Why are there even denominations to begin with?

ViaCrucis said:

In the 5th century AD there were two major schisms within the Christian Church.

The first occurred as a consequence of the Nestorian Controversy.

Nestorius was the bishop of Constantinople. The short version here is that Nestorius taught that Jesus' Divinity and humanity were to be regarded as in some sense separate. Nestorius, famously, took issue with calling Mary "Theotokos", a Greek word which translates to "birth-giver of God"; Nestorius insisted that Mary should only be called "Christotokos" or "birth-giver of Christ". What many took issue with was that Nestorius was saying was that the Divine Person of God the Son, and the man Jesus Christ, were to be regarded as in some way different: Nestorius argued that the Divine Person of the God the Son was united to the human Jesus. This was seen as a denial of the unity of Jesus' person. That Jesus, in His Person, is Himself God the Son.

There are lingering questions about to what degree Nestorius actually believed in what would come to be called "Nestorianism"; however his own statements leave open the very real possibility that Nestorius was, at least partly, what would later be called Nestorian. This resulted in a Council in 431 held at Ephesus which concluded with the condemnation of Nestorius and his teachings.

The broad consequence is that this also led to the condemnation of theologians who were influential on Nestorius, most famously Theodore Mopsuesta. This became an issue because Theodore was massively influential for the Persian Church based out of Edessa; as such this resulted in a large schism. The Church of the East, also known as the Assyrian Church, is sometimes called the Nestorian Church--while not so much interested in Nestorius, the influence of Theodore of Mopsuesta, and Babbai the Great one of Theodore's students, led to a break between the Church of the East and the "Western" Church--the "Western" Church adopted the Council of Ephesus, while the Church of the East rejects the Council of Ephesus.

That, right there, was the first formal break in the unity of the Christian Church.

And this has happened, in different ways, over the centuries.

In the 16th century a German monk and priest named Martin Luther posted a list of formal arguments against what he saw as abuses concerning the sales of indulgences which was happening in Saxony (part of the Holy Roman Empire). Luther wasn't interested in breaking from the [Roman] Catholic Church, he actually wanted to defend the Catholic Church against abuses, as such he dedicated his 95 Theses against the sales of indulgences to the Pope. This, however, led, ultimately, to Luther's condemnation through a Papal Bull which pronounced him a heretic; as such Luther--and those who agreed with his religious reforms--to being regarded as a schismatic group. This resulted in the start of the Protestant Reformation. Luther's reform movement inspired several other reform movements, with varying degrees of opposition to formal Catholic teaching and practice at the time. Leading to the Reform tradition which included Ulrich Zwingli, John Calvin, and John Knox (e.g. the Swiss and Dutch Reformed Churches, and the Scottish Presbyterians); the diverse Anabaptist groups which resulted in the Mennonites and later Amish. In the same century, basically unrelated to what was happening in continental Europe, King Henry VIII of England decided to cut ties with the Pope and declare the English Church independent of Rome, resulting in the Anglican tradition (which, in the US, includes the Episcopal Church).

In the 17th and 18th centuries new religious movements arose. In Great Britain those who wanted to purify the English Church of what they saw as things which were "too Catholic" resulted in groups of Puritans (English Reformed, i.e. Calvinists) and Separatists. Various non-Conformist religious movements arose, such as the Baptists and the Quakers.

John Wesley, an Anglican minister, is largely single-handedly responsible for the American Methodist movement. And, less explicitly the entire Wesleyan tradition which in the 19th century resulted in the Holiness Movement (e.g. the Church of the Nazarene) and then later the Pentecostal movement (e.g. the Assemblies of God, the Church of the Foursquare Gospel).

It's impossible to talk about denominations without talking about history.

In the 20th century some Evangelical Protestants have tried to do "non-denominational" Christianity--which are effectively independent congregations which, nevertheless, follow the theological traditions laid down in the Second Great Awakening and the Neo-Evangelical movement. Non-denominational churches are, still, basically just denominations.

The only way to be a Christian and not be part of a denomination, or theological tradition, or specific historic communion would be to build a time machine. If you live in the 21st century, then being a Christian means being a Christian in a specific type of way.

Click to expand...

Confused-by-christianity said:

I'll take a guess. (it really is a guess. I have no idea).

In the old days it was just catholicism. You relied on them to tell you the way and you just believed in.

Then, someone said you dont need them, you can cut them out and figure it out yourself. You can get your information from the bible, by reading it yourself.

The bible and your interpretation of what you were reading became the super authority.

Only thing is, everyone reads it and thinks it means different things.

Click to expand...