Separated Brethren
by William J. Whalen
Walk down any American main street and count the steeples. Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist, Greek Orthodox, Pentecostal, a storefront church with a hand-painted sign. Who are all these people, what do they believe, and how did they come apart from Rome? William J. Whalen, a Catholic writer who lived from 1926 to 2008, set out to answer exactly that.
Separated Brethren is his reference guide to Protestant, Anglican, Eastern Orthodox and other religious bodies in the United States. It first appeared in 1958 and went through several revisions; the latest, from Our Sunday Visitor in 2002, runs to 287 pages. Whalen takes each body in turn, tells where it came from, lays out what it teaches, and sets that beside Catholic teaching. The title itself is the point: these are baptized brothers and sisters in Christ, divided by belief, not strangers.
It suits inquirers who grew up in another tradition, Catholics with Protestant or Orthodox family, and catechists fielding questions about the church down the road. Read it as a field guide, not a polemic. And remember the date: membership figures and some denominational details have changed since 2002.
Key Takeaways
- Where each denomination came from.
- What it teaches, set beside Catholic teaching.
- Why the Church calls other Christians brethren.
- A handy reference for mixed-faith families.
It explains, from a Catholic point of view, where other Christian bodies came from and what they believe.
