So Many Denominations.

BrotherD

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Hello Brother D nice to see you.

This is something to pray about as JESUS says in the last days there will be many that depart from God's WORD. Who does Gods' WORD say are his people? You can find the answer to your question in a prayerful study of God's WORD asking JESUS to be your guide and teacher.

Even though God's WORD clearly defines who his true people are (Church). I believe God's WORD also teaches God's true people are in EVERY CHURCH. They are all those have not rejected His Word and who are living up to all the KNOWLEDGE that God has revealed to them.

The time is coming and now is however that the true worshippers will worship God in Spirit and in truth according to His Word. God is calling His people out wherever they may be back to the Word of God and out from following the teachings and traditions of men that break the commandments of God.

There is no unity between Churches because unity is only ever found in the truth of God's WORD. Does that mean there is no truth? Of course not. JESUS (the Word) is the truth and we can only find him as we seek him through His Word as He guides us through His Spirit.

May God bless you as you prayerfully seek him through his Word.

Hey LGW.

This is why all the division is mind boggling to me because we left our first love, his word. It shouldn't be this hard to agree but then again this is the last days. I am guessing every denomination has a statement of faith, right? Well i believe God's Word has the perfect verse for a statement of faith.

Matthew 7:21-23
21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

And it should read under it "Don't be like this guy"

Those words is what i fear the most and that is what makes me study God's Word diligently so i can know i am doing exactly what he wants me to do. I know its not up to me but i just want people to love God and follow him because i know you can't go wrong. Men lie, God can't.
 
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chevyontheriver

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This is true, but we can learn from their mistakes. The point i am making is we need to let God's Word be our focal point. He showed us the faults of the early church so we wouldn't repeat those mistakes and somehow we have still gotten worse. As stated in the OP they were likeminded, if we could at least get back to the likeminded stage we can iron out the differences and agree as one.
Maybe the idea that we all just pick up and read our Bibles alone to figure it out is not exactly the right model. Just maybe there is more to it than that. Not wanting to be in-your-face but holding out the possibility that the wrong model, even if close, gives bad results.
 
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thecolorsblend

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True. As you stated also this isn't a new problem, but it is a problem. It really is a simple fix, in my opinion. We have to fall in love with the word of God again. His truth is the only way to correct this situation.
A "love" for the word of God is precisely what created this mess of tens of thousands of denominations.

The fact is that Our Lord founded one visible Church and He prayed that it would always be unified in actual fact rather than the horrible situation we have to deal with today. A huge percentage of Christians thumb their noses at His prayer every single day.
 
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chevyontheriver

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A love for the word of God is precisely what created this mess of tens of thousands of denominations.

The fact is that Our Lord founded one visible Church and He prayed that it would always be unified in actual fact rather than the horrible situation we have to deal with today. A huge percentage of Christians thumb their noses at His prayer every single day.

No. Not a love of the word of God. That is not a wrong love. That is a good and proper love. A love we as Catholics endorse. So much so that you can gain an indulgence just for reading the Bible.

But an expectation that the Bible alone was the answer key for everything doctrinal and liturgical and moral, now that is a flawed understanding. The Bible never was supposed to be that in the first place. So the cure to the ailment of so many contradictory denominations isn't to double down on Bible reading as if therein was the cure. It is to read the Bible in keeping with the Tradition and in keeping with the Community of faith called the Church. It's the three legged stool. Not the one legged stool of Bible alone.

We love the Bible within the environment it was written in and written for, the Church which follows Tradition and speaks with Authority. Within that more Bible is better. Outside of that more Bible means more division.

This will offend some people. Not my intent to offend. Yet there is a way out of the mess, which is to look to the Fathers, to the bishops, and to the Bible, all at the same time. We Catholics should have been extinct many times over, but it does work as we are still here.
 
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GOD Shines Forth!

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It is pointless thinking about going back to the church of Acts. That would mean going back and adopting First Century cultural values, worshiping in Jewish synagogues, and in homes, preaching in market places, being thrown into prison for your faith, prohibiting women having any type of ministry. An example of a First Century church is the Corinthian church. Look at all the problems they had - arguing who was the best leader, doubting the resurrection, misusing prophecy and tongues, having a member committing incest, getting drunk and stuff their faces at the Lord's table. That was what was going on in that First Century church. What about the Galatian churches? Invaded by Judaists teaching Law and circumcision where Paul had to tell them off for being bewitched and deceived. The Thessalonian church - suffering horrible persecution and suffering for their faith. And the seven churches of Asia that Jesus spoke about in Revelation. They all had serious faults, with Jezebel prophetess deceiving people in one, Jesus telling another that they thought they were alive but actually dead; and another one riddled with Nicolatian false doctrine. Also the First Century church was riddled with Gnosticism and Arianism. In other words, it was just as much of a mess as many of our current churches and denominations!

I think we have enough problems in our 21st Century churches to try and sort out before we go back to the First Century and be drowned in their problems and issues!

THIS! Lol, no point in me commenting now.
 
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Andrew77

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Huh? I don't understand could you please explain?

If I can jump in, I think he means that there was no New Testament at that time, to be interpreted.

Most of the denominations that exist, exist because they look at something in the New Testament, typically something that isn't super important, and make it into a critical doctrine.

For example, Paul getting bitten by a snake, and shaking it off into the fire.

Some people look at that as being simply an example of G-d protecting Paul, and how we should believe that G-d will protect us in our lives.

Others look at that as a doctrine that faith is handling snakes and not getting killed by them.

Then that difference in views causes a separation of people into denominations.

It would be impossible for the Church in Acts to have such divisions, because they were living in that time, and Paul was still alive. There was no New Testament bible for them to bicker over, without the author of that Bible alive and with them, to correct. If people interpreted something he said in a strange way, Paul was there to correct the interpretation.

Does that make sense? We have divisions now, because Paul isn't here to smack people around when they make up doctrines that were never intended.

`
 
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GOD Shines Forth!

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Yet there is a way out of the mess, which is to look to the Fathers, to the bishops, and to the Bible, all at the same time.

The "Fathers" and the bishops were not called by Jesus Christ to be an apostle to the Gentiles. That would be Paul. Hmm, wonder where we can find his writings?
 
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Presbyterian Continuist

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If I can jump in, I think he means that there was no New Testament at that time, to be interpreted.

Most of the denominations that exist, exist because they look at something in the New Testament, typically something that isn't super important, and make it into a critical doctrine.

For example, Paul getting bitten by a snake, and shaking it off into the fire.

Some people look at that as being simply an example of G-d protecting Paul, and how we should believe that G-d will protect us in our lives.

Others look at that as a doctrine that faith is handling snakes and not getting killed by them.

Then that difference in views causes a separation of people into denominations.

It would be impossible for the Church in Acts to have such divisions, because they were living in that time, and Paul was still alive. There was no New Testament bible for them to bicker over, without the author of that Bible alive and with them, to correct. If people interpreted something he said in a strange way, Paul was there to correct the interpretation.

Does that make sense? We have divisions now, because Paul isn't here to smack people around when they make up doctrines that were never intended.

`
I think it is a more than just adopting a new doctrine.
Martin Luther was excommunicated from the established church, so he gathered a group of like-minded people around him and it grew into the Lutheran Church.
Henry VIII wanted a marriage unnulled, but the pope wouldn't agree, so Henry gave the pope the bum's rush and took the English Church out from under the pope's authority and became the head of the English church himself. So the Anglican Church was born.
Charles Wesley wanted to remain an Anglican minister, but he got kicked out, so those who agree with him started their own fellowship and that was how the Methodist church came into being.
George Fox was a stirrer and didn't believe in "steeple houses" so he got kicked out and that was the start of the Quakers.
The early Pentecostals got kicked out of their churches, and so the Pentecostal churches sprang up. The Assembly of God initially saw itself as a white church, so the African Americans started their own and called it the Church of God.
When some Baptist and Presybyterian churches became Charismatic, the non-Charismatics left, and so the churches became known as Charismatic churches.
The Presbyterian churches came into being because many reformist ministers of the Anglican church would not agree to the Act of Uniformity which required them to use the official prayer book, so 2000 of them got fired, so they got together in separate fellowships and became Presbyterian.
The Anabaptists were excommunicated from the established churches because they held to adult baptism by immersion, and so it evolved into Baptist churches.

So we see that the word that Jesus gave, that we can't put new wine into old wineskins. What happened was that a group discovered a truth in God's Word that the established church of the time would not accept, and so the established church said forget that or get out! So the group got out. That was how many different denominations came into being.

The problem is that when one denomination maintains it is the only true church and all others are not Christian, then there is conflict. We see this in South American countries where there is one dominant church supported by the political leaders, and so other denominations have churches burned, members persecuted and many killed for their faith. That's what happens when a dominant church allies with the political leaders of a country.

In England during the 17th Century it was a criminal offence to teach that Christians did not have to use the Official book of prayer in church services, and that teaching adult baptism and not infant baptism meant a prison sentence. During the reign of Mary I in England, Christian leaders were burned at the stake because they would not observe the pope as the head of the church.
 
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thecolorsblend

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No. Not a love of the word of God. That is not a wrong love. That is a good and proper love. A love we as Catholics endorse. So much so that you can gain an indulgence just for reading the Bible.

But an expectation that the Bible alone was the answer key for everything doctrinal and liturgical and moral, now that is a flawed understanding. The Bible never was supposed to be that in the first place. So the cure to the ailment of so many contradictory denominations isn't to double down on Bible reading as if therein was the cure. It is to read the Bible in keeping with the Tradition and in keeping with the Community of faith called the Church. It's the three legged stool. Not the one legged stool of Bible alone.

We love the Bible within the environment it was written in and written for, the Church which follows Tradition and speaks with Authority. Within that more Bible is better. Outside of that more Bible means more division.

This will offend some people. Not my intent to offend. Yet there is a way out of the mess, which is to look to the Fathers, to the bishops, and to the Bible, all at the same time. We Catholics should have been extinct many times over, but it does work as we are still here.
Yes, that's probably the better way to phrase it than what I wrote. Yes, the scriptures need to be interpreted in light of Tradition and in submission to the Church's authority.

My point, though, is that this private interpretation business is the cause of all this division.
 
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Maria Billingsley

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As i study God's Word, i can't help but notice that the early church did everything together as one, and where told to be likeminded.

Philippians 2:2 KJV — Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.

Acts 2:44,46
44 And all that believed were together, and had all things in common; 46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart.

Acts 15:25 KJV — It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,

Romans 15:5 KJV — Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus:

Acts 4:32
And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of these things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things in common.

We are pretty much commanded to be of the same mind. Here is what Apostle Paul wrote on the matter.

1 Corithians 1:10-13
10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
11 For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.
12 Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.
13 Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?

Is Christ divided?

Mark 3:24-25
24 And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
25 And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.

The only purpose for these different denominations, to me, is confusion, and scriptures state:

1 Corinthians 14:33 KJV — For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.

I personally long for the way the church operated in the Book of the Acts. The only way that is possible is for everyone to go back to the source, that is the Word of God. Remember:

2 Timothy 3:16 KJV — All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

Isaiah 48:17 KJV — Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go.

With Love, In Christ
I sense most Christians feel the same way you do. Good thing the Church does not dwell in denominations, it resides in the true believer who hears His voice. Those sheep make up the Kingdom of God and walk towards the narrow gate where they will one day meet their King. For now, while we are in our flesh, we are commanded to love and forgive one another regardless of Spiritual maturity. After all ,it is the mature Christian who walks with the Holy Spirit daily spreading the Good News in truth and conviction growing the true Church for the Kingdom of God.
Blessings
 
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Guojing

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The entire book of Acts has one main theme "The Jews as a nation have rejected their Messiah".

The early "church" in Acts 1-4 only had Jews. It is not supposed to be a model of what the current church comprising mostly of Gentiles, are to be.
 
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rockytopva

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The church existed in a Messianic congregation until the Apostle Paul. And it was clear that the congregations were indeed two at this time, the Messianic founded by Saint Peter, and the Gentile church founded by Saint Paul....

7 But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter;
8 (For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles)
9 And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision.
10 Only they would that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to do.
11 But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed.
12 For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision.
13 And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation.
14 But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?
15 We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles,
16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. - Galatians 2

Some Messianics declare themselves "Non-Pauline" in which they have the right to do. I, however, as a Gentile, delight in the writings of the Apostle Paul. I must say, though that the second congregation is different then the other seven....

Messianic - Messianic congregation beginning with Saint Peter
Martyr - Gentile congregation beginning with Saint Paul
Orthodox - The Orthodox church beginning Constantines victory against Rome.
Catholic - The Catholic church beginning with the reign of Charlemagne.
Protestant - The Protestant church beginning with Martin Luther
Wesleyan - The awakened church beginning with John Bunyan
Laodicea - The Charismatic church time, in which the Messianics pull out to reform the first congregation.

I have come to believe in the seven churches as congregations birthed as ages as given in the book of Revelation...

Ephesus - Messianic - Beginning with the Apostle to the Circumcision, Peter
Smyrna - Martyr - Beginning with the Apostle to the Un-Circumcision, Paul
Pergamos - Orthodoxy formed in this time... Pergos is a tower... Needed in the dark ages
Thyatira - Catholicism formed in this time - The spirit of Jezebel is to control and to dominate.
Sardis - Protestantism formed in this time- A sardius is a gem - elegant yet hard and rigid
Philadelphia - Wesleyism formed in this time - To be sanctioned is to acquire it with love.
Laodicea - Charismatic movement formed in this time - Beginning with DL Moody, the first to make money off of ministry

This is not to say the congregations are any certain denomination, but it is to say they came down in time. The first church was Messianic and it existed that way until the Apostle Paul. I believe most churches these days are Laodicean, except for those who have kept their traditions birthed to them in time.

Messianic - I believe the Messianic church was divinely inspired on the day of Pentecost with Saint Peter
Martyr - I believe the early Gentile church was divinely inspired with Saint Paul's conversion
Orthodox - I believe the Orthodox church was divinely inspired with Constantines victory against Rome.
Catholic - I believe the Catholic church was divinely inspired along with the reign of Charlemagne.
Protestant - I believe was divinely inspired with Martin Luther's vision that, "The just shall live by faith."
Wesleyan - Along with other names, I believe began with John Bunyan's, "The Pilgrims Progress"
Laodicea - I believe the Charismatic movement came out of these times. Most people these days could care less about church doctrine.

Seven congregations! Here in the Laodicean church age the Messianics have reformed the first congregation, and I cannot blame them for doing so.

The many denominations came down that way in time. And they all had their virtues as well problems. We are a long way from being likeminded.
 
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timewerx

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That is what makes their unity so amazing. They didn't have the new testament scriptures as we do, and they still had the same mindset and worked through problems as one. We have both the old and new in hand and still find a way to be different.

We repeated the same mistakes of the Pharisees.

The Pharisees misinterpreted the Old Testament scriptures. They thought Jesus is contradicting the Old Testament.

But it was the Pharisees who failed to see the underlying message of the Old Testament, failing to see the big picture of scriptures - they are keen on "cherry-picking" teachings they only want to hear.

Today, we misinterpret both the Old Testament and the New Testament. It proves the prophecy that the majority will be deceived. Deceived by the devil and by worldly desires and miss the context of scriptures entirely.
 
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BABerean2

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True. As you stated also this isn't a new problem, but it is a problem. It really is a simple fix, in my opinion. We have to fall in love with the word of God again. His truth is the only way to correct this situation.

Unless the Church attempts to understand the New Covenant and its relationship to the Old Covenant, it will continue to be divided.

The New Covenant: Bob George

Jer_31:31 "Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—

Mat_26:28 For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

Mar_14:24 And He said to them, "This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many.

Luk_22:20 Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.

1Co_11:25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me."

2Co_3:6 who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

Heb_8:8 Because finding fault with them, He says: "BEHOLD, THE DAYS ARE COMING, SAYS THE LORD, WHEN I WILL MAKE A NEW COVENANT WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AND WITH THE HOUSE OF JUDAH—

Heb_8:13 In that He says, "A NEW COVENANT," He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

Heb_9:15 And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

Heb_12:24 to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.

.
 
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Tone

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Even as someone who loves theology a lot, I agree. There's a lot that's just speculation. Well-founded speculation, but speculation nonetheless.

As for sticking to Scripture, I agree with you there too. Unfortunately a lot of people choose to interpret the Bible (or, at least, their English translation of the Bible) through the lens of a modern person living in the Western World. There's a lot of things in the Bible that make more sense or become more powerful when viewed in the context of the culture.


The Book of Acts takes place before the New Testament was finished. A lot of it was still being written at the time the book is set. Technically, they did have the biblical word, but it was just the Old Testament.
For an idea on the timeframe, Paul the Apostle died around 65 AD. It took until roughly 100 AD for all of the New Testament to be finished.


I just posted this on another thread, but I think it was also meant for here:

"The masculine noun דבר (deber), meaning pestilence. This very common word is used nearly always in the sense of punishment sent by God as a result of sin (1 Kings 8:37, Psalm 91:3, Jeremiah 14:12), and although this word seems at odds with this otherwise very happy root, it must be understood that any sort of progress goes hand in hand with a breaking apart — from chewing food to radio activity to disproving a beloved theorem. No human can ever escape the rudiments of his character which were formed in his first few years of life. If people wouldn't die, their incomplete or damaged world views would never be transcended. Now parents pass their legacies on to their children while their follies are erased by their deaths. Even our word science comes from the Greek word σχιζω (schizo), which means to split or divide." (Emphasis mine)
דבר | Abarim Publications Theological Dictionary (Old Testament Hebrew)

I have been thinking a lot about information and communication breakdown. I believe that when we were made new creatures (2 Corinthians 5:17) we have the potential to overcome all the noise that we were subject to prior to our conversion.Yet, we remain in this society and are drawn to being a "modern person living in the Western World", glancing through the glass darkly. But, you are correct @R. Genevieve, the early assemblies "did have the biblical word", but it wasn't "just the Old Testament"...it was the same that is mentioned in 2 Timothy 3:16...it is the Dabar-Yahweh (The amazing name Dabar-YHWH: meaning and etymology),which is the very tool to utilize in doing what you decribe; "There's a lot of things in the Bible that make more sense or become more powerful when viewed in the context of the culture.",namely, obtaining the cultural context.

So,why all the Schisms?

"schism (n.)
late 14c., scisme, "dissension within the church," from Old French scisme, cisme "a cleft, split" (12c.), from Church Latin schisma, from Greek skhisma (genitive skhismatos) "division, cleft," in New Testament applied metaphorically to divisions in the Church (I Corinthians xii.25), from stem of skhizein "to split" (from PIE root *skei- "to cut, split"). Spelling restored 16c., but pronunciation unchanged. Often in reference to the Great Schism (1378-1417) in the Western Church."

I don't know, but it looks awfully related to that root of science...

So, maybe this world batters us with its entropic pull and even though, in the Light, we are no longer subject to it, we sometimes succumb to the illusion since we are in this decaying body of death...subject to the evolution that is the darkness.

Psalm 119:105
"105Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path."
 
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Tone

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Yes, that's probably the better way to phrase it than what I wrote. Yes, the scriptures need to be interpreted in light of Tradition and in submission to the Church's authority.

My point, though, is that this private interpretation business is the cause of all this division.

Wrong. The "New Testament" needs to be interpreted by the Light of the "Old Testament" and not according to man's tradition, aka, science...schizo...schism...
 
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Not David

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As i study God's Word, i can't help but notice that the early church did everything together as one, and where told to be likeminded.

Philippians 2:2 KJV — Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.

Acts 2:44,46
44 And all that believed were together, and had all things in common; 46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart.

Acts 15:25 KJV — It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,

Romans 15:5 KJV — Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus:

Acts 4:32
And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of these things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things in common.

We are pretty much commanded to be of the same mind. Here is what Apostle Paul wrote on the matter.

1 Corithians 1:10-13
10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
11 For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.
12 Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.
13 Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?

Is Christ divided?

Mark 3:24-25
24 And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
25 And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.

The only purpose for these different denominations, to me, is confusion, and scriptures state:

1 Corinthians 14:33 KJV — For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.

I personally long for the way the church operated in the Book of the Acts. The only way that is possible is for everyone to go back to the source, that is the Word of God. Remember:

2 Timothy 3:16 KJV — All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

Isaiah 48:17 KJV — Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go.

With Love, In Christ
Be careful! You might join the Orthodox Church like me. ;):liturgy:
 
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Not David

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The "Fathers" and the bishops were not called by Jesus Christ to be an apostle to the Gentiles. That would be Paul. Hmm, wonder where we can find his writings?
They were chosen by the Apostles.
 
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Martyr's Crown

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What unites true Christian believers is the Holy Spirit, which again brings the Word of God as an important and powerful part into our lives.

2 Corinthians 3:4-6

"And we have such trust through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life."

The falling away of churches is something which will happen, we are already in this process. But it is during times of trials and persecution that the true church of Christian believers will be made more visible for the world to see, and during such times as these, it will also knit true believers together in a stronger unity!

So don't worry about this part, it will come to happen. What we can do is to pray, pray more fellow Christian believers will be awakened by the Lord, as well as others will find the Saviour of the world in time. Pray for more labourers of the harvest to come.
 
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They were chosen by the Apostles.

Their word is not authoritative, his is. As well, some of them were "grievous wolves", just as he warned would come, departing from his sound doctrine (I will not embark on a thread within a thread to "prove" this, it is merely my opinion).
 
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