Home›Core Tenets›Subject›Religious authority and successionBrowse ByReligious authority and successionThis page groups beliefs by what they are actually about. Wikipedia notes that "to believe something is to take it to be true; for instance, to believe that snow is white is comparable to accepting the truth of the proposition 'snow is white.'" Browsing by subject lets a visitor find every belief built around the same underlying topic.FactsLearn MoreReligious authority and successionSourcesComments (0)Reader Challenges (0)FactsOverviewWhat Defines This GroupingWell-attestedThe central affirmations of a tradition, stated one at a time. What counts as a core tenet is set by each tradition, and traditions differ over whether assent to stated propositions is what makes a member: creedal Christianity and Islam draw such lists explicitly, while Judaism, Hinduism and most Indigenous traditions do not. 2StatusStanding as a Comparative CategoryWell-attestedUsed, but its validity as a comparative category is disputed 3DirectoryCategoryWell-attestedBeliefs & Restrictions 1ComparisonPrimary Academic DisciplineWell-attestedComparative Religion 4Learn MoreThe core tenets This group gathers the core tenets of the traditions, the central affirmations and defining beliefs that stand at the heart of a religion or worldview, the doctrines a tradition holds as essential to its identity. It is the largest belief grouping in the atlas. The browser will find the core tenets the atlas gathers from across the traditions. The entries describe each belief in its own terms, distinguishing what a tradition affirms of itself from the historical and comparative perspective of scholarship.Religious authority and successionFilter Results46 entriesStatus Within the TraditionAllA minority position within the tradition (1)Affirmed, but left to individual conscience (1)Binding, without a formal definition (24)Defined and binding within this tradition (5)Formally condemned by this tradition (1)Genuinely disputed within the tradition (1)Rejected, or not held, within this tradition (11)Standard teaching, not formally defined (13)The mainstream position, not formally binding (2)Origin Period Start YearAll142 (1)325 (3)632 (1)800 (1)1648 (1)1740 (1)1854 (1)1870 (1)1885 (1)1889 (1)Affirmation OfAllHalakha (2)Imamate (1)Ordination of Women (1)Papal primacy and infallibility (1)Primacy of Honor Among Orthodox Churches (1)Category of BeliefAllCore Tenets (21)TraditionAllAfrican Methodist Episcopal Church (4)African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church (4)Ahmadiyya (1)Alawites (1)Alevism (2)Alexandrian Wicca (1)Amish (1)Anabaptism (1)Anglican Communion (3)Anglicanism (3)Armenian Apostolic Church (5)Assyrian Church of the East (5)Baptist (1)Beta Israel (1)Breslov Hasidism (3)Calvinism (Reformed) (2)Chabad-Lubavitch (2)Christian Methodist Episcopal Church (4)Church of Cyprus (5)Church of England (4)Church of God (Anderson, Indiana) (1)Church of Greece (5)Church of Ireland (4)Church of Scotland (3)Church of Sweden (3)Church of the Nazarene (2)Churches of Christ (2)Community of Christ (1)Conservative Judaism (1)Coptic Orthodoxy (5)Disciples of Christ (3)Dragon Gate (1)Dutch Reformed Church (2)Eastern Orthodoxy (5)Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (5)Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church (5)Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (5)Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (2)Free Methodist Church (4)Gardnerian Wicca (1)Gelug (1)Georgian Orthodox Church (5)Global Methodist Church (4)Greek Orthodox Church (5)Haredi Judaism (1)Hasidic Judaism (1)Humanistic Judaism (1)Ibadism (1)Ismailism (2)Jodo Shinshu (1)Jonang (1)Kagyu (1)Karma Kagyu (2)Kharijites (1)Latter-day Saints (Mormonism) (1)Lutheranism (1)Maronite Church (5)Mennonites (1)Methodism (3)Modern Orthodox Judaism (1)Moravian Church (2)National Baptist Convention of America (1)Nichiren Shoshu (1)Nyingma (1)Old Believers (4)Oriental Orthodoxy (5)Orthodox Judaism (1)Presbyterianism (2)Progressive National Baptist Convention (1)Quranism (1)Reform Judaism (1)Roman Catholicism (4)Romanian Orthodox Church (5)Russian Orthodox Church (5)Sakya (1)Salafism (1)Serbian Orthodox Church (5)Shia (Twelver) (2)Soka Gakkai (1)Sunni (3)The Episcopal Church (4)The United Methodist Church (4)Tibetan Buddhism (1)Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (5)Ukrainian Orthodox Church (5)Vajrayana (1)Wahhabism (1)Wesleyan Church (3)Zaidiyyah (2)Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) (1)ObligationAllObligatory (16)Obligatory on those who meet its conditions (1)Optional and voluntary (1)Undertaken only with authorisation or transmission (1)Show ResultsBrowseCompareSelect all 46A lay movement without a priesthoodReligious authority and successionA male-only ordained ministryReligious authority and successionA married clergy and no monastic ruleReligious authority and successionA Married Parish Priesthood With Celibate BishopsReligious authority and successionAbd al-Qadir al-Jilani Is the Supreme Helper Among the SaintsReligious authority and successionAuthority of the four Sunni schools of jurisprudenceReligious authority and successionAutocephaly and Conciliar Governance Without a Universal PrimateReligious authority and successionCongregational church governanceReligious authority and successionConnexionalismReligious authority and successionDevotion to a Rebbe and mystical joyReligious authority and successionEcumenical Councils Continue and Are Confirmed by the PopeReligious authority and successionEpiscopal church governanceReligious authority and successionEvery Believer Must Follow a Living Jurist in Matters of LawReligious authority and successionHalakha is binding and authoritativeReligious authority and successionHalakha is binding but evolves through scholarshipReligious authority and successionIjma: The Consensus of the Scholars Is BindingReligious authority and successionIndividual autonomy in observanceReligious authority and successionInitiatory lineage and three degreesReligious authority and successionLeadership by the most qualified elected imamReligious authority and successionLineage of the Celestial MastersReligious authority and successionMirza Ghulam Ahmad as the promised Messiah and MahdiReligious authority and successionNichiren as the True Buddha of the Latter DayReligious authority and successionOrdination Descends Through a Codified Monastic Precept LineageReligious authority and successionPapal primacy and infallibilityReligious authority and successionPresbyterian church governanceReligious authority and successionReligious Guidance Passes Through Hereditary Holy LineagesReligious authority and successionRestoration of the New Testament churchReligious authority and successionRulings Are Taken From the Texts Directly, Not From a School of LawReligious authority and successionScholarly Consensus Carries No Authority Over the BelieverReligious authority and successionSubscription to a confession of faithReligious authority and successionThe Chain of Transmission Runs Through Abu BakrReligious authority and successionThe Chain of Transmission Runs Through AliReligious authority and successionThe Clergy Are Kessoch, Priests Rather Than RabbisReligious authority and successionThe guru as the root of the pathReligious authority and successionThe historic episcopateReligious authority and successionThe Imam must rise and rule as a qualified descendant of AliReligious authority and successionThe Imamate (divinely appointed succession through Ali)Religious authority and successionThe Karmapa line as the first recognized succession of reincarnate teachersReligious authority and successionThe living Imam as present guideReligious authority and successionThe Movement Appoints No Successor and Has No Living RebbeReligious authority and successionThe Order's Litany Was Received From the Prophet in Waking VisionReligious authority and successionThe ordination of womenReligious authority and successionThe Rightly Guided CaliphateReligious authority and successionThe Seven Ecumenical Councils as the Complete Dogmatic DepositReligious authority and successionThe Three Ecumenical Councils as the Complete Dogmatic DepositReligious authority and successionThe Two Ecumenical Councils as the Complete Dogmatic DepositReligious authority and successionSources1. Divinity Atlas Directory Taxonomy, First Edition Category Treetier 12. Encyclopedia of Religiontier 1Mircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.), Macmillan Reference, 2005View the Source3. Belief, Language, and Experiencetier 1Rodney Needham, Basil Blackwell, 19724. Wikipedia: Comparative religiontier 2WikipediaComparative religion, opening definitionQuote, Comparative religion, opening definitionComparative religion is the branch of religious studies that systematically compares the doctrines, practices, themes and impacts (including migration) of the worlds religions.View the SourceDivinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptionstier 1Comments (0)No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.Sign in to join the discussion.Reader Challenges (0)No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.