Bible Study Why are there so many categories of Christianity ?

[itoldyounoalready]

Why are there so many categories of Chrisitanity ? I 've always found it so ironic that Jesus was/is a person indifferent to classifications, and a pacifier and yet so many acts have been done in his name(Crusades, Spanish Inquisition,destruction of Jews,Salem Witch trials) and Christians seem to disagree and quarrel over so many things that sometimes seem to be so trivial when we look at the final goal. .Chuches are separted into denominations, when in the Bible, the only refrences I see made are to THE CHURCH,and also Gentile, Jew , Roman, Greek, but not in refrence to who goes to church with who(in terms of Christianity).I also have this nagging thought in my mind , about the separation of churches, why does it always seem that a church is never really, well integrated, it's mainly one race or ethnic group, concentrated into one church,I have yet to see a church that has an equal mix of races.I'm sorry if I come off alittle, judgemental or bias myself, but Jesus was supposed to be this great equalizer, pacifier, and has a kingdom which to my knowledge isn't segragated, so why is the church?

 

[cly]

Because we're humans. I know, that's not an excuse, but it is the reason at it's core.

The reason for the separate denominations is from the fact that over the years, people have interpretted the scriptures differently from one another. I think that a lot of the stuff churches split over is quite silly, but nonetheless, it happens. Another reason for denominations is worship style. I've been raised Baptist, and I have a feeling that if I were to go to a Pentacostal church, I would be quite uncomfortable. Not that I have anything against Pentacostals, I have a couple of friends who are, but it's just not who I am. I'm more comfortable in a quieter setting.

As far as race being separated in churches, I think that's probably more of a Southern thing. I have a good feeling that if you were to go up to the more northern states, you would find a lot more integration. Sadly, here in the south, there's still a lot of prejudice and discrimination, even in churches. I've never seen it, but I've heard stories about black people going to a "white" church and those people being either ushered out by the deacons or given the cold shoulder. It's a terrible thing, but it does happen.

There is some hope shining through, though. There's at least one church in my town, that accepts anybody and everybody. They have men and women of any race leading worship, leading children's church, and several other things. They're non-denominational, and I've met some of the most loving people there. The people who go there express a deep, sincere faith that's hard to find sometimes. I'm not a member there (mainly because of the worship style thing), but I do like it there. I've went several times, enough that I'm considered almost a member by the people who go there. I've heard of many other churches such as this one in other towns near-by as well. It's quite encouraging.

We'll never accept one another until Jesus comes back and God sets up His kingdom. Until then, we as individuals should always welcome anyone into the church. We're called to be loving - called to reach out to others reguardless of their social class, race, ethnicity, whatever. It's our job to reach out to a dying world. I heard a song at a concert I recently went to. It was by Casting Crowns, and one of the lines in the song is "Love them like Jesus." What that's saying is, we should show love and compassion to everyone, just as Jesus did. He ate with sinners, touched lepers, and spoke to Samartians. That's just to name a few. It's what we should be doing, rather than looking down our noses at someone who we think is less than us.

 

[itoldyounoalready]

Yeah, I just wish that unity could be acheived on this side of heaven, before Jesus came, do you know how happy, this would make the heavenly father! I can't imagine, though I used to be arrogant enough to believe that someday I could acheive this someday, though I am merely a human being.

 

[SputnikBoy]

Why are there so many categories of Chrisitanity ? I 've always found it so ironic that Jesus was/is a person indifferent to classifications, and a pacifier and yet so many acts have been done in his name(Crusades, Spanish Inquisition,destruction of Jews,Salem Witch trials) and Christians seem to disagree and quarrel over so many things that sometimes seem to be so trivial when we look at the final goal. .Chuches are separted into denominations, when in the Bible, the only refrences I see made are to THE CHURCH,and also Gentile, Jew , Roman, Greek, but not in refrence to who goes to church with who(in terms of Christianity).I also have this nagging thought in my mind , about the separation of churches, why does it always seem that a church is never really, well integrated, it's mainly one race or ethnic group, concentrated into one church,I have yet to see a church that has an equal mix of races.I'm sorry if I come off alittle, judgemental or bias myself, but Jesus was supposed to be this great equalizer, pacifier, and has a kingdom which to my knowledge isn't segragated, so why is the church?

