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Religion & Philosophy +1 more

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A journey through Christianity's major denominations—from the Great Split to Protestants, tracing how one faith fractured into a sprawling family tree.

1 hr 6 min readReading time
18Sections
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Chapters

18 total
  1. 01The Great Split
  2. 02Chapter One - The Bible Before the Bible
  3. 03Chapter Two - The Early Church
  4. 04Chapter Three - Catholicism - The Original Franchise
  5. 05Chapter Four - Eastern Orthodoxy - The Great Divorce
  6. 06Chapter Five - Protestants - Martin Luther Lights the Fuse
  7. 07Chapter Six - Anglicans - When Divorce Becomes Doctrine
  8. 08Chapter Seven - Episcopalians - Anglican, But Make It American
  9. 09Chapter Eight - Lutherans - The OG Protestants
  10. 10Chapter Nine - Presbyterians - Calvin’s Chosen Few
  11. 11Chapter Ten - Baptists - You Must Be Born Again (and Dipped)
  12. 12Chapter Eleven - Methodists - Holy Spirit, But With Order
  13. 13Chapter Twelve - Pentecostals - Tongues, Fire, and Dancing
  14. 14Chapter Thirteen - Jehovah’s Witnesses - Apocalypse Always Pending
  15. 15Chapter Fourteen - Mormons - The Sequel No One Saw Coming
  16. 16Chapter Fifteen - Seventh-day Adventists - Saturday Is the New Sunday
  17. 17Chapter Sixteen - Non-Denom - “Just Me and My Bible”
  18. 18Chapter Seventeen - 40,000 Ways to Be Right
Edition notes and short pages
Dedications, notices, acknowledgments, author notes, and short passages from this book.

Branches

Branches
A Journey Through the Christian Family Tree

by James Johnson

Dedication

To the ones who asked questions they weren’t supposed to.

And to the ones who stayed anyway.

You kept the spark alive.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS


THANKS TO EVERY curious mind who ever wondered why so many churches
say the same prayers in different buildings.

Thanks to the pastors, professors, and pew-sitters who passed on the stories, even the messy ones.

Thanks to the friends and readers who kept me honest.

And thanks to the God who may still be whispering
beneath all the noise.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR


JJ IS A writer, researcher, and quiet observer of loud ideas.
He grew up around churches, questions, and enough theological whiplash to build this book from muscle memory.
He doesn’t claim to have the answers. Only the roadmap, the footnotes, and the deep conviction that asking better questions is a kind of faith too.

COPYRIGHT


© 2025 JAMES JOHNSON All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means — electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise — without the prior written permission of the author, except for brief quotations used in reviews or scholarly work.

This book is for educational and informational purposes only.
It does not represent the views of any church, denomination, or religious institution.
All descriptions of beliefs and practices are based on publicly available information, historical records, and documented theological positions presented with as much fairness and clarity as possible.