Handbook of Denominations in the United States, 8th edition

by Frank S. Mead, Samuel S. Hill

More than 200 religious groups in the United States Introductory A "walking tour" through the religion pages of the newspaper Headquarters of denominations Glossary

Genres: Reference, Religion, Theology, Christianity, Nonfiction, Christian, Church History

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1847

About the author

Frank S. Mead was a renowned authority on the historic and contemporary church. He served as editor of the Christian Herald, was a consulting editor for several large publishing houses, and wrote articles for the Christian Century, Christian Herald, and Reader's Digest.

Reviews

[Pastor Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is used mostly as reference material. Folks keep a copy on hand to look up a particular denomination. Some use this as a guide for deciding what denominational church they might want to attend when moving or visiting a new area. But whatever the case, most who buy this put it next to the dictionaries, encyclopedias and other reference material.

Not me! I enjoyed reading this like a devotional. Every day, I read a new entry. It's fascinating for the wonks who are interested in religious history and current events. Did you know there are Seventh Day Baptists who have church on Saturday? Have you seen the number of splinter groups who claim to be the true "Catholic Church" (when that term, "Catholic," means "universal", and all believers belong to THAT church, but that's another matter).

One of the most interesting things is to see how many denominations (some are CULTS) that begon for the state purpose of bringing unity. Just thank about that. In order to bring "unity" these modern day versions of Diotrephes start ANOTHER denominations. That not only doesn't result in unity, it increases the division! For example, the Nazarene and Churches of Christ in Christian Union remain separate although there isn't a dimes worth of difference between them. At some point, a group of people noticed this and instead of working toward bringing the two into union... they got the big idea to start the Christian Union denomination and actually expected that Nazarenes and CCCU members would just jump on board and there would just be one denomation left: the Christian Union.

WRONG! The result was that instead of two there are now THREE denominations. And that story is repeated over and over. (See the "Cooperative Baptist Fellowship" for a more recent example.)

This book tells you the original founder(s), what motivated them, what is the history, what are the doctrinal or practical distinctives, etc. Very worthwhile to own and read this handbook.

NOTE: This is the 13th edition, I read in 2011. There is now a 14 edition (May 15, 2018) that I will be purchasing and reading soon.

[CD · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have a couple of 'editions' of this in the library. A handy guide to the pantheon of religious sects and groups ranging from those with handfuls of members to those with members and adherents in every nook and cranny of the country.

The brief, but detailed descriptions will guide the inquisitive user to realize that not all " fill in the blank " adherents are the same. In fact, as has always been the case, religious denomination have flavors and sects that in many cases are related in name only, or in centuries old common roots.

Student, journalist, U.S. historian, or watcher of popular culture may find this a handy reference to have access to, if not own.

[Jeffrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

The bill of goods that I was sold by the (two) Christian denominations I have belonged to was that what they embraced was simply what the Bible taught. 'If you read the Bible and believe what the Bible says, you will see that is what we teach.' My experience has belied that. And then, I have seen in the _Handbook of Denominations_ that every Christian denomination has its own set of articles of faith (they are delineated in the book) which is a condition of membership--a member is not at liberty to have freedom of conscience in interpretation on these articles.

The one notable exception to the article of faith model is that of the Unitarian Universalists; but then the UU organization does not claim to be Christian.

I highly recommend this book as an eye opener that pulls back the curtain on the fundamental underlying similarity of belief by decree (rather than individual faith of individuals) of Christian denominations.

[Reginald · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a marvelous RE-READ.....I can remember reading this book more that 25 years ago. The Library's Reference Department had to keep it under lock and key. This is an excellent reference book for most Church Libraries, mostly because it can open One's understanding concerning how to approach or compel someone, based on their own religious background, regardless of what how or what you are currently thinking or believing as true. The book cover a lot of detailed historical information about origins, breakouts, divided thoughts (divisions), etc. An interesting read for those who may be interested.

[Brenton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A compact helpful guide.

[William Reid · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderfully Comprehensive Reference

An incredible and remarkably complete, extremely well organized reference that vappears unbiased in its effort to provide the reader of or scholar with information.

[Vannessa Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Handbook of Denominations In the United States is a dictionary defining the major Christian denominations. It describes denomination as “merely a self-conscious religious organization that includes but is greater than a local community of faith of which Judaism and Islam is not included.” And, “Many newer communities of faith avoid the word ‘denomination’ because it is associated with national corporations.” A couple of things I found interesting are:
1) Judaism, Christianity and Islam trace their history back to Abraham.
2) All who submitted to the rules to righteousness given to Abraham were the true children of Abraham and were Muslims.

The Handbook is a great read for all but probably only students of philosophy, religion, logic, sociologists, mental health specialists, archeologists, etc., will truly appreciate the information within.

[Rex Libris · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the title says, this book is a directory listing all of the denominations found in the United States. In each listing it gives history of the denomination and summary of their creeds and beliefs. While it is a bi of dry reading if read from end to end like I did, it is still highly informative.

[J-T · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lohfink, in Does God Need the Church?, compares the proliferation of churches and denominations to the prodigality of creation: an overabundance of stars, an excess of species. This book is not just a great reference but a fun read.

[Rheta Thola · Rating 3 out of 5]

it provides a lot of history of how the denominations started, and then how they got to the US and what influence they have had in American culture (or vice versa). The best section was on Native American Christianity.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great! Unbias presentation of the major WESTERN religious denominations. I have this edition and I just got the 13th edition with a gift card. A MUST FOR ANYONE INTERESTED IN RELIGION OR WHAT BELIEVERS REALLY BELIEVE in all the different places of worship.

[Scott Cox · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an extremely helpful guide and overview of the myriad of religious denominations found in the United States. This book began being published in 1951, and has been updated almost annually, an amazing indicator of the rapid growth of various North American sects and cults.

[Danny Bennett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting to get a synopsis on various denominations. It's also a little depressing to read how Christians are so divided, particularly for prideful or ridiculous reasons. Read the whole thing, but might come back to reference it if necessary.

[Cws]

280

[Robbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

very good book, one of my favorites.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

very good reference, lots of history

[Erik]

Listed by Patrick Madrid in the Reading Plan of Search and Rescue in Phase 2 (Intermediate).

[Barry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very handy when researching the various strains of Christianity in the US.

[Kate Davis · Rating 2 out of 5]

A useful starting point, but definitely will want to check out denomination's individual resources for more explained beliefs and practices.

[Barbara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Useful easy to reference descriptions of the religious landscape.

[Themis Papaioannou · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very good book for anyone who studies the various Denominations. It is very well written. The best on the subject that I have read until today.

[Tom Henderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good reference book. Sticks to the facts about each religion and denomination without arguing the merits.

[Kady · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting.

[Taryn Cleaves · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great resource to keep on your shelf

[Michael Grady · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent! There is nothing else out there that even comes close to trying to identify, classify and differentiate the various denominations of Christian churches in the US.