith' | 4* WCF XVI: works are fruits and evidences | 4* 1689 16.2: works 'the fruits and evidences of a true and lively faith' | 4* SC 1660 art. 14: without holiness the profession is 'of no effect'; works as fruit | 3* Dordrecht VI: 'genuine fruits of repentance'; obedience emphasised |
| S01.5 | Exchange language compatible with imputation; not the formulated doctrine | Medium (0.5) | 1 Listed under 'departs or sharpens on': S01.1/S01.5 decided as a binary (can. 11) | 2* Dositheus rejects faith as a 'hand' | not assessed | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': S01.5 | 4* Art. XI: accounted righteous 'only for the merit of our Lord' | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': S01.5 | 4* 1689 11.1: 'imputing Christ's active obedience unto the whole law, and passive obedience in his death' | 4* Orthodox Creed: Christ's 'Mediatoral Righteousness ... is imputed, reckoned, or made over to us' (OCR-verified); SC 1660 art. 6 | 2* No imputation language in Dordrecht or Schleitheim |
Post-750 notes not tied to a question ID (shown for transparency, not scored unless marked *):
Catholic: close: Carthage c. 111; departs: increase through works (can. 24)
Orthodox: close: participatory frame; departs: Dositheus 13 rejects the 'faith as hand' image that Basil and Chrysostom's 'faith alone' sits near
Presbyterian: departs: active-obedience imputation
Baptism: subjects
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S02.1 | Infant baptism attested from c. 200, unchallenged in principle; delay sometimes advised | High (attested) / low–med (apostolic origin) (0.375) | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': S02.1 | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': S02.1 (immersion kept) | 4* Infant baptism universal in the non-Chalcedonian churches | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': S02.1 | 4* Art. XXVII: 'The Baptism of young Children is in any wise to be retained' | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': S02.1 | 0* 1689 29.2: only 'those who do actually profess repentance' | 0* SC 1660 art. 11: 'that Scriptureless thing of Sprinkling of Infants (falsly called Baptisme)' | 0* Schleitheim 1: 'This excludes all infant baptism, the highest and chief abomination of the pope' |
| S02.2 | Infant communion is attested as practice by c. 251 (Cyprian); Scripture is indirect (1 Cor 11:28 is addressed to adults) | Medium-high on practice; low on Scripture (0.25) | 2* Latin practice since c. 12th c.: first communion at the age of discretion (Lateran IV canon 21, 1215: 'after they have reached the age of discernment'; verified) | 4* Infants communed from baptism (living practice) | 4* Infants communed from baptism (living practice) | 2* Communion after instruction (Small Catechism; practice) | 2* 1662 BCP: none admitted to communion until confirmed | 2* WLC 177: the Lord's Supper to those 'of years and ability to examine themselves' (verified) | not assessed | 2* Orthodox Creed (1679) art. XXXIII: 'Nor are little Infants, that cannot examine themselves ... to be admitted to this Sacrament. Though St. Austin taught so ... and many of the Greek Churches so believe and practise to this Day' (verified) | not assessed |
| S02.3 | Baptism is the spiritual circumcision; Augustine argues from infant circumcision to infant baptism, grounded in inherited sin and apostolic custom rather than parental faith | Medium (0.5) | 4* Trent V.4: infants 'even though they be sprung from baptized parents' are baptised 'for the remission of sins', which is 'from a tradition of the apostles'. Matches the fathers' grounds; the Scripture inference goes beyond the texts | 4* Dositheus, Decree 16: infants are baptised because they are 'subject to original sin'. Matches the fathers' grounds | 4* Shenouda III, *Comparative Theology*: 'There is no doubt that baptism was symbolised by circumcision in the Old Testament'; children are baptised 'on the belief of their parents', like the eighth-day circumcision; the Coptic rite reads Luke 2:21 because 'Baptism is a spiritual circumcision' (copticchurch.net). Uses the parallel as the fathers do | 4* Augsburg Confession IX: 'children are to be baptized who, being offered to God through Baptism are received into God's grace'. Matches the fathers' practice and grounds | 4* Art. XXVII: 'The Baptism of young Children is in any wise to be retained in the Church, as most agreeable with the institution of Christ'. Matches the fathers' practice | 3* WCF XXVIII.4: 'the infants of one, or both, believing parents, are to be baptized'; WLC 166: such infants are 'within the covenant'. Keeps the circumcision parallel and infant baptism, but grounds it in covenant descent, which the fathers do not give as the reason | 2* 1689 29.2: those who profess repentance and faith 'are the only proper subjects'. Accepts baptism as spiritual circumcision of believers (Justin) but rejects the fathers' infant inference | 2* Orthodox Creed XXVIII: believers are the 'only proper Subjects'; baptism is 'a Sign of our entrance into the Covenant of Grace'. Same as Reformed Baptist | 2* Schleitheim 1: 'This excludes all infant baptism'; Menno Simons, 'Concerning Baptism' (mennosimons.net): baptism 'is no more applicable to infants, than circumcision was to the females of the Israelites'. Rejects the infant inference |
Baptism: effect
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S03.1 | Baptism is the ordinary means of regeneration and remission (faith presupposed) | High (1) | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': S03.1 | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': S03.1 and S03.2 (immersion kept) | 4* Coptic: baptism 'a Holy Sacrament by which we are born again' (verified: Bishop Mettaous, Sacramental Rites in the Coptic Orthodox Church, copticchurch.net) | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': S03.1 | 4* Art. XXVII: 'a sign of Regeneration or new Birth, whereby, as by an instrument'; 1662 Publick Baptism: 'Seeing now ... that this Child is regenerate and grafted into the body of Christ's Church' (verified) | 1 Listed under 'departs or sharpens on': S03.1 and S03.2 weakened | 1* 1689 29.1: a 'sign' of fellowship, ingrafting, regeneration | 1* SC 1660 art. 11: baptism follows profession of 'repentance ... and faith' | 1* Schleitheim 1: baptism for those 'who have learned repentance'; Dordrecht VII; Menno: infants 'cannot be taught, therefore, baptism cannot be administered to them' (verified) |
| S03.2 | Ordinarily necessary; martyrdom an exception | High; infants' fate low consensus (0.25) | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': S03.2 | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': S03.1 and S03.2 (immersion kept) | 4* Coptic: baptism 'necessary for redemption and entry to eternal life' (John 3:5) (verified: Bishop Mettaous, copticchurch.net) | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': S03.2 | 4* 1662 Catechism: 'Two only, as generally necessary to salvation, that is to say, Baptism, and the Supper of the Lord' | 1 Listed under 'departs or sharpens on': S03.1 and S03.2 weakened | 1* 1689 ch. 29: an ordinance of 'positive and sovereign institution' (28.1); not said to be necessary to salvation | 1* SC 1660: necessary for church order, not salvation; Orthodox Creed 28 rejects Limbus for unbaptized infants (OCR-verified) | 1* Dordrecht VI: no outward ceremony avails without faith |
| S03.3 | Split in Eras II–III (Tertullian, Cyprian and Carthage rebaptize; Stephen of Rome does not); from Nicaea on, baptism in the Trinity’s name is accepted and not repeated, except for groups that corrupt faith in the Trinity | Medium. The texts are clear; the weight is hard to set because the early side is older and the later side is far broader (0.5) | 3* Trent VII, Baptism, canon 4: 'If any one saith, that the baptism which is even given by heretics in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, with the intention of doing what the Church doth, is not true baptism; let him be anathema.' Matches Stephen and Augustine; does not keep the older North African view | 3* Dositheus, Decree 15: 'heretics who renounce their heresy and join the Catholic Church are received by the Church; although they received their valid Baptism with weakness of faith. Wherefore, when they afterwards become possessed of the perfect faith, they are not again baptized.' Matches the later rule (later Greek practice varied after 750) | not assessed | 3* Augsburg Confession VIII: 'Both the Sacraments and Word are effectual by reason of the institution and commandment of Christ, notwithstanding they be administered by evil men', and 'They condemn the Donatists'; Large Catechism IV: 'his baptism is nevertheless genuine. For here is the water together with the Word of God'. Follows Augustine against the rebaptizers | 3* Art. XXVI: 'Neither is the effect of Christ's ordinance taken away by their wickedness', because the sacraments 'be effectual, because of Christ's institution and promise, although they be ministered by evil men'. Follows Augustine's principle; does not speak of heretics as such | 3* WCF XXVIII.7: 'The sacrament of baptism is but once to be administered unto any person'; XXVII.3: 'neither doth the efficacy of a sacrament depend upon the piety or intention of him that doth administer it'. Follows Augustine's principle; XXVII.4 adds that baptism may be given only by 'a minister of the Word lawfully ordained', which leaves baptism by heretics unsettled | not assessed | not assessed | not assessed |
Eucharist: presence
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S04.1 | Real, objective presence; ‘figure’ and ‘sacrament’ language does not deny it | High (1) | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': S04.1 | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': S04.1 | 4* Armenian Badarak: 'let us taste of the holy, holy and precious body and blood of our Lord ... This is life, hope of resurrection, propitiation and remission of sins' (verified) | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': S04.1 | 2* Art. XXVIII: 'the Bread which we break is a partaking of the Body of Christ', 'only after an heavenly and spiritual manner' | 1 Listed under 'departs or sharpens on': S04.1 realism | 1* 1689 30.7: Christ 'spiritually present to the faith of believers' | 1* SC 1660 art. 13: 'breaking of Bread'; Orthodox Creed 33: 'perpetual Remembrance' and 'Spiritual Nourishment', applied 'by Faith', rejecting transubstantiation and 'Consubstantiation' (verified, fresh OCR of the 1679 printing) | 1* Dordrecht X: kept 'in remembrance of Him'; Menno: 'a living and an affecting sign' (verified) |
| S04.2 | Real change, mode undefined; elements’ nature persists (Theodoret) | High (1) | 1 Listed under 'departs or sharpens on': S04.2 substance metaphysics | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': S04.2 ('unsearchable') | 4* Real change; the Coptic rite speaks of 'the transubstantiation of the Bread to the Body of Christ' (verified: Bishop Mettaous, copticchurch.net), without a scholastic account of mode | 0 Listed under 'departs or sharpens on': S04.2 no change | 1* Art. XXVIII: transubstantiation 'repugnant to the plain words of Scripture' | 1* WCF XXIX.6: transubstantiation 'repugnant ... to common sense' | 1* 1689 30.6 rejects transubstantiation | 1* No change taught | 1* No change taught |
| S04.3 | Split: all agree the unworthy eat to judgement; Origen and Augustine say they do not eat Christ himself, Cyprian and Chrysostom treat what they receive as the Lord’s body | Medium (0.5) | 3* Trent XIII ch. 8: 'some receive it sacramentally only, to wit sinners'; the body is truly present to all. Takes Augustine's distinction and the Chrysostom strand together; capped at 3 for a split verdict | 3* Dositheus, Decree 17: the Body 'enters into the mouths and stomachs of the communicants, whether pious or impious'. Follows the Cyprian–Chrysostom strand | not assessed | 3* Formula of Concord, Epitome VII.16: 'not only the true believers … but also the unworthy and unbelievers, receive the true body and blood of Christ; however … for judgment'. Follows the Cyprian–Chrysostom strand | 3* Art. XXIX: the wicked 'in no wise are they partakers of Christ: but rather, to their condemnation, do eat and drink the sign or Sacrament of so great a thing'. Follows Augustine on John 6 | 3* WCF XXIX.8: the ignorant and wicked 'receive the outward elements … yet, they receive not the thing signified thereby'. Follows Origen and Augustine on John 6 | 3* 1689 30.8: unworthy receivers 'are guilty of the body and blood of the Lord, eating and drinking judgment to themselves'; 30.7: worthy receivers feed on Christ 'spiritually'. Follows the Augustinian strand | 3* Orthodox Creed XXXIII: the elements 'signifie to the Faithful' Christ's body, received 'by Faith'; the unworthy 'prophane' the ordinance. Follows the Augustinian strand | not assessed |
Post-750 notes not tied to a question ID (shown for transparency, not scored unless marked *):
Orthodox: departs: Dositheus borrows Latin terms
Presbyterian: close: Augustine's sign distinction
Eucharist: sacrifice
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S05.1 | True sacrifice (Mal 1:11); propitiatory precision is later | High / med–low (0.375) | 2 Listed under both 'closest' (S05.1) and 'departs or sharpens' (S05.1 propitiatory precision) | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': S05.1 | 4* Armenian Badarak: 'Son of God, Who art sacrificed to the Father for reconciliation'; Nerses Shnorhali calls it 'the Holy Sacrifice' (verified) | 0 Listed under 'departs or sharpens on': S05.1 rejected | 1* Art. XXXI: 'the sacrifices of Masses ... were blasphemous fables' | 1 Listed under 'departs or sharpens on': S05.1 | 0* 1689 30.2: 'nor any real sacrifice made at all for remission of sin', 'only a memorial' | 1* No sacrifice language (SC 1660 art. 13) | 1* Dordrecht X: remembrance only |
| S05.2 | The Eucharist is a sacrifice of thanksgiving and praise (Didache 14; Heb 13:15): accepted by all who address it | High (1) | 4* Trent XXII ch. 1 (Mal 1:11) | 4* Liturgy: 'reasonable and bloodless worship' | 4* Anaphora: 'this reasonable and bloodless sacrifice' | 4* Apology XXIV: 'the eucharistic sacrifice ... that we may give thanks' (verified) | 4* 1662 BCP post-communion: 'this our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving' | 4* WCF XXIX.2: 'a spiritual oblation of all possible praise' (verified) | 4* 1689 30.2: same wording (verified) | 4* Orthodox Creed (1679) art. XXXIII: the Supper is for 'shewing forth the Sacrifice of himself in his Death' and rejects 'Adoration of the unbloody Sacrifice of the Mass' (verified, reformedontheweb.com transcription) | 4* GAMEO, 'Communion' (J. D. Rempel, 1990): the Supper is 'an act of remembrance of and thanksgiving for Jesus' suffering sacrifice', and 'was not a sacrifice' (reputable scholarship; Dordrecht X calls it a remembrance, verified) |
