Isn't Non-denominational Christianity self-contradictory?

SPF

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I was talking about that with a friend (she got mad). I mean they claim they want to be just like the Church of the New Testament when most of them have their own theology that set them apart from other form of Christianity (even among themselves), specially the Apostolic Churches.
I think your understanding of why churches are non-denominational is misunderstood. It's not primarily about theology as it is Church structure.

Denominational churches have a hierarchy and people they answer to. If you were at a church that was part of a denomination and let's say you wanted to enact church discipline upon a member. With a lot of denominations, you would actually need to go to the denomination and have someone from outside your local body come, hear the case, etc etc.. before any action could be taken.

Non-denominational churches are free from any said structure. This can be good and it can be bad. If the issue were primarily about theology, then most non-denominational churches could find a denomination that their statement of beliefs more than likely would fit.
 
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NeedyFollower

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I was talking about that with a friend (she got mad). I mean they claim they want to be just like the Church of the New Testament when most of them have their own theology that set them apart from other form of Christianity (even among themselves), specially the Apostolic Churches.
Well yes this is a big problem for both the visible body of christ as it appears to the world and new christians ..I can understand the desire to recognize the fact that there are no true denominations in the body of christ . But the non denominational groups which I have visited do typically seem big on praise and worship ( A praise leader ...bands ( worship ) and a relaxed atmosphere . Theologically though they are typically protestant I believe . This is difficult for me personally because by definition by "choosing a denomination " , I am making a statement in a way ..( We got it right . ) I did have to choose a selection on CF and I chose Anabaptist because of my pacifist views and my views on separation of church and state , supporting the military , etc. ..That general group ( and THEY also have denominations and many splits ) is most in line with my beliefs . What I tend to believe is that many people just stick with what is comfortable and familiar ..personally , I believe too much is made about " worship " as if what kind of music is important to God or what we do for an hour or two a week really matters verses the lives we lead all week ..it seems a bit unwise to me . Paul said , you who compare yourselves among yourselves are not wise but of course we all by default do that ..May God help us ...I am by no means an ecumenacalist but would hold that there are lambs of God in different stages of growth in many " gathering houses " . Non Denomination is fine but the question is " Do they belong to Christ " every day or is to a " worship " preference ?
 
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Silly Uncle Wayne

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WHAT denonination did the Apostle Paul belong to?

Shouldnt we all belong to *that* denomination??
Most of us do. They were known as the Gentiles and they had a slightly different theology from the other denomination: the Jewish Christians
 
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Theo Book

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It sounds good, but it is not really true. The Latin from which denomination or denominator derives is the name of groups: a classification of those groups. In coinage it refers to different coin types.

So denominator is just a category of fraction (halves, quarters etc.) strictly speaking you multiply the numerator (eg. three) and denominator (eg. quarters) to get three quarters or 0.75).

At least the originators of "Denominations" understood it to be so. It references those who "DIVIDED" the Church.
 
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Theo Book

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WHAT denonination did the Apostle Paul belong to?

Shouldnt we all belong to *that* denomination??

I would say "What "denomination" did Jesus found and die for?
Shouldn't we all belong to THAT denomination, which is not a denomination.
 
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Silly Uncle Wayne

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At least the originators of "Denominations" understood it to be so. It references those who "DIVIDED" the Church.
Those who divided the church are those that refuse to accept any but their own brand of Christianity is correct.

Denominations are just a means of categorising different groups along similar grounds.
 
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chad kincham

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I was talking about that with a friend (she got mad). I mean they claim they want to be just like the Church of the New Testament when most of them have their own theology that set them apart from other form of Christianity (even among themselves), specially the Apostolic Churches.
I have seen no first century style churches around. In the NT, churches were communal, says scripture. They sold all they had and pooled their resources, and lived together. They had communion weekly, but they first ate a common meal together, then had communion. There no liturgy in the original church, which BTW was at Jerusalem, which was the preeminent church from circa 33 AD to 70 AD when it was destroyed by Rome. Historians sat they met together, read from scripture, then sang some hymns, ate a meal together, then had communion.
 
