Arguing Between Denominations

[Guest yod]

Is it possible for an individual Christian to become a theologian and learn to interpret the scriptures so they can decide on their own?

Being a theologian and interpreting scripture are not the same thing. The Bible is written by simple folk and intended to be understood by simple folk. Theologians get in the way of that far too often. We should unlearn theology and just let the Bible say what it says.

2 Peter 1:20

Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.

Our only hope for complete unity in the Body is found in the base common denominator of our faith...which is Israel...not the post-biblical institution known as the church (unfortunately). The biggest hindrance to that, imo, is when we try to understand the hebrew scriptures apart from the hebrews themselves. I find that too many theological interpretations do this

That will all change someday....probably sooner rather than later

Zechariah 8:23

[Guest LAW]

an earlier poster keeps talking about the "right" way, the "right" belief, the "right" interpretation. unfortunately, i do not have any more faith that his particular "non-church" church has it "right" than i do that any other church has it "right."

The Bible is a living thing-the way it speaks to believers is very personal, as is belief. i think that each believer has to come to that one-on-one relationship which cannot but be affected by his or her environment and worldly knowledge (not that this is the end all as evidenced by Peter's sermon in the first part of Acts--something which would be impossible from an unschooled fisherman were it not for the promptings of the Holy Spirit). add to that the gifting of the Holy Spirit according to the will of God and you have an INDIVIDUAL who has a relationship with his Father in his or her own way.

I find liturgical worship comforting at times. But i am not willing to forego Biblical, socially relevant teaching from the pulpit so that i might have the liturgy. I have found a church that nourishes me on both counts. Yes, we have Bible classes where each shares and we study the Bible by going through it. But, yes, there are times when the church comes together. We have separate healing services. We meet together at retirement homes and hospitals to minister. This is spiritually feeding me and many of my brothers and sisters. This particular little church is "good" and i do not think that it is either non-Biblical or against Bible teaching.

If you want to stick strictly to the way the church started out, do you hold all material things in common to be distributed by men you appoint as "apostles"? Do you appoint your apostles by casting lots, which was seen as allow God to make the selection? on and on with other examples.

Don't throw out the Christian baby with the worldly bathwater. i think that many churches need reform, as has always been the case. The Old Testament is full of God restoring His people, them growing away, God chastising and/or sending prophets and other people of God to show them the way, God's people returning, God blessing his people and the whole thing starting all over again. We are so sinful and small-minded, we cannot but stray from generation to generation-relearning the lessons which should be so basic.

[Guest LAW]

also, as to studying the Bible exclusively and not using, for example, commentaries and other Bible resources, if you get together and discuss and explore the Bible with like-minded people, you are just batting around the opinions of "men" (as in the state of being human, not as in being of a particular sex). How is that different from some of the God-inspired, thoughtful, learned treatises on portions of scripture available for the fortunate Christians of today. Martin Luther brought home Romans to me with interpretations of passages i would never have thought of. I do NOT agree with everything he wrote, but some of the explanations i read and it was like a light turning on. i could re-read the scripture and suddenly i understood what was being said.

Also, i keep commentaries close by to give me an understanding of the state of Israel or the church at the time that passages were written. Much of the letters of Paul's would be clearly understood in context by the Christians of that era but are confusing to us today if we do not realize the circumstances and events to which the passages refer.

I know i don't have it all right. And I'm sure when we get to heaven and God clears things up for us, we'll not only realize what blind idiots we've been but how much energy we've wasted on things that do not matter. but most of all i suspect that we'll realize that regret is inconsequential at that time with our desire to just worship our God face-to-face at last for all eternity.

[Smalcald]

God never meant for it to be like this.

Christ only brought one gospel for us to follow. Now it is up to us to find out which church is actually teaching the true gospel because all of the deniminations all standing up and stating they are teaching the gospel is like a bad rerun of "What's My Line" game show.

I have some questions. . . How do we know which denomination is rightly dividing the word of truth? Calvinists, Armininians, Baptists, Catholics, Lutherans, Jews. . . ? If you ask each one they will say that their interpretation is the correct one. So how do we find a church that teaches the true gospel? Is it possible for an individual Christian to become a theologian and learn to interpret the scriptures so they can decide on their own?