| S05.3 | Offered for the living and the dead and called a propitiation from Era III (Cyril, Chrysostom, Augustine), with offerings for the dead from Era II (Tertullian); Era I is silent, and Hebrews says there is ’no longer any offering for sin' | Medium. Era III–IV is clear; Era I is silent and Era II gives the practice without explaining it (0.5) | 4* Trent XXII, canon 3, anathematizes anyone who says the Mass is 'not a propitiatory sacrifice' or that 'it ought not to be offered for the living and the dead for sins, pains, satisfactions, and other necessities'. Matches Cyril and Augustine; the 'pains, satisfactions' scheme is later. Strains Heb 10:18 | 4* Dositheus, Decree 17: 'it is a true and propitiatory Sacrifice offered for all Orthodox, living and dead'. Matches Cyril and Chrysostom. Strains Heb 10:18 | not assessed | 2* Apology XXIV: 'there has been only one propitiatory sacrifice in the world, namely, the death of Christ'; on the fathers, 'we know that the ancients speak of prayer for the dead, which we do not prohibit; but we disapprove of the application ex opere operato of the Lord's Supper on behalf of the dead'. Augsburg Confession XXIV rejects the view that the Mass 'takes away the sins of the living and the dead by the outward act'. Keeps the fathers' prayer for the dead but not their offering for the dead or Cyril's language of propitiation | 1* Art. XXXI: 'The Offering of Christ once made is that perfect redemption, propitiation, and satisfaction', and 'the sacrifices of Masses, in the which it was commonly said, that the Priest did offer Christ for the quick and the dead, to have remission of pain or guilt, were blasphemous fables, and dangerous deceits'. Follows Hebrews; rejects what Cyril and Chrysostom describe, though it is aimed at the late-medieval form | 1* WCF XXIX.2: 'Christ is not offered up to his Father; nor any real sacrifice made at all, for remission of sins of the quick or dead; but only a commemoration of that one offering up of himself'. Follows Hebrews; rejects the fathers' offering for the dead | 1* 1689 30.2: 'Christ is not offered up to his Father, nor any real sacrifice made at all for remission of sin of the quick or dead'. Same assessment as Presbyterian | 2* Orthodox Creed XXXIII rejects the 'Adoration of the unbloody Sacrifice … of the Mass'. Rejects the Mass as a sacrifice but does not speak to offering for the living and the dead | not assessed |
Number and nature of sacraments
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S06.1 | An anointing and laying on of hands invoking the Spirit followed baptism as part of one rite (T2 onward); a separate later sacrament is a later development | Med–high (0.75) | 3* Confirmation a distinct sacrament (Trent VII), separated in time from baptism in the West | 4* Chrismation in one rite with baptism | 4* Coptic: Myron one of the four 'redemptive Sacraments' with baptism (verified: Bishop Mettaous, copticchurch.net) | 2* Not a sacrament; catechetical confirmation (AC XIII lists none) | 3* 1662 Confirmation: bishop's laying on of hands; Art. XXV not a sacrament of the Gospel | 1* WCF XXVII: only two sacraments; no rite | 1* 1689 28: only two ordinances | 4* SC 1660 art. 12: baptized believers come to 'Prayer and Laying on of Hands, that they may receive the promise of the holy Spirit' (verified) | 1* No rite |
| S06.2 | Confession and reconciliation through the church’s ministers (public penance, T2–T3); obligatory private enumeration is later | Medium (0.5) | 2* Trent XIV: auricular confession of all mortal sins necessary by divine law | 3* Confession to a priest with absolution | 3* Coptic: the sinner confesses 'before the priest to be absolved by the priest' (verified: Bishop Mettaous, copticchurch.net) | 3* AC XI: private absolution retained, enumeration not required | 3* 1662 Visitation of the Sick: absolution after special confession | 2* WCF XXX: censures and church discipline; no absolution rite | 2* 1689 26: discipline by the congregation | 2* Congregational discipline | 3* Schleitheim 2: the ban, with admonition before the breaking of bread; resembles early public discipline |
| S06.3 | Anointing of the sick by elders for healing and forgiveness (Jas 5; T3); restriction to the dying is later | Medium (0.5) | 2* Trent XIV: 'extreme unction', for those in danger of death | 4* Euchelaion for the sick | 4* Coptic: Unction of the Sick a sacrament with 'holy sacramental oil' (verified: Bishop Mettaous, copticchurch.net) | 1* Not practised | 1* Art. XXV: 'corrupt following of the Apostles'; no anointing in 1662 | 1* Not practised | 1* Not in the 1689 | not assessed | 1* Not in Schleitheim or Dordrecht |
| S06.4 | Marriage a holy, indissoluble bond (sacramentum, Augustine); not yet a counted sacrament | Medium (0.5) | 3* Trent XXIV: a sacrament; indissoluble | 2* A mystery; divorce and remarriage allowed by economy | 3* Coptic: 'Matrimony is a holy sacrament, officiated by a priest' (verified: Bishop Mettaous, copticchurch.net) | 3* Holy estate, not a sacrament | 3* Art. XXV: 'states of life allowed in the Scriptures' | 2* WCF XXIV.5–6: divorce for adultery or desertion | 2* 1689 25.1: 'Marriage is to be between one man and one woman'; the chapter omits the Westminster divorce paragraphs (verified, the1689confession.com) | 3* Orthodox Creed 43 'Of Family, or Relative Duties therein' (title verified in the 1679 table of contents; body text not legible in the scan) | 3* Dordrecht XII: marriage 'in the Lord'; separation only for fornication |
| S06.5 | Both: the rite is Christ’s and truly given whoever receives it, but its saving benefit comes only with faith and repentance (infants through the church’s faith): Era III–IV (Cyril of Jerusalem, Augustine) | Medium. Cyril and Augustine are explicit; the later scholastic terms are not used before 750 (0.5) | 3* Trent VII, canon 6, anathematizes those who say the sacraments 'do not confer that grace on those who do not place an obstacle thereunto'; canon 8 anathematizes those who say grace 'is not conferred through the act performed, but that faith alone in the divine promise suffices'. Keeps the fathers' objective side; the bare 'no obstacle' rule asks less of adults than Cyril and Augustine do, and Scripture ties the benefit to faith (Col 2:12) | 3* Dositheus, Decree 15: 'we reject as something abominable and pernicious the notion that when faith is weak the integrity of the Mystery is impaired'. Keeps the objective side, as Augustine does; says little of faith as the way the benefit is received | not assessed | 4* Augsburg Confession XIII condemns 'those who teach that the Sacraments justify by the outward act, and who do not teach that, in the use of the Sacraments, faith which believes that sins are forgiven, is required'; Large Catechism IV: 'his baptism is nevertheless genuine', yet 'faith alone makes the person worthy to receive profitably the saving, divine water'. Holds both sides, as Augustine does | 4* Art. XXV: sacraments are 'effectual signs of grace' 'by the which he doth work invisibly in us', and 'in such only as worthily receive the same they have a wholesome effect or operation'. Holds both sides | 3* WCF XXVII.3: grace 'exhibited in or by the sacraments rightly used, is not conferred by any power in them', but depends 'upon the work of the Spirit, and the word of institution', with 'a promise of benefit to worthy receivers'; XXVIII.6: grace 'is not only offered, but really exhibited, and conferred, by the Holy Ghost, to such (whether of age or infants) as that grace belongeth unto'. Holds both sides; tying the benefit to God's choice of the person and his 'appointed time' goes beyond what the fathers say about baptism | 2* 1689 29.1: baptism is 'a sign of his fellowship with him, in his death and resurrection; of his being engrafted into him; … of remission of sins'. Keeps faith as the way of receiving; treats baptism as a sign rather than as a means through which grace is given, against Augustine and Cyril; plays down texts such as 1 Pet 3:21 and Acts 2:38 | 2* Orthodox Creed XXVIII: baptism is 'a Sign of our entrance into the Covenant of Grace, and ingrafting into Christ', given to those 'which do really profess Repentance towards God, and Faith'. Same assessment as Reformed Baptist | 2* Schleitheim, article 1: 'Baptism shall be given to all those who have learned repentance and amendment of life, and who believe truly that their sins are taken away by Christ'. Ties baptism to faith; does not speak of it as a means of grace |
Scripture and tradition
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S07.1 | Scripture the supreme and sufficient norm of doctrine, read within the apostolic rule of faith; unwritten customs honoured (Basil) but not a second source of doctrine | Med–high (0.75) | 3* Trent IV: Scripture and traditions received 'with an equal affection of piety'; Basil supports honouring tradition, but co-equality goes beyond the evidence | 4* Dositheus 2: the Church's witness 'not of inferior authority' to Scripture; matches Basil's 'same force' but lacks biblical warrant | 4* Scripture within the tradition of the three councils (Nerses Shnorhali, *I Confess with Faith*: 'Instructed by the holy Doctors'); Shenouda III, *Comparative Theology*: 'The criterion by which we validate the accuracy of Tradition is the important condition that it complies with the Holy Bible' (verified). The earlier inferred 'co-equality' is dropped: the text makes Scripture the test of tradition | 3* Scripture the norming norm; confessions normed by it; little room for the rule-of-faith role Irenaeus gives the churches | 4* Art. VI: 'whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required'; Art. VIII receives the creeds; Art. XX: the Church 'a witness and a keeper of holy Writ' | 3* WCF I.6: 'nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelations of the Spirit, or traditions of men' | 3* 1689 1.1: 'the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule' | 4* Orthodox Creed 37 (OCR-verified): Scripture's authority 'dependeth not upon the Authority of any Man'; art. 38 receives the three creeds | 2* Dordrecht V: nothing may be added to Christ's New Testament; no creeds or rule of faith received; New Testament priority strains the OT's place |
| S07.2 | Split: Hebrew canon plus books ‘read’ (Athanasius, Cyril) vs. wider canon (Augustine, Carthage) | Medium (0.5) | 3* Trent IV: wider canon defined | 3* Wider canon (Jerusalem 1672); anagignoskomena distinction survives in practice | 2* Ethiopian Church: the 'narrower' 81-book canon counts as 'equally fully canonical' Enoch, Jubilees, 1 Esdras, the Ezra Apocalypse, Judith, Tobit, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch and 1–2 Maccabees (R. W. Cowley, *Ostkirchliche Studien* 23 (1974) 318–323, verified via the online reprint); wider than any patristic list | 3* Apocrypha printed and read, not held equal: Luther Bible (1534) section title 'Apocrypha. Das sind Bücher, so der heiligen Schrift nicht gleich gehalten, und doch nützlich und gut zu lesen sind' (verified, Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek) | 3* Art. VI: the other books 'the Church doth read for example of life ... but yet doth it not apply them to establish any doctrine', Athanasius's two tiers exactly | 3* WCF I.3: Apocrypha 'no otherwise to be approved, or made use of, than other human writings' | 3* 1689 1.3: same as WCF | 3* Orthodox Creed 37 lists the 66 books of the Protestant canon (verified, fresh OCR of the 1679 printing) | 3* Dordrecht II cites 4 Esdras 3:7 alongside Scripture |
| S07.3 | Interpretation within the apostolic churches’ rule of faith and their councils; no single infallible office | Medium (0.5) | 2* Vatican I: papal definitions infallible 'of themselves'; beyond the rule-of-faith model | 4* Councils received by the church as the voice of the fathers | not assessed | 3* Confessions as a norm normed by Scripture | 4* Art. XX: the Church 'hath authority in Controversies of Faith' but may not 'expound one place of Scripture, that it be repugnant to another'; Art. XXI councils 'may err' | 3* WCF XXXI.4: synods 'may err; and many have erred' | 2* 1689 26: congregational; associations advise but have no jurisdiction, which fits Acts 15 less well | 3* Orthodox Creed 39 (General Councils and Assemblies: 'lawful power to Hear, and Determine'; verified, fresh OCR) | 2* Congregational discernment only; no councils |
Papal primacy and infallibility
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S08.1 | Peter led the apostles; the Roman church held a primacy of honour and a leading role in guarding the tradition (T1–T2), without universal jurisdiction | Medium (0.5) | 2* Vatican I: Peter's primacy of jurisdiction passes to the Roman pontiff | 4* Rome's primacy of honour before the schism | 4* Shenouda III, lecture 'The Primacy of Peter and the Primacy of Rome' (official-site summary, popeshenouda.org.eg): Peter's texts 'show honor, not supremacy'; leadership was 'the Council of the Apostles' (Acts 15); 'no universal succession or papal primacy exists' (verified as summarized) | 2* Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope: no primacy by divine right | 2* Art. XXXVII: 'The Bishop of Rome hath no jurisdiction in this Realm of England' | 1* WCF XXV.6: the Pope 'that Antichrist, that man of sin' | 1* 1689 26.4: the Pope 'that antichrist, that man of sin' | 2* No primacy; Orthodox Creed 39: authority in general assemblies of 'Bishops, Elders, and Brethren' (verified, fresh OCR of the 1679 printing) | 2* No primacy |
| S08.2 | Not supported: privileges of sees were customary and regional (Nicaea 6; Chalcedon 28); Gregory the Great rejects ‘universal bishop’ | Med–high (0.75) | 1* Vatican I, *Pastor Aeternus* 3–4: universal jurisdiction; definitions 'irreformable of themselves' | 4* Rejected | 4* Rejected | 4* Rejected (Smalcald Articles II.4) | 4* Art. XXXVII; Art. XXI councils may err | 3* Rejected, with the 'Antichrist' identification going beyond the evidence | 3* Rejected, with the 'Antichrist' identification | 4* Rejected | 4* Rejected |
| S08.3 | Councils examined papal teaching (Leo’s Tome) and condemned Pope Honorius; Rome’s faith was highly esteemed, but no father says papal definitions are irreformable of themselves | Medium-high (0.75) | 2* Vatican I, *Pastor aeternus* ch. 4: 'such definitions of the Roman pontiff are of themselves, and not by the consent of the church, irreformable'. Keeps the fathers' esteem for Rome's faith (Agatho) but departs from their practice of testing papal teaching in council; adds a claim Scripture does not make | 4* Dositheus, Decree 10: 'a mortal man cannot universally and perpetually be head of this Catholic Church'; Decree 2 places infallibility in the Church. Matches the conciliar pattern | 4* Shenouda III, lecture 'The dispute with the Catholics – The primacy of Peter and the primacy of Rome' (21 May 1991; official-site summary, popeshenouda.org.eg): Acts 15 was a 'Council of the Apostles, not Peter alone'. Matches the conciliar pattern | 4* Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope 56: 'the decisions of Synods are the decisions of the Church, and not of the Popes'. Matches the conciliar pattern | 4* Art. XIX: 'the Church of Rome hath erred … also in matters of Faith'; Art. XXI: councils 'may err'. Matches the fathers on papal teaching | 3* WCF (1646) XXXI.4: 'All synods or councils since the apostles' times … may err'; XXV.6 calls the Pope 'that antichrist'. Denies papal irreformability, as the fathers' practice implies, but the antichrist identification goes beyond both the fathers and the texts | 3* 1689 26.4: the Pope is 'that antichrist'. Same as Presbyterian | 4* Orthodox Creed XXXIX: general councils 'make but one Church' and act 'in the Name of Christ; It being of Divine Authority'. Matches the conciliar pattern | not assessed |
Church government
