>>24024369there are many denominations, so i'll try to go in loose historic order with nobody "first", as naturally all claim to be that (but honestly, you're probably better off asking an AI)
>gnosticshold to the dead sea scroll teachings, such as the physical world being made by satan, while god in heaven and jesus are still good. reject the crucifixion. it's basically hermeticism from a christian point of view.
>orthodoxhold that the patriarchs are equals in authority and the early church councils (the ones that compiled the bible, the appostle's creed, rejected gnosticism, etc)
>catholichold that the patriarch of rome (the pope) has authority over the other bishops. also that the holy spirit proceed from the father and the son (filioque)
>protestantthis is where it gets much complicated. they hold to the teachings of martin luther, that salvation is by faith alone (placing an emphasis on that we're all sinners, and so living a pious life, thus receiving sanctifying grace, is not important). also bible alone, rejecting the catholic-orthodox hierarchy, and establishing their own.
honorary mentions:
>sataniststhey do not consider themselves christians, but do affirm the christian worldview, except they think the devil is the good guy in the story, as he "liberates" people from god's rules.
>muslimsthey allege to affirm the christian scriptures, but deny the divinity of jesus and his resurrection. they also have their own prophet and scripture. in terms of authority, there's the sunni (most) and shia (basically just iran), the split comes from who should be the ruler after mohamed. i wouldn't say their theology is that much different in practice.
>mormonsalso have their own prophet and scripture, but do claim to be christian. basically teach that jesus went to america and have their own authority structure.
