Denominations Are Unbiblical
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Author: Christopher J. E. Johnson Published: Mar 24, 2020 Updated: Mar 12, 2022 |
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The Biblical Understanding of Sanctification
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The word 'denomination' comes from the word 'denominate', which generally means "to name." The action of naming something sets it apart from anything else in its category, or in other words, it is a way to separate or distinguish one thing from another, and I am not teaching that it is wrong to name anything, but rather, I am going to demonstrate that the concept of religious denominations is completely unbiblical for Christ's church.
Not only will you never find the word 'denominate' (or any variant of the word) in Scripture, but the very concept of creating "denominations" for churches is directly rebuked by Paul in 1st Corinthians. In this teaching, we are going to look at the Scripture which rebukes denominations, and then go into the history of denominations and how they have corrupted countless church buildings.
First, we need to define what a denomination is, and I will start with a 19th century dictionary:
denomination (n): the act of naming; a class, society or collection of individuals, called by the same name
(See 'denomination', American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828, retrieved Feb 17, 2020, [webstersdictionary1828.com])
denomination (n): a religious group, usually including many local churches, often larger than a sect; a class or kind of persons or things distinguished by a specific name
(See 'denomination', Random House Dictionary, 2020, [dictionary.com]; See also Collins English Dictionary, 10th Edition, William Collins Sons & Co, 2012)
For example, there are Baptist denominations, Lutherans, Methodists, Pentecostals, Wesleyans, Charismatics, Adventists, Nazarenes, and many more. In fact, there are so many, I doubt I would ever be able to list them all out in this teaching, and not only are denominations in error concerning the Word of God, but many more are being created all the time by either inventing a religious idea or method, or by combining other denominations together.
It should be noted that there are only two ways the word 'church' is used in the New Testament, and the first refers to Christ's church as a whole, or in other words, there is only one church.
I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be
-John 10:14-16
And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things.
-Acts 5:11
Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
-Acts 20:28
And he went through Syria and Cilicia, confirming the churches.
-Acts 15:41
And so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number daily.
-Acts 16:5
And all the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of Galatia:
-Galatians 1:2
I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea... Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ Jesus... Likewise greet the church that is in their house. Salute my wellbeloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ.
-Romans 16:1-5
(As a side note, the word 'bishop' in Scripture is another word for 'elder'. They mean the same thing, and are the same position. Read "Is the One-Pastor Church System Biblical?" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)
But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But
-Matthew 20:25-28
For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.
-1 Peter 2:25
(Read Why Millions of Believers on Jesus Are Going to Hell here at creationliberty.com for more details.)
Please do not misunderstand, it is not wrong for Christians to separate themselves from the false doctrines of this world, as Jesus Himself said He came to bring such division over the truth of His Word (Luke 12:51-53), but many pastors and churchgoers (along with the rest of the world) believe that all these denominations are supposedly "Christian," despite the fact that they separate themselves from one another. The church of Christ should be unified, but they divide themselves against one another in opposition to what we are taught in Scripture, and the Bible teaches us that if any man brings division that is contrary to (i.e. against) the doctrine of Scripture, then he does not serve the Lord Jesus Christ:
Now I beseech you, brethren, mark [point out] them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.
-Romans 16:17-18
(Read "The Biblical Understanding of Sanctification" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)
(Read "False Converts vs Eternal Security" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)
Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
-Romans 15:5-6
Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.
-Philippians 2:2
For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
-Ephesians 5:8-11
Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
-Ephesians 4:3-6
For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.
-Acts 20:29-31
Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
-1 Corinthians 1:10
(Read "Is Repentance Part of Salvation?" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)
However, within the church, among those who are born again in Christ by His grace through repentance and faith in Him, we should have no division among us. For example, if a man claims he is a "Baptist," he sees it as a separation away from other denominations, but the core problem is that his declaration unto the Baptist denomination is a claim of division against the rest of the church, which puts him at odds against New Testament doctrine because there should be no such division among the church.
All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits.
-Proverbs 16:2
For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.
-1 Corinthians 1:11
contention (n): strife; struggle,; a violent effort to obtain something, or to resist a person, claim or injury; contest; quarrel; strife in words or debate
strife (n): exertion for superiority; contest of emulation, either by intellectual or physical efforts; struggle for victory
(See 'contention' & 'strife', American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828, retrieved Feb 26, 2020, [webstersdictionary1828.com])
(Read "The Biblical Understanding of Pride" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)
Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?
-1 Corinthians 1:12-13
Paul was rebuking the Corinthian church for claiming to be under the doctrine of Paul, or Apollos, or Peter (i.e. Cephas), but we are Christians (i.e. followers of Christ), not Paulians, Apollosians, or Peterians. Martin Luther was not crucified for us, nor were we baptized in the name of John Wesley, and therefore, if a man claims division in the name of another man, tradition, or method apart from Christ, those who he converts to his denomination are led away from the church because he is dividing people away from Christ.
I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius; Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name.
-1 Corinthians 1:14-15
And I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other. For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.
-1 Corinthians 1:16-17
(Read "The Biblical Understanding of Baptism" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)
To preach the wisdom of a man's words, instead of preaching the wisdom of God's Word, leads men to worship the man instead of Christ, and thus, Christ's sacrifice on the cross becomes meaningless in their hearts, which means their preaching will have no spiritual effect on the listeners. The effect of denominations is no different because, when a man's loyalty is dedicated to a denomination first and foremost, the cross of Christ becomes ineffective, in that men end up looking to the traditions of a denomination instead of the doctrine of Scripture.
Two chapters later, Paul continues to teach the following:
For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?
-1 Corinthians 3:3-4
Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.
-1 Corinthians 3:5-7
Despite the fact that the New Testament is very clear and simple on the matter of denominations, teaching us that denominations are a corruption of the true church of Jesus Christ and modeled after carnal things of this world, millions upon millions of churchgoers from various countries around the globe follow denominations first and foremost, identifying themselves according to the corporate name of the church building they attend. Since denominations are not supported in Scripture, the big question most readers may be asking themselves is: How did this all get started?