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S09.1 | Ministerial succession is Era I; the single bishop over presbyters is universal by Era II, but Scripture and Jerome treat bishop and presbyter as originally one office | Medium (0.5) | 4* Trent XXIII ch. 4: bishops 'have succeeded to the place of the apostles ... they are superior to priests' (verified) | 4* Dositheus 10: the bishop 'is so necessary in the Church, that without him, neither Church nor Christian could either be or be spoken of' (verified) | 4* Episcopal: in ordination 'the bishop lays his hands on the head of the elected candidate' (verified: Bishop Mettaous, copticchurch.net) | 2* Treatise on the Power and Primacy 62: 'Jerome openly teaches ... that all who preside over churches are both bishops and elders' (verified) | 4* 1662 Ordinal preface: 'from the Apostles' time there have been these Orders of Ministers in Christ's Church; Bishops, Priests, and Deacons' (verified) | 2* Form of Presbyterial Church-Government (1645): 'ORDINATION is the act of a presbytery'; 'a subordination of congregational, classical, provincial, and national assemblies' (verified; it does not use the words 'presbyter and bishop one office') | 1* 1689 26.8: officers 'are bishops or elders, and deacons' (verified); each congregation independent | 3* Orthodox Creed 31 (OCR-verified): three offices, 'Bishops (or Messengers), and Elders (or Pastors), and Deacons (or Overseers)' | 2* Schleitheim 5: the pastor chosen by the congregation; Dordrecht IX: 'bishops, pastors, and leaders' ordained (verified) |
| S09.2 | Synods with binding authority over local churches: Acts 15 precedent and Nicaea canon 5 | Medium-high (0.75) | 3* Councils authoritative with and under the pope (Vatican I) | 4* Conciliar government | 4* Conciliar government | 3* Synods in practice; no confessional article | 3* Art. XXI: general councils 'may err' | 4* WCF XXXI: synods and councils (verified heading) | 2* 1689 26.15: messengers 'not intrusted with any church-power properly so called' (verified) | 4* Orthodox Creed 39: 'General Councils, or Assemblies, consisting of Bishops, Elders, and Brethren' have 'lawful power to Hear, and Determine, as also to Excommunicate' (verified, fresh OCR of the 1679 printing) | not assessed |
Ordination to the presbyterate
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S10.1 | Presbyterate restricted to men (consensus); deaconesses attested in parts of the East | High (1) | 4* Classic: priesthood reserved to men (Trent XXIII; canon law) | 4* Male priesthood; ordained deaconesses in Byzantine history | 4* Male priesthood; Armenian ordained deaconesses (scholarly: 'The Origin of the Women's Diaconate in the Apostolic Armenian Church (4th–12th Century)', Vox Patrum, KUL; ordination rites in 9th–12th c. manuscripts) | 4* Pastors male in the classic confessions (AC XIV 'rightly called') | 4* 1662 Ordinal preface: 'every man which is to be ordained or consecrated Bishop' (verified) | 4* Form of Presbyterial Church-Government (1645): 'NO man ought to take upon him the office of a minister of the word without a lawful calling'; the pastor prays 'for and with his flock' (verified; masculine throughout, no separate article on sex) | 4* 1689 26.9 ('any person, fitted and gifted') is not sex-specific; Keach, *The Glory of a True Church* (1697): 'What kind of men they ought to be, and how qualified, is laid down by Paul in his letters to Timothy and Titus' (verified, Chapel Library ed.) | not assessed | 4* Dordrecht IX (verified heading: '... Deaconesses in the Church'): deaconesses appointed, ministers men |
| S10.2 | Deaconesses are attested (Rom 16:1, possibly 1 Tim 3:11; Nicaea canon 19); permitted, not commanded | Medium (0.5) | 3* No deaconesses in classic practice | 4* Byzantine ordained deaconesses (historic) | 4* Armenian ordained deaconesses (scholarly: Vox Patrum, KUL article on the women's diaconate, 4th–12th c.; last ordination 1982 and a further one in Tehran, 2017) | 3* Not in the confessions | 3* Not in the 1662 Ordinal | 3* Not in the Westminster standards | 3* Not in 1689 | 3* Not in the Standard Confession | 4* Dordrecht IX: deaconesses (verified heading) |
Predestination and election
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S11.1 | Free choice universally affirmed; defended against fate and natures | High (1) | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': S11.1 | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': S11.1 | 4* Shenouda III, lecture 'The Problem of Election or Rejection' (official-site summary): salvation offered to all, and 'it is the human being who freely chooses the path of life or destruction' (verified as summarized) | 1 Listed under 'departs or sharpens on': S11.1 (bondage of will) sharper than the fathers | 2* Art. X: man 'cannot turn and prepare himself, by his own natural strength' | 2* WCF IX.1 natural liberty; IX.3 total inability to spiritual good | 2* 1689 9.3: 'wholly lost all ability of will to any spiritual good' | 4* SC 1660 art. 4: all men 'put into such a capacity, as that (through the grace of God) they may be eternally saved' | 4* Dordrecht III/V: salvation offered to all; only the 'unbelieving and disobedient' excluded |
| S11.2 | Split in the fathers: Augustine’s unconditional election vs. the foreknowledge line (no T1 text verified); Scripture favours election by God’s purpose (Rom 9:11–16; Eph 1:5, 11); no double decree in either | Medium (0.5) | 2* Departs column says 'S3 mostly Augustinian': on a split question it follows one named patristic strand (Augustine) rather than departing from all of them | 3 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': S11.2 (foreknowledge) (verdict is split; this follows one patristic strand) | 3* Shenouda III, 'The Problem of Election or Rejection' (official-site summary): 'Election is not a predestined decision by God but the result of a person's free response to His grace'; rejects predestination to salvation or damnation (verified as summarized) | 3 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': S11.2 single (verdict is split; this follows one patristic strand) | 3* Art. XVII: single predestination to life, 'by his counsel secret to us' | 2 Listed under both 'closest' (S11.2 (A)) and 'departs or sharpens' (S11.2 double decree) | 3* 1689 3.3: 'others being left to act in their sin to their just condemnation' (preterition; no parallel decree) | 3* SC 1660 art. 8: elect are 'such as believe', yet election 'not ... from fore-seen faith'; art. 9 ungodly ordained to condemnation 'considered as such' | 3* Dordrecht V: no one excluded 'except the unbelieving and disobedient'; no doctrine of decree |
| S11.3 | Split: Augustine says converting grace is ‘rejected by no hard heart’; Chrysostom and Cassian say grace helps a will that can still resist | Medium-high (0.75) | 3* Trent VI, canon 4: anathema to anyone who says that free will moved by God 'cannot refuse its consent, if it would'. Follows Chrysostom and Cassian; capped at 3 for a split verdict | 3* Dositheus, Decree 3: preventing grace is 'of use only to the willing, not to the unwilling'. Follows Chrysostom and Cassian | 3* Shenouda III, lecture 'The Problem of Election or Rejection' (official-site summary, popeshenouda.org.eg): election is 'the result of a person's free response to His grace'. Follows Chrysostom and Cassian | 3* Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration II.60: 'God does not force man to become godly (for those who always resist the Holy Ghost … are not converted), yet God the Lord draws the man whom He wishes to convert'. Grace can be resisted, yet conversion is God's work alone: elements of both strands | 3* Art. XVII: the elect 'be called according to God's purpose by his Spirit working in due season: they through Grace obey the calling'; Art. X: grace 'preventing us, that we may have a good will'. Leans to Augustine without using his strongest terms | 3* WCF X.1: God renews their wills and, 'by his almighty power, determining them to that which is good, and effectually drawing them to Jesus Christ: yet so, as they come most freely'. Follows Augustine | 3* 1689 10.1: the same words as WCF X.1. Follows Augustine | 3* Orthodox Creed XXI: 'those that with Cordial Hearts do improve this common Grace, he in time worketh unfained Faith'. Close to Cassian's 'beginnings of a good will' | not assessed |
Extent of the atonement
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S12.1 | Christ died for all, with saving benefit for believers; definite atonement has no pre-750 witness in our sources | Medium (0.5) | 4* Trent VI.3: 'though He died for all, yet do not all receive the benefit of His death' (verified) | 4* Dositheus 8: 'giving Himself a ransom for all' (verified) | 4* Shenouda III, 'The Problem of Election or Rejection' (official-site summary): 'God desires that all people be saved'; 'Salvation is available to everyone', received through faith, repentance and baptism (verified as summarized) | 4* FC XI: Christ's merit for all | 4* Art. XXXI: 'for all the sins of the whole world' (verified) | 2* WCF VIII.5: 'for all those whom the Father hath given unto him'; III.6: 'Neither are any other redeemed by Christ ... but the elect only' (verified) | 2* 1689 8.5: 'for all those whom the Father has given unto Him' (verified) | 4* SC 1660 art. 3: Christ 'tasting death for every man' (verified) | 4* Universal: Menno, 'I am the Lamb that was offered for you all. I take away the sins of the whole world' (verified, mennosimons.net, section 'Faith') |
| S12.2 | Sufficient for all, effective for believers (1 John 2:2; Heb 9:28; Chrysostom, Homily 17 on Hebrews) | High (1) | 4* Trent VI ch. 3: though he died for all, 'though He died for all, yet do not all receive the benefit of His death' (verified) | 4* Christ died for all | 4* Christ died for all | 4* FC SD XI: 'the promise of the Gospel is universalis (universal), that is, it pertains to all men' (verified) | 4* Art. XXXI: 'for all the sins of the whole world' (verified) | 4* Universal sufficiency: Dort II.3, Christ's death 'of infinite value and worth, more than sufficient to atone for the sins of the whole world' (verified, CRC translation); Westminster does not deny it | 4* Sufficiency (Dort II.3 'more than sufficient', verified; 1689 does not deny it) | 4* Standard Confession art. 3 (verified) | 4* Dordrecht IV: Christ's sacrifice 'for the consolation, redemption, and salvation of all mankind' (verified) |
Perseverance of the saints
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S13.1 | Regenerate can fall; final perseverance cannot be known with certainty | High (Augustine) (1) | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': S13.1 | 4* Believers can fall away | 4* Shenouda III, lecture 'The Destruction of the Believer' (official-site summary): 'a believer can fall' through apostasy or sin; 'initial salvation is not enough; what matters is remaining in Christ ... until the end' (verified as summarized) | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': S13.1 | 3* Art. XVI: 'we may depart from grace given'; Art. XVII offers comfort of election | 1 Listed under 'departs or sharpens on': S13.1 assurance of perseverance | 1* 1689 17.1: 'can neither totally nor finally fall from the state of grace' | 2* Standards conflict: Orthodox Creed art. 36 says the elect 'shall certainly persevere unto Eternal Life' (OCR-verified); SC 1660 art. 18: true believers 'may nevertheless for want of watchfulness, swerve and turn aside ... and become as withered Branches' | 4* Dordrecht XVI: a baptised member may sin 'unto death ... forfeiting the kingdom of God' |
| S13.2 | Scripture grants present assurance (1 John 5:13); Augustine denies certainty of final perseverance (Rebuke and Grace 40) | Medium (0.5) | 4* Trent VI ch. 9: no one can know 'with a certainty of faith' that he has obtained grace (verified) | 4* No certainty of final salvation | not assessed | 3* Assurance through the promise: Apology IV, Christ's satisfaction 'presented to us that we might be sure that ... we have a gracious God' (verified) | 3* Art. XVII: 'sweet, pleasant, and unspeakable comfort' to the godly (verified) | 2* WCF XVIII.1: believers 'may in this life be certainly assured' (verified) | 2* 1689 18.1 same (verified) | not assessed | 3* Not addressed directly |
| S13.3 | Grave sins kill the life of grace and cut a believer off until he repents; daily sins are forgiven through prayer: Era II–III (Tertullian, Cyprian, Augustine), with the restoring of the penitent disputed only by the Montanist Tertullian | Medium. The distinction is clear in Era II–III; the precise account of what is lost is later (0.5) | 4* Trent VI ch. 15: 'the received grace of Justification is lost, not only by infidelity whereby even faith itself is lost, but also by any other mortal sin whatever, though faith be not lost'. Matches the fathers' distinction; the claim that faith remains while grace is lost is later precision | 4* Peter Mogila, Orthodox Confession III, Q. 17–18: 'some sins be unto death, and some not unto death', and mortal sin 'excludeth from the grace of God, and killeth him who fulfileth it in his works'. Matches the fathers' reading of 1 John 5:16–17 | not assessed | 4* Smalcald Articles III.3.43: when holy men 'happen to fall into manifest sins, as David into adultery, murder, and blasphemy, that then faith and the Holy Ghost has departed from them'. Matches the fathers: grave sin drives out the life of grace, and repentance restores it | 3* Art. XVI: 'After we have received the Holy Ghost, we may depart from grace given, and fall into sin, and by the grace of God we may arise again'; it speaks of 'deadly sin willingly committed after Baptism'. Agrees with the fathers in outline but gives no account of which sins do this | 2* WCF XVII.1: those effectually called 'can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace'; XV.4: 'As there is no sin so small, but it deserves damnation; so there is no sin so great, that it can bring damnation upon those who truly repent'. Keeps the need to repent of grave sin, but denies that it removes a believer's state of grace, against the fathers' distinction of deadly sins | 2* 1689 17.1 uses the same words as WCF XVII.1. Same assessment as Presbyterian | 2* Orthodox Creed XXXVI: those effectually called 'shall certainly persevere unto Eternal Life'. Same direction as Presbyterian | not assessed |
Original sin: guilt or corruption
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S14.1 | East: corruption and mortality (with liability); West from Cyprian: another’s sin remitted in infants; Augustine systematizes | Med–high (0.75) | 3 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': S14.1 (Augustinian) (verdict is split; this follows one patristic strand) | 3 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': S14.1 (East) (verdict is split; this follows one patristic strand) | 3* Shenouda III, *Comparative Theology* q. 10: 'we inherited it [the penalty of death] directly from Adam and Eve ... We were in Adam's loins'; infants are baptized for Adam's sin (verified, copticchurch.net PDF) | 3 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': S14.1 (verdict is split; this follows one patristic strand) | 3* Art. IX: 'it deserveth God's wrath and damnation' | 3* WCF VI.3 guilt imputed (Western line, sharpened) | 3* 1689 6.3: 'the guilt of the sin was imputed' | 3* SC 1660 art. 10: infants 'only subject to the first death', not eternal punishment for Adam's sin | 3* Dordrecht II: 'brought upon themselves the wrath of God, and condemnation' |
