Doctrines
The doctrines Anakalypsis tracks across Christian traditions: 48 doctrinal positions from Trinitarian orthodoxy to disputed practical questions, each with tradition-by-tradition stances and scriptural basis. 14 are contested between the 31 U.S. denominations we index.
Chips read ✓affirm·✗deny·~wrestle out of 31 U.S. denominations.
Apostolic Succession
Ministerial authority is handed down from the apostles through ordained succession.
Ecclesiology
Assumption of Mary
Mary was taken bodily into heavenly glory.
Mariology
Immaculate Conception
Mary was preserved from original sin.
Mariology
Perpetual Virginity of Mary
Mary remained a virgin before, during, and after Christ's birth.
Mariology
Believer's Baptism
Baptism should be administered to professing believers.
Sacramental Theology
Infant Baptism
Baptism may be administered to infants of believers or within the Church.
Sacramental Theology
Real Presence
Christ is truly present in the Eucharist.
Sacramental Theology
Transubstantiation
The substance of bread and wine becomes the body and blood of Christ.
Sacramental Theology
Imago Dei
Human beings are made in the image of God.
Anthropology
Hypostatic Union
Christ is one person in two natures, divine and human.
Christology
Messianic Identity of Jesus
Jesus is the promised Messiah.
Christology
The Divinity of Christ
Jesus Christ is fully divine.
Christology
The Humanity of Christ
Jesus Christ is fully human.
Christology
New Covenant
God establishes a new covenant through Christ.
Covenant Theology
The Church
God gathers a people in Christ as the Church.
Ecclesiology
Final Judgment
God will judge the living and the dead.
Eschatology
New Heavens and New Earth
God will renew creation.
Eschatology
Resurrection of the Dead
The dead will be raised.
Eschatology
Original Sin
Humanity inherits a fallen condition from Adam.
Hamartiology
Theotokos
Mary is rightly called God-bearer because the one she bore is truly God.
Mariology
Personhood of the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is a person, not merely a force.
Pneumatology
Authority of Scripture
Scripture is authoritative for faith and practice.
Revelation and Scripture
Inspiration of Scripture
Scripture is inspired by God.
Revelation and Scripture
Atonement
Christ's work reconciles sinners to God.
Soteriology
Justification
God declares sinners righteous through Christ.
Soteriology
Justification by Faith
Justification is received by faith.
Soteriology
Resurrection of Christ
Jesus rose bodily from the dead.
Soteriology
Sanctification
Believers are progressively made holy.
Soteriology
Divine Unity
There is only one God.
Trinity
Full Deity of the Son
The Son is fully divine.
Trinity
Full Deity of the Spirit
The Holy Spirit is fully divine.
Trinity
Personal Distinction of Divine Persons
The Father, Son, and Spirit are personally distinct.
Trinity
The Trinity
God is one in essence and three in persons.
Trinity
Angels as Created Spirits
Angels are created spiritual beings.
Angelology
Age of the earth and Genesis 1
How Genesis 1 is to be read — as literal 24-hour days (young-earth creationism, common among confessional Baptist + Reformed circles), as long-age periods (day-age, old-earth creationism), as literary framework, or as theistic-evolution-compatible. All views except naturalistic evolution are within Christian orthodoxy. "Affirms" = young-earth creationism (consistent with the most literal historic reading); "denies" = old-earth, theistic evolution, or framework-only views. Look for "literal six-day creation", "Answers in Genesis" alignment vs. "BioLogos", "old-earth creationism", "evolutionary creation".
Bibliology
Capital punishment
Whether civil government may execute murderers (Genesis 9:6, Romans 13:4). Traditional view: the state bears the sword and capital punishment is a legitimate civil sanction for grave crimes. Catholic teaching has narrowed in recent decades (Evangelium Vitae, then more sharply under Francis) to a near-prohibition; many mainline Protestants oppose it. Evangelical and Reformed Protestants are typically permissive. "Affirms" = traditional permissive view; "denies" = abolitionist view. Look for explicit church statements on the death penalty.
Bioethics
Sanctity of unborn human life
The doctrine that the unborn child is a human person from conception, made in the image of God, and that intentional abortion is therefore the taking of innocent human life. This is the position of the historic church from the Didache (1st century) through Augustine, the Catholic Magisterium, and most evangelical and Orthodox bodies. Some mainline Protestant denominations have softened or reversed this position. Look for "pro-life", "sanctity of life", or by contrast "reproductive rights", "reproductive justice", "right to choose" as signals.