Personally, I believe that we do not even need to answer the question because the Bible's rebuke of denominations is all we need to know to stay away from them. We should be wise unto the good things of God, and less knowledgeable of the carnal things of this world. (Rom 16:19) However, I understand that there are some brethren who are weak in the faith concerning this matter, having been corrupted by the false doctrines of many pastors and church buildings, so I will cover a very brief, generalized history of denominations, that they can see the evidence to demonstrate why the Lord God wants His children to be sanctified from them.
As we just read in the Bible, denominations started in places like Corinth, which is why Paul had to rebuke it very quickly, and as we read earlier in Acts 20, this is one of the reasons why Paul spent years warning the church of the wolves to come (Acts 20:29-31), and that they would arise from within the church. Since Paul was writing through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that means it is the Holy Ghost (i.e. God) that has warned us about this. As soon as the apostles began to die from persecution or old age, the wolves who kept themselves hidden in various churches began to emerge from the shadows to lead believers (or those who might become believers) astray.
So to preface this historical overview, after Christ had returned to sit on the right hand of God the Father, the true church of the Lord Jesus Christ was started in 33 AD. In the first few decades, the apostles kept the church regulated, and removed false converts and corrupt teachers from the midst of the church, so denominations and religious cults branching out from the church was much less common, since the Holy Spirit was harshly punishing those who attempted to deceive the church, and many in the church feared the apostles for this reason. (Acts 5:1-11)
In the second century, many branches of strange religious beliefs appeared, and false preachers led many astray. For example, the Adamites were a denomination in Northern Africa that believed that Adam and Eve were originally innocent, and so they practiced what they called "holy nudism," which means they held public religious services with all their members stark naked. (Various other groups, called the "Neo-Adamites," attempted to revive the denomination at various points through the 13th-17th centuries in Europe.)
(See William H. Brackney, Historical Dictionary of Radical Christianity, Scarecrow Press, 2012, p. 21, ISBN: 9780810871793)
The Ebionites also appeared in the 2nd century, but they denied the divinity of Jesus Christ, and that He was born of a virgin woman. They also believed that the Jewish law had to be strictly followed, they rejected the epistles of Paul, they believed in praying towards Jerusalem (similar to how Muslims pray towards Mecca), and they believed that the eternal spirit of Jesus and Jesus as a man were two separate beings.
(See Anthony J. Blasi, Social Science and the Christian Scriptures, Volume 1: Sociological Introductions and New Translation, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2017, p. 152, ISBN: 9781532611506)
There was another denomination called the Nicolaitans, and they are actually mentioned in the book of Revelation:
But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
-Revelation 2:6
So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.
-Revelation 2:15
(See Bruce Bertram, Nicolaitan: Lords of Hypocrisy, Word of God Ministries, 2019, ISBN: 9780997501421)
There are many more denominations and religious cults that could be mentioned here, but I just wanted to give readers a few examples to gain a general understanding. There are a handful of major denominations that appeared within the first two hundred years after the initial apostles of Christ (roughly 100-300 AD), and hundreds of minor cults that branched off with various ideologies.
During this time, Christianity was legal in some places, while illegal in other places, but ultimately, Rome was the major world power, and Rome had not yet acknowledged Christianity as a religion, which led some rulers to outlaw Christianity, resulting in the deaths of thousands of Christian martyrs. In 312 AD, the Roman leader Constantine claimed he converted to Christianity, but his conversion testimony was based in pagan superstition, which had nothing to do with true belief in Christ, so to make a long story short, Constantine eventually chose to legalize Christianity in 325 AD, and he became the first pope of Rome.
(Read Corruptions of Christianity: Catholicism here at creationliberty.com for more details about the origin and history of the Catholic Church.)
Rome invented the concept of a corporation, which means that, in order for Christian doctrine to be accepted as a legally recognized religious entity in Rome, the doctrine had to become a created corporation under Roman authority. The true disciples of Jesus knew that to participate in such a thing would be a betrayal against Christ, so those who remained faithful stayed away from the merger, but many other people claiming to be Christians (i.e. churchgoers), being tired of such heavy persecution, willingly yoked together with Constantine to create a corporate entity for Christianity, which became a new denomination called the Roman Catholic Church.
(Read 501c3: The Devil's Church here at creationliberty.com for more details on corporations.)
But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.
-Matthew 13:20-21
(Read "Corruptrions of Christianity: Catholicism - Chapter 8 - Catholic Inquisition: The Result of Papal Rule" here at creationliberty.com for more details about the vicious persecution of the Catholic Church against the saints of God.)
Thus, Constantine called together what is known today as the "First Council of Nicaea," named after the city of Nicaea, which is now Iznik, Turkey. Their goal was to establish what should be upheld as the foundation of Christian doctrine and belief, however, the problem with this is that Christian doctrine and belief had already been established by the Holy Spirit, through Christ's apostles in the formation of the church, and the documentation of the epistles (i.e. letters) was preserved in the Word of God through what is commonly referred to as "The New Testament."
Even if we approach the subject from only a logical standpoint, it makes no sense to create a "Nicaean Creed" by which everyone should pledge their allegiance because man-made creeds can be created on error, they can be changed later, and it only takes the focus of the people away from the Word of God, placing that focus instead on man-made documents and traditions (which really sums up the Catholic Church in a nutshell). I believe all Christians should place the foundation of all their philosophy, belief, and doctrine on the Word of God alone, which is why, despite the fact that most church building organizations today honor the Nicaean Creed, I stand firmly against the creation of it, and I certainly do not support it in any way because it was unbiblical and unnecessary to develop it in the first place.
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
-Hebrews 4:12
Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
-Matthew 24:35
Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
-John 8:31-32
Just to provide a brief example, in Foxe's Book of Martyrs, Hugh Latimer (before his death at the hands of the Catholic Church) was interrogated by a bishop of the Roman Catholic Church, and he talks about the difference between the catholic church and the Catholic Church:
"Immediately Master Latimer was sent for, whom the Bishop of Lincoln desired to recant, revoke his errors, and turn to the catholic church.
