Why Christianity got many sub divisions

[damian7]

Can any one tell me why on earth as we Christians got many sub divisions in our own religion?

Why some of them are called… Roman Catholic / Orthodox / Anglican / Jehovah's witness
what went wrong! why do we have all this divisions?

Can we just unite and love each other in one single vision? Do we have to have different views.

 

[cyberlizard]

no fraid not. much as we would like too, christians too are human and stubborn. We like to stick with people that believe the same things. even petty differences drive a wedge - for me i do not care for denominational badges simply a person love their God and redeemer

 

[327]

Can any one tell me why on earth as we Christians got many sub divisions in our own religion?

Why some of them are called… Roman Catholic / Orthodox / Anglican / Jehovah's witness
what went wrong! why do we have all this divisions?

Can we just unite and love each other in one single vision? Do we have to have different views.

It all started when man started calling us Christians..

 

[LamorakDesGalis]

Can any one tell me why on earth as we Christians got many sub divisions in our own religion?

Why some of them are called… Roman Catholic / Orthodox / Anglican / Jehovah's witness
what went wrong! why do we have all this divisions?

There are a lot of complex factors, neutral and bad, which cause separation and division. These include cultural and national differences, personal conflicts, indwelling sin and pride.

Can we just unite and love each other in one single vision? Do we have to have different views.

Even if Christians were united under one organization, views would not be uniform and the cultural and national differences would still remain. The Roman Catholic Church is one organization where there is a wide range of different views.

Unity and love are shown through individuals relationships with one another and not by their membership in a single organization itself. Individuals can be members of the same organization, yet divide over issues and show a lack of love for each other.


LDG

 

[davidoffinland]

From Finland.

The Protestants divided themselves because doctrines were hair- splitted. If some one didn´t like a certain teaching they would leave and start their own denomination.

It all started in Western Christianity as certain reforms against the Papacy. Then, this process grew and grew to what it is now. Eastern Christianity never went through this process of reform.

In Him, david.

 

[Kristos]

Lack of humility.

Lack of obedience.

Personal interpretation of scripture.

 

[327]

Lack of humility.

Lack of obedience.

Personal interpretation of scripture.

dont forget lack of love

 

[dayhiker]

My view is that God wanted a variety of worship. But church leaders always want everyone doing the same things. So God lead us to organisational division so He can be worshiped in many differnt ways.

I've been apart of many denominations over the years. I found that personally I've had unity with these believers.

so love the brethern and don't sweat it.
dayhiker

 

[E.C.]

Look at history and one will find the reasons why.

Kristos hit the nail on the head.

 

[ParsonJefferson]

Can any one tell me why on earth as we Christians got many sub divisions in our own religion?

Why some of them are called… Roman Catholic / Orthodox / Anglican / Jehovah's witness
what went wrong! why do we have all this divisions?

Can we just unite and love each other in one single vision? Do we have to have different views.

The "WHY" questions are hard to answer.

First of all, there was - as I see it - a very legitimate reason for the Reformation. Actually, a LOT of legitimate reasons. The Roman Catholic church at that time was very corrupt, and many things being done were very wrong. Martin Luther tried to bring change from within, but it was not allowed.

Second, many churches - at least in the United States - came over with the immigrants. The Reformed Church are primarily Dutch. If you have an area with a lot of Germans, most of them will be Lutherans, etc. It's the church these people started with, and it's the one they'll end with. It's really not division, as much as faithfulness to the church of their family.

Third, I've found that some churches stay separated simply because of preferred worship styles. I pastor a "white" church in a very racially integrated area of our city. We have very few blacks in our church, primarily because blacks tend to prefer a far more demonstrative style of worship - even though we have a contemporary focus. Hispanics aren't apt to be part of white churches, partly because of language difficulties.

In other words... Not all different denominations/churches are due to fights and failures.

