Why are there so many denominations?

[David1701]

12 hours ago, Baltika said:

Why are there so many denominations?

I wish it could be simple.

I'm looking and thinking of joining the Seventh Day Adventist cuz they believe in the Law and Shabbat.

Can anyone help me?

Thanks and God Bless

Baltika

Denominations are the result of man's fleshly choices. 

In the beginning of the New Covenant, there was only the body of Christ, manifested in an assembly of believers, in a particular locale.  Divisions began to emerge, whether doctrinal, or due to following charismatic personalities, or power struggles.  This culminated in the creation of distinct organisations, with their own doctrines and practices, which are different from other organisations.  This is called "schism" and it's sin.

[Guest]

For me, I am strictly a non-denominational Christian and take the Bible as literal truth.  It takes some digging to arrive at the truth but it's worth it.

[Hopefully]

“A person has only one body, but it has many parts. Yes, there are many parts, but all those parts are still just one body. Christ is like that too. Some of us are Jews and some of us are not; some of us are slaves and some of us are free. But we were all baptized to become one body through one Spirit. And we were all given the one Spirit.
 

And a person’s body has more than one part. It has many parts. The foot might say, “I am not a hand, so I don’t belong to the body.” But saying this would not stop the foot from being a part of the body. The ear might say, “I am not an eye, so I don’t belong to the body.” But saying this would not make the ear stop being a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, it would not be able to hear. If the whole body were an ear, it would not be able to smell anything. If each part of the body were the same part, there would be no body.

But as it is, God put the parts in the body as he wanted them. He made a place for each one. So there are many parts, but only one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the foot, “I don’t need you!” No, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are actually very important. And the parts that we think are not worth very much are the parts we give the most care to. And we give special care to the parts of the body that we don’t want to show. The more beautiful parts don’t need this special care. But God put the body together and gave more honor to the parts that need it. God did this so that our body would not be divided.

God wanted the different parts to care the same for each other. If one part of the body suffers, then all the other parts suffer with it. Or if one part is honored, then all the other parts share its honor. All of you together are the body of Christ. Each one of you is a part of that body.”
‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭12:12-27‬ ‭ERV‬‬

 

[Guest]

3 hours ago, Kelly2363 said:

I asked that question of the Lord when I first got saved in 1984. What I asked was "Why are the churches so divided?" The Lord did answer me and at the time I didn't really understand the answer - even today I find it difficult to fully explain the simplicity of what the Spirit said to me. But The Lord said, "Because they will not submit to one another."

I have always believed that the Holy Spirit led me to ask the question because at the time I didn't even really know what I was asking beyond a sense of denominations. I was in prison at the time and in solitary confinement. That was where I came to Salvation. So I suppose in some sense I was simply thinking about the prison chaplaincy. In the prison I was in that was the Catholic Priest, an Anglican Priest, a Methodist Minister and a Quaker Elder.

They all visited me in my cell by request and they all approved of my conversion but I think that my conversion was more radical than anything they had experienced and so they were all a little bit careful as well. But I never did get an answer from them to explain what the Lord had said to me. Eventually after I came out of prison in March 1985 and went into the church back in my home town I began the process of seeing the spiritual deceptions that have come into the Church that produced the many divisions - denominations. So whilst I can see why there are so many divisions in the churches - I cannot remove from the Lord's answer. And that answer is far more simple than the many heresies and divisions that are still visible. Plus I can't escape a sense that the answer to these divisions ought to be rather more simple than always trying to address essentially secondary doctrines that are not an issue of life. Just thought I would share that.

I went through several denominations, never agreeing 100% with their interpretation of scripture, before relying upon the Bible digging deeper into God's word.

[Dennis1209]

38 minutes ago, Saved.One.by.Grace said:

For me, I am strictly a non-denominational Christian and take the Bible as literal truth.  It takes some digging to arrive at the truth but it's worth it.

Same here. I am a member and go to a Baptist Church, because it most closely aligns with my hermeneutics, belief and faith, almost mirrors mine. But I don't label and identify myself as a Baptist, I belong to one family. I grew up in a non-denominational church; Chatham Bible Church. Retiring and moving down here, there are no non-denominational churches I'm aware of; just the major denominations. 

As for the OP's original question, to properly answer it, I'd have to go back to the 4th century and address Constitine, the start of the 'universal' church-state. From there the 'dark ages' and what made them dark; the inquisitions, crusades, reformation, Anglican split; Puritan's, Quakers, Mormons; doctrine differences and splits. And that's just the Christianity side, not Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, cults, etc. A Christianity denomination tree would mirror a family genealogy tree in splits. How's that for the condensed Campbells soup version  

As stated, a couple of times above, I too would dissuade anyone from the Seventh Day Adventists, for the reasons mentioned. 

[missmuffet]

25 minutes ago, Josheb said:

You guys do realize modern non-denominationalism is a denomination, yes?

Explain. Non-denomination means just that. It is wanting to separate from a denomination. They are "Christians" and that is the way the non-denomination wants to be labeled. Christian is not a denomination. 

Edited September 23, 2021 by missmuffet

[missmuffet]

9 minutes ago, Dennis1209 said:

Same here. I am a member and go to a Baptist Church, because it most closely aligns with my hermeneutics, belief and faith, almost mirrors mine. But I don't label and identify myself as a Baptist, I belong to one family. I grew up in a non-denominational church; Chatham Bible Church. Retiring and moving down here, there are no non-denominational churches I'm aware of; just the major denominations. 

As for the OP's original question, to properly answer it, I'd have to go back to the 4th century and address Constitine, the start of the 'universal' church-state. From there the 'dark ages' and what made them dark; the inquisitions, crusades, reformation, Anglican split; Puritan's, Quakers, Mormons; doctrine differences and splits. And that's just the Christianity side, not Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, cults, etc. A Christianity denomination tree would mirror a family genealogy tree in splits. How's that for the condensed Campbells soup version  

As stated, a couple of times above, I too would dissuade anyone from the Seventh Day Adventists, for the reasons mentioned. 

There are so many branches of the Baptist Church and they all have different beliefs. 

[other one]

3 hours ago, Kelly2363 said:

Yes that is undoubted - and I am sure there are numerous reasons that would qualify who that should be. But I also see that if we join a local church in order to grow and express our faith for a shared benefit - ultimately to glorify the Lord - then we cannot be lone rangers and loose canons. So in that sense it would be better to discern properly and be led of the Holy Spirit where we will fellowship and then having heard from the Lord we can trust the Lord even in difficult circumstances. Young believers are perhaps the most vulnerable because they tend to want to be with other believers but are unlikely to be able to differentiate between false doctrines and doctrines that sustain a true growth of the body. Well the Lord kept me when I was saved and has remained faithful in that regard my entire walk. I do agree that we should never fellowship in a cult. That would be foolish - and especially if the doctrine amounted to another christ. 

wherever we have been to there have been things that are taught that I see going against scripture....   some seeing things I don't see and some ignoring things that look obvious to me.

So we picked a church where the people love each other and take care of one another and pray together...   and it's ok with them if I don't agree with all of their doctrine...

[Dennis1209]

23 minutes ago, missmuffet said:

There are so many branches of the Baptist Church and they all have different beliefs. 

Correct! That's why I did my due diligence in researching the Baptist faith and different subdivisions and conventions, as well as pray for guidance. Before I joined as a member of the body of this particular Baptist church, I did my homework and asked the pastor and some members of the congregation some questions. As well as reading their Church Covenant and Statement of Faith.

We are an independent Baptist church, and do not follow the dictates of the Southern Baptist Convention, or any other dictates or conventions. I was surprised to discover, the Baptist faith has the same problems as everyone else; with scandals, corruption, sexual abuse, introducing abominations and political correctness into the convention to be voted on and adopted, etc. 

[missmuffet]

23 minutes ago, Dennis1209 said:

Correct! That's why I did my due diligence in researching the Baptist faith and different subdivisions and conventions, as well as pray for guidance. Before I joined as a member of the body of this particular Baptist church, I did my homework and asked the pastor and some members of the congregation some questions. As well as reading their Church Covenant and Statement of Faith.

We are an independent Baptist church, and do not follow the dictates of the Southern Baptist Convention, or any other dictates or conventions. I was surprised to discover, the Baptist faith has the same problems as everyone else; with scandals, corruption, sexual abuse, introducing abominations and political correctness into the convention to be voted on and adopted, etc. 

I have done my research and homework on all the denominations and I was not pleased.