AND how important is it to agree on certain subjects? Which ones create unity in Christ and which ones will keep us from Heaven?

Just a side note, and I don't mean to be picky, but your list included Jews. Jews who practice Judaism do not believe in Jesus Christ as Lord so they are obviously not dividing truth correctly they are not Christian in any sense. Jews however are sometimes believers and members of those other groups you mentioned.

I think you have a good question though. I would certainly investigate them all and compare them to what you have read in scripture. Also I would consider what others have said, we have some great theologians in our faith; read them.

But also read thier statements of faith. Why do they believe what they do, is thier doctrine spelled out in detail does it reference the Holy Bible? How long have they held thier doctrine, are they a stable group of long term believers over the generations, or are they fly by night, changing doctrine in the wind with the pastors?

[Guest Biblicist]

Is it possible for an individual Christian to become a theologian and learn to interpret the scriptures so they can decide on their own?

Being a theologian and interpreting scripture are not the same thing. The Bible is written by simple folk and intended to be understood by simple folk. Theologians get in the way of that far too often. We should unlearn theology and just let the Bible say what it says.

Could you explain that further? I believe that the basic Truths of the Bible [i.e. Salvation] are simple, but there are things in there that would keep even the most learned Theologians scratching their heads for ages. That is the beauty of Gods Word. I do not think that one can simply learn Gods word without using some sort of Hermeneutics, understanding where it came from, who wrote it and who it was written to. Would that not include or be Theology?

I want to thank everyone for the answers to my questions. I was hoping to get the answers I got. "Study to show thyself approved". The Bereans searched the scriptures to see if what the Apostles were saying was true. A practice that we should all use today.

[Guest Biblicist]

Just a side note, and I don't mean to be picky, but your list included Jews. Jews who practice Judaism do not believe in Jesus Christ as Lord so they are obviously not dividing truth correctly they are not Christian in any sense. Jews however are sometimes believers and members of those other groups you mentioned.

If you ask the Jewish people they will say that they ARE rightly dividing the Word! That is why I added them, JW's also believe they are right in their beliefs.

Go figure. That is why I asked that question. It is easy to be lead astray when you do not know what Scriptures say. "Knowing what you stand for, limits what you fall for."

Thanks.

[felix]

Denominations do nothing but split the church. Every great move of God another denomination seems be born. I do believe that God will bring us to point of becoming a whole body. I also believe that all these great moves were to bring us together not split, He was jsut showing us another aspect of Himself each time and all we did was make it as if this is how he is in each move and He has ended showing anymore attributes of His being. I'm not real knowledgable on the great histories of all the denominations, but what I see is that different denominations just focus on one attribute of God and call it as if that is all God is or can do. He is so many things that to box Him up into a denomination has limited God and the church. I truly believe in my heart God is about to break every box we the church has put God into and we shall know the whole truth and truly be free to serve Him as a whole body. Those that want to hang on to their denomination God I'm sure will let you but as for me I will serve the Lord!!!

Amen.

I believe the reason there are denominations is because man has the tendency to believe they have "full knowledge" in something rather than admit they only have "half knowledge". This statement may seem simple or may not make much sense at first glance...but consider it more deeply...it reveals a lot.

I will add more in the future. but in the meantime is there someone here who can add to this? There is so much here that I want to share but don't have time now.

Thanks cardcaptor for your reply. *edited*

[John R Nolan]

I have been thinking a lot about the different Christian denominations, there are 28,000 divisions of Protestant (or so I've been told) and then there are Catholics as well. My question is does anyone else think most of these splits are meaningless? Aside from a few really crazy denominations, the majority of these denominations have all the same beliefs in areas that effect salvation.

So that would mean that 99% of the arguments between Christians are about things that are in the end, meaningless. The theory on how the earth was created comes to mind instantly, does it really effect salvation? Anyways, I don't really have a point here, does anyone else feel the same way I do?

Yes, this is a tragic situation, where people confessing Christianity are sepreated from each other by denominational doctrines

What we need consider is what GOD says about the situation and HE is specific in HIS requirements for HIS children to be LIKEMINDED.

