Yup... but the Protest, ants and Luther elicited their reasons for that "first" (major) division since the universal church was created.
I'd say the 'first major division' was the schism between the Greek East and the Latin West.
Then the CoE was created basically to allow a what was considered immoral (endless circles of divorce and marriage by a "divine" royalty.
Well Henry was not so fond of the Reformers, hence his religion was 'Anglo-Catholicism' rather than Protestantism. The significant change was, as you say, his desire to get an annulment of his first marriage.
Henry had to get Rome to legitimise his marriage to Catherine, as there was a biblical prohibition against marrying a brother’s widow. Then, having got Rome to validate the marriage, he wanted Rome to invalidate it ...
...a dozen varieties of Christianity ran to our Europe's various colonies and a number of various religions and beliefs (Islam, Judaism, Hinduism and more) as well as the nons, deists, African and indigenous beliefs were all here before 1776...and yeah from that over the past 250 years those divided and multiplied.
And some!
According to wiki, how many Christian denominations there are vary depending on the definition used. When grouped by major theological traditions and distinct ecclesiastical families, the number is categorized into six main taxonomical groups:
- Catholicism (including the Latin Church and Eastern Catholic Churches)
- Protestantism (including Lutheranism, Calvinism/Reformed, Anglicanism, Anabaptism, Baptists, Methodists, and Pentecostals)
- Eastern Orthodoxy
- Oriental Orthodoxy
- Church of the East
- Restorationism (including nontrinitarian groups like Latter Day Saints and Jehovah's Witnesses)
Within these broad branches, there are roughly
200 to 500 distinct denominational families or major sects recognized globally,
while the
United States alone is estimated to have between
200 and 438 denominational groups.
It is my understanding in Judaism there has always been debate, there have always been liberal and conservative voices, there were various thought allowed in religious circles...but as one temple attracted one group labels and divisions became identified.
Well again it depends on where one wants to draw lines ... there has always been debate within Catholicism between liberal and conservative voices.
I expect that is similar to all thought and the real thing that caused it wasn't those dang Americans or material economic or marketing moves by us ugly Americans but simply a mater of time....the past 250 years the changes have been accelerated worldwide. (Maybe almost as dramatic as the first 500 years CE)
I think the proliferation within the US is disproportionate compared to the rest of the world. That, and that many of them began life as commercial enterprises ...
Unity has recently merged into a single entity. Mark Hicks of TruthUnity has voiced a concern that treating a religious movement like a brand-led media corporation makes its vulnerable to shifting political and cultural winds. Likewise he has voiced concerns that Unity is losing Fillmore's foundational metaphysics and becoming increasingly secularised with its drift into generalised New Age teaching.
Hence my comments about a more anodyne messaging to attract a broader audience.
