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The Complete Guide to Christian Denominations: Understanding the History, Beliefs, and Differences | 
 enlarge | Author: Ron Rhodes
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers
Category: Book
List Price: $14.99
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Rating:  12 reviews
Sales Rank: 64940
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 400
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.9
ISBN: 0736912894
Dewey Decimal Number: 280.4
EAN: 9780736912891
ASIN: 0736912894
Publication Date: January 1, 2005
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Product Description
Ron Rhodes has compiled his extensive research into a handy, easy–to–use manual that will provide readers with accurate, straightforward answers to their questions about various churches. In just minutes, anyone can easily find important information about a denomination, including... - a brief history
- their most important doctrinal beliefs
- distinctive elements of their teaching and worship
Visually appealing charts highlight doctrinal differences. Membership statistics show denomination sizes and growth. A bibliography and a listing of websites give readers resources for more information. Whether they are looking for a new church or the opportunity to fellowship with believers from different traditions, readers will be much better prepared with this thorough and user–friendly guide.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...
 This was a disappointment December 9, 2008
I found this book to be a disappointment. I was taken aback by the author's decision to summarily exclude some groups because he felt they were insufficiently Christian for inclusion and by his decision to interlace his descriptions of the various denominations he covers with his opinion of the "right answers" in terms of their doctrinal positions.
I would recommend the purchase of the most recent edition of Mead's Handbook of Denominations in the United States over this book. It is broader in scope and relates the views of the various groups without the partisan commentary.
 This Book Is On Target.. November 17, 2008
This book was never intended to be a Theology lesson on every church out there. It is a well organized topically given exercise of who the Christian Churches are. Frome whom were they spawned? What are their beliefs based on Historical and Creedal Precedents (statements) and that's all it is meant to accomplish. Perhaps if Mr. Rhodes wishes to make use of some literary criticism whereby some here have chosen to pass on him and maybe in his next version of this book he may choose to give a broader depiction with a better Prologue and Commentary area. But a book about Denominations is just that. A book that tells us as factually as can be sought out through preserved data of who, what and where these churches have come from and what do they believe. No reason for a scholarly lesson on "is this church' teachings this or that and why or why not" is needed! That is not this book's intent. It is not a Theology instructional manual of The Churches. Period!
This Book is not worth buying November 10, 2006
15 out of 17 found this review helpful
As a student of Church History and Denominations, and as an author and teacher on the same subject, I honestly have to say the "Complete Guide to Christian Denominatins..." is NOT anywhere near being a complete "guide". In review of this book, and three others on the same topic (which includes my own yet to be published book) - Rhodes book has the least amount of information (only 105 denominations, compared to 179 in the National Council of Churches book, 193 in The Handbook of Denominations (Frank Mead/Samuel Hill) and 227 on my book (Guide to Denominations - Robert Stearns).
Further - many of the denominations are mis-identified as to the family they belong to, and the Churches of God (Reformation Theology group of churches) totally omitted. Very limited in statistics. The interesting feature, however, was the lay out and the quick reference "bullets".
Robert H Stearns, Reviewer
 Matthew 16:18 August 28, 2006
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
As Christ told His apostles in Matthew 16:18 the gates of hell would never prevail against His church and of course it hasn't! Ron Rhodes does an excellent job in giving the history of the church and how it grew from a universal catholic church (catholic with a small c), to the Reformation, to today's denominations.
The one thing that strikes me in reading Dr. Rhode's book is that all branches of Christianity agree on the essentials of the faith. Yes, they are disagreements on the non-essentials (the reason for all the denominations), but in essentials we have unity.
One distinctive characteristic of the book is that Mr. Rhodes only includes true Christian denominations. You will notice that he excludes the likes of Oneness Pentecostals, Mormons, and Jehovah's Witnesses. In other books on Christian denominations you will see these cultic groups included.
One critique I have of the book is that Mr. Rhodes seems to present the pre-mill dispensational rapture view as if it were the one true view. You will notice how he lists this view several times and lets it stand alone, as compared to placing it alongside other views in a chart (e.g. partial preterism, or progressive dispensationalism, which are never even mentioned in his book).
Overall though this is a must book for those who love the history of the church!
Patrick Foss
Pretty good place to start July 25, 2006
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
I found this book to be interesting in many parts, but fairly redundant and often too vague to be as helpful as it could be.
The church history is interesting, and it is valuable to realize where all of the Christian denominations fit in the family tree. I also felt it is structured as a nice reference, so one could easily find a specific denomination.
However, after a while, all of the theology started to seem to be the same--rather than highlighting the differences, he regurgitates the statements of each denomination in slightly different words for each one. Rather than reiterating the slightly different verbiage for each denomination regarding each major point, it woudl have been helpful to have a basic template with such things as inerrancy of scripture, belief in the Trinity, belief in the human and divine natures of Christ etc--and then have Yes/No or comments on how a specific denomination differs in one particular area. A chart comparing denominations would have been helpfu.
I also found it frustrating that not much was said about worship style or structure of church services. While the cover of the book talks about it being handy for someone looking for a new church (or something like that), some things like liturgical worship style (yes/no, or shades of grey) or style of prayer (formal, thees and thous--or informal, "we just"...), or type of music (traditional hymns, organ music vs contemporary worship). Only a few churches who were considered very unique--ie, all singing a capella--were described in detail.
I did find the "fast facts" interesting, although not always handily placed--definitions of 'millenial' beliefs were way after the first mention. And the comparision between Armenian and Calvinistic beliefs was interesting, but left out other perspectives which are neither of the 2.
All in all, this is a decent book, a decent place to start learning about different denominations. I do wish it had more meat to it, and less redundency; more structure and focus on comparison/contrast and less regurgitation of what ever is on the church website.
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