There is no Scripture to suggest likemindedness is optional, and, seperation, division and arguement over GOD'S Word was the cause of the original fall

Lucifer told Eve he had an alternate interpretation, another idea what GOD meant, and look where that got us

Today he does the same by getting people's eye OFF the WORD and onto their idea what IT means

See Rom.12:16; 15:6; 1 Cor.1:10; 2:16; (and I'm sure the Lord is not divided;) Phil.2:2; 4:2; 1 Pet.3:8; 4:1;

It is personal interpretation which is the root cause of every denominational split and it grieves the Lord 2 Pet.1:20-21

What we need do is get our eyes off each other, seek out people with whom we can fellowship, people who are of like mind and ask the Lord to do the rest

There is only ONE GOD, ONE Lord and saviour, Jesus Christ, One Faith, One baptism and anything outside His Word is not worth bothering about

Just get into Him, and He is the Word

John 1:14

[felix]

Continuing from past post...

Jesus Christ resurrected from the dead and is the life-giving Spirit; He is alive and moving upon this earth in Spirit. God is alive. And He has an active move upon the face of this earth, in our individual lives and the universal Church.

Man only has partial knowledge of God's current move, yet because of the nature of man they must always assume they have full knowledge of God and all His things. This is why denominations are being created within the protestant churches. People are putting God within their own boxes. People limit God to their own concepts and their finite minds. We have to remember who we are and who God is. We are finite; God is infinite. We can never know all the things of God; thus we must live by the spirit where we have fellowship with the Holy Spirit and He leads us in the direction of God's move. In the spirit we can experience the abundant riches supplied by the Holy Spirit.

God's move is nothing new; it has been occuring since after Christ died. For instance from the Catholics churches to Protestant churches. In the old testament, the ark in the tabernacle had 4 golden rings with poles through them that it may be carried and moved about. In the same way today, God is moving about...yet it is through our prayers in Christ that it is carried out. To be in the Lord's move we need to lead a life of prayer. There is peace and rest here. I pray that you may receive this type of prayer life today. It is a prayer not for yourself, but one in which God and you are one together in prayer. It goes beyond praying for yourself for at this stage you already know God has everything taken care of...at this stage you begin to pray for the Lord's will. No longer your mind but the mind of Christ.

This is how you can seek the Holy Spirit's move upon this earth. Regardless of what denomination you are in or what church, be it orthodox or catholic, God is readily accesible in prayer and you can be led the right way by the Holy Spirit. In this manner you will rise above the denominations and other churches and be part of the bigger picture: the Church.

Amen to those who realize that there is only one Church, the Body of Christ. Jesus Christ is the head of this Body, not man. In the end times and in times of Christian persecution, the members of the Body of Christ (Christians) will be pushed and knitted more closely together. Differences in things such as denomination or church organization will become meaningless in the face of these things. The Church, the bride of Christ has to near completion by becoming one.

[Guest oceanssong]

There are certain things about Christianity that are non-negotiable -- salvation is only through the blood of Jesus, the Bible is the Word of God that we need to live by because in it, God's given us everything we need for life and godliness, etc. But in all this talk of denominations, we seem to have lost sight of something -- the church isn't a building or denomination, it's people. Jesus never said, "They shall know you're My disciples by the correctness of your theology or the perfection of your doctrine," because as finite and imperfect human beings, none of us will ever get it 100% right, not even most of the time. He said, "They'll know you are My disciples by the love you have for one another." THAT'S what it's about -- loving God and loving each other, in spite of our differences and disagreements. Whether we sing hymns or the latest pop-rock worship songs, whether we sprinkle or immerse, whether we're Calvinists or Arminians, it's about loving God the best we know how as finite, imperfect human beings, and loving each other in spite of our doctrinal differences (and personality quirks, too). Studying the Bible is absolutely imperative for Christians, but the Bible itself teaches that knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. The Pharisees knew the Law inside and out, but they had no love, only self-righteousness. We're going to spend eternity together, so we might as well quit arguing about who's right, or at least who's MORE right, and start learning to love each other the way He loves us -- which, for those who take such pride in their knowledge of the Bible, is a Biblical command.