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'No, my lord,' interrupted Master Latimer, ' |
At this point, many things could be said about Rome, Constantine, and the demonic popes that would follow the Council of Nicaea, but this article's topic is about denominations, not the Catholic Church. If you want to learn more about the corrupt origin and bloody history of the Catholic Church, read my book Corruptions of Christianity: Catholicism, which is free-to-read here at creationliberty.com.
Over the next few hundred years, there would still be many small religious cults arise and fall, but Roman Catholicism's popularity would remain and dominate the mainstream. Meanwhile, in the background, at the grass-roots level among the poor and needy, there were Christian evangelists and apostles (i.e. what are commonly called "missionaries" today, but the word 'missionary' is a Catholic term) working out of the homes of believers in various countries around the world; or in other words, the true church founded by the Lord Jesus Christ has always operated behind the mainstream scenes.
There are a number of examples that could be used to prove the point, but just to provide one example so readers can gain a better understanding, in the 12th century, there was a group of Christians that spread out around France, and though there is very little documentation that exists about them today (because much of it was destroyed by the Catholic Church), what does exist shows that they were rightly preaching the truth of Christ, learning the Word of God over time, and sanctifying themselves as they grew. This group was heavily persecuted by the Roman Catholic Church, and this group of Christians is what triggered the Catholic Church to create the Inquisitors, which were the men appointed by the Catholic Pope to lead the charge of executing all those who did not bow to Rome.
Though there is no evidence of a denomination among them, the Roman Catholic Church labeled them as the "Waldensians," or they have also been called the Valdenses, Waldenses, Vaudois, or Valdesi (depending on the language). The reason for this was because the Catholic Church blamed the entire movement on a man named Peter Waldo (or Valdo/Valdes), who visited the Pope to preach to him the truth of the Word of God.
(See Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Waldenses," retrieved Mar 13, 2020, [britannica.com/topic/Waldenses])
Based on his own conviction by his reading of a non-Latin translation of the Bible (i.e. non-Catholic, meaning that it had no corruption of the minority manuscripts of the Catholic Church), and based on some events in his life at the time, he became poor for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ, signing over his property to his wife, and giving away the rest of it to the poor and needy. Waldo preached fervently that we Christians cannot serve God and mammon (i.e. money, Mat 6:24), that those in authority in the church were to be servants (i.e. not lording over believers as the priests did), and he preached this message directly to the Pope. Waldo also preached that the Holy Scripture was the sole authority over the church, Christ is the only mediator between God and men (1Ti 2:5), there is no such thing as purgatory, there is no office in the church above the local elders/bishops, and many other sound Biblical doctrines that contradicted the corrupt Roman Papacy. Though the Pope accepted his vow of poverty (i.e. because the popes love it when they can be rich while everyone else suffers on their behalf), he strictly forbid Waldo from preaching these things.
(See Mark A. Lamport, Encyclopedia of Martin Luther and the Reformation, Vol. 2, Rowman & Littlefield, 2017, p. 383, ISBN: 9781442271593)
Since Waldo chose to serve the Lord Jesus Christ instead of the Roman Pope, and he continued traveling and preaching the truth of God's Word to the poor and needy, a growing number came to repentance (i.e. grief and godly sorrow of wrongdoing) and faith in Christ, and as they began to study the Word of God for themselves, they departed from more and more Catholic traditions, until after a number of years, they were completely departed from Catholic doctrine and practice, operating out of the homes of believers, just as the Christians did in the New Testament. This movement obviously struck a blow to the attendance of Catholic masses, which also affected the income of local priests, and under the threat of losing their wealth and power, the Pope knew the Christians (i.e. who the Pope called "heretics") had to be dealt with quickly, which (as I previously mentioned) led him to establish the Catholic Office of Inquisition, and that would result in thousands of Christians being brutally tortured and killed.
This is a sample of what the true church has had to suffer over the past 2000 years, and that they are not well-known and documented much in history (because history is written by those who have great power and wealth), but Christ's church has always had the protection and guidance of the Holy Spirit even under heavy persecution and tribulation, working behind the scenes for the salvation of souls and alms to the poor and needy. It is necessary that I point out this distinction is because most people believe that the "Reformation" was filled with true born again Christians, but in reality, it was a protest against the tightening grip of Catholic rule, or in other words, denominations came from disputes with the Catholic Church, not from saving grace in Christ, and nearly all the denominations over the past 1700 years have stemmed from the Catholic Church.
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Denominations were created on the foundation of strife, not on the foundation of truth. |
Of course, there are so many denominations, I would not be capable of covering them all in this article. There are tens of thousands of denominations in the world today, and so thousands of denominations will go unmentioned in this teaching, but I will attempt to speak briefly on the many major religious groups that have formed out of their true mother, Rome.
Continuing through history, many denominations still held on to (and worshipped) the Nicaean Creed, and today, there is a popular hymn sung in many church buildings called Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty!, but most churchgoers are unaware it is dedicated to the traditions of the Catholic Church, and the tune itself was taken from another song that was dedicated to honor and worship of the Council of Nicaea. More councils were later formed to debate Catholic doctrine within the Catholic Church, and one of them was called the Council of Ephesus (431 AD), the result of which caused a split into another Catholic denomination known as the Assyrian Church.
(See W.A. Wigram, An Introduction to the History of the Assyrian Church, Aeterna Press, 2015; For more details on the hymn, see Riginald Heber, "History of Hymns: 'Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty'," Discipleship Ministries, Sept 7, 2017, retrieved Mar 19, 2020, [umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-holy-holy-holy-lord-god-almighty])
Twenty years later (451 AD), the Council of Chalcedon formed to debate more doctrines in the Catholic Church. Of course, there are many more details that are long and boring to read about, but in general, the disagreements in this council caused a split to form the Oriental Orthodox Church, and over the next few centuries, these councils would lead to more and more splits, even though they would all remain dedicated to the corrupt practices of their Roman Catholic mother.
