Origin and Usage of The Term
The term "mainstream Christian" in academic usage is not equivalent to "mainline Protestant" and is often used as an attempt to find non-loaded sociological vocabulary in distinguishing "orthodoxy" and "heresy." Hence in christological and doctrinal reference "mainstream Christianity" is often equivalent to "Trinitarianism." In Britain and Australia the term "mainline Protestant" is not used, and "mainstream" does not mean "liberal" Protestant.
The term "Mainline Protestant" was coined during debates between modernists and fundamentalists in the 1920s. Several sources claim that the term is derived from the Philadelphia Main Line, a group of affluent inner suburbs of Philadelphia that were settled along the Pennsylvania Railroad Main Line, and that most residents of these suburbs belonged to mainline denominations, though this may be a folk etymology. Today, most mainline Protestants remain rooted in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States. Charles H. Lippy (2006) defines the term as follows: "the term "mainline Protestant" is used along with "mainstream Protestant" and "oldline Protestant" to categorize denominations that are affiliated with the National Council of Churches and have deep historic roots in and long-standing influence on American society."
Read more about this topic: Mainline Protestant
Famous quotes containing the words origin, usage and/or term:
“Each structure and institution here was so primitive that you could at once refer it to its source; but our buildings commonly suggest neither their origin nor their purpose.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Girls who put out are tramps. Girls who don’t are ladies. This is, however, a rather archaic usage of the word. Should one of you boys happen upon a girl who doesn’t put out, do not jump to the conclusion that you have found a lady. What you have probably found is a lesbian.”
—Fran Lebowitz (b. 1951)
“Punks in their silly leather jackets are a cliché. I have never liked the term and have never discussed it. I just got on with it and got out of it when it became a competition.”
—John Lydon (formerly Johnny Rotten)