Well, the Church to which I choose to belong believes in keeping the 7th-day Sabbath. It also believes in the soon coming of Jesus Christ or 'the Advent'. It's called the Seventh-Day Adventist Church. The major difference between it and the Baptist Church, for instance, is that SDAs believe the sabbath to be Saturday (the 7th-day) and not Sunday (the 1st-day). Therefore, Saturday is the day when church is held. This is the day when Christians are encouraged to take a break from their weekly schedule and worship Jesus Christ.

This belief alone causes a GREAT rift between Christians as can be clearly seen on this and other Christian forums. Some mainstream Christians seem to take the notion that Adventists are 'working their way to heaven' by being obedient to the 4th-commandment. Adventists on the other hand believe that Sunday has become the 'counterfeit Sabbath' of mainstream Christianity. And, history DOES seem to support this view.

So, in effect, Adventists believe that the majority of Christians are disobeying a command of God ...whether done through ignorance or whether done intentionally. We can either take the notion that 'God doesn't care' which day we keep (assuming that one can speak for God) or that God MUST care about the day on which we worship Him since He did ask us to 'remember'. The God of the OT IS the same God of the NT.

Many mainstream Christians DO seem to think and talk for God. They make up their own rules (which is quite often NO RULES AT ALL) and say, "God doesn't care as long as our intentions are good ...He will accept anything we do and be grateful." When they say 'He doesn't care' about the day on which we worship Him they seem to forget that 'worship' and 'obedience' are EXTREMELY important to God. We're told that God IS, not WAS, a jealous God (as in 'zealous' or 'passionate') in Exodus 20:5.

In other words, God is a real 'stickler' for obedience. This means that God requires obedience on HIS terms, not ours. That's WHY HE is God and we are not! Nor was Paul God, which might offend some Christians on this board who give him the same status. Cain, for instance, brought an offering to God that was contrary to God's command. Cain may well have thought to himself, "My intention is good, I'm sure that God won't care just as long as I bring SOME KIND of an offering." But, as we read in the scriptures, God DID care (Genesis 4:1-5).

The day on which we worship is just one issue that divides the Christian Church. There are other issues too as you can read about on this board. Reaching a consensus between Christians seems to be an impossibility. The MAIN problem seems to be that many mainstream Christians are so puffed up with their own 'godliness' that they don't feel a need to listen to or obey God.

The worst offenders seem to be those who consider themselves so infilled with the Holy Spirit that they don't require Jesus. They have, in effect, ALREADY received their halo. There are others who equate an infilling with the Holy Spirit as a substitute for obedience to God. Obedience has become a dirty word. For instance, check out the thread I'm Saved So I Can Do Anything. Now, how arrogant can a professed Christian in that frame of mind get? Are you starting to get the picture why there are so many Christian denominations at loggerheads with each other? We all have a common goal but the means to get there differs tremendously.

 

[itoldyounoalready]

I don't see the big deal, God doesn't specify a day which would actually be the Sabbath, some who actually become so legalistic about this are ignoring the whole point, Christianity revolves around(or is supposed to) one truth,one way, Jesus Christ, hence the name Christianity, why make a big deal about worshipping him on Sat. orSun. when we should be worshipping him on any day anyway. Besides the Jews were on a different calender than us, almost every culture had a different calender, so it means different things to everyone.

 

[SputnikBoy]

I don't see the big deal, God doesn't specify a day which would actually be the Sabbath, some who actually become so legalistic about this are ignoring the whole point, Christianity revolves around(or is supposed to) one truth,one way, Jesus Christ, hence the name Christianity, why make a big deal about worshipping him on Sat. orSun. when we should be worshipping him on any day anyway. Besides the Jews were on a different calender than us, almost every culture had a different calender, so it means different things to everyone.


Your response indicates that you missed the entire point of my post. What a pity. And I contributed so much time and effort. :smt022

The BIG DEAL is that God asked a special day of us ...you're doing exactly what I was saying in my post ...you're thinking and deciding for God. You're making up your own rules and attributing them to God.

As for different cultures/different calendars ...um, I'm just wasting my time by continuing aren't I? Sorry for wasting your time, g'bye.

 

[cj]

Why are there so many categories of Chrisitanity ?

Because men are inherently individualistic/selfish in their natural fallen state, and Christianity is simply an expression of this in its many expressions.


There is no such thing as "Christianity" in reality; there is only Christ, and He is a Person.

Christ is reality. Christianity is simply man's vanity being expressed in a "clothing" of Christ.

Christianity has taken the Name of Christ but not His Person.



