[muawiyah]

Try other sites. There is no single authority for either broad group you know. Some particular subgroups have modern origins, but the theological tradition claims a far more ancient lineage.

Still, you don't believe any of them do you? Frankly, I have my own doubts about the Rome business.

[Remole]

If I may jump in: OF COURSE a Christian community, whether Mennonite or Baptist or Presbyterian, will claim a lineage to the theological tradition of the beginnings of the Christian community in 30 A.D. No Christian community, not even one tied firmly to a great hero like Martin Luther, would be so foolish as to state that their movement BEGAN in 1517! In fact, in my readings in current books in Theology and Biblical Study, I am struck by the number of books dealing with the theological-social-economic-political conditions of the first few generations of Christians; and these books are written not by Catholics but by people opposed to the the Roman traditions, namely, Evangelicals and Fundamentalists. To them I echo what someone on this forum said: there is no way to go back there, to 30 AD. Even what we read in Gospels and Acts is shot through with theological convictions. The real question is: what community has--and has demonstrated--the authority to provide the genuine interpretation of the Christian Tradition in keeping with God's will?