38,000?!?!

[Satt]

According to wikipedia, there are at least 38,000 christian denominations around the world. Why? Why did "God" allow his "Word" to be so open to this many interpretations?

 

[Hakan101]

Hm, I recall Hentenza, the moderator, having once posted a response about this. Apparently the study used to determine this was not done properly. I'll see if I can find their post.

EDIT: Here, this is his post. Might be worth sending him a PM asking more about this.

http://www.christianforums.com/t7611431-2/#post59130637

 

[hedrick]

The only way to get a number like that is to count as denominations individual churches or small groups of churches that aren't really denominations.

But please remember that denominational boundaries don't necessarily represent significant differences in faith. Some are due to history (e.g. when immigrants came to the US they brought their churches, which might have been similar in faith but differed just in language). But many Protestants don't see a single large church as a goal. Indeed there's a concern that large organizations tend to become bureaucracies with a leadership that's too isolated from ordinary members. There are enough examples of this to provide some support. Hence for many of us the goal is really for churches to respect each other and work together.

In general churches fall into families that follow a common tradition, such as Lutheran, Reformed, etc. But even among those there's a fair amount of mutual respect. E.g. Lutherans and Reformed these days see themselves as representatives of a common Reformation heritage. In addition to separation by families there are also differences between liberal and conservative, which I think are in many ways more important than the traditional boundaries. In some cases that particular distinction occurs even within a single denomination. That is, there are liberal and conservative wings of many of the larger denominations.

 

[drich0150]

According to wikipedia, there are at least 38,000 christian denominations around the world. Why? Why did "God" allow his "Word" to be so open to this many interpretations?

This was taken from the same thread as mentioned above.:

First understand that what Christ and subsequently the apostles did was not to establish another rule based religion. In Christ there is freedom to be found. Freedom from the Law as a way to try and obtain righteousness. This freedom not only provides forgiveness for sin it also provides 'forgiveness' for those who do not worship, as others do. The corner stone of faith has shifted from the hundreds of different points of the Moral Social and ceremonial law to just two points. Love Your Lord God with all of your Heart, Mind, Spirit, and Strength, and Love your neighbor as your self.
This means because we are all different this complete form of love will look different.(Apparently 34,000 kinds of different)

This means, A man who is strong in academic worship could not worship God effectively in a charismatic setting, and vise versa. The command switched from worship Me a certain way, to worship Me with every fiber of your being. For this to be possible "we" must have the freedom to express what love is to us.

 

[ebia]

According to wikipedia, there are at least 38,000 christian denominations around the world. Why? Why did "God" allow his "Word" to be so open to this many interpretations?

Because not all questions have simple black-and-white, easily understood answers. Well, not truthful one's anyway.

 

[Satt]

This was taken from the same thread as mentioned above.:

First understand that what Christ and subsequently the apostles did was not to establish another rule based religion. In Christ there is freedom to be found. Freedom from the Law as a way to try and obtain righteousness. This freedom not only provides forgiveness for sin it also provides 'forgiveness' for those who do not worship, as others do. The corner stone of faith has shifted from the hundreds of different points of the Moral Social and ceremonial law to just two points. Love Your Lord God with all of your Heart, Mind, Spirit, and Strength, and Love your neighbor as your self.
This means because we are all different this complete form of love will look different.(Apparently 34,000 kinds of different)

This means, A man who is strong in academic worship could not worship God effectively in a charismatic setting, and vise versa. The command switched from worship Me a certain way, to worship Me with every fiber of your being. For this to be possible "we" must have the freedom to express what love is to us.

Thank. That was helpful.

 

[Satt]

Because not all questions have simple black-and-white, easily understood answers. Well, not truthful one's anyway.

That was kind of my point, that God left the bible up to too many possible interpretations. Why couldn't it be simple?

 

[drich0150]

That was kind of my point, that God left the bible up to too many possible interpretations. Why couldn't it be simple?

It is as simple or complex as your heart wants to make it. That's what true freedom looks like. If God wanted Christianity to be one religious practice like with Judaism He would have given us a one time complete set of laws as with the Jews. But rather look at how the NT is structured. Even from the very beginning their were several different expressions of the church.

The people of Rome worshiped differently and had different practices than the people at Corinth, and the Galatians had different ideas and subsequently different focal points than either of the other two. Paul's followers evidently worshiped differently than the other Apostles.. In the end though we all worshiped the same Christ, to the limits that our abilities will allow.

 

[razeontherock]

Why did "God" allow his "Word" to be so open to this many interpretations?

I trust others have already reduced the ridiculous # to something that more closely reflects reality?

The question I snipped out here is a good one:

I put it that God "gives us enough rope to hang ourselves with." He lets us pretend we're so smart, and figure out any ol thing we feel like. And watches while we do it. His patience won't tolerate that forever, but He set His clock at 130 years. Some manage to force Him to shorten His fuse - see Nebuchadnezzar as an example. (Who repented and returned to his senses)

This is a learning process. I do believe G-d can use the various distinctions within denominations to not only reach people, but to bring them along. No, I'm not suggesting a formal hierarchy per se, since the needs are individualized.

 

[ViaCrucis]

That was kind of my point, that God left the bible up to too many possible interpretations. Why couldn't it be simple?

Well, for one thing, the Bible isn't the be-all or end-all of our Christian faith. Christ called twelve apostles, calling them His Church, and He sent them out to proclaim His Gospel and kingdom and so communities of Christians were established.

The problem is manifold,

For one, the Church isn't infallible.
Second, Christians, both clergy and laity, can be very stubborn.
Thirdly, sometimes crap happens and schisms arise.
Fourthly, sometimes individuals believe they have immaculately received the "true" meaning and set out to establish new churches in opposition to the parent church.

The Church, while not infallible and often in need of reform and correction from within, is still essential to the Christian life. The Christian does not exist in a vacuum with the Bible, but as a member of a dynamic community of Faithful which we call the Church in which the Bible is read, discussed and meditated upon.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[ebia]

That was kind of my point, that God left the bible up to too many possible interpretations. Why couldn't it be simple?

Because the question doesn't have a simple answer.

 

[hedrick]

That was kind of my point, that God left the bible up to too many possible interpretations. Why couldn't it be simple?

One interesting question is this: If God felt that Scripture was the right way to communicate, does this tell us anything about him or his will?

I think it does. I think it tells us that doctrine and precise legal standards aren't as important to him as they often have been to the Church. The Bible isn't a good document on which to base these things. It's much better suited to helping people develop the right motivations and to come to know God.