Christenism

Christenists
Christenistas
Classification	Amendant
Orientation	Missionarist
Theology	Christenist
Polity	Presbyterian
Branched from	Orthodoxy Church of Ebrary
Separations	Companions
Other name(s)	Ebrarian Baptists

Christenism is a Missionarist Amendant branch of Christianity and one of the largest branches of Amendantism, distinguished by christening and baptizing professing Christian believers only (as opposed to infant baptism). Christenists take the name of a saint or Biblical figure as a second "Christian" name when they are baptized, and place a great degree of importance on this choice and the act of baptism.

Christenists broke away from the Ebrarian Church and Orthodox doctine during the Amendant Reformation as one of the groups in the Missionarist branch of Amendantism. They subscribe to the doctrines of prima scriptura, sola fide, and presbyterian church government. Christenists recognize four sacraments: baptism, christening, chrismation, and the Eucharist.

Theology

Two Christenist ministers wearing traditional vestments

Trinity and Christology

Christenists, like most Christians, are trinitarians who have a monotheistic view of God. God is triune but also one; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Trinity is composed of three distinct persons with one essence. They believe Christ is both fully God and fully human, and that he is the foretold Messiah of the Jews.

Biblical authority and canon

Christenists are adherents of the doctrine of prima scriptura, where the Bible is considered the primary or first authority concerning divine revelation. Christenists also believe that Holy tradition, the Holy Spirit, and reason may be appealed to as secondary sources of knowledge from God. However, they tend to reject charismatic gifts.

The Christenist canon is inherited from the Orthodox canon, being identical to that held by the various Orthodox churches.

Justification and salvation

Christenists, like most Amendants, adhere to the doctrine of justification by faith alone and salvation by grace alone. They also believe that the act of baptism is a necessary component of salvation. Christenists adhere to the belief of eternal security, or that someone cannot lose their salvation once they have received it.

Furthermore, Christenists identify with the idea of a covenant of grace, whereby those who have faith in God are granted eternal life by Him. They believe this has been the primary way God has interacted with humanity since the Fall of Man through the Old and New Testaments and into the current day. The Mosaic coventant is interpreted to be part of this coventant, rather than separate from the coventant of grace.

Predestination

The Christenists adhere to predestination, believing that whether or not a person will recieve salvation has already been predetermined by God.

Sacraments

Christenists believe in four sacraments of baptism, christening, chrismation, and the Eucharist. The movement does not believe that infants should be baptized or christened, and only a person of sufficient age and maturity to accept Christ may be baptized and christened. Christening, chrismation, and baptism are distinct sacraments in Christenist theology, although all three take place concurrently. Christenists elevated christening (taking a Christian name) to the level of a sacrament, and take a distinct name by which they are known in the church and believe they will be called in Heaven.

Christenists see the Eucharist as having the real spiritual presence of Christ.

Stance on icons

The Christenist movement has a moderate stance on icons in line with the majority of the Amendant movement such as the Parishists. Christenists believe that religious artwork depicting Christ and other Biblical figures is acceptable to be displayed in church, but that this art should not become the object of adoration or worship. Many Christenist churches contain ornate depictions of Biblical scenes in stained glass windows, statuary, and paintings.

Major denominations

Christenist Union of Ebrary

The Christenist Union of Ebrary (Ebrarese: Union Christenist de Ebraria; UCE) is the largest Christenist denomination in Ebrary and the second largest single religious denomination in Ebrary. It has its origins in the original Christenist movement, being descended from the original body of Christenists in Ebrary, although there have been several absorptions of smaller Christenist groups and also one major split with the congregations of the United Christenist Church.

UCE organization

Being presbyterian in church structure, the UCE does not have bishops but rather is governed by presbyters (ministers and elders). Each individual congregation is led by a Church Council which is answerable to a regional presbytery known as a Classis. In turn, each Classis is answerable to the All Ebrary Assembly which meets annually. Generally each Classis has a home church or cathedral (although strictly speaking only churches with an episcopal polity have cathedrals) which is the symbolic headquarters of the region. The entire UCE designates the Church of St. John the Baptist (Urtedo) as the first church of the denomination, having a special place in Christenism.

United Christenist Church

The United Christenist Church is the second-largest Christenist denomination in Ebrary. This groups split from the Christenist Union of Ebrary in 1855 over the issue of complete immersion. The United Christenist Church believes that baptism must include being completely immersed in water, while the Christenist Union of Ebrary does not require this.