| S14.2 | ἐφ᾽ ᾧ = ‘because’; the doctrine does not depend on in quo alone | Med–high (0.75) | not assessed | not assessed | not assessed | not assessed | not assessed | not assessed | not assessed | not assessed | not assessed |
| S14.3 | Difference of emphasis, not contradiction | Medium (0.5) | 3* Free will weakened (Trent VI canon 5) | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': S14.3 | not assessed | 2* Bondage of the will | 3* Art. X | 2* WCF IX.3 | 2* 1689 9.3 | 3* SC 1660 art. 7 | 3* Dordrecht III 'utter inability' with universal call |
| S14.4 | Augustine: the desire that remains is called sin because it comes from sin and inclines to it, but in the baptised it is not sin properly speaking; its guilt is removed though it remains | Medium (0.5) | 4* Trent V.5: the Church 'has never understood it to be called sin, as being truly and properly sin in those born again, but because it is of sin, and inclines to sin'. Follows Augustine nearly word for word | 4* Dositheus, Decree 6: the inherited 'burden' is not '[actual] sin' but penalty; Decree 16: 'it cannot be said that there is any sin … that remains, though not imputed'. Matches Augustine's 'not actually sin' | not assessed | 2* Augsburg Confession II: original sin with concupiscence 'is truly sin'; Apology II.36 on Augustine's 'not imputed': 'Here he confesses openly that sin exists, i.e., that it remains'. Keeps Augustine's 'not imputed' but reverses his 'not actually sin' | 3* Art. IX: 'although there is no condemnation for them that believe and are baptized, yet the Apostle doth confess, that concupiscence and lust hath of itself the nature of sin'. Close to Augustine's 'called sin … because it is made by sin', but does not deny that it is sin | 2* WCF VI.5: although 'pardoned, and mortified; yet both itself, and all the motions thereof, are truly and properly sin'. Reverses Augustine's 'not actually sin' while keeping the pardon | 2* 1689 6.5: 'both itself, and the first motions thereof, are truly and properly sin'. Same as Presbyterian | not assessed | not assessed |
Post-750 notes not tied to a question ID (shown for transparency, not scored unless marked *):
Catholic: departs: Concupiscence not sin (vs. Lutheran and Presbyterian)
Lutheran: departs: Concupiscence is truly sin
Orthodox: departs: Modern rejection of any guilt goes beyond Chrysostom's 'liable to punishment'
Presbyterian: departs: Federal imputation; departs: total depravity
Filioque
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S15.1 | Split: from the Father through the Son (East; the 381 creed) vs. from the Father principally and the Son (Augustine); creed insertion of filioque is later | Medium (0.5) | 2* Florence (1439): from the Father and the Son 'as from one principle'; creed insertion | 3* From the Father; Photian 'alone' sharper than 'through the Son' | 3* Nerses Shnorhali: 'emanating, as to its essence, from the Father alone' (verified) | 2* Filioque in the Nicene and Athanasian creeds as used | 2* Art. V: 'proceeding from the Father and the Son' | 2* WCF II.3: 'eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son' | 2* 1689 2.3: 'proceeding from the Father and the Son' | 2* Receives the Nicene and Athanasian creeds in the Western form (Orthodox Creed 38: the Spirit 'of the Father, and of the Son'; verified, EEBO OCR) | not assessed |
| S15.2 | Ephesus canon 7 forbids a ‘different faith’ rival to Nicaea; this tells against a unilateral addition, though the scope of ‘different’ is disputed | Medium (0.5) | 2* Florence: the addition was made 'lawfully and with reason' (verified decree) | 4* Rejects the addition: Encyclical of the Eastern Patriarchs (1848) on the Creed's 'interdicted under dread anathemas ... all addition, or diminution, or alteration' (verified, Wayback copy of orthodoxinfo.com) | 4* Creed recited without it | 2* Recites the Western creed with it (Book of Concord) | 2* 1662 BCP Nicene Creed includes it | 2* Western text received | 2* Western text received | 2* Orthodox Creed 38 receives the Athanasian Creed: 'The Holy Ghost is of the Father, and of the Son ... proceeding' (verified, EEBO OCR) | not assessed |
Chalcedonian and miaphysite wording
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S16.1 | Split after 451: ‘in two natures’ (Chalcedon, Leo) vs ‘one incarnate nature of God the Word’ (Cyril as read by Severus); both confess full deity and humanity without mixture | Medium (0.5) | 3* Chalcedon received; the patristic witness is split on the formula | 3* Chalcedon received; the patristic witness is split on the formula | 3* Severus's Cyrilline formula (verified); the patristic witness is split on the formula | 3* AC III; FC VIII; the patristic witness is split on the formula | 3* Art. II; the patristic witness is split on the formula | 3* WCF VIII.2; the patristic witness is split on the formula | 3* 1689 8.2; the patristic witness is split on the formula | 3* Orthodox Creed: Christ's two natures 'without change of either Nature, or mixture of both' (verified, EEBO OCR); the patristic witness is split on the formula | not assessed |
| S16.2 | Two natural wills and operations, not opposed (Constantinople III), grounded in Gregory’s ’not assumed, not healed' | Med–high (0.75) | 4* Constantinople III received | 4* Constantinople III received | 2* Severus rejects Leo's two operations (verified); one theandric will and operation | 3* Two natures with their properties (FC VIII); wills not addressed explicitly | 3* Art. II two natures; wills implicit | 3* WCF VIII.2 'two whole, perfect, and distinct natures'; wills implicit | 3* 1689 8.2; wills implicit | 3* Wills not stated: the Orthodox Creed confesses two natures 'without change ... or mixture' (verified) but does not name two wills | not assessed |
Purgatory and prayers for the dead
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S17.1 | Prayers and offerings for the dead from c. 200; liturgical by c. 350 | High (1) | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': S17.1 | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': S17.1 and S17.2 | 4* Armenian Badarak: 'grant rest to the souls of us that are fallen asleep' (verified); Coptic diptych (secondary-attested) | 2 Listed under 'departs or sharpens on': partly S17.1 | 1* Homily concerning Prayer, part 3: 'neither let us dream any more, that the souls of the dead are anything at all holpen by our prayers' (verified) | 1 Listed under 'departs or sharpens on': S17.1 | 1* 1689 22.4: prayer not 'for the dead' | 1* Not practised | 1* Not practised |
| S17.2 | Post-mortem purification taught from Augustine (T3), anticipated in a T2 vision (Perpetua); no clear Scripture basis; not the later defined purgatory | Medium (0.5) | 1 Listed under 'departs or sharpens on': S17.2 over-defined | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': S17.1 and S17.2 | 2* Shenouda III, lecture 'The Dispute with Catholics – Purgatory' (1993; official site summary): rejects purgatory; the Church's prayers for the departed 'ask for rest in Paradise, not for relief from purgatorial suffering' (verified as summarized on popeshenouda.org.eg) | 1 Listed under 'departs or sharpens on': S17.2 | 1* Art. XXII | 1 Listed under 'departs or sharpens on': S17.2 | 1* No purgatory (1689 31.1) | 1* No purgatory | 1* No purgatory |
| S17.3 | The church could shorten the penance it imposed and weigh the martyrs’ requests, under the bishop (Cyprian; Nicaea canon 12), but no father before 750 teaches a treasury of the saints’ surplus merits; Tertullian and Cyprian insist only God forgives sins against him | Medium. The early practice is clear; the silence on a treasury of merit is an argument from silence across the sources checked (0.5) | 2* Trent XXV, Decree on Indulgences: 'the power of conferring Indulgences was granted by Christ to the Church; and she has, even in the most ancient times, used the said power'. Keeps the early relaxing of penance, but the treasury of merit behind it goes beyond the fathers, and Scripture gives it no clear basis | not assessed | not assessed | 3* Smalcald Articles II.2.24 rejects 'the precious indulgences granted (but only for money) both to the living and the dead', by which the pope 'has sold the merit of Christ, together with the superfluous merits of all saints'. Matches the fathers' insistence that only God forgives, and Scripture's denial of surplus merit | 3* Art. XXII: 'The Romish Doctrine concerning Purgatory, Pardons' and other things 'is a fond thing vainly invented, and grounded upon no warranty of Scripture'; Art. XIV: works of supererogation 'cannot be taught without arrogancy and impiety'. Same assessment as Lutheran | 3* WCF XVI.4: those who reach 'the greatest height which is possible in this life, are so far from being able to supererogate, and to do more than God requires, as that they fall short of much which in duty they are bound to do'. Removes the basis of a treasury of merit, in line with Luke 17:10 | 3* 1689 16.4 uses the same words as WCF XVI.4 ('so far from being able to supererogate'). Same assessment as Presbyterian | not assessed | not assessed |
Post-750 notes not tied to a question ID (shown for transparency, not scored unless marked *):
Orthodox: departs: Openness to restoration among some (minority)
Invocation of saints and Marian dogmas
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S18.1 | Martyrs honoured from Era II; intercession of saints invoked in the liturgy from Era III; direct invocation later; no Era I–II evidence | Medium (0.5) | 3* Trent XXV: 'good and useful suppliantly to invoke them' (verified) | 4* Invocation of saints and the Theotokos in the liturgy | 4* Coptic Liturgy of St Basil: 'Through the intercession of the Mother of God, Saint Mary, O Lord grant us the forgiveness of our sins'; the Commemoration: 'that we share in the commemoration of Your saints' (verified, copticchurch.net) | 2* AC XXI: 'the Scripture teaches not the invocation of saints or to ask help of saints' (verified) | 1* Art. XXII: 'invocation of Saints, is a fond thing vainly invented' (verified) | 1* WCF XXI.2: 'to him alone; not to angels, saints' (verified) | 1* 1689 22.2: 'not to angels, saints' (verified) | 1* No invocation: Orthodox Creed 40, worship 'to God alone; not to Angels, Saints, or any other Creature ... nor in the Mediation of any other but Christ alone' (verified, fresh OCR) | 1* No invocation |
| S18.2 | Perpetual virginity attested from Era II (Protevangelium) and the consensus by Era III (Jerome) | Med–high (0.75) | 4* Lateran (649); 'ever virgin' | 4* 'Ever-virgin' in the liturgy | 4* Ever-virgin: the Coptic Synaxarium commemorates 'the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin St. Mary' (Baramhat 21; verified, copticchurch.net) | 4* Smalcald Articles I.4: 'born of the pure, holy [and always] Virgin Mary' (verified) | not assessed | not assessed | not assessed | not assessed | not assessed |
| S18.3 | Not patristic dogma: Augustine exempts Mary from actual sin only; the Assumption is an Era IV tradition | Medium (0.5) | 1* Ineffabilis Deus (1854); Munificentissimus Deus (1950) | 3* Rejects the Immaculate Conception; Dormition feast and Assumption as liturgical tradition, not dogma | 3* Assumption feast: Coptic Synaxarium Mesra 16, 'Assumption of the Body of the Pure Virgin' (verified, copticchurch.net); no Immaculate Conception | 4* Not taught | 4* Not taught; Art. XV: Christ 'alone without sin' | 4* Not taught | 4* Not taught | 4* Not taught | 4* Not taught |
| S18.4 | Split: Era II–III writers (Irenaeus, Tertullian, Basil, Chrysostom) name faults in Mary such as haste, doubt and vanity; Augustine (Era III) exempts her from the question of sin; Gregory Nazianzen and John of Damascus speak of her being purified at the Annunciation | Medium. The texts are clear, but they are few and they point in different directions (0.5) | 3* Trent VI can. 23 condemns anyone who says a person can avoid all sins, even venial ones, 'except by a special privilege from God, as the Church holds in regard of the Blessed Virgin'. Follows Augustine's side of the split; against the earlier witnesses. Makes an exception that Scripture does not state | 3* Peter Mogila, Orthodox Confession I, Q. 38, calls her 'a most pure Virgin' and 'the immaculate Virgin' but gives no definition of what this means for personal sin. Leans to the honour Augustine and the later fathers give her, without Trent's precision | not assessed | not assessed | 3* Art. XV: Christ was 'made like unto us in all things, sin only except', and 'all we the rest, although baptized, and born again in Christ, yet offend in many things'. Makes no exception for Mary; matches the earlier side of the split and Scripture's general statements | 3* Westminster Larger Catechism 149: 'No man is able, either of himself, or by any grace received in this life, perfectly to keep the commandments of God'; WCF XIII.2: sanctification is 'imperfect in this life'. Does not name Mary, but makes no exception; matches the earlier side of the split | 3* 1689 13.2: sanctification is 'yet imperfect in this life; there abides still some remnants of corruption in every part'. Same assessment as Presbyterian | not assessed | not assessed |
Veneration of icons and relics
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S19.1 | Honour of relics attested from c. 155; universal by the 4th century | High (1) | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': S19.1 and S19.2 and S19.3 | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': S19.1 and S19.2 and S19.3 | 4* Relics honoured | 1 Listed under 'departs or sharpens on': S19.1 | 1* Art. XXII | 1 Listed under 'departs or sharpens on': S19.1 and S19.2 and S19.3 | 1* Rejects | 1* Rejects | 1* Rejects |
| S19.2 | Honour distinguished from worship (τιμή, not λατρεία) | High / medium (0.5) | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': S19.1 and S19.2 and S19.3 | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': S19.1 and S19.2 and S19.3 | 4* Severus preached at the martyrs' chapel on 'the commemoration of the martyrs' (Select Letters, verified); the Copto-Arabic Synaxarion keeps feasts of relic translations, e.g. 'Translation of the remains of Saint John Chrysostom' and 'Translation of the body of Saint Epiphanius to Cyprus' (verified, Claremont Coptic Encyclopedia, 'Synaxarion, Copto-Arabic') | 1* Memory without veneration | 1* Art. XXII: 'Adoration ... of Reliques' a fond thing | 1 Listed under 'departs or sharpens on': S19.1 and S19.2 and S19.3 | 1* 1689 22.2 | 1* Rejects | 1* Rejects |
| S19.3 | Miracles through relics affirmed | High (1) | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': S19.1 and S19.2 and S19.3 | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': S19.1 and S19.2 and S19.3 | 4* Affirmed: Pope Shenouda III, relics of saints worked 'miracles and wonders for all who touched them' (verified, popeshenouda.org.eg) | 1 Listed under 'departs or sharpens on': S19.3 practice | 1* Not affirmed | 1 Listed under 'departs or sharpens on': S19.1 and S19.2 and S19.3 | 1* Not affirmed | 1* Not affirmed | 1* Not affirmed |
| S19.4 | Minority objection (Vigilantius) rejected | High (1) | 4* Overall verdict: 'Catholic and Orthodox match the patristic consensus' (which rejected Vigilantius) | 4* Overall verdict: 'Catholic and Orthodox match the patristic consensus' (which rejected Vigilantius) | 4* Patristic consensus | 1* Rejects veneration, Vigilantius's side in effect | 0* Art. XXII | 0* Closest column: 'Vigilantius's side'; overall verdict: 'revives an objection the patristic church rejected' | 0* Vigilantius's side | 0* Vigilantius's side | 0* Vigilantius's side |