(See Mesrob K. Krikorian, Christology of the Oriental Orthodox Churches: Christology in the Tradition of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Peter Lang, 2010, ISBN: 9783631581216)
In 1054, another major split of the Catholic Church (known today as the "Schism of 1054") took place between Western Latin-speaking Roman Catholics and the Eastern Greek-speaking Roman Catholics:
"The Eastern church sharply disagreed when the Western church introduced into the Nicene Creed the doctrine that the Holy Spirit proceeds not from the Father alone—as earlier Church Fathers had taught—but from the Father and the Son (Latin: Filioque).When the Roman Empire was divided into two zones, Latin-speaking Rome began to claim superiority over Greek-speaking Constantinople, and disputes arose over church boundaries and control (for example, in Illyricum and Bulgaria). Rivalry developed in Slavic regions between Latin missionaries from the West and Byzantine missionaries from the East, who considered this territory to be Orthodox."
-Encyclopaedia Britannica, "The Schism of 1054," retrieved Mar 10, 2020, [britannica.com/topic/Christianity/The-Schism-of-1054]
From this point on, there was a Roman Catholic denomination and a Greek Orthodox denomination, and this split was created from more than just the doctrine on the Holy Spirit. For example, the Greek Orthodox Church denied the infallibility of the pope, marriage was allowed by the clergy, and the Eucharist was to administer bread dipped in wine and served on a golden spoon, but an important note to remember is that, outside of these few details, the Greek Orthodox Church is still Catholicism, and it is still corrupt.
(See History of the Christian Church, Volume IV: Mediaeval Christianity, A.D. 590-1073, CCEL, ISBN: 9781610250436)
However, one of the major contentions we need to recognize is that the Greek-speaking Catholics read the New Testament in Greek, and knew the word 'baptism' meant "immersion," not a sprinkling, which is why, still today, the Roman Catholic Church does baptism by sprinkling (or flinging water/oil onto) babies, while the Greek Orthodox Church does full immersion. This is an important note because this theme on baptism is going to carry on to split into various religious cults through many centuries, and if any readers are not familiar with the proper doctrine on baptism in Scripture, I would highly recommend reading the teaching "The Biblical Understanding of Baptism" here at creationliberty.com for more details, so that you will not be deceived by any denomination on this matter.
As we continue, keep in mind that all these Catholic cults believe that salvation can be achieved through baptism by an ordained Catholic priest in a Catholic ritual. They believe that if a baby is sprinkled with (or immersed in) their "holy" water/oil by a priest, the baby becomes Catholic and is justified by God, which is a lie, and is not taught in Scripture by any reasons because that is a works-salvation doctrine, or in other words, it is doctrine that claims you can do a particular work or ritual to be saved.
For by grace are ye
-Ephesians 2:8-10
| In the 16th century, a man named Martin Luther, a Catholic priest, would object to the doctrines of Catholicism by teaching that justification (i.e. salvation) was not by baptism, but by grace through faith, and that the popes were not the head of the church. This contention is what is often credited for causing "The Great Reformation" (i.e. a period of time where many European groups split from the Catholic Church) and a denomination was started which came to be known as Lutheranism, which divided from the Catholic Church based on those two points, but they remained Catholic by tradition and doctrine in many other aspects, even to this day. |  |
For example, the Catholic practices of transubstantiation (i.e. the claim and practice that bread is Christ's literal body and grape juice is Christ's literal blood) in the Catholic abomination of the Eucharist is still practiced by Lutherans to this day. (It is a more lukewarm position, which some call "consubstantiation," which claims that the bread is both bread and the literal body of Christ at the same time to try to avoid logical contradiction.) This was based on a debate that Luther had later in his life (after his excommunication from Rome) against Swiss preacher Ulrich Zwingli (who properly defended the true meaning of communion and the Lord's Supper), in which Luther argued more in favor of the Roman Catholic Eucharist, and because of such debates, the Lutheran denomination has always remained mostly Catholic in its traditions.
(See Robert D. Cornwall, The Eucharist: Encounters with Jesus at the Table, Vol. 10, Energian Publications, 2014, ISBN: 9781631990656)
I understand that there are many readers out there who might metaphorically burn me at the stake for saying this, but I do not know if Martin Luther was born again in Christ or not. Some will vehemently defend him by arguing that he taught grace by faith, but I would counter that by saying that Billy Graham taught that too, and yet, Billy Graham was not of Christ and ended up in hell (and later, will be thrown into the lake of fire) because he was a heretic against Christ, teaching that all men were automatically saved and had no need to come to repentance and faith. Churchgoers tend to cling to their presuppositions instead of looking at the facts and judging righteous judgment, and in this instance, because Luther was part of "The Great Reformation," and because there is a doctored version of history that is taught by willingly ignorant pastors in many church buildings, the presupposition is that Luther is assumed to have been born again in Christ, and that is one of the primary dangers in following denominations because it causes churchgoers to follow the traditions and philosophies of men, instead of following Christ and looking at these matters through the glasses of Scripture.
(Read "Wolves in Costume: Billy Graham" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)
Every way of a man is right in his own eyes:
but the LORD pondereth the hearts.
-Proverbs 21:2
The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately wicked: who can know it?
-Jeremiah 17:9
(See Hans J. Hillerbrand, "Martin Luther: German Religious Leader," Encyclopaedia Britannica, Feb 14, 2020, retrieved Mar 20, 2020, [britannica.com/biography/Martin-Luther/Later-years])
The Anabaptists were brutally tortured and killed, and the Catholic Church had their remains put on display in iron cages for all to see as a warning, and Luther thought they deserved it because of their "
Such statements do not reflect the fruits of the Holy Spirit, as Paul taught us:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
-Galatians 5:22-23
(See also Dyron Daughtrity, Martin Luther: A Biography for the People, ACU Press, 2017, ISBN: 9780891124689)
Before we go on to talk about other denominational splits and their leadership, it should be noted that the many splits from the Catholic Church were generally labeled "Protestant," which comes from the word 'protest':
protest (v): to affirm with solemnity [heaviness, seriousness]; to make a solemn declaration of a fact or opinion
(See 'protest', American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828, retrieved Mar 10, 2020, [webstersdictionary1828.com])
For example, we Christians know that abortion is murder, but does that mean anyone who protests against abortion is automatically a Christian? No, of course not. You can protest against abortion without being a Christian, just as someone can protest against the murderous oppression of the Catholic Church without being a Christian, and that is a very important distinction we Christians need to understand so we are not led astray by false doctrines and presuppositions about a movement.
(Read "Abortion: Paganism, Satanism, Sacrifices, and Witchcraft" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)
The problem with the concept of "Protestantism" is that these are mostly people protesting the Catholic Church, but in reality, those of us who are born again in Christ have nothing to do with the Catholic Church. This is not to say that men and women have not been born again out of the Catholic Church because Christ has certainly (and thankfully) saved some people from the vile bowels of Catholicism, nor am I saying that Christians do not need substantial time to learn the truth of Christ's doctrine (Heb 5:13-14), nor am I saying that there were not some Christians among Protestants, but the Lutherans (for example) continue to uphold the religious traditions of the Catholic Church in many areas due to the fact that they followed Luther instead of Christ, which means that these denominations are simply rebellious branches that have grown out of their wicked Catholic root. (i.e. They are not part of Christ's church.)
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Another split during this same century was called Calvinism, and it was led by a man named John Calvin, who studied to be a Catholic priest, but whereas Luther changed his college studies from law to theology, Calvin changed his college studies from theology to law so he could make more money. Calvin would go on to write a book called Institutes of the Christian Religion, which became very influential during the Reformation, and though followers of Calvin were very similar to followers of Luther in respect to upholding the religious traditions of the Catholic Church, Calvin was distinct primarily because of his denial of the corrupt Catholic (and Lutheran) beliefs that Christ's body and blood was literally present in the Eucharist. (i.e. transubstantiation) |
Before continuing, I need to make another disclaimer because I am likely going to receive a lot of hate mail from people who are members of these various denominations, and they will claim that I am leaving out a lot of detail about the doctrine these men taught. I am fully aware that there are other details on doctrines that make up Calvinism, but what is ignored is the fact that there are, for example, MANY denominations within Lutheran and Calvinist branches, and they all believe various things that contradict each other, so again, I will not be able to cover that many heresies from every branch and twig of their religious cults in this teaching alone.
For example, the Lutherans have the Alliance of Renewal Churches, the Association of Free Lutheran Congregations, the Evangelical Lutheran Synod, the Independent Lutheran Diocese, the Old Apostolic Lutheran Church, and the United Lutheran Mission Association, just to name a few. The Calvinists have an even longer list (e.g. generally, any church building that contains the word "Reformed" is Calvinist), but the point is that just because a person in one denomination might object to my assessment of the general beliefs of that denomination, it does not mean that what I am saying is wrong because the origin of the denomination is still the same, and today, there are tens of thousands of religious denominations for so-called "Christianity." (That is, what they claim to be Christianity; as opposed to Christ's true church, which is united in the Spirit of God and has no denomination.)
| Also in the 16th century, the Presbyterian denomination appeared, following the doctrines of both Calvin, and a Catholic priest named John Knox, who spread his doctrine throughout Scotland. The Presbyterians distinguished themselves by their emphasis on the authority of Scripture, and that the governing of the church should be led by a group of elders, but over the years, the Presbyterians have played a major role in the corrupt ecumenical movement, going on to form the World Council of Churches, and fused together with other denominations to create hybrids. |  |
As a side note, Knox was influential in reforming the Book of Common Prayer, which is where many false doctrines and corrupt traditions come from, including vain repetitious prayers. (Mat 6:7) Whereas most churchgoers believe their wedding traditions come from the Bible, they actually come from paganism, witchcraft, and the Catholic Church through the corrupt Book of Common Prayer, and if you want to learn more about that, I have a book that is free-to-read here at creationliberty.com called The Biblical Understanding of Weddings & Marriage where you can get more details.
It should also be noted that the Bible does mention something called the 'presbytery' (1Ti 4:14), which is a body of elders who are members of a local church. However, this has nothing to do with the denomination called "Presbyterians," because denominations are unbiblical, and the structure of the Presbyterian denomination goes far beyond a group of elders who oversee the local church.
At the beginning of the 17th century, the Baptist denomination was created after the doctrine of a pastor named John Smyth, an Anglican priest. Smyth rejected the false doctrine of infant baptism, and correctly taught that baptism should only be for adults who believed and consented, which led to a split between two types of Baptists, those who believed the general public (even unbelievers) should be baptized, and those who believe that baptism is only for those who are born again in Christ and are part of the church.
However, Smyth also taught that prayer, singing, and preaching (i.e. forms of worship) should not be scheduled, and that they had to be done spontaneously, even to the point that he believed that reading the Bible among an assembly of Christians was a rejection of the power of the Holy Spirit. (Apparently, John Smyth was willingly blind that the Word of God IS the power of the Holy Spirit.) He also believed that reading from a translation of the Bible was reading from the works of men because he did not believe that God had preserved His Word in English, and so he instructed the church that an English translation of the Bible should not be read, despite the fact that the majority of the people among them read and spoke English.
(See Scott E. Hendrix & Uchenna Okeja, The World's Greatest Religious Leaders: How Religious Figures Helped Shape World History, ABC-CLIO, 2018, p. 630, ISBN: 9781440841385; See also Philip Sheldrake, The New Westminster Dictionary of Christian Spirituality, Westiminster John Knox Press, 2005, p. 142, ISBN: 9780664230036)
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In fact, Smyth claimed that the Word of God in English was as corrupt as the Apocrypha:"A translation being the work of a mans wit & learning, is as much and as truly an humane writing, as the Apocrypha (so commonly called) writings are, and seeing |
Therefore, the Word of God in English was forbidden for use by Baptists initially, which is a fact few Baptists are aware of today. Furthermore, Smyth also battled against the Anglican tradition of having a bishop, priest, and deacon, which was modeled after the Catholic Church, and implemented a system of having only one pastor and one deacon ruling over a church, which is why so many church buildings today practice a one-pastor church system, typically have one "senior pastor" and a younger "associate pastor," and this is despite the fact that neither the Catholic nor Baptist tradition was a set operating procedure in the New Testament for the church.
