Subject: Churchianity to be answered: |
Bible Note: Actually, I attend a non-denominational church, but I myself am not anti-denominational. I think most true followers of Christ in denominations would not say, "Upon the (insert denom here) I stand." My point was that the church was established by Christ, and that the visible church does operate best when it is organized. And it indeed does keep out heresy when operating correctly. Imagine where we would be if in the first five centuries of Christianity we did not have councils which recognized Gentile believers, fixed the canon of Scripture, codified the Trinity, recognized original sin as a doctrine of the Bible and recognized the need for God's grace, etc. etc. All were done by organized groups of believers to resist Gnosticism, Pelagianism, Arianism, etc. Also, the Reformers acted as an organized group as well, giving us back our Bible and reacquinting the world with justification theough faith alone in Christ alone. God indeed works theough organized groups of believers to keep the faith pure. "Every man for himself" leads to chaos. Just check the last verse of Judges. --Joe! |