| S19.5 | Scripture permits made images (cherubim) but forbids representing the invisible God; no T1–T2 support for images in worship; early evidence hostile (Epiphanius); settled for icons only in 787 (T4) | Med–high (0.75) | 4* Closest column: 'Nicaea II', the council the I1 verdict says settled the question in 787 | 4* Closest column: 'Nicaea II (fullest)' | 4* Shenouda III, *Comparative Theology*, 'Pictures and Icons': icons kept for their spiritual benefit; 'In venerating pictures, we are in effect venerating their owners' (verified) | 3 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': S19.5 partly | 1* Homily against Peril of Idolatry, part 3: 'all images of Christ and his saints also were forbidden by God's word' in churches (verified) | 1* Departs column: 'Nicaea II', the settlement named in the I1 verdict | 1* 1689 22.1: not worshipped 'under any visible representations' | 1* Rejects images in worship: Orthodox Creed 40, worship not 'under any Visible Representations' (verified, fresh OCR of the 1679 printing) | 1* No images in worship |
| S19.6 | προσκύνησις/λατρεία distinction applied to images has no biblical warrant (Exod 20:5 forbids bowing to images) and no T1–T3 support; a T4 (7th–8th-c.) development | Medium (0.5) | 3* Follows Nicaea II, but the revised I2 verdict (proximity review) finds that applying the distinction to images is a T4 development with no T1–T3 support. The tradition matches one late strand only (rule 3). | 3* Same as Catholic: matches the T4 strand (Nicaea II), which has no T1–T3 support per the revised I2 verdict. | 3* Shenouda III, *Comparative Theology*: 'When we bow down before the cross, we bow down ... "to Him who is crucified on it". The commandment "You shall not bow down to them or serve them" does not apply to us at all when we do these things' (verified) | 2* Rejects veneration (departs from T4) but agrees with the T1–T3 silence: mixed. | 2* Art. XXII: adoration of images 'a fond thing vainly invented' | 2* Rejects the T4 settlement but agrees with the T1–T3 silence on icon veneration: mixed (rule 2). | 2* 1689 22.2: worship 'not to angels, saints, or any other creatures' | 2* No veneration | 2* No veneration |
| S19.7 | Real early opposition (Epiphanius) | Medium (0.5) | not assessed | not assessed | not assessed | not assessed | 3* The Homily against Peril of Idolatry, part 2, quotes Epiphanius tearing the painted curtain (verified) | 3* Closest column: 'Epiphanius', the early opposition named in I3; overall verdict: 'a real patristic foothold ... but not a consensus' | 3* Agrees with early opposition | 3* Agrees with early opposition | 3* Agrees with early opposition |
Post-750 notes not tied to a question ID (shown for transparency, not scored unless marked *):
Catholic: close: Nicaea II
Lutheran: close: Memory of saints
Orthodox: close: Nicaea II (fullest)
Presbyterian: close: Epiphanius; departs: Nicaea II; close: Vigilantius's side
Penal substitution and satisfaction
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S20.1 | Substitution widely present | High (1) | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': S20.1 | 1 Listed under 'departs or sharpens on': Underplays S20.1 and S20.2 | not assessed | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': S20.1 | 4* Art. XXXI: 'perfect redemption, propitiation, and satisfaction' | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': S20.1 | 4* 1689 8.4–5 | 4* SC 1660 art. 3: 'gave himself a ransome for all ... a propitiation' | 3* Dordrecht IV: 'yielded up as a sacrifice and offering' |
| S20.2 | Divine sentence/law satisfied; not honour-satisfaction or explicit wrath on the Son | Medium (0.5) | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': S20.2 | 1 Listed under 'departs or sharpens on': Underplays S20.1 and S20.2 | 4* Pope Shenouda III, *Salvation in the Orthodox Concept* (1978): Christ's 'death would be an unlimited atonement, satisfying the unlimited justice of God in exacting punishment for the unlimited sin' (verified, popeshenouda.org.eg; a 20th-c. standard Coptic text) | 2* Sharper penal accent than the fathers | 4* Art. II: 'a sacrifice, not only for original guilt, but also for all actual sins' | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': S20.2 | 4* 1689 8.5: 'fully satisfied the justice of God' | 4* SC 1660 art. 3 propitiation | 3* Sacrifice, little penal precision (Dordrecht IV) |
Post-750 notes not tied to a question ID (shown for transparency, not scored unless marked *):
Catholic: departs: Anselmic framework (1098)
Lutheran: departs: Sharper penal accent
Presbyterian: departs: Penal precision; departs: limited atonement
Divine simplicity and impassibility
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S21.1 | Consensus from Era II: God ‘simple, uncompounded’ (Irenaeus), ‘what it has’ (Augustine) | High (1) | 4* Lateran IV (1215): 'three persons but one absolutely simple essence, substance or nature' (verified) | 3* Synodal Tome of Constantinople (1351) §32: the distinction of divine essence and energy does not mean 'that there is any synthesis in God' (verified, maximologia.org English translation); the distinction itself is a post-750 development | not assessed | 4* AC I: God is 'without body, without parts, of infinite power' (verified) | 4* Art. I: 'without body, parts, or passions' (verified) | 4* WCF II.1: 'without body, parts, or passions' (verified) | 4* 1689 2.1: 'without body, parts, or passions' (verified) | 4* Orthodox Creed (1679) art. I: God is 'without Matter or Form, Body, Parts, or Passions' (verified, reformedontheweb.com transcription) | not assessed |
| S21.2 | Consensus from Era I: God the Son suffered in the flesh, the divine nature impassible (Ignatius; Cyril at Ephesus) | High (1) | 4* Lateran IV: God 'almighty, unchangeable' (verified); Ephesus received | 4* Receives Ephesus and Cyril's Third Letter: the Word 'impassible, yet ... made his own the sufferings of his own flesh' (Ephesus text verified) | 4* Receives Cyril's Third Letter and Ephesus (431), the council the Oriental Orthodox accept (Ephesus text verified; reception is the standard Oriental Orthodox position, not separately cited) | 4* FC Solid Declaration VIII: 'the Son of God Himself truly suffered, however, according to the assumed human nature ... although the divine nature can neither suffer nor die' (verified) | 4* Art. I: 'without body, parts, or passions' (verified) | 4* WCF II.1: 'without body, parts, or passions' (verified) | 4* 1689 2.1: 'without body, parts, or passions' (verified) | 4* Orthodox Creed (1679) art. I: 'without ... Body, Parts, or Passions' (verified, reformedontheweb.com transcription) | not assessed |
Marriage, divorce and remarriage
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S22.1 | Era I–II: separation for adultery, no remarriage (Hermas, Athenagoras); Era III divides (Basil tolerates, Augustine forbids) | Medium (0.5) | 4* Trent XXIV canon 7 anathematizes the claim that the bond can be 'dissolved on account of the adultery of one of the married parties' or that the innocent party may remarry (verified) | 2* OCA Holy Synod, 'On Marriage': second and third marriages 'are tolerated as condescension to human frailty and weakness, while fourth marriages are totally forbidden'; the 'Order of Second Marriage' is used (verified); grounds go beyond adultery | 3* Coptic Church: 'no divorce has been permitted within the Coptic community except in cases of adultery' since 1944 (Pope Shenouda III, 2010, Coptic Diocese of Los Angeles report, verified); remarriage of the innocent party was not separately verified | 1* Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope: 'Unjust also is the tradition which forbids an innocent person to marry after divorce' (verified) | 4* Canons of 1604, canon 107: those separated 'shall live chastely and continently, neither shall they, during each other's life, contract matrimony with any other person' (verified as quoted in Hansard, 3 June 1830) | 1* WCF XXIV.5–6: after adultery the innocent party may 'sue out a divorce: and, after the divorce, to marry another'; also 'wilful desertion as can no way be remedied' (verified) | not assessed | not assessed | 1* Menno Simons, *Instruction on Excommunication*: 'divorce is not allowed by the Scripture only by reason of adultery' (CCEL, verified); Wismar Resolutions (1554), as quoted in GAMEO 'Divorce and Remarriage': 'In cases of deliberate adultery, the innocent party may be free to remarry after consulting with the congregation' (reputable scholarship) |
| S22.2 | Church-blessed (Tertullian) and a sacramentum of indissolubility (Augustine) from Era II–III; ‘one of seven’ is later | Medium (0.5) | 3* Trent XXIV canon 1: matrimony is 'truly and properly one of the seven sacraments of the evangelic law ... instituted by Christ' and confers grace (verified) | 3* Dositheus, decree 15: 'there are in the Church Evangelical Mysteries ... and that they are seven', matrimony among them (verified) | 3* Coptic Church (Bishop Mettaous): the seven sacraments include the 'Sacrament of Matrimony' (verified) | not assessed | 3* Art. XXV: Matrimony is among 'those five commonly called Sacraments' that 'are not to be counted for Sacraments of the Gospel', being 'states of life allowed in the Scriptures' (verified) | 2* WCF XXVII.4: 'There be only two sacraments ordained by Christ our Lord in the Gospel' (verified) | 2* 1689 28.1: only baptism and the Lord's Supper are 'ordinances of positive and sovereign institution' (verified) | 2* Orthodox Creed (1679) art. XXVII: 'These two Sacraments, (viz.) Baptism, and the Lord's Supper, are Ordinances of Positive, Sovereign, and holy Institution' (verified, reformedontheweb.com transcription) | 2* Dordrecht XII: 'the state of matrimony', instituted 'in Paradise', without sacramental language (verified) |
Nature of saving faith
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S23.1 | Era II: faith as ‘assent of piety’; Era III: ‘believing in’ Christ includes love (Augustine); neither ‘fiducia’ nor ‘formed faith’ as such before 750 | Medium (0.5) | 3* Trent VI ch. 7: 'faith, unless hope and charity be added thereto, neither unites man perfectly with Christ'; canon 12 anathematizes 'justifying faith is nothing else but confidence in the divine mercy' (verified) | 3* Dositheus, decree 9: faith is 'the right notion that is in us concerning God and divine things, which, working by love, that is to say, by [keeping] the Divine commandments, justifies us with Christ' (verified) | 3* Shenouda III, *Salvation in the Orthodox Concept*: 'Faith is faith in the blood of Christ, and works are works founded upon the merits of the blood of Christ'; 'faith without works is dead' (verified) | 2* AC XX.23: faith 'does not signify merely the knowledge of the history ... but ... the effect of the history ... that we have grace, righteousness, and forgiveness of sins through Christ' (verified) | 2* Homily of Salvation, part 3: faith is 'not only to believe that holy Scripture ... [is] true, but also to have a sure trust and confidence in GODS merciful promises ... whereof doth follow a loving heart' (verified); Art. XI points to this homily | 2* WCF XIV.2: 'the principal acts of saving faith are accepting, receiving, and resting upon Christ alone' (verified) | 2* 1689 14.2: 'the principle acts of saving faith have immediate relation to Christ, accepting, receiving, and resting upon him alone' (verified) | 2* Orthodox Creed (1679) art. XXIII: justifying faith enables us 'to take and receive him as a Lord and Saviour, and wholly and only to rest upon Christ' (verified, reformedontheweb.com transcription) | 2* Menno Simons, *Christian Baptism*: 'in Christ, faith alone availeth, which worketh by love' (verified) |
| S23.2 | Era III: no one can be sure in this life of being predestined (Augustine); assurance not defined as part of faith before 750 | Medium (0.5) | 3* Trent VI ch. 9: 'no one can know with a certainty of faith, which cannot be subject to error, that he has obtained the grace of God' (verified) | not assessed | not assessed | 2* Formula of Concord III: believers 'must not ... doubt either their righteousness ... or the salvation of their souls, but must regard it as certain' (verified) | not assessed | 2* WCF XVIII.3: 'This infallible assurance doth not so belong to the essence of faith, but that a true believer may wait long' (verified) | 2* 1689 18.3: assurance 'does not so belong to the essence of faith, but that a true believer may wait long' (verified) | not assessed | not assessed |
Merit and good works
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S24.1 | Recompense for works (Ignatius); ‘merits’ are God’s own gifts that he crowns (Augustine) | Medium (0.5) | 3* Trent VI canon 32: the justified 'does ... truly merit increase of grace, eternal life' (verified) | 3* Dositheus, decree 13: works are 'fruits in themselves ... and as in themselves meriting, through the Divine promises' (verified) | not assessed | 3* AC XX: 'our works cannot reconcile God or merit forgiveness of sins, grace, and justification' (verified) | 3* Art. XII: good works 'cannot put away our sins, and endure the severity of God's Judgement; yet are they pleasing and acceptable to God in Christ' (verified) | 3* WCF XVI.5: 'We cannot by our best works merit pardon of sin, or eternal life at the hand of God' (verified) | 3* 1689 16.5: 'cannot by our best works merit pardon of sin or eternal life at the hand of God' (verified) | not assessed | not assessed |
| S24.2 | Consensus from Era I: salvation ‘if we do His will’ (Polycarp); saving faith ‘works by love’ (Augustine) | High (1) | 4* Trent VI canon 24: justice is 'preserved and also increased before God through good works', which are not 'merely the fruits and signs' (verified) | 4* Dositheus, decree 13: justified 'through faith and works' (verified) | 4* Shenouda III, *Salvation in the Orthodox Concept*: speak to the believer 'about the good works that are fitting for his faith, because faith without works is dead (James 2:20)' (verified) | 2* FC Epitome IV, negative thesis 1, rejects saying 'that good works are necessary to salvation' (verified), while affirming they are necessary as obedience | 3* Art. XII: good works 'do spring out necessarily of a true and lively Faith' (verified) | 3* WCF XVI.2: good works are 'the fruits and evidences of a true and lively faith' so that believers 'may have the end, eternal life' (verified) | 3* 1689 16.2: 'fruits and evidences of a true and lively faith ... that having their fruit unto holiness they may have the end eternal life' (verified) | 3* Orthodox Creed (1679) art. XXVI: good works are 'to be done by us, to shew our thankfulness to God ... and to fit us more and more for Glory' (verified, reformedontheweb.com transcription) | 4* Dordrecht VI: believers 'must bring forth genuine fruits of repentance'; no outward ceremony 'can without faith, regeneration, change or renewing of life, avail anything' (verified) |