 

[Rick Otto]

Instead of loving God, we fear Him, so instead of taking the personal responsibility of getting to know Him, we put a man on a pedestal & follow him, placing what should be our responsibilities on his shoulders.
God allowed that in the OT, but since the sacrificial law was fulfilled(not destroyed), believers are to be a nation of kings & priests.
Just like in America where citizens are supposed to be sovereign & politicians are supposed to be their servants.
That too has been reversed.

 

[Albion]

Can any one tell me why on earth as we Christians got many sub divisions in our own religion?

Why some of them are called… Roman Catholic / Orthodox / Anglican / Jehovah's witness
what went wrong! why do we have all this divisions?

Can we just unite and love each other in one single vision? Do we have to have different views.

It's as simple as this...

The churches are made up of humans. Yes, and we are confused about all things dealing with our lives. Simultaneously, we want to know all things.

That being the case, we cannot imagine that we would all believe the same thing. And there never was a time in the history of the Church when there were not many different sects and divisions.

A good object lesson about what you are contemplating occurred with the Churches of Christ or Disciples, founded in the USA during the 19th century to overcome all those divisions and bring everyone together. They were not going to have no creeds, not name themselves anything that was not from the Bible, not define where that was not necessary, and just do what the New Testament records the first Christians as doing. In time, they couldn't resist breaking into factions since, even with that perspective, there were disputes that people created out of their all-too-human questioning and wondering, often over things that almost all churches do today but which didn't exist during the first century.

 

[Rick Otto]

is it so universaly seen as a bad thing?
As long as we are loving toward each other the differences are comparatively unimportant. Agreed?

 

[NewToLife]

is it so universaly seen as a bad thing?
As long as we are loving toward each other the differences are comparatively unimportant. Agreed?

If the truth will set us free it would seem important to know what and who the truth is.

 

[Trento]

Can any one tell me why on earth as we Christians got many sub divisions in our own religion?

Why some of them are called… Roman Catholic / Orthodox / Anglican / Jehovah's witness
what went wrong! why do we have all this divisions?

Can we just unite and love each other in one single vision? Do we have to have different views.

Ever since Luther made the bible the only authority all men have become infallible in their interpretation of scripture useing scripture to satisfy their individual purpose.

In other words relativism has taken precidence your truth is not my truth.

 

[Albion]

Ever since Luther made the bible the only authority all men have become infallible in their interpretation of scripture useing scripture to satisfy their individual purpose.

In other words relativism has taken precidence your truth is not my truth.

That is indeed a famous myth about Protestantism that many Catholics still hold to, isn't it?

 

[Albion]

is it so universaly seen as a bad thing?
As long as we are loving toward each other the differences are comparatively unimportant. Agreed?

I would tend to agree, but everyone's got a different answer as to what is comparatively important or unimportant. We all can't even agree on the same Bible or what constitutes "loving towards each other."

 

[Codger]

Most denominations were founded on some charismatic preachers' revelation on some doctrine. Martin Luther for example. Often Churches split to different denominations to escape corruption or errant doctrine. A lot of the time it was to be able to practice a valid doctrinal revelation - like Pentecost and the gifts. Other times the splinter group was to follow false doctrines like many of the cults of today.

Church splits are nothing new, but are not all bad. First if a Church splits it usually clears the air of an undercurrent of strife and contention. When the Church splits you now have two instead of one - so you have better coverage of any geographic area. Didn't God send persecution to the early Church at Jerusalem in order to scatter them all over the world?

 

[MrPolo]

Ever since Luther made the bible the only authority all men have become infallible in their interpretation of scripture useing scripture to satisfy their individual purpose.

In other words relativism has taken precidence your truth is not my truth.

This is the correct answer.

 

[Albion]

This is the correct answer.

Actually, it's nonsense. It assumes that every reformer decided what he wanted to believe and then found verses to interpret that way. No reputable historian would agree. And only a partisan could take that POV seriously, even if one disagrees totally with what the reformer in question contended for. No matter what the denomination--Mormon, Catholic, Presbyterian, Spiritualist, whatever--it is always a mistake to conclude that they don't believe what they profess.