And yes, Seventh Day Adventist fall into this confusion.



Those of you who appreciate the OT scriptures,..... tell me, how many layers of clothing did the Levite priest wear as he carried out his temple duty?


In love,
cj

 

[Orthodox Christian]

Church

Jesus established the Church. He placed authority in the hands of Twelve, some of whom wrote books found in the bible, some who did not do so. All, except Judas, who was replaced by Matthias, went onto the mission field and established churches in regions. Over those churches were place elders (presvteros), bishops (episkopos) and deacons (diakonos). Each bishop had authority over an area (diocese).

As bishops and elders were either martyred, imprisoned, or simply died, they were replaced by men appointed to fulfill the duties of their office. The bishops and elders worked together in a concilliar fashion, for though each region was essentially self-governing, standards and doctrine were agreed upon by means of concilliar process. In other words, they worked together.

Early on, there were heresies and potential schisms that could have torn the fledgling church apart, had the leaders not worked together and mutually submitted. This is where the concept of apostolic succession came in, because a question asked of both itinerant ministers and emmisaries was "who sent you?" In other words, where do you derive your authority from?

You have to remember that the first 4 Christian centuries had no bible. Yes, there were certain letters and gospels common to all the churches, and in some respects they were 'authorative' inasmuch as they served as written documentation of the apostles' doctrine. These gospels and letters were primarliy leveraged against Jewish arguments.

By the time the canon of scripture was decided, the first two oecumenical councils had occured. Christian Orthodoxy was defined as Trintarian, liturgical, hierarchical, and eventually, scriptural.

The first schism occured just before the council at Chalcedon, ca mid 5th century. The Armenian, Assyrian, Coptic, and Malankar Christians disagreed with and refused to assent to the stated findings of Chalcedon, where the concept of Christ as fully God, fully man, two distinct natures undivided and unmixed was expressed as essential Orthodox belief. In reality, it was a misunderstanding, but one in which the first division became manifest.

The second schism took place between about 900-1200 AD. Some people affix a date of 1054 because of a certain event, but there were problems brewing long before that, and the separation between Rome (West) and the other 4 main groups of the ancient Church (East) did not become final until over 100 year passed.

The cause in both of these situations was partially political, partially language-driven, and yes, the wickedness of individuals.

The third schism, which has never ceased shattering and exploding, is the Protestant Reformation. This Reformaion is usually dated from Luther's posting of his theses, but the true beginning of the Reformation was with Wycliffe and Hus.

The causes of schism are as manifold as the people who engage in schisms. Generally speaking, most schismatics (those who break from another group) do so with what they believe to me pure and noble intentions. It is clear that groups with strong central authority schismate less than those who do not have such centralized authority, but strong central authority is not necessarily righteous authority, either.

Bottom line- there are a great many opinions on why unity is not found within the group of those professing to follow Christ. The most comical one, to me, is those who suggest that the denominations are the problem, and the solution is leaving the denominations.

Dousing the flames in gasoline will scarcely save the Mansion.

So why are there so many categories of Christians? Because of many things that have happened in history. Specifically, people have rebelled.

Are those people who are born of parents who schismated guilty of the schismation? I mean, if children of 2nd Baptist parents have been faithful to their church, but their parents started 2nd baptist in a huff with 1st baptist, are the children schismatics? I don't happen to believe they are- yet mutliply this out, and over time you have a lot of people being faithful to who they were born to, yet not united as One with the rest of those born into similar straights.

 

[Heidi]

Why are there so many categories of Chrisitanity ? I 've always found it so ironic that Jesus was/is a person indifferent to classifications, and a pacifier and yet so many acts have been done in his name(Crusades, Spanish Inquisition,destruction of Jews,Salem Witch trials) and Christians seem to disagree and quarrel over so many things that sometimes seem to be so trivial when we look at the final goal. .Chuches are separted into denominations, when in the Bible, the only refrences I see made are to THE CHURCH,and also Gentile, Jew , Roman, Greek, but not in refrence to who goes to church with who(in terms of Christianity).I also have this nagging thought in my mind , about the separation of churches, why does it always seem that a church is never really, well integrated, it's mainly one race or ethnic group, concentrated into one church,I have yet to see a church that has an equal mix of races.I'm sorry if I come off alittle, judgemental or bias myself, but Jesus was supposed to be this great equalizer, pacifier, and has a kingdom which to my knowledge isn't segragated, so why is the church?

