The Christian Church in Italy was founded by a group of Founding Brothers who prefer to call themselves Saints or followers of Christ. All believers of CCI seek perfectly to follow Jesus Christ’s footsteps in a process of continuous sanctification. The "Founding brothers" of Christian Church in Italy after 40 years have considered it necessary to split from the Assemblies of God in Italy for purely doctrinal reasons. The doctrinal question, in fact, has forced CCI's Founders to carefully readdress its roots. Formerly associated with Assemblies of God in Italy, the Church was connected to what is known as the Pentecostal revival of 1900, now, being an Independent Organization on national territory, it relates to the experience of the oldest Biblical Unitarian movement of the 1500s.
Doctrinal Matter
The Founding Brothers of CCI, studying the Word of God and praying, have come to their own conclusion: "it is always right, for every Christian movement, to evaluate all tradition handed down from past generations in the light of the truth expressed in the Bible." In this context, the doctrine of the Trinity has been and CCI came to the doctrinal truth that God is One and there are not three distinct Persons in the One God. On this point, however, the Christian Church in Italy chooses to have peaceful and ordered dialogue with other Christians without wanting to dogmatize as to their own experience of faith and theology.
The Christian Church in Italy has significant similarities with the Biblical Unitarian movement, although it maintains a cautious position on some doctrinal points. Wilbur wrote about this: "The religious movement whose history we are endeavoring to trace...became fully developed in thought and polity in only four countries, one after another, namely Poland, Transylvania, England and America. But in each of these it showed, along with certain individual characteristics, a general spirit, a common point of view, and a doctrinal pattern that tempt one to regard them as all outgrowths of a single movement which passed from one to another; for nothing could be more natural than to presume that these common features implied a common ancestry. Yet such is not the fact, for in each of these four lands the movement, instead of having originated elsewhere, and been translated only after attaining mature growth, appears to have sprung independently and directly from its own native roots, and to have been influenced by other and similar movements only after it had already developed an independent life and character of its own.". From the analysis of documents that you can find on the official site of the CCI, it is clear that the doctrinal position of this Christian confession of faith is therefore akin to the so-called Biblical Unitarian movement and on the other hand, far from that of Unitarian Universalist Association who, although they have the same origin in 1500 AD, through the centuries, have suffered the influence of many non-biblical ideas. The Christian Church in Italy believes that God is only One Person in direct contrast with the doctrine of the Trinity which defines God as Three coexisting Persons in one Substance, merged into one being. So CCI adheres to strict monotheism by believing that Jesus was a perfect and holy man, virginally begotten in Mary, the promised Christ, the Son of God and that, as the glorified man, now is at the righthand of God praying for the whole Church. The movement the Christian Church in Italy was inspired from, rejects other doctrines taught for centuries, including the soteriological doctrines of original sin and predestination. The CCI for its peculiarity has no common trait with other religious movements which exalt Jesus as the only true God, as for example the Oneness Pentecostalism, the United Pentecostal Church International and the True Jesus Church.
Doctrine
The Christian Church in Italy defines its doctrinal features as follows: There are some more specified doctrinal points : The following quotes are from their website------
The function of worship
Each community associated with the Christian Church in Italy maintains administrative and organizational autonomy. In general, the CCI’s members worship God with: The preaching of the word of God has an important place. The conduct of each community is entrusted to a senior pastor who is assisted by a group of elders. Administrative Affairs are managed by a Council of the Church chosen by the community itself. The most glaring differences from the traditional Evangelical churches are:
Traditions and customs
The churches associated with the Christian Church in Italy do not observe: Do not observe even the other liturgical feasts of the Roman Catholic Church:
