What's a denomination?

[Apollo Celestio]

Anyone wanna clear this up?

 

[BRISH]

Anyone wanna clear this up?

oh ho...aye

It's a category hun.

Categories, meaning there are divisions of something and titling then follows.

Division

In other words, buckle up and hold on because seeking clarity on a topic like this gets even muckier.

 

[kevlite2020]

Denomination is man saying, "nice job on the whole church thing Jesus but I'm going to take over from here on out."

Okay maybe that's a really synical view haha, but I'm not a fan of denominations in the slightest.

 

[BRISH]

Sorry Ishida, I'll have to apologize as well. I'm not big on the denomination titling either. I'll leave it at that and let others answer according to your inquiry.

 

[Qyöt27]

Individual schools of thought based on the teachings/ideals of various individuals that hold to particular interpretations of the source text/observations. Said schools typically don't want to associate themselves with other schools, because they have serious theological and/or philosophical disagreements with them, or structural issues related to governance. Usually both.

This is a general view of it, and applies to practically every situation the 'denomination' term can be used for. The basic concept isn't exclusive to Christianity - you see it in other religions, in politics, in science, in the arts, in finance, in sports, and so on.


In talking about Christianity, though, or specifically Protestantism, there are five main schools of thought: Lutheran, Reformed/Calvinist, Anabaptist, Anglican, and Wesleyan. A possible sixth would be Pentecostal/Charismatic. Even 'non-denominational' churches still take heavily from the above five or six traditions - mostly Anabaptist and Pentecostal, although Calvinism is probably in there too along with very minor touches of Wesleyanism.

 

[Rhamiel]

a sect that takes on a new name
Online Etymology Dictionary
late 14c., "a naming," from L. denominationem (nom. denominatio) "a calling by anything other than the proper name, metonymy," from denominare "to name," from de- "completely" + nominare "to name." Monetary sense is 1650s; meaning "religious sect" is 1716.

 

[Luther073082]

A church body which is organized around an agreement on doctrine.

Also it depends on how one defines it as well. Because there are often loose confederations of churchs which is basically an organization for mutual benefit and there is almost no power outside of the congregation.

Things like the Association of Free Lutheran Churchs which basically they do two things. 1. They agree on doctrine. 2. They provide published material for each-other and help match up congregations to qualified pastors. However I don't belive they have the power up top to remove a pastor or dicipline a pastor, which is an entirely congregational activity.

My church Lutheran Church Missouri Synod however has districts and a national organization which also run seminaries, makes and directs donations, assists Lutheran churchs we are in communion with. - (For example the LCMS is directly assisting a Lutheran church in Africa in creating a hymnal.), they also have the authority mostly in the districts to dicipline pastors.

However I would work under the working definition of a group of churchs which have a formal agreement on doctrine and a leadership structrue - no matter how weak or strong would be the definition of a denomination.

What is interesting is that the Eastern Orthodox church, could actually be considered to be 15 different denominations by our understanding. The reason is that the Eastern Orthodox Church is organized under 15 seperate autonomous Patriarchs, each of which is independent of one another and none of which has any authority over the other. Each Patriarch has authority over a certain region in the world.

The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinoble is recognized as having the highest office although its mostly recognized as a first among equals and his position holds very little power over the other autonmous Patriarchs.

It is not at all similar to the Papacy which holds complete power over all of its bishops.

 

[Gym]

Denomination is man saying, "nice job on the whole church thing Jesus but I'm going to take over from here on out."

ouch man... ouch

 

[Luther073082]

Denomination is man saying, "nice job on the whole church thing Jesus but I'm going to take over from here on out."

Okay maybe that's a really synical view haha, but I'm not a fan of denominations in the slightest.

My response to that is always the same. When everyone agrees with me on doctrine and agrees that the Book of Concord is the 100% correct understanding and explaination of the teachings of the Holy Scriptures then there will be no more denominations.

In fact I will make it a little easier. When everyone agrees 100% with the UNALTERED Augsburg Confession. Then that will be a major step in getting rid of denominations.

The altered Augsburg confession was a failed attempt to sell out the evengelical catholic faith of the early Lutherans for some sort of false unity with the reformed protestants. Fortunutly thanks be to God and the Gnesio-Lutherans, we didn't buy into it and kept the pure and true doctrine of the unaltered Augsburg confession.

The altered version should be thrown with Satan into the lake of fire if you ask me.

Did I mention I don't like the Altered version of the Augsberg confession? Because I could make that more clear if you like. -(Which basically means I could rant for longer.)

 

[Keri]

Denomination is man saying, "nice job on the whole church thing Jesus but I'm going to take over from here on out."

Okay maybe that's a really synical view haha, but I'm not a fan of denominations in the slightest.

Nice Kev. MUCH agreed.

I was kinda seeing this Lutheran guy one time, and he tried to talk me into going to a Lutheran church. I attempted to go a few times, but each time I'd even drive up to the property, it would weird me out and I'd leave. I just felt like I wasn't supposed to be there.

Denominational churches freak me out.


(I'm not saying that ALL denominational churches are bad, but that one in particular freaked me out... Assemblies of God are ok. I've been there.)

 

[Wren]

I know people always say how bad denominations are....dividing up the body of Christ. I like denominations. What a great way to satisfy everyone...as much as that's possible. You like to worship as if you are at a rock concert...we have a denomination (or a non-denominational church, which most are a type of denomination themselves) for you. Like your hymns and a more peaceful church atmosphere, we have a denomination for you. And of course there is differences in doctrine. I like denominations, but maybe that's because I like categorizing things...like personality tests such as the MBTI.

 

[JT912]

John 17:23) In my opinion a denominations are demonations. It is an attack from the enemy on the body of Christ because he knows there's power in unity! If the body of Christ truly united it would be walking in a greater power and the enemy doesn't want that. The truth is that the enemy only can do this because we allow hiim to. There's absolutely nothing at all stopping us from working in unity except ourselves. We should be beyond 2 Cor 2:11 but apparently we aren't (11 so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, [SIZE=-1]R64[/SIZE] for we [SIZE=-1]R65[/SIZE] are not ignorant of his schemes. )

 

[GQ Chris]

Unfortunately people have names and labels for beliefs and sets of beliefs, whether we're talking politics, religion, and it allows us to differentiate, which I think is good. I am not a particular fan of ecumenism at all, and I understand that some people are, no big deal to me, but I won't change my mind on the matter.

I think it is a good thing to know how to differentiate in what people believe because I like to know where people stand on certain matters.

 

[Luther073082]

John 17:23) In my opinion a denominations are demonations. It is an attack from the enemy on the body of Christ because he knows there's power in unity! If the body of Christ truly united it would be walking in a greater power and the enemy doesn't want that. The truth is that the enemy only can do this because we allow hiim to. There's absolutely nothing at all stopping us from working in unity except ourselves. We should be beyond 2 Cor 2:11 but apparently we aren't (11 so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, [SIZE=-1]R64[/SIZE] for we [SIZE=-1]R65[/SIZE] are not ignorant of his schemes. )

And everyone else's heterodox teachings.

I repeat what I said before, once everyone agree's completly with the Book of Concord then we will no longer have denominations.

It would be a good start for them to all start agreeing with the unaltered Augsburg confession.

Unfortunately people have names and labels for beliefs and sets of beliefs, whether we're talking politics, religion, and it allows us to differentiate, which I think is good. I am not a particular fan of ecumenism at all, and I understand that some people are, no big deal to me, but I won't change my mind on the matter.

My personal experience with Ecumenism was that my previous church would sell out its beliefs and the beliefs of its members just so they could have a formal relationship with the Episocpalians. Anathema, Anathema, Anathema

No more formal relationships with the heterodox.

 

[kevlite2020]

My response to that is always the same. When everyone agrees with me on doctrine and agrees that the Book of Concord is the 100% correct understanding and explaination of the teachings of the Holy Scriptures then there will be no more denominations.

No offense bro but I can bet you I could probably find around 1-5 billion or so people who would say that everything would be right and well if everyone just agrees with what they say.

I will never view denominations as a good thing. There is no plus side that I can see to them.

 

[GQ Chris]

Unfortunately, labeling such as "Non-denominational" is a denomination; like I said, you can't get out of labels, names, and distinctions; but I think the good thing is that I know where people stand on a particular subject matter.

 

[GQ Chris]

And everyone else's heterodox teachings.

I repeat what I said before, once everyone agree's completly with the Book of Concord then we will no longer have denominations.

It would be a good start for them to all start agreeing with the unaltered Augsburg confession.

I disagree with your Christian viewpoints, but I do respect your zeal for the Lutheran faith.

 

[Riot Riot Riot]

From a psychological standpoint, I think denominations stemmed from the human instinct to categorize things in order to make sense out of 'chaos', so to speak. People naturally associate certain things with other things of the same type. Groups are always going to made because it helps our mind to sort out characteristics and to keep things organized.

From a personal standpoint, I myself have no problem with denominations existing. I've belonged to a few different denominations in the past and each one had it's pros and cons.

 

[Luther073082]

No offense bro but I can bet you I could probably find around 1-5 billion or so people who would say that everything would be right and well if everyone just agrees with what they say.

I think you are missing the point.

Denominations exist because we disagree. My point is that when everyone agrees they won't exist anymore. And since I'm not changing my views then the only way to reach that point is for everyone to agree with me.

I will never view denominations as a good thing. There is no plus side that I can see to them.

Well the disagreement on correct doctrine is not a good thing no.

If we all agreed on the correct doctrine then that would of course be the best thing.

But it would be worse for us to agree on an incorrect doctrine

I disagree with Christian viewpoints, but I do respect your zeal for the Lutheran faith.

You make it sound like they are two different things. The teachings that in the modern day are called "Lutheran" where at the time of the Apostles the teachings that where referred to as Christian.

Of course this is my opinion.

 

[GQ Chris]

You make it sound like they are two different things. The teachings that in the modern day are called "Lutheran" where at the time of the Apostles the teachings that where referred to as Christian.

Of course this is my opinion.

Well, I just like to be specific, I know that you're a Christian, but specifically a Lutheran Christian.