Paul tells us exactly why in 1 Corinthians chapter 3. The chapter tells us that when we follow men instead of Christ, we will be divided. Jesus said we have one teacher and that is the Christ. Christ is also the Word of God, which is the bible. But there are many people who disagree with the word of God and have beliefs that contradict it. Some people follow Luther, some follow Calvin, others follow the pope.

But if we all followed Christ who is also the Holy Spirit and the Word, then there would be no division. But Paul also says there will be division to show who is approved by God and who is not. And that is why Jesus tells us that there will be many who call him Lord but will not enter the kingdom of heaven because he says; "I never knew you." But those who have the Holy Spirit in them, know Christ and he knows them because Jesus tells us; "And I amd in the father and you are in me and I am in you." Only those people will follow only Christ and not men.

 

[cj]

Re: Church

So why are there so many categories of Christians? Because of many things that have happened in history. Specifically, people have rebelled.

Isn't it wonderful that God breaks apart that which He deems corrupt.

Just as He did with those who were building the tower at Babel.



Paul knew near the end of his life that saints were already going astray. And this was in the years '64 -'67.

Peter touched on the matter a little while after Paul's death, and then John spoke at length concerning the present apostate condition among the body.

The truth is, before the first century had even ended the body of believers were already spliting into various groups.


And God allowed it, and more, He even spoke about it in John's revelation.

But this does not mean its how He wants it to be. And one day God will have His church.


In love,
cj

 

[itoldyounoalready]

Well how do we know which teachers are corrupt and which aren't.

 

[Orthodox Christian]

Well how do we know which teachers are corrupt and which aren't.

Jesus said that He'd build His Church, and the gates of Hades would not prevail against it. He gave judgement and authority into the Church through the Twelve.

Isn't it wonderful that God breaks apart that which He deems corrupt.

I don't happen to think that any schismation is wonderful, even if necessary, or more appropriately, inevitable. It is inevitable that Protestants would break into tens of thousands of denominations, and their non-denominational children into hundreds of thousands of splinter groups- all claiming to be the ones deemed worthy to Judge.

Jesus warned us in advance of the self-styled anointed...it is a sign of the impending parousia and the close of the age.

The truth is, before the first century had even ended the body of believers were already spliting into various groups.

You know your history perhaps even less than your bible. There were onflicts, but no 'splits.' The first splinter was the Marcionist sect (mid second century), who have children on this very forum. Shortly thereafter was the Montanist heresy and schism, wherein those prophetic voices so much more illuminated and spiritually pure than their bishops joined up with a charismatic teacher.

History truly does repeat itself.

So, how does one know a true teacher? If they're part of the true church. How does one know the true church? It will have prevailed, and continued to this day.

I happen to know of this Church, thanks be to God.

 

[Solo]

This thread has been locked as a cool down period in order that order and respect can be re-established on this thread.

Thanks,
Solo

 

[itoldyounoalready]

Yay, it's open again. :angel:

 

[PHIL121]

I think the reason there are so many different denominations is found in the story of the Tower of Babel.

Satan has caused the word of God to be distorted, so that man may be led astray.

 

[Blazin Bones]

I don't think it traces all the way back to the Tower of Bable. Christianity hadn't even come yet, nor did Judaism.

Denominations are the results of the egos of mankind. Paul even fought against Denominations in his day. Some follow "Pauls" teaching others followed "Apollos's" teachings. With the desire to have the theology correct and perfect, Christians too easliy lose sight of the true purpose of Christianity, spreading the Gospel of Christ. 8-)

 

[PHIL121]

The Tower of Babel shows how God is determined not to let man have his own way.

This is why so many different sects of Christianity have arisen. Everyone WANTS their own way, not necessarily God's way.

Eventually, most of the Church will be united once again, and that will be the Church's BIGGEST mistake.

 

[cj]

Denominations are the results of the egos of mankind. Paul even fought against Denominations in his day. 8-)

So was the building of the Tower of Babel.


You're missing the point,....... the connection between Christianity and the Tower of Babel is the hidden motive, which are the same, man's ego.

Christianity is just a different Tower, one made up of many smaller towers of different sizes.

All thought built by man's ego.



Be claer on this, God is Spirit and thus His building is in Spirit.

When Christ said "I will build my church" He meant He would build Himself into men in a spiritual way.

The church of God is spiritual, and this spiritual church is expressed in the human vessels that contain this spiritual building.

In love,
cj