There are over 30,000 denominations of Christianity. Roman Catholic is one of them and I believe it might be the largest but I’m not sure.The term catholic (small c) means universal church and so, if you were to refer to the catholic church you would be referring to the Christian Church (all Christians). This is a subtle but meaningful distinction. Especially in the Nicene Creed.The Christian Church has had conflicting beliefs since its beginning. Even when Jesus walked on Earth, Judas betrayed him, Peter denied him, Thomas doubted him, etc. You might say the first Christian church council to resolve such conflicts was held when Peter and Paul argued the right of Gentiles to become Christians. There have been splits in the original Christian Church often throughout its existence. The Great Schism occurred when the Eastern Orthodox church split from the Roman Catholic church. There were smaller splits before that but the Great Schism virtually split the catholic church in half.The first Protestant church (Lutherans) was started when Martin Luther split from the Roman Catholic church. Martin Luther’s movement is called the Reformation. A backlash of the Reformation that occurred within the Roman Catholic church is called the Counter-Reformation which included the Inquisitions. So, as many above pointed out, all Roman Catholics are Christians but not all Christians are Roman Catholics. The splits in the church occur because of differences in theology. It obviously takes a lot of differences to create so many denominations.Thus completes my short probably errant summary of the Christian Church. I believe that I have accomplished my goal of showing my lack of knowledge without being rude....
Show More