The Church of God had its beginning in _____.

• A. 1865
• B. 1886
• C. 1901
• D. 1890

Answer: (B)

The moment this denomination first took shape was in the mid-1880s, when holiness revivalism led believers to form a distinct fellowship under the Church of God name. Back then a small group organized conferences, published their own materials, and began to operate as a separate church body, marking the birth of the Church of God in 1886. The other dates don’t line up with that foundational moment—the civil-war era year and the turn-of-the-century years reflect later developments or unrelated milestones, not the founding event. So 1886 is the year historians and the church itself typically cite as its beginning.