Bioethics
Pacifism vs. just-war
Whether Christians may participate in war / state violence at all (pacifist tradition: Anabaptists, Quakers, some Mennonites) or whether Christians may serve in armed forces under just-war criteria (Augustine, Aquinas, mainstream Catholic + Protestant). "Affirms" = the just-war / mainstream historic position; "denies" = the pacifist / nonresistance position. Look for "peace church", "nonresistance", "conscientious objection" for pacifism, vs. "just war", "military chaplaincy" for the mainstream position.
Christian Ethics
Preincarnate Appearances of Christ
Certain Old Testament appearances of God are appearances of the preincarnate Son.
Christology
Covenant with Abraham
God established a covenant with Abraham and his seed.
Covenant Theology
Women in pastoral / ordained office
Whether women may serve in the pastoral / ordained office with teaching and governing authority over the gathered congregation. Both complementarian (restricting the office to qualified men based on 1 Timothy 2:12, 1 Corinthians 14:34) and egalitarian (affirming women in all roles based on Galatians 3:28) positions exist within historic Trinitarian Christianity. "Affirms" here = the traditional complementarian view that the pastoral office is restricted; "denies" = the egalitarian view that women may serve. Look for "women pastors / elders / priests", "egalitarian", or by contrast "complementarian", "biblical manhood and womanhood" as signals.
Ecclesiology
Clarity of Scripture
Scripture is sufficiently clear in its essential teachings.
Revelation and Scripture
Biological sex as male or female
Whether human beings are created male or female as a given biological reality (Genesis 1:27, Matthew 19:4) — the historic view across all major Christian traditions. Some affirming churches now recognize transgender identities, "gender-affirming care", and the use of preferred pronouns reflecting departure from biological sex. "Affirms" = the historic view; "denies" = an affirming position on transgender identity. Look for "transgender", "trans-affirming", "non-binary inclusive", "preferred pronouns" as departure signals, vs. "biblical anthropology", "image of God as male and female" as historic-view signals.
Sexual Ethics
Homosexual practice and biblical sexual ethics
Whether homosexual sexual practice is within or outside what Scripture permits. The historic Christian view (held continuously across Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant bodies until late 20th century, grounded in Romans 1, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, Leviticus, and the broader biblical sexual ethic) is that homosexual acts are outside biblical sexual ethics. Distinguish carefully between the church's posture toward persons (always loved, made in God's image) and the church's teaching on the acts. Look for "open and affirming", "we celebrate LGBTQ+ relationships", "reconciling" as signals of departure from the historic position.
Sexual Ethics
Marriage as one man and one woman
The doctrine that marriage is the lifelong covenant union of one man and one woman, as established in Genesis 2:24 and reaffirmed by Christ in Matthew 19. This is the position held continuously across Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and historic Protestant traditions. Some bodies (UCC, TEC, ELCA, PCUSA, post-split UMC) have departed since the 2000s and now recognize same-sex marriages. Look for phrases like "open and affirming", "reconciling congregation", explicit wedding policies, or "all couples welcome" as signals of departure from the historic position.
Sexual Ethics
Permissibility of divorce and remarriage
Whether divorce is permitted, and on what grounds, and whether remarriage is permitted while a former spouse lives. Christ teaches restrictively on this (Matt 5:31-32, 19:3-9; Mark 10:2-12). Catholic and Orthodox traditions are most restrictive (annulments only / pastoral economy). Most Protestant traditions allow divorce on grounds of adultery or desertion. Some mainline / evangelical churches have become broadly permissive. "Affirms" = restrictive historic view (only adultery + desertion, lifelong covenant); "denies" = broadly permissive. Look for "biblical grounds for divorce", "covenant marriage" vs. no teaching + permissive remarriage practice.
Sexual Ethics
Sexual abstinence outside marriage
Whether sexual activity belongs exclusively within the covenant of marriage (chastity outside, faithfulness within), per the consistent biblical sexual ethic (1 Thess 4:3, Hebrews 13:4, 1 Cor 6:18-20). The historic position of every major Christian tradition. Some churches have become permissive about premarital sex / cohabitation. "Affirms" = the historic view that sex belongs in marriage; "denies" = a permissive position. Look for explicit teaching on chastity, "sex within marriage", "purity" vs. de facto silence + welcoming language toward cohabiting couples.
Sexual Ethics
Prosperity gospel teaching
Whether material prosperity and physical health are the promised inheritance of faith ("name it and claim it", "Word of Faith", "seed-faith giving"). Prosperity teaching is widely rejected as a distortion by Reformed, Lutheran, Catholic, Orthodox, confessional Anglican, and most evangelical bodies, but is prevalent in some Pentecostal / charismatic and televangelist circles. "Affirms" = the historic rejection of prosperity teaching; "denies" = a church that teaches prosperity. Look for "seed faith", "100-fold return", "your best life now" framing as denying signals, vs. teaching on suffering, cross-bearing, and contentment.
Soteriology