| S24.3 | Counsels beyond commands: Hermas (Era I) and Augustine teach that good done beyond what is commanded, such as virginity, gains greater glory | Medium-high (0.75) | 4* Trent XXIV, canon 10: anathema to anyone who says 'it is not better and more blessed to remain in virginity, or in celibacy, than to be united in matrimony'. Matches the fathers; the merit language goes beyond 1 Cor 7 | not assessed | not assessed | 1* Augsburg Confession XXVII.61 lists among the 'wicked opinions' of monastic vows 'that they keep the counsels and commandments, that they have works of supererogation'. Rejects what Hermas and Augustine teach, though it rightly keeps Luke 17:10 | 1* Art. XIV: 'Voluntary Works besides, over, and above, God's Commandments, which they call Works of Supererogation, cannot be taught without arrogancy and impiety', citing Luke 17:10. Rejects the fathers' teaching | 1* WCF XVI.4: believers are 'so far from being able to supererogate, and to do more than God requires, that they fall short of much which in duty they are bound to do'. Rejects the fathers' teaching; underplays 1 Cor 7:25, 38 | 1* 1689 16.4: the same words as WCF XVI.4 | not assessed | not assessed |
Millennium
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T01.1 | Split: earthly millennium (Papias, Justin, Irenaeus) vs the present reign (Augustine); Justin treats it as open | Medium (0.5) | 3* Amillennial (Augustinian tradition) | 3* Amillennial | 3* Shenouda III, lecture 'The Millennial Reign' (official-site summary): Christ's coming 'is for judgment and not to establish a temporal reign on earth for a literal thousand years'; the thousand is 'a symbol of perfection' (verified as summarized) | 3* AC XVII condemns 'Jewish opinions, that before the resurrection of the dead the godly shall take possession of the kingdom of the world' (verified) | 3* No article (the 1553 Article 41 against millenarians was dropped in 1563/1571) | 3* WCF XXXIII: no millennium stated | 3* 1689 ch. 32: no millennium stated | not assessed | 3* Not addressed in Dordrecht (verified by text search: no millennium) |
| T01.2 | Open: bodily (Irenaeus, Justin) or spiritual and present (Augustine, City of God XX.6, from John 5:25) | Medium (0.5) | 3* Spiritual reading (Augustinian) | 3* Spiritual reading (Augustinian) | 3* Spiritual reading (Augustinian) | 3* Spiritual reading (Augustinian) | 3* Spiritual reading (Augustinian) | 3* Spiritual reading (Augustinian) | 3* Spiritual reading (Augustinian) | not assessed | 3* Spiritual reading (Augustinian) |
Timing of end-times events
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T02.1 | The church endures the final deceiver, then Christ returns once, visibly: consensus from Era I | High (1) | 4* No pre-tribulation rapture in the classic texts | 4* No pre-tribulation rapture in the classic texts | 4* No pre-tribulation rapture in the classic texts | 4* No pre-tribulation rapture in the classic texts | 4* No pre-tribulation rapture in the classic texts | 4* No pre-tribulation rapture in the classic texts | 4* No pre-tribulation rapture in the classic texts | 4* No pre-tribulation rapture in the classic texts | 4* No pre-tribulation rapture in the classic texts |
| T02.2 | A future individual destroyed at the Return (Irenaeus V.25); the identification with the papacy has no pre-750 support | Medium-high (0.75) | 4* Future personal Antichrist (catechetical tradition) | 4* Future personal Antichrist | 4* Shenouda III, lecture 'The Millennial King' (1992; official-site summary): before the Second Coming 'the appearance of the man of sin (the antichrist)' and persecution of the saints (verified as summarized) | 2* Smalcald II.4: the pope is 'the very Antichrist' (verified) | not assessed | 2* WCF XXV.6 (1646 text): the Pope of Rome 'is that Antichrist, that man of sin, and son of perdition' (verified, Blue Letter Bible 1646 text) | 2* 1689 26.4: the pope is 'that antichrist, that man of sin' (verified) | 3* Not in the Standard Confession (verified by text search of the 1660 text) | 3* Not in Dordrecht |
Age of the earth and days of creation
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T03.1 | Young world by biblical chronology (consensus); split on the days: ordinary (Basil) vs instantaneous (Augustine) | Medium (0.5) | not assessed | not assessed | not assessed | not assessed | not assessed | 3* WCF IV.1: 'in the space of six days' (verified) | 3* 1689 4.1: 'in the space of six days' (verified) | not assessed | 3* Dordrecht I: God 'in six days, created, made, and prepared, heaven and earth' (verified) |
| T03.2 | All humanity descends from one first man (Acts 17:26; Augustine, City of God XII.21): classic consensus | High (1) | 4* Classic: one first pair (WCF IV.2; Trent V) | 4* Classic: one first pair (WCF IV.2; Trent V) | 4* Classic: one first pair (WCF IV.2; Trent V) | 4* Classic: one first pair (WCF IV.2; Trent V) | 4* Classic: one first pair (WCF IV.2; Trent V) | 4* Classic: one first pair (WCF IV.2; Trent V) | 4* Classic: one first pair (WCF IV.2; Trent V) | 4* Classic: one first pair (WCF IV.2; Trent V) | 4* Classic: one first pair (WCF IV.2; Trent V) |
Mode of baptism
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T04.1 | Immersion (threefold) is the norm; pouring permitted | High (1) | 1 Listed under 'departs or sharpens on': T04.1 (pouring normal) | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': T04.1 (immersion kept) | 4* Immersion kept: Coptic baptism 'by being immersed in water three times' (verified: Bishop Mettaous, copticchurch.net) | 1 Listed under 'departs or sharpens on': T04.1 practice | 4* 1662 rubric: the priest 'shall dip it in the Water discreetly and warily', 'But if they certify that the Child is weak, it shall suffice to pour Water upon it' (verified) | 1 Listed under 'departs or sharpens on': T04.1 | 3* 1689 29.4: 'Immersion, or dipping of the person in water, is necessary' (immersion, but pouring not permitted) | 3* SC 1660 art. 11: 'Baptise (that is in English to Dip)'; Orthodox Creed 28 'by Immersion or Dipping' (OCR-verified) | 1* GAMEO, 'Baptism' (H. S. Bender): 'The Anabaptists likewise used pouring'; Riedemann's *Rechenschaft* (1545): the baptizer 'taketh pure water and poureth it upon him' (reputable scholarship quoting the primary text) |
| T04.2 | Threefold administration is the Era I–II norm (Didache 7; Tertullian); Scripture gives no count | Medium-high (0.75) | not assessed | 4* Triple immersion | 4* Triple immersion: Coptic baptism 'by being immersed in water three times' (verified: Bishop Mettaous, copticchurch.net) | 3* Single application usual | 3* 1662: 'he shall dip it in the Water discreetly and warily', or if weak 'it shall suffice to pour Water upon it' (verified, churchofengland.org); single, not trine | 2* WCF XXVIII.3: 'pouring, or sprinkling' (verified); single | 2* 1689 29.4: single immersion (verified) | not assessed | not assessed |
Frequency of communion
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T05.1 | Weekly (Lord’s Day) celebration with the people communing: Era I–II norm | High (1) | 2* Daily Mass, but lay communion required only annually (Lateran IV, 1215) | 2* Weekly liturgy; lay communion infrequent in classic practice | not assessed | 4* Apology XXIV.1: 'masses are celebrated every Lord's Day and on the other festivals, in which the Sacrament is offered to those who wish to use it' (verified) | 2* 1662 rubric: communicate 'at the least three times in the year' | not assessed | not assessed | not assessed | 2* GAMEO, 'Communion' (C. Krahn; J. D. Rempel): by the 17th century 'usual for Mennonites in northern Europe to celebrate communion twice a year while Mennonites in south Germany and Switzerland celebrated it once a year' (reputable scholarship) |
| T05.2 | Both kinds to all (Matt 26:27; Cyprian, On the Lapsed 25) | High (1) | 2* Trent XXI ch. 1: laity 'not obliged, by any divine precept, to receive ... under both species' (verified) (practice since widened) | 4* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question | 4* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question | 4* AC XXII 'Of Both Kinds' (verified) | 4* Art. XXX 'Of both kinds' (verified) | 4* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question | 4* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question | 4* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question | 4* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question |
Atonement models beyond the core
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T06.1 | Victory pervasive; devil-ransom disputed (Nyssa vs Nazianzen) | High / low (0.25) | 3* Affirmed, less central | 3 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': T06.1 (verdict is split; this follows one patristic strand) | 3* Armenian Divine Liturgy (Badarak), hymn before the Trisagion: 'Thou, unchangeable as thou art, didst trample down death by death' (verified, kirazianbadarak.com) | 4* Central in Luther | 3* Affirmed in the BCP collects | 3* Affirmed (WCF VIII) | 3* 1689 8.10 | not assessed | 4* Dordrecht IV: 'bruised the serpent's head, destroyed the works of the devil' |
| T06.2 | Recapitulation foundational, integrates the other motifs | High (1) | 3* Affirmed | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': T06.2 | not assessed | 3* Affirmed | 3* Affirmed | 3* Federal Adam–Christ | 3* Federal Adam–Christ (1689 ch. 7) | 3* Adam–Christ (SC 1660 art. 10) | 3* Dordrecht III–IV: Christ restores the fallen race |
Order of decrees
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T07.1 | Not addressed before 750 (a post-Reformation scholastic question) | High (1) | not assessed | not assessed | not assessed | not assessed | not assessed | not assessed | not assessed | not assessed | not assessed |
| T07.2 | Reprobation as a just passing-by for sin fits Augustine and Orange 529; predestination to evil is condemned | Medium (0.5) | not assessed | 2* Conditional on foreseen sin | 2* Official website of Pope Shenouda III, 'The Problem of Election or Rejection – Response to the Protestants' (1993 lecture, site summary): 'God's salvation is offered to all people, but it is the human being who freely chooses the path of life or destruction' (verified; the summary is the site's, the lecture is audio) | 2* FC SD XI: foreknowledge 'extends over all creatures, good and bad', but election is 'a cause' only of the salvation of the elect; God 'does not create and effect [or work] evil' (verified) | 3* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question | 3* WCF III.3, III.7: 'pass by ... to ordain them to dishonor and wrath for their sin' (verified) | 3* 1689 3.3: 'others being left to act in their sin' (verified) | 2* Orthodox Creed (1679), preface, rejects 'irrespective Reprobation of particular Persons, before they have done either Good, or Evil'; art. X (Of Preterition, or Reprobation): 'if any do perish, their destruction is of themselves' (verified) | not assessed |
Origin of the soul
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T08.1 | Open: traducianism (Tertullian) vs creationism (later East and West); Augustine undecided | Medium (0.5) | not assessed | not assessed | not assessed | not assessed | not assessed | not assessed | not assessed | not assessed | not assessed |
| T08.2 | Souls survive death, but by God’s will rather than inherent necessity (1 Tim 6:16; Justin, Dialogue 5) | Medium (0.5) | 3* Lateran V (1513): the soul 'is also immortal' (verified, papalencyclicals.net) | 3* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question | 3* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question | 3* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question | 3* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question | 3* WCF XXXII.1: 'an immortal subsistence' (verified) | 3* 1689 31.1 same (verified) | 3* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question | 3* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question |
Intermediate state
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T09.1 | Conscious intermediate state (rest or affliction) | High (1) | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': T09.1 | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': T09.1 | 4* Shenouda III, *Comparative Theology*: icons connect believers 'with the angels in heaven and the righteous who abide in Paradise'; prayers for the departed ask 'rest in Paradise' (verified) | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': T09.1 | 4* Affirmed | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': T09.1 | 4* Affirmed | 4* Affirmed | 4* Affirmed |
| T09.2 | Open: Augustine allows the dead to learn of earthly affairs only by God’s revelation | Low-medium (0.375) | 3* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question | 3* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question | 3* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question | 3* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question | 3* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question | 3* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question | 3* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question | 3* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question | 3* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question |
| T09.3 | Split by era: Irenaeus and Tertullian keep the righteous in a waiting place until the resurrection; Cyprian and Gregory the Great put them in paradise or heaven at once. All keep the full reward for the resurrection | Medium-high (0.75) | 2* Benedictus Deus (1336): the purified souls 'have been, are and will be with Christ in heaven' and 'see the divine essence with an intuitive vision and even face to face'; Florence: they are 'straightaway received into heaven and clearly behold the triune God'. Follows Gregory but goes beyond any father before 750 in defining the vision; departs from Era II. Scripture keeps the full vision for Christ's appearing (1 John 3:2) | 3* Dositheus, Decree 18: souls 'depart immediately either to joy, or to sorrow', 'though confessedly neither their enjoyment nor condemnation are complete'. Combines the later 'at once' with the earlier 'not yet' | 3* Shenouda III, *Comparative Theology*: the saints 'completed their striving and departed to Paradise, living with Christ'. Follows Cyprian | 3* Apology XXI.9: the saints 'in heaven … pray for the Church in general'. Follows the later strand; says little more | 3* Book of Common Prayer, Burial: the faithful departed 'are in joy and felicity' with God, while the Church prays that they 'may have our perfect consummation and bliss, both in body and soul'. Follows the later strand and keeps the 'not yet' | 3* WCF XXXII.1: the souls of the righteous 'are received into the highest heavens, where they behold the face of God, in light and glory, waiting for the full redemption of their bodies'. Follows the later strand and keeps the 'not yet' | 3* 1689 31.1: they 'are received into paradise, where they are with Christ, and behold the face of God in light and glory, waiting for the full redemption of their bodies'. Same | 3* Orthodox Creed XLIX: the souls of the righteous 'are received into Paradise, where they are with Christ, and behold the Face of God in Light and Glory, waiting for the full Redemption of their Bodies'. Same | not assessed |
Final punishment