(Read "Is the One-Pastor Church System Biblical?" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)
There is some speculation that John Smyth had baptized himself, not allowing anyone else to baptize him. Based on the evidence I have seen, this is uncertain because it was written by his opposition; not by Smyth or his colleagues. This does not mean it is definitely true or definitely false, but the practice of baptizing oneself is certainly not Scriptural, and it is unknown in what way Smyth himself was baptized.
(See Henry M. Dexter, The True Story of John Smyth, the Se-Baptist: As Told by Himself and His Contemporaries, Lee and Shepard, 1881, [University of Michigan])
I understand that many Baptists will also metaphorically burn me at the stake for daring to question their denomination, but again, denominations are completely unbiblical, and so I will judge them according to the same doctrine I am judging every other denomination, as unbiblical practice. Out of all the denominations I have listed so far, some of the most swelling vanity of pride comes out of the Baptist denomination because they believe they are so holy and right, and I have witnessed their arrogance many times firsthand.
The Anabaptists (who I previously mentioned had branched off of Martin Luther) also had some influence on the Baptists, and they wrote the Schleitheim Confession (i.e. a declaration of a number of doctrines from baptism to non-violence to communion), and from them, many churchgoers branched out into various religious groups. These include, but are not limited to, Mennonites, Bruderhof, Amish, Hutterites, and Old German Baptists.
| As I documented earlier, the Baptist founder John Smyth was an Anglican priest, and the Anglicans are the Church of England, which used to be under the authority of the Pope of Rome, who ruled as the religious authority over Great Britain, until the 16th century when the Act of Supremacy (1534) was passed by British Parliament, which declared King Henry VIII to be the Supreme Head of the Church of England. In summary, Henry wanted to divorce his wife and marry another woman, but the Roman Pope would not allow it, so he set forth measures to separate England's Catholic Church from the Roman Catholic Church, and though a few traditions changed over time, the Church of England, later being known as the "Anglicans," still retain most of the Roman Catholic traditions and doctrines to this day. |  |
As you can see, many of these splits were not just about baptism, but also over the question of authority, meaning that it was whether or not one accepted the Roman Pontiff (i.e. the pope) as the head of the church, but the problem is that many people today view the world in terms of Catholic vs Protestant. Remember, just because someone confesses that the Pope of Rome has no authority over the church, it does not automatically mean that person is born again in Christ because such a confession is not how a man is saved, and so we must be very cautious not to get yoked up with denominations because it leads men into various false doctrines and religious traditions created by men.
(Read "Why Millions of Believers on Jesus Are Going to Hell" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)
Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.
-Mark 7:13
The Puritans ended up creating a very strict and rigid set of religious traditions, which included a disciplined observance of the Sabbath day, creating ordinances in some towns that disallowed travel, playing, uncivil walking, and various other common activities on Sundays. (That is, despite the fact that the Jews maintained that the Sabbath was on a Saturday, not Sunday.) For example, the Puritans in Massachusetts did not allow a man to receive a kiss from his wife in public:
"Kissing one's wife in public on a Sunday was also outlawed. A sea captain, returning home on a Sunday morning from a three-year voyage, was indiscreet enough to kiss his wife on the doorstep.For this he was forced to sit in the stocks for two hours for this 'lewd and unseemly behavior on the Sabbath Day.' "
-Murray N. Rothbard, "Coercing Morality in Puritan Massachusetts," Mises Institute, May 1, 2012, retrieved Mar 11, 2020, [mises.org/library/coercing-morality-puritan-massachusetts]
Local Puritan governments created fines for not attending a Puritan church building, and in some cases, authorities were granted permission to force absentees out of their homes and herd them into the church building (i.e. this was all before the Constitution and First Amendment would prevent local goverments from doing such things), and the remnants of that Puritan attitude is still seen in some pastors today. Disobedience among children was subject to public lashing by civil authorities, and a woman who rolled up her sleeve on a hot day while she worked in the garden could be subject to strict punishment for public indecency.
Just to clarify, such things were never established for Christians to do in Scripture. New Christians in the church were given very simple instructions:
For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.
-Acts 15:28-29
For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
-Romans 13:9-10
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
-Matthew 11:28-30
(As a side note, former U.S. [and communist] President Barack Obama has been a long-standing member of the United Church of Christ; See J. Bennett Guess, "Barack Obama, candidate for President, is 'UCC'," Feb 8, 2007, retrieved Mar 11, 2020, [ucc.org/barack-obama-candidate]; See also United Church of Christ, "About our LGBT Ministries," retrieved Mar 24, 2020, [ucc.org/lgbt_about])
If you would like to learn more about some of these various religions, I have some teachings on them, such as "Corruptions of Christianity: Mormonism," "Corruptions of Christianity: Jehovah's Witness," and my published book Corruptions of Christianity: Seventh-day Adventism, all of which are free to read here at creationliberty.com. In fact, if you follow the line of denominational branches further, you will find that it ends in death and destruction, and I will continue down the line of the Adventists just to provide readers one example of denominational lineage, so they can get a full understanding of how deep the corruption goes.
Out of the various Puritan cults arose a man named
After Miller and the Great Disappointment, a man by the name of
(See Jerome L. Clark, 1844: Religious Movements, Vol. 1, TEACH Services Inc, 1968, p. 70-71, ISBN: 9781572580671; See also Arthur W. Spalding, Origin and History of Seventh-Day Adventists, Vol. 1, Review and Herald Publications Association, 1961, p. 115, [University of Wisconsin - Madison])
Wheeler decided to take Oakes' words to heart, and went home to do some research. After studying in the Bible on the matter, he decided to accept the Sabbath-keeping teaching, or in other words, he accepted the false works-based doctrine that Christians must observe the Sabbath or they cannot be born again in Christ and will end up in hell.