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Not David

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I have seen no first century style churches around. In the NT, churches were communal, says scripture. They sold all they had and pooled their resources, and lived together. They had communion weekly, but they first ate a common meal together, then had communion. There no liturgy in the original church, which BTW was at Jerusalem, which was the preeminent church from circa 33 AD to 70 AD when it was destroyed by Rome. Historians sat they met together, read from scripture, then sang some hymns, ate a meal together, then had communion.
What do you mean they had no liturgy? Do you know that Jews at the time of Christ had a liturgy service?
 
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chad kincham

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True, I’ve maintained the argument that ‘bible only’ is also a misnomer due to the fact its impossible for human beings to read, hear, comprehend, decipher information and especially clarify religious doctrines and practices without preimposed paradigms. That’s why I shared the phrase ‘nuda scriptura’ distinguishing it from ‘sola scriptura’ which readily embraces this fact.


I don't know where you came up with your theory, given every doctrine we need is in the bible, and given that scripture itself says its for doctrines, reproof, correction (of wrong doctrine) and instruction in righteousness, given that we are told to study to show ourselves approved into God by rightly dividing the word of truth, given that Jesus said to study the scriptures, and corrected wrong doctrine by saying, you do err, not knowing the scripture, and given that the Bereans were called noble for not taking Pauls word for it, but searched the scriptures, to see if it be so,
I'll take the Bible for my doctrine, thank you very much.
 
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Not David

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I don't know where you came up with your theory, given every doctrine we need is in the bible, and given that scripture itself says its for doctrines, reproof, correction (of wrong doctrine) and instruction in righteousness, given that we are told to study to show ourselves approved into God by rightly dividing the word of truth, given that Jesus said to study the scriptures, and corrected wrong doctrine by saying, you do err, not knowing the scripture, and given that the Bereans were called noble for not taking Pauls word for it, but searched the scriptures, to see if it be so,
I'll take the Bible for my doctrine, thank you very much.
The "Scriptures" were the Old Testament. The Bible wasn't put together until 300 A.D.
 
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chad kincham

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What do you mean they had no liturgy? Do you know that Jews at the time of Christ had a liturgy service?

From, the History of The Christian Church, pay special attention to section 3, "there is no trace of a uniform and exclusive liturgy, that would have been inconsistent with the vitality and liberty of the early apostolic churches".

The several parts of public worship in the time of the apostles were as follows:

1. The Preaching of the gospel. This appears in the first period mostly in the form of a missionary address to the unconverted; that is, a simple, living presentation of the main facts of the life of Jesus, with practical exhortation to repentance and conversion. Christ crucified and risen was the luminous center, whence a sanctifying light was shed on all the relations of life. Gushing forth from a full heart, this preaching went to the heart; and springing from an inward life, it kindled life — a new, divine life — in the susceptible hearers. It was revival preaching in the purest sense. Of this primitive Christian testimony several examples from Peter and Paul are preserved in the Acts of the Apostles.

The Epistles also may be regarded in the wider sense as sermons, addressed, however, to believers, and designed to nourish the Christian life already planted.

2. The Reading of portions of the Old Testament, with practical exposition and application; transferred from the Jewish synagogue into the Christian church. (Comp. Act 13:15; Act 15:21) To these were added in due time lessons from the New Testament; that is, from the canonical Gospels and the apostolic Epistles, most of which were addressed to whole congregations and originally intended for public use. (1Th 5:27; Col 4:16) After the death of the apostles their writings became doubly important to the church, as a substitute for their oral instruction and exhortation, and were much more used in worship than the Old Testament.