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T10.1 | Eternal punishment the consensus; restoration a real minority (Nyssa); annihilation negligible; 553 targets the Origenist system | High / medium (0.5) | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': T10.1 | 2* Departs column: 'Openness to restoration among some (minority)'; the L5 verdict names restoration as a real patristic minority (Nyssa), and the overall verdict says 'L5 majority A, with tolerance of a minority hope' | 4* Shenouda III, 'Is the fire ... a consuming fire?': the wicked are tormented body and soul, and 'this fire does not annihilate the body'; on Matt 25:46 against annihilation, 'Jehovah's Witnesses' (verified, popeshenouda.org.eg) | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': T10.1 | 4* Athanasian Creed (Art. VIII) | 4 Listed under 'closest to the fathers on': T10.1 | 4* 1689 32.2 | 4* SC 1660 art. 21: 'An eternal Judgment' | 4* Dordrecht XVIII: 'everlasting pains of hell, where their worm shall not die' |
| T10.2 | Degrees of punishment (Luke 12:47–48; Augustine, Enchiridion 93): consensus | High (1) | 4* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question | 4* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question | 4* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question | 4* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question | 4* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question | 4* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question | 4* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question | 4* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question | 4* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question |
Universal restoration as a hope
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T11.1 | Minority hope (Origen, Gregory of Nyssa); the majority expects eternal punishment; the Origenist form anathematized (553) | Medium–high (0.75) | 4* Eternal punishment (Lateran IV; Florence) | 4* 553 received | 4* Eternal judgement in the creeds (Armenian: 'everlasting judgement of souls and bodies', verified) | 4* AC XVII condemns 'the Anabaptists, who think that there will be an end to the punishments of condemned men and devils' (verified) | not assessed | 4* WCF XXXIII.2 | 4* 1689 32.2: 'cast aside into everlasting torments' (verified) | 4* Orthodox Creed (1679) art. L: the wicked 'shall be cast into eternal Torments, and punished with everlasting Destruction' (verified) | 4* Dordrecht XVIII: the wicked cast 'into the everlasting pains of hell' (verified) |
| T11.2 | The Origenist restoration tied to pre-existence was anathematised (553); scope disputed | Medium (0.5) | 4* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question | 4* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question | not assessed | 4* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question | 4* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question | 4* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question | 4* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question | 4* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question | 3* Not addressed |
Spiritual gifts
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T12.1 | Split: gifts reported in Era II (Irenaeus); said to have ceased by Era III (Chrysostom) | Medium (0.5) | 3* Miracles continue in the saints; extraordinary | 3* Miracles continue | 3* Shenouda III, *Comparative Theology* (1988), 'The Spiritual Gifts and the Gift of Tongues': gifts continue but 'the gift of tongues is not for all'; 'If God wills to give me a gift, He will give me' (verified) | 3* Not addressed directly | 3* Not addressed | 3* WCF I.1: 'those former ways of God's revealing his will unto his people being now ceased' (verified) | 3* 1689 1.1 (same) | 3* Not addressed (verified by text search of the Standard Confession) | 3* Not addressed |
| T12.2 | Tongues as languages (Acts 2; Irenaeus V.6.1) | Medium (0.5) | 3* No confessional article | 3* No confessional article | 3* No confessional article | 3* No confessional article | 3* No confessional article | 3* No confessional article | 3* No confessional article | 3* No confessional article | 3* No confessional article |
Sabbath and Lord's Day
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T13.1 | Lord’s Day worship replaces Sabbath observance (Era I); a Sunday Sabbath of rest is later | Medium–high (0.75) | 3* Sunday obligation and rest from servile work (Roman Catechism on the 3rd commandment) | 4* Sunday as the day of resurrection; Saturday honoured, not kept as Sabbath rest | 4* Shenouda III, *Comparative Theology*, on Tradition: 'the consecration of Sunday as the Lord's Day', not the literal Sabbath of Ex 20:8 (verified) | 4* AC XXVIII: Sunday appointed by the church; Sabbath abrogated | 3* 1662: Sunday worship; the Communion reads the Decalogue, 'Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day' (verified, churchofengland.org) | 2* WCF XXI.7: 'the Lord's day ... the Christian Sabbath' (verified) | 2* 1689 22.7: 'the Christian Sabbath, the observation of the last day of the week being abolished' (verified) | 2* Orthodox Creed 40, 'Of Religious Worship, and the Sabbath-Day': 'the First Day of the Week, which is called the Lord's Day' (OCR-verified); follows the Westminster Sabbath pattern | not assessed |
| T13.2 | Sunday assembly (Acts 20:7; Ignatius, Magnesians 9; Justin, 1 Apology 67): consensus | High (1) | 4* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question | 4* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question | 4* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question | 4* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question | 4* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question | 4* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question | 4* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question | 4* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question | 4* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question |
Regulative or normative worship
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T14.1 | The fathers accepted unwritten liturgical customs (Tertullian, Basil); no regulative principle | Medium–high (0.75) | 4* Normative | 4* Normative | 4* Normative | 4* FC X: adiaphora | 4* Art. XX: the Church may not 'ordain any thing that is contrary to God's Word written' (verified); Art. XXXIV | 2* WCF XXI.1: God 'may not be worshiped ... any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scripture' (verified) | 2* 1689 22.1: 'or any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scriptures' (verified) | 3* Not stated (verified by text search of the Standard Confession) | 3* Simple worship; not stated as a principle |
| T14.2 | Composed hymns to Christ were orthodox practice by Era II (Eusebius VII.30); Scripture’s triad is disputed | Medium (0.5) | 4* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question | 4* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question | 4* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question | 4* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question | 4* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question | 2* WCF XXI.5: 'singing of psalms' (verified) (exclusive psalmody in classic practice) | 4* 1689 22.5: 'psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs' (verified) | 4* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question | 4* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question |
Liturgical calendar
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T15.1 | Annual Pascha from Era I (Polycarp, with John); fuller calendar from Era III; differences of custom tolerated | Medium–high (0.75) | 3* Full calendar, holy days of obligation | 4* Pascha and the feasts | 4* Pascha and the feasts | 4* AC XV: usages 'profitable unto tranquillity and good order ... as particular holy days, festivals' (verified) | 4* 1662 calendar and Art. XXXIV | 2* Directory for Public Worship (1645): 'Festival days ... are not to be continued' | not assessed | 3* Not stated (verified by text search of the Standard Confession) | not assessed |
| T15.2 | Sunday Easter prevailed, but Asia kept the 14th from ‘an older tradition’ and Irenaeus urged tolerance | Medium-high (0.75) | 4* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question | 4* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question | 4* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question | 4* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question | 4* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question | not assessed | 3* Not addressed | 4* not assessed: the doctrine page does not state this tradition's position on this question | 3* Not addressed |
Clerical celibacy
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T16.1 | Married clergy permitted in early practice (Paphnutius; Trullo); the West moved to required continence | Medium (0.5) | 3* Trent XXIV canon 9 anathematizes the claim that 'clerics constituted in sacred orders ... are able to contract marriage' (verified) | 4* Married priests; celibate bishops | 4* Coptic practice: priests married before ordination may serve, but do not remarry if widowed; 'Why then do we ordain the Bishops from the celibate monks?' (Coptic Orthodox Wiki, Diocese of the Southern United States, 'The Sacrament of Priesthood', verified; the Coptic priesthood page at copticchurch.net gives the same rules for deacons) | 3* AC XXIII: marriage of priests | 3* Art. XXXII: 'lawful for them, as for all other Christian men, to marry at their own discretion' (verified) | 3* WCF XXIV.3: 'lawful for all sorts of people to marry' (verified) | 3* Married ministers | 3* Married ministers | 3* Married ministers |
| T16.2 | Marriage after ordination is forbidden in Era III (Neocaesarea canon 1); Scripture is silent | Medium (0.5) | 4* Forbidden (Trent XXIV canon 9 anathematises those who say clerics in sacred orders 'can contract marriage'; verified) | 4* Forbidden after ordination | 4* Forbidden after ordination: 'If he is unmarried before his ordination, he must remain unmarried afterwards' (verified: Bishop Mettaous, copticchurch.net) | 2* Permits marriage of clergy | 2* Art. XXXII: 'lawful for them, as for all other Christian men, to marry at their own discretion' (verified) | 2* Permits marriage of clergy | 2* Permits marriage of clergy | 2* Permits marriage of clergy | 2* Permits marriage of clergy |
Fasting rules
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T17.1 | Weekly fasts (Wednesday, Friday) from Era I; Lent from Era III | Medium–high (0.75) | 4* Lent; Friday abstinence | 4* Wednesday and Friday; Lent | 4* Extensive fasting calendar | 3* AC XXVI: fasting commended, not imposed | 3* 1662 'Table of Fasts': Lent, Fridays | 2* WCF XXI.5: 'solemn fastings' on occasions | 2* 1689 22.5 (occasional) | 3* Orthodox Creed 42: public humiliation by fasting (OCR heading) | 2* Not stated |
| T17.2 | Wednesday and Friday fasts are Era I practice (Didache 8); Scripture assumes fasting without fixing days | Medium-high (0.75) | 3* Friday abstinence | 4* Wednesday and Friday | 4* Wednesday and Friday | 2* No fixed fast | 3* 1662 table of fasts: 'All the Fridays in the Year, except Christmas Day' (verified, eskimo.com 1662 text) | 2* No fixed weekly fast | 2* No fixed weekly fast | 2* No fixed weekly fast | 2* No fixed weekly fast |
Theosis vocabulary
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T18.1 | Deification by grace (‘became what we are, that we might become what he is’) from Era II | High (1) | 3* Used (Aquinas; Catechism tradition), not central in Trent | 4* Central (Palamas) | 2* Shenouda III, *Man's Deification!!* part 1: on 2 Pet 1:4, 'The apostle's words mean that we take part with the Divine Nature in work, in will, and in edification of God's Kingdom, not that we take the Divine nature' (verified, PDF of the English edition); he calls 'man's deification' a heresy | 2* Union with Christ; deification language rare in the confessions | 2* Not used in the Articles | 2* Union with Christ (WCF XXVI); no deification language | 2* Union with Christ (1689 27) | 2* Not used | not assessed |
| T18.2 | God is known from his operations, not his essence (Basil, Letter 234): consensus on the epistemic point; Palamas’s distinction is post-750 | Medium-high (0.75) | 4* Incomprehensibility (e.g. WCF II.1 'incomprehensible') | not assessed | 4* Incomprehensibility (e.g. WCF II.1 'incomprehensible') | 4* Incomprehensibility (e.g. WCF II.1 'incomprehensible') | 4* Incomprehensibility (e.g. WCF II.1 'incomprehensible') | 4* Incomprehensibility (e.g. WCF II.1 'incomprehensible') | 4* Incomprehensibility (e.g. WCF II.1 'incomprehensible') | 4* Incomprehensibility (e.g. WCF II.1 'incomprehensible') | 4* Incomprehensibility (e.g. WCF II.1 'incomprehensible') |
Image of God
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T19.1 | Image kept but marred; the ‘similitude’ lost (Irenaeus); re-created by the Word (Athanasius) | High (1) | 4* Trent V.1: 'the entire Adam ... was changed, in body and soul, for the worse' (verified), not deprived of nature; VI canon 5 anathematizes saying free will was 'lost and extinguished' | 4* Dositheus, decree 14: man fell 'from his perfection and impassibility, yet not to have lost the nature and power which he had received' (verified) | 2* Shenouda III, *Comparative Theology*: in baptism 'we put on God's image (Gen.1: 26) which we lost through the original sin' (verified) | 2* FC Solid Declaration I: original sin is 'the lack of the concreated hereditary righteousness in Paradise, or of God's image' (verified): the image in the narrow sense is lost | not assessed | not assessed | not assessed | not assessed | not assessed |
| T19.2 | Original holiness as a gift of participation in the Word (Athanasius); likeness as virtue (John of Damascus) | Medium (0.5) | 3* Trent V.1: Adam 'lost the holiness and justice wherein he had been constituted' (verified); the decree does not use the later 'superadded gift' wording | 3* Dositheus, decree 14: fallen 'from his perfection' (verified); no definition of nature and grace | not assessed | 2* FC Solid Declaration I: 'concreated hereditary righteousness ... or ... God's image' (verified) | 3* Art. IX: man is 'very far gone from original righteousness' (verified), without defining it | 2* WCF IV.2: man created 'endued with knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness, after his own image' (verified) | 2* 1689 4.2: created 'after the image of God, in knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness' (verified) | 2* Orthodox Creed (1679) art. XI: man 'made after the Image of God, in Knowledge, Righteousness, and true Holiness' (verified, reformedontheweb.com transcription) | 2* Dordrecht I: created 'in His own image and likeness, in righteousness and holiness' (verified) |
Sword, magistracy and oaths
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T20.1 | Era II–III reluctance (Origen); Era III acceptance (Augustine on Luke 3:14) | Medium (0.5) | 2* Roman Catechism, Fifth Commandment: 'the soldier is guiltless who ... takes away the life of an enemy in a just war' (verified, Wikisource) | not assessed | not assessed | 2* AC XVI: 'it is right for Christians to bear civil office ... to engage in just wars, to serve as soldiers' (verified) | 2* Art. XXXVII: 'lawful for Christian men, at the commandment of the Magistrate, to wear weapons, and serve in the wars' (verified) | 2* WCF XXIII.2: 'lawful for Christians to accept and execute the office of a magistrate ... wage war, upon just and necessary occasion' (verified) | 2* 1689 24.2: Christians 'may lawfully now, under the New Testament, wage war upon just and necessary occasions' (verified) | 2* Orthodox Creed (1679) art. XLV: the office of a magistrate 'may be accepted of, and executed by Christians'; magistrates 'may wage War upon just and necessary Occasions' (verified, reformedontheweb.com transcription) | 3* Dordrecht XIV: Christ 'commanded them ... to put the sword into the sheath'; Schleitheim 6: 'The sword is ordained of God outside the perfection of Christ' (verified) |