(Read "Keeping the Sabbath is Not a Christian Requirement" here at creationliberty.com for more details; among those who believe in Sabbath-keeping doctrine, there are almost none who actually keep the Sabbath described in the Old Testament, meaning there are a lot of hypocrites out there.)
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As Wheeler's Sabbath-keeping doctrine began to spread, Thomas Preble, who had accepted Millerite doctrine in 1842, heard Wheeler's doctrine and accepted it too. Preble ended up becoming friends with Wheeler, and Preble was the first Adventist to publish the Sabbath-keeping doctrine in print. (See image) (See Thomas M. Preble, According to the Commandment, Murray & Kimball, 1845) Preble had supposedly, later in his life, denounced this teaching, but not before he had convinced a number of others it was true; one of those he converted was named Joseph Bates, who read Preble's tract in a publication called "The Hope of Israel," printed on Feb 28, 1845, and the following year, Bates taught the Sabbath-keeping doctrine to a woman named Ellen Harmon, who also accepted it. This is extremely significant because soon after, Ellen Harmon went on to marry a man named James White, and she became |
This is not only how the Sabbath-keeping doctrine got added into the Millerite movement, but also ended up creating a nearly countless number of splits into more heretical teachings and cult groups. We just saw one cult timeline, and now we are going to rewind and look at another timeline to bring all this together.
During the Great Disappointment of 1841, a man named Hiram Edson claimed to have a prophetic vision and said that Jesus did not come to earth, but rather, Jesus entered into a special heavenly sanctuary for the first time and would have to do some work there. (i.e. He still believed Miller's prophecy was true, but was slightly off on a few points.) Edson got together with his friend Owen Crosier, and a few years later, they published his vision and doctrine called "The Sanctuary" in the Day-Star Extra on Feb 7, 1846.
(See Arthur White, "O.L. Corsier Article 'The Sanctuary'," Day-Star Extra, 1846, 18-C-3, retrieved June 8, 2017, [ellenwhite.org/content/file/o-l-crosier-article-sanctuary-day-star-extra-1846-18-c-3#document])
The aforementioned Joseph Bates reads about Edson's vision in the Day-Star Extra, and he talks to Ellen White about it; White accepts the vision, and the doctrine that goes with it, known today as "The Investigative Judgment," which teaches that the "divine judgment" of professing Christians has been active since 1844. In a nutshell, the doctrine teaches that once a Christian dies and goes to the judgment, Christ looks to see if they kept all the commandments of God (e.g. keeping the Sabbath), and if they missed one, they cannot enter heaven. To put it in other words, a Seventh-Day Adventist might tell you they believe in grace through faith like you do, but once you get into their church buildings, they will eventually start teaching that your name gets in the book of life by faith, but now Jesus has to judge whether or not you keep the Sabbath, and if you do not keep it, you are doomed to hell because Jesus erases your name from the book of life. White emphasized the importance of this doctrine as a foundation for Seventh-Day Adventists, and they still believe and teach it today.
(See Ellen G. White, Counsels to Writers and Editors, Review and Herald Publications Association, 1946, p. 30-31, ISBN: 9780828011761)
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The Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA) name was officially incorporated in 1863, and in their cult, Ellen White's writings are considered as prophetic as the Bible itself. A few decades later, in 1929, (See Victor T. Houteff, The Shepherd's Rod, Universal Publications Association, 1945) The Houteffs started the Shepherd's Rod Adventists, and later changed their name to the Davidian Seventh-Day Adventists (hereafter referred to as Davidians), which was started in 1930. Victor died in 1955, leaving Florence in charge of the church, and she prophesied the end of the world would be in 1959. |
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A couple named
Benjamin Roden died, leaving Lois Roden in charge of the Branch Davidians, and two decades later, in 1979, a young man named
(See George D. Chryssides, Exploring New Religions, A&C Black, 2001, p. 52, ISBN: 9780826459596)
Howell went to Israel for a year, returned to the Branch Davidians in 1983, claimed to have a vision from God for them, and changed his name to
(See Kenneth G. Newport, The Branch Davidians of Waco: The History and Beliefs of an Apocalyptic Sect, OUP Oxford, 2006, p. 1, ISBN: 9780199245741)
A number of Branch Davidians were arrested, one of them named Renos Avraam, who claimed to be the successor of David Koresh, or the "Chosen Vessel of the Remaining Bride," and he started a branch of the Branch Davidians called the Hidden Manna. (This group is technically called the Hidden Manna Branch Davidian Seventh-Day Adventists.) After the Waco Siege, Avraam was sentenced to 10 years for voluntary manslaughter and 30 years for various weapons violations. Avraam prophesied Koresh would return in 1999, which obviously did not happen, and with good behavior, he was released from prison in 2006.
(See Mattias Gardell, Gods of the Blood: The Pagan Revival and White Separatism, Duke University Press, 2003, p. 353, ISBN: 9780822330714
Avraam's Hidden Manna cult still exists today, although they are relatively hard to find since they are very secretive about authorship and domains. Avraam's last date for the end of the world was Mar 14, 2014. In the late 90s, Avraam and the Hidden Manna Branch Davidians purchased and used the domains "sevenseals.com" and "branchdavidian.com," although when checking whois.com for registrar information, the identity of the owners is concealed by privacy companies.