3. Prayer, in its various forms of petition, intercession, and thanksgiving. This descended likewise from Judaism, and in fact belongs essentially even to all heathen religions; but now it began to be offered in childlike confidence to a reconciled Father in the name of Jesus, and for all classes and conditions, even for enemies and persecutors. The first Christians accompanied every important act of their public and private life with this holy rite, and Paul exhorts his readers to “pray without ceasing.” On solemn occasions they joined fasting with prayer, as a help to devotion, though it is nowhere directly enjoined in the New Testament. (Comp. Mat 9:15; Act 13:3; Act 14:23; 1Co 7:5) They prayed freely from the heart, as they were moved by the Spirit, according to special needs and circumstances. We have an example in the fourth chapter of Acts. There is no trace of a uniform and exclusive liturgy; it would be inconsistent with the vitality and liberty of the apostolic churches. At the same time the frequent use of psalms and short forms of devotion, as the Lord’s Prayer, may be inferred with certainty from the Jewish custom, from the Lord’s direction respecting his model prayer, from the strong sense of fellowship among the first Christians, and finally from the liturgical spirit of the ancient church, which could not have so generally prevailed both in the East and the West without some apostolic and post-apostolic precedent. The oldest forms are the eucharistic prayers of the Didache, and the petition for rulers in the first Epistle of Clement, which contrasts most beautifully with the cruel hostility of Nero and Domitian.

4. The Song, a form of prayer, in the festive dress of poetry and the elevated language of inspiration, raising the congregation to the highest pitch of devotion, and giving it a part in the heavenly harmonies of the saints. This passed immediately, with the psalms of the Old Testament, those inexhaustible treasures of spiritual experience, edification, and comfort, from the temple and the synagogue into the Christian church. The Lord himself inaugurated psalmody into the new covenant at the institution of the holy Supper, (Comp. Mat 26:30; Mar 14:26) and Paul expressly enjoined the singing of “psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,” as a means of social edification. (Eph 5:19; Col 3:16) But to this precious inheritance from the past, whose full value was now for the first time understood in the light of the New Testament revelation, the church, in the enthusiasm of her first love, added original, specifically Christian psalms, hymns, doxologies, and benedictions, which afforded the richest material for Sacred poetry and music in succeeding centuries; the song of the heavenly hosts, for example, at the birth of the Saviour; the “Nunc dimittis” of Simeon; (Luk 2:29) the “Magnificat” of the Virgin Mary; (Luk 1:46 sqq.) the “Benedictus” of Zacharias; (Luk 1:68) the thanksgiving of Peter after his miraculous deliverance; (Act 4:24-30. Comp. Psa 2:1-12) the speaking with tongues in the apostolic churches, which, whether song or prayer, was always in the elevated language of enthusiasm; the fragments of hymns scattered through the Epistles; and the lyrical and liturgical passages, the doxologies and antiphonies of the Apocalypse.

5. Confession of Faith. All the above-mentioned acts of worship are also acts of faith. The first express confession of faith is the testimony of Peter, that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God. The next is the trinitarian baptismal formula. Out of this gradually grew the so-called Apostles’ Creed, which is also trinitarian in structure, but gives the confession of Christ the central and largest place. Though not traceable in its present shape above the fourth century, and found in the second and third in different longer or shorter forms, it is in substance altogether apostolic, and exhibits an incomparable summary of the leading facts in the revelation of the triune God from the creation of the world to the resurrection of the body; and that in a form intelligible to all, and admirably suited for public worship and catechetical use. We shall return to it more fully in the second period.

6. Finally, the administration of the sacraments, or sacred rites instituted by Christ, by which, under appropriate symbols and visible signs, spiritual gifts and invisible grace are represented, sealed, and applied to the worthy participators.

The two sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, the antitypes of circumcision and the passover under the Old Testament, were instituted by Christ as efficacious signs, pledges, and means of the grace of the new covenant. They are related to each other as regeneration and sanctification, or as the beginning and the growth of the Christian life. The other religious rites mentioned in the New Testament, as confirmation and ordination, cannot be ranked in dignity with the sacraments, as they are not commanded by Christ.
 
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Tayla

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Isn't Non-denominational Christianity self-contradictory?
I consider non-denominational churches to be non-denominational denominations. I think they want to be called non-denominational because they think they are better than the denominations. Maybe some are.
 
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