In its early days, the Church of God was described as a ______.

• A. Movement
• B. Denomination
• C. Sect
• D. Cult

Answer: (A)

The key idea here is that its early character was revival-driven and flexible rather than formally organized from the start. The Church of God grew out of the holiness revival movement, spreading through camp meetings and itinerant preaching, with a focus on restoring early Christian practice and holy living. This describes a living, dynamic movement—loosely connected churches united by shared experience and goals—rather than a rigid, established structure. As it grew, it developed more formal forms, but at the outset the essence was a revivalist movement.

The other descriptors don’t fit as well. A denomination implies a settled, centralized organization with clear governance and creeds from the beginning; a sect suggests a break from a parent body with exclusive claims; a cult has heavy control and often manipulative leadership. None of these capture the initial, fluid, revivalist spread that defined the Church of God in its early days.