Compare
Reformed and Presbyterian ChurchesandPentecostalism
At a glance
- Common groundIn full: Common ground
- Common inheritanceBoth stand in the Protestant tradition, which grew from the 16th-century Reformation of the Western church, either directly or through later revival and free-church movements.
Source
- Christianity: The First Three Thousand YearsIdentified, not independently read
Provisional: broadly supported, but awaiting fuller checking.
- Scripture and authorityScripture as the supreme authority for faith and life
- Common inheritanceBoth stand in the Protestant tradition, which grew from the 16th-century Reformation of the Western church, either directly or through later revival and free-church movements.
- What distinguishes themIn full: What distinguishes them
- Sacraments and ordinancesReformed and Presbyterian ChurchesTwo sacraments ordained by Christ: Baptism and the Lord's Supper; Christ received after a heavenly and spiritual manner, by faith; Infants are baptisedPentecostalismBaptism and the Lord's Supper as ordinances; A symbolic memorial of Christ's death; Baptism follows a personal confession of faith
Below: 2 topics where teaching varies.
- How their histories connectIn full: How their histories connect
- Common ancestry, no direct separation · Both lines lead back to the Western church under Rome; they did not separate from each other.Reformed and Presbyterian Churches took shape in the Reformation of the Western church under Rome (1519–1560); Pentecostalism has roots in the Wesleyan-Holiness movement of the Methodist tradition (1901–1906), which grew out of a revival within the Church of England (1730s–1795), which took shape in the Reformation of the Western church under Rome (1534–1559).
- Connected today?In full: their relationship today
Not yet researched
The Atlas has not yet researched their present relationship. This is a gap, not evidence either way.
Composed from each tradition’s sourced records. Where a topic is not yet recorded for one side, the Atlas says so rather than guess.
Structured comparison. Composed from each tradition’s sourced position records. No research has yet been written for this particular pair, so the Atlas shows only what those records establish.
Where they differ
Sacraments and ordinances
How the rites are understood and counted
- Reformed and Presbyterian Churches
- Two sacraments ordained by Christ: Baptism and the Lord's Supper
- Pentecostalism
- Baptism and the Lord's Supper as ordinances
Christ's presence in the Eucharist or Lord's Supper
- Reformed and Presbyterian Churches
- Christ received after a heavenly and spiritual manner, by faith
- Pentecostalism
- A symbolic memorial of Christ's death
Who is baptised
- Reformed and Presbyterian Churches
- Infants are baptised
- Pentecostalism
- Baptism follows a personal confession of faith
Where teaching varies within a tradition (2)
God
Doctrine of God
- Reformed and Presbyterian Churches
- One God in three persons: Father, Son and Holy SpiritWestminster Confession (Presbyterian standard); Continental Reformed churches use the Heidelberg Catechism and other confessions.
- Pentecostalism
- One God in three persons: Father, Son and Holy SpiritOneness Pentecostal churches reject the doctrine of the Trinity, so this is not a position of the whole movement.
Salvation and grace
Characteristic emphasis
- Reformed and Presbyterian Churches
- Justification by grace, for Christ's sake, through faith and not by works; God's sovereign election (predestination)Westminster Confession. Not all Reformed churches hold 'double predestination'.
- Pentecostalism
- Baptism in the Holy Spirit after conversion, with speaking in tongues as its initial signNot all Pentecostal churches teach tongues as the necessary initial evidence.
Not yet comparable (4)
No sourced position is recorded for one side, so the Atlas does not say whether they agree:
- Christ (christ's divinity): not recorded for Pentecostalism
- Christ (how christ's divinity and humanity are expressed): not recorded for Pentecostalism
- Creeds and councils (councils received): not recorded for Pentecostalism
- Church and ministry (church government): not recorded for Pentecostalism
How their histories relate
The Atlas has no researched record of a direct historical relationship between these two. Not every pair of traditions experienced a schism or union with each other. Each took shape in its own way:
Their relationship today
Not yet researched
The Atlas has no researched record of the present relationship between these two. That is a gap in the research, not evidence of any particular relationship.
Developments towards reconciliation
No documented agreement or formal dialogue between these traditions is recorded in the Atlas.
Explore further
Reformed and Presbyterian Churches
All citations link to the Atlas’s single source register.