| T20.2 | Era II: ’not swearing at all’ (Justin); Era III: Paul’s oaths show solemn oaths are allowed (Augustine) | Medium (0.5) | 2* Roman Catechism, Second Commandment: oaths 'although in themselves lawful, they should seldom be used' (verified, Wikisource) | not assessed | not assessed | 2* AC XVI: Christians may 'make oath when required by the magistrates' (verified) | 2* Art. XXXIX: 'Christian Religion doth not prohibit, but that a man may swear when the Magistrate requireth' (verified) | 2* WCF XXII.1–3: 'A lawful oath is a part of religious worship' (verified) | 2* 1689 23.2: 'an oath is warranted by the Word of God' in matters of weight (verified) | 2* Orthodox Creed (1679) art. XLVIII: 'A Lawful Oath, is a part of Religious Worship'; Christians may take one 'when lawfully called thereunto by the Magistrate' (verified, reformedontheweb.com transcription) | 4* Dordrecht XV: 'all oaths, high and low, are forbidden' (verified) |
Women's ministries beyond the presbyterate
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T21.1 | Deaconesses attested in Era III (Nicaea c. 19) and with laying on of hands by Era IV (Chalcedon c. 15) | Medium (0.5) | not assessed | not assessed | 4* Coptic baptismal rite: the priest 'asks the deaconess to assist the woman' (copticchurch.net, verified) | not assessed | not assessed | not assessed | not assessed | not assessed | 4* Dordrecht IX: 'honorable aged widows should be chosen and ordained deaconesses' to care for the poor and sick (verified) |
| T21.2 | Era II–IV: women do not teach in church or baptize (Tertullian; Apostolic Constitutions) | High (1) | 2* Council of Florence, Decree for the Armenians: 'in case of necessity ... even a lay man or a woman ... can baptize' (verified); public teaching reserved to clergy | not assessed | not assessed | 4* AC XIV: 'no one should publicly teach in the Church or administer the Sacraments unless he be regularly called' (verified) | 4* Art. XXIII: 'not lawful for any man to take upon him the office of publick preaching, or ministering the Sacraments ... before he be lawfully called' (verified) | 4* WCF XXVII.4: sacraments dispensed only 'by a minister of the Word lawfully ordained' (verified) | 4* 1689 28.2: 'administered by those only who are qualified and thereunto called' (verified) | 4* Orthodox Creed (1679) art. XXVII: the sacraments are 'to be Administred by those only who are rightly qualified, and thereunto called' (verified, reformedontheweb.com transcription) | not assessed |
Israel and the Church
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T22.1 | Common Era III expectation that ’the Jews shall believe in the true Christ’ before the judgement (Augustine) | Medium–low (0.25) | not assessed | not assessed | not assessed | not assessed | not assessed | 4* Westminster Larger Catechism 191: we pray for 'the Jews called, the fullness of the Gentiles brought in' (verified) | not assessed | not assessed | not assessed |
| T22.2 | Era I: not to ‘Judaize’ (Ignatius); Era II: Christians are ’the true spiritual Israel’ (Justin) | High (1) | 4* Council of Florence (1442): the 'legal prescriptions of the old Testament or the Mosaic law ... once our lord Jesus Christ who was signified by them had come, came to an end' (verified) | not assessed | not assessed | 4* AC XXVIII rejects burdening the Church with 'a service like the Levitical' (verified) | 4* Art. VII: 'the Law given from God by Moses, as touching Ceremonies and Rites, do not bind Christian men' (verified) | 4* WCF XIX.3: ceremonial laws were 'prefiguring Christ'; 'All which ceremonial laws are now abrogated, under the new testament' (verified) | 4* 1689 19.3: ceremonial laws 'appointed only to the time of reformation' are abrogated by Christ (verified) | not assessed | not assessed |
Admission to the Lord's Table
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T23.1 | Era I–II: only the baptized who believe and live as Christ enjoined (Didache 9.5; Justin) | High (1) | 4* Trent XIII ch. 7: no one 'conscious to himself of mortal sin ... ought to approach to the sacred Eucharist without previous sacramental confession' (verified) | not assessed | 4* Coptic Church: the communicant 'must be a Christian Orthodox believer, baptized in the Orthodox Church', with a nine-hour fast (copticchurch.net, verified) | 4* AC XXV: 'none are admitted except they be first examined' (verified) | 4* 1662 Confirmation rubric: 'there shall none be admitted to the holy Communion, until such time as he be confirmed, or be ready and desirous to be confirmed' (verified) | 4* WCF XXIX.8: 'all ignorant and ungodly persons ... are unworthy of the Lord's table' (verified); WLC 173 on keeping back the 'ignorant or scandalous' | 4* 1689 30.8: 'ignorant and ungodly persons ... are unworthy of the Lord's table' (verified) | 4* Orthodox Creed (1679) art. XXXIII: 'no Unbaptized, Unbelieving, or open Prophane, or wicked Heretical Persons, ought to be admitted to this Ordinance' (verified, reformedontheweb.com transcription) | 4* Schleitheim 3: all who break bread 'shall be united beforehand by baptism in one body of Christ' (verified) |
| T23.2 | Infants communed by Era III (Cyprian, On the Lapsed 25) | Medium (0.5) | 2* Trent XXI ch. 4: 'little children, who have not attained to the use of reason, are not by any necessity obliged to the sacramental communion' (verified) | 4* OCA, 'Chrismation': baptism and chrismation are 'fulfilled in the immediate reception ... of Holy Communion ... This is the case with infants as well as adults' (verified) | 4* Coptic Church: 'The person baptized must receive Communion directly after Baptism' (verified), infants included | 1* AC XXV: 'none are admitted except they be first examined' (verified), which excludes infants | 1* 1662 rubric: none admitted until confirmed (verified) | 1* WLC 177: the Supper is given 'only to such as are of years and ability to examine themselves' (verified) | not assessed | 1* Orthodox Creed (1679) art. XXXIII: 'Nor are little Infants, that cannot examine themselves ... to be admitted to this Sacrament', while noting that Augustine and 'many of the Greek Churches' did so (verified, reformedontheweb.com transcription) | not assessed |
Liberty of conscience
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T24.1 | Era I: obey the bishop (Ignatius); Era III: no ‘burdens … by the vain conceits of men’ (Augustine) | Medium (0.5) | 3* Trent VI canon 20 anathematizes saying the justified are 'not bound to observe the commandments of God and of the Church' (verified) | 3* Dositheus, decree 2: Scripture is to be believed 'not otherwise than as the Catholic Church has interpreted and delivered the same' (verified) | not assessed | 3* AC XV: 'consciences are not to be burdened, as though such observance was necessary to salvation' (verified) | 3* Art. XX: the Church may decree rites, 'yet it is not lawful for the Church to ordain any thing that is contrary to God's Word' (verified) | 3* WCF XX.2: 'God alone is Lord of the conscience, and hath left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men' (verified) | 3* 1689 21.2: 'God alone is Lord of the conscience' (verified) | 3* Standard Confession art. 24: 'all men should have the free liberty of their own Consciences in matters of Religion, or Worship' (verified) | not assessed |
| T24.2 | Era II–III: ’no part of religion to compel religion’ (Tertullian, Lactantius); Augustine later defends compulsion | High (1) | 2* Lateran IV, canon 3: condemned heretics are to 'be handed over to the secular authorities ... for due punishment' (verified) | not assessed | not assessed | 3* AC XXVIII: 'the power of the Church and the civil power must not be confounded' (verified); it does not address punishing heresy | 2* Art. XXXVII: the Crown has 'the chief Government of all Estates ... whether they be Ecclesiastical or Civil' (verified) | 2* WCF XXIII.3 (1646): the magistrate is to take order 'that all blasphemies and heresies be suppressed' (verified; the 1788 American revision removed this) | 3* 1689 21.2: requiring 'an implicit faith, an absolute and blind obedience, is to destroy liberty of conscience' (verified); ch. 24 omits WCF XXIII.3 | 4* Standard Confession art. 24: for 'any in Authority' to persecute for religion 'is expresslly contrary to the mind of Christ', citing the tares (verified) | 4* Schleitheim 6: 'In the perfection of Christ, however, only the ban is used ... without putting the flesh to death' (verified) |
Communion in both kinds; reservation and adoration
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T25.1 | Both kinds to each communicant from Era II (Justin) | High (1) | 2* Trent XXI canon 1: denies that 'by the precept of God, or, by necessity of salvation, all and each of the faithful ... ought to receive both species' (verified) | not assessed | 4* Coptic Church, 'The Eucharist' (copticchurch.net): 'the believer eats the Holy Body and Precious Blood of Jesus Christ, presented by the Bread and Wine' (verified) | 4* AC XXII: 'To the laity are given Both Kinds in the Sacrament ... because this usage has the commandment of the Lord in Matt. 26:27' (verified) | 4* Art. XXX: 'The Cup of the Lord is not to be denied to the Lay-people' (verified) | 4* WCF XXIX.4: 'the denial of the cup to the people' is 'contrary to the nature of this sacrament' (verified) | 4* 1689 30.4: 'The denial of the cup to the people ... contrary to the nature of this ordinance' (verified) | 4* Orthodox Creed (1679) art. XXXIII rejects 'their denying of the Cup to the Laity' (verified, reformedontheweb.com transcription) | 4* Schleitheim 2: 'that we may break and eat one bread ... and may drink of one cup' (verified); Dordrecht X: the Supper 'in bread and wine' (verified) |
| T25.2 | Reservation for the absent and at home (Justin, Tertullian); worship in receiving (Augustine); processions are later | Medium (0.5) | 3* Trent XIII ch. 6: reserving the Eucharist 'is so ancient, that even the age of the Council of Nicaea recognised that usage'; canon 6: Christ in it is 'to be adored with the worship, even external of latria' and 'borne about in processions' (verified) | 3* Dositheus, decree 17: the Body and Blood 'ought to be honored in the highest manner, and adored with latria' (verified) | not assessed | 2* FC Epitome VII rejects teaching 'That the external visible elements of the bread and wine should be adored' (verified); no reservation outside the use | 2* Art. XXVIII: 'The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was not by Christ's ordinance reserved, carried about, lifted up, or worshipped' (verified) | 1* WCF XXIX.4: 'worshiping the elements ... carrying them about, for adoration, and the reserving them for any pretended religious use' are 'contrary ... to the institution of Christ' (verified) | 1* 1689 30.4: 'worshipping the elements ... and reserving them for any pretended religious use' (verified) | 2* Orthodox Creed (1679) art. XXXIII rejects 'Adoration of the unbloody Sacrifice of the Mass' (verified, reformedontheweb.com transcription) | not assessed |
Church discipline and shunning
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T26.1 | Judgment exercised in the assembly (Tertullian) | Medium (0.5) | not assessed | 2* Dositheus, decree 10: the bishop 'casts out of the Church as heathens and publicans' and 'puts heretics under excommunication and anathema' (verified) | not assessed | 3* AC XXVIII: those with the ministry of the Word may 'exclude from the communion of the Church wicked men, whose wickedness is known, and this without human force, simply by the Word' (verified) | 3* Art. XXXIII: one 'by open denunciation of the Church ... rightly cut off from the unity of the Church' (verified) | 3* WCF XXX.2: 'To these officers the keys of the kingdom of heaven are committed' (verified) | 4* 1689 26.7: to each church 'he has given all that power and authority, which is in any way needful for their carrying on that order in worship and discipline' (verified) | 3* Orthodox Creed (1679) art. XXXIV: 'The Executive part of which derivative power of Discipline and Government, is committed to his Ministers' (verified, reformedontheweb.com transcription) | 4* Schleitheim 2: admonished 'twice in secret and the third time openly disciplined or banned according to the command of Christ. Mt. 18' (verified); Dordrecht XVI: 'the church must put away from her the wicked' (verified) |
| T26.2 | Avoidance of notorious heretics (John and Polycarp, in Irenaeus) | Medium (0.5) | not assessed | not assessed | not assessed | not assessed | 4* Art. XXXIII: the excommunicate 'ought to be taken of the whole multitude of the faithful, as an Heathen and Publican, until he be openly reconciled' (verified) | not assessed | not assessed | not assessed | 4* Dordrecht XVII: the separated 'must ... be shunned, without distinction, by all the fellow members of the church ... in eating, drinking, and other similar intercourse ... that the sinner may be made ashamed' (verified) |
The law in the Christian life
Category page · overall verdict
| Q | Verdict | Confidence (weight) | Catholic | Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | Lutheran | Anglican | Presbyterian | Reformed Baptist | General Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T27.1 | The Decalogue ‘remains permanently with us’ (Irenaeus) | High (1) | 4* Trent VI canon 19: anathema on saying 'that the ten commandments nowise appertain to Christians' (verified) | not assessed | not assessed | 4* FC Epitome VI: believers 'have been freed and exempted from the curse and coercion of the Law' but 'are not on this account without Law' (verified) | 4* Art. VII: 'no Christian man whatsoever is free from the obedience of the Commandments which are called Moral' (verified) | 4* WCF XIX.5: 'The moral law doth forever bind all, as well justified persons as others' (verified) | 4* 1689 19.5: 'The moral law does for ever bind all, as well justified persons as others' (verified) | 4* Orthodox Creed (1679) art. XXVI: 'the Ten Commandments, as handed forth by Christ the Mediator, are a Rule of Life to a Believer' (verified, reformedontheweb.com transcription) | not assessed |
| T27.2 | The saints truly sin in this life (Carthage 418) | High (1) | 3* Trent VI canon 18: anathema on saying 'the commandments of God are, even for one that is justified ... impossible to keep' (verified); ch. 11 grants daily venial sins | not assessed | not assessed | 4* FC Epitome VI: 'after they are regenerate and [much of] the flesh notwithstanding cleaves to them' (verified) | 4* Art. XV: 'all we the rest, although baptized, and born again in Christ, yet offend in many things' (verified) | 4* WLC 149: 'No man is able, either of himself, or by any grace received in this life, perfectly to keep the commandments of God' (verified) | 4* 1689 13.2: sanctification is 'yet imperfect in this life; there abides still some remnants of corruption in every part' (verified) | 4* Orthodox Creed (1679) art. XV: concupiscence remains 'even in the Regenerate, that they cannot love; nor obey God perfectly in this Life' (verified, reformedontheweb.com transcription) | not assessed |