Bible Question: The Jewish religious sects of Jesus' time (Pharisees, Sadducees, etc.) frequently challenged Jesus' authority and asked Him trick questions in an effort to trip Him up. They were, most of them, too firmly fixed in their own tradition be able to give credence to any other view but their own, including Jesus' view........ Questions: Is denominational Christianity today somewhat analogous to the Jewish sects of Jesus' time? Is this denominational bias reflected here on the forum? Can unity be restored, or have we drifted down the river of no return? --Hank |
Bible Answer: I have read Ed's post and agree with many things he has pointed out. Let me tell you my take on this matter. I think human nature is what has divided us into denominational boundaries. We naturally gravitate to people who agree with our interpretation of the Bible on pet doctrinal beliefs (I am not referring to Orthodox vs. un-Orthodox teachings. I am referring to those beliefs that most would consider secondary issues: Rapture of the church; Bible Prophecy charts; Sanctification issues etc.). Whenever someone stands in the pulpit and declares something as true and others don't see that teaching as true they only have 3 options at their disposal: 1.) Choose to stay in the church and not make a big deal out of it 2.) Attempt to change the other person’s view 3.) Choose to leave the church and attend one that views the Bible the same way they do on the issue at hand. Let me share a personal testimony that my wife and I had in a church in Texas. For a short period of time my wife and I attended Hillcrest Christian Church. This church comes from a background that espouses the belief, “No Creed But Christ.” They had no official creed (statement of beliefs on paper) and actually criticized churches that chose to write down their beliefs on paper stating “all creeds do is divide the church of Jesus Christ!” Therefore, creeds were looked at as something evil and not to be tolerated among real Christian churches. The only difference I found in the “Creedal Church” and the “Christian Church” was the former laid everything they believed out in the open and the latter left you guessing and probing in the dark trying to find out where they stood on issues. My family spun our wheels until finally we boiled down what the church body as a whole embraced: Their un-written creed! Yes, they had a creed but chose not to write it down. I will list 4 beliefs that I did not agree with that most of the church body at Hillcrest did: 1. Baptismal regeneration. 2. Amellinanism 3. Dispensationalism 4. O.T has no application to the N.T. believer By the way, the pastor found out that he violated one of the unspoken creeds of the church after 10 plus years of ministry: Verbal Plenanary Inspiration of the Bible. He did not believe in the verbal plenenary inspiration of the scriptures. Talk about one ugly scene that would have been avoided if the Elders of the church had produced, in writing, their doctrinal beliefs prior to hiring him as their minister. Allow me to make two observations about this church’s denominational attempt to unify the body of Christ: 1.) In the name of Unity, they produced another division in the body of Christ. You now have a “non creedal” division in Christ’s body. 2.) The slogan “No creed but Christ” sounds spiritual but it is not practical. They have creeds, they just choose not to write them down on paper. You will find out what their creeds are when you find yourself thrown into World War XXXXXX in their adult Sunday school class. I appreciate this denomination's attempt to unify the church but feel it will never work until Christ comes back for His bride. Yes, denominational biases are reflected in our forum but let me ask you and others on this forum a question: Do you embrace a truth because it comes from your denomination? Or do you reflect the beliefs of your denomination because it is True? |