(They also owned seventrumpets.com and davidkoresh.com from the late 90s until today, but recently, the domains seem to be abandoned; See "Seven Seals Revelation" from Internet Archives Wayback Machine, Feb 12, 1998, retrieved Nov 3, 2018, [web.archive.org/web/19980212122413/http://davidkoresh.com:80]; See also "Seven Trumpets" from Internet Archives Wayback Machine, Mar 3, 2000, retrieved Nov 3, 2018, [web.archive.org/web/20000303003557/http://www.seventrumpets.com:80])
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Another Branch Davidian follower named Ron Cole believed that Koresh did not complete his duties as a messenger, and it was now up to Cole to pick up the task. Cole authored a book called Sinister Twilight, in which he told the story of the Waco Siege from the Branch Davidian side. Cole founded the First Colorado Light Infantry Militia and the North American Liberation Army, and in 1997, he and his fellow cult members ended up in prison for possession of illegal firearms and explosives. (See John R. Cashman, Emergency Response to Chemical and Biological Agents, CRC Press, 2002, p. 253, ISBN: 9781420048445; As a side note, Cole had contact with Timothy McVeigh before the Oklahoma City Bombing, but since the bombing was a government conspiracy, this fact did not hold much relevance to the subject matter of Jehovah's Witnesses.) |
Probably the most popular faction of the Branch Davidians is what Clive Doyle is a part of; Doyle met Koresh in 1981, and has been a follower of him since, even allowing his own teenage daughter to have sex with Koresh. Doyle's daughter died during the Waco Siege. In an interview with Doyle on the 20th anniversary after the Waco Siege, Doyle still believes Koresh will return, he still believes the sexual intercourse his daughter had with Koresh and all the other women of the Waco compound was decreed by God, and he still believes he is experiencing the end times, as do all the other Branch Davidians in their organization, which still operates to this day.
(See Carol Kuruvilla, "Waco survivor awaits Branch Davidian leader David Koresh's resurrection," New York Daily News, Mar 25, 2014, retrieved June 16, 2017, [nydailynews.com/news/national/waco-survivor-waiting-david-koresh-resurrection-article-1.1734205])
A little leaven [corruption] leaveneth the whole lump.
-Galatians 5:9
(Read "The Biblical Understanding of Sanctification" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)
So as you can see, we have drawn a line from the cults in the days of the apostleship of Paul, to the Catholic Church, and then followed the resulting denominational cults throughout history, all the way up to the deaths resulting from the Waco Siege in Texas. Once again, the words of the Jesus Christ are proven, that you cannot get good fruit from an evil tree, no matter how much someone tries to paint it to look good on the outside.
A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit,
-Matthew 7:18
Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.
-John 7:24
(See Mary K. Matossian, "Why the Quakers Quaked: The Influence of Climatic Change on Quaker Health, 1647-1659," Project Muse, Vol. 96, No. 1, 2007, p. 36-51, retrieved Mar 11, 2020, [muse.jhu.edu/article/393182/summary])
The Anglican split also birthed the Episcopalians, who followed a man named John Wesley, an Anglican priest. Wesley made more effort in grass-roots evangelism on the street, and he opposed Calvinism's false doctrine on predestination.
(Read "Predestination vs Free Will" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)
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Wesley's goal was to create a better method by which the church should operate, and so he formed the Methodist Episcopalian denomination, whose members would later call themselves "Methodists" for short. One of the major problems with Wesley is that he remained within the authority of the Church of England, claiming that his new methods aligned with corrupt Anglicans' Catholic doctrine, and he stated clearly in a letter he wrote May 6, 1788:" |
From the Methodists also came the Wesleyans (officially formed in 1843), which branched out during the formation of the Underground Railroad in the mid-19th century in America, helping slaves to escape into U.S. states that did not permit slavery. The focus of the Wesleyans was on Christian perfection, which they took to mean flawlessness (which is not what it means Biblically), and from the Wesleyans came the "Holiness Movement," which combined the strict and rigid doctrines of many of the previously mentioned denominations, including Puritans, Society of Friends (i.e. Quakerism), and Wesleyans.
(Read "The Biblical Understanding of Perfection" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)
I understand that these are all very general descriptions of these denominations and their leaders, but again, I would have to write many volumes of books, enough to fill an entire library of information, in order to pore through all the details, history, and false doctrines that have been taught in all of them. The purpose of this brief history was simply to show Christians that, if we stand firmly grounded on the Word of God alone, and not turn away from the Bible to follow the whimsical doctrines of men, then we will all be part of the only denomination there has ever been for the church, and that is "Christian."
From the very early days, the church was called "Christian" by the Gentiles. The word itself means "Christ-like," referring to those who studied the doctrine of Christ and modeled themselves after His works and teachings, and this was established by the Holy Spirit and accepted by Christ's apostles.
And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.
-Acts 11:26
To them, I would ask: What happens when the second name you go by gets corrupted? Will you abandon that name and be called by something else? And what happens when that third name gets corrupted, will you abandon that to be called something else?
Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. And Paul said, I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am, except these bonds.
-Acts 26:28-29
Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.
-1 Peter 4:16
For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)
-Ephesians 5:8-14
Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy [a way of thinking] and vain deceit [lies] , after the tradition of men, after the rudiments [first teachings] of the world, and not after Christ.
-Colossians 2:8
For we have found this man a pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes:
-Acts 24:5
-Matthew 16:4
In fact, it is likely that my own ministry will also one day be lost to history, and if any teaching I have created is preserved, it is only by the grace of God. I certainly wish my teachings would be preserved for future generations, but if they are lost, I praise God for His grace upon me, knowing that He had me teach specifically for this time (not for another time), and I trust that He will raise up other teachers to guide the flock of Christ after I am gone, preaching for the time they are in, just as He has done with each generation.
The early church in the New Testament met and fellowshipped together in each other's homes, as we can see if we read Scripture slowly and carefully:
And to our beloved Apphia, and Archippus our fellowsoldier, and to the church in thy house:
-Philemon 1:2
Likewise greet the church that is in their house. Salute my wellbeloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ.
-Romans 16:5
For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.
-1 Corinthians 1:11
The churches of Asia salute you. Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord, with the church that is in their house.
-1 Corinthians 16:19
Salute the brethren which are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the church which is in his house.
-Colossians 4:15
Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
-1 Peter 2:5
For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
-1 Peter 4:17
But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
-1 Timothy 3:15
(Read "The Church is Not a Building" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)
This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
-Matthew 15:8
I would also warn readers to be careful about those who claim to be "Independent." For example, you may have seen a church building called an "Independent Fundamental" church, but this is most often a facade that deceives people because they typically still adopt a denomination (i.e. "Independent Fundamental Baptist" or "IFB") because, in reality, they are lukewarm, keeping one foot on the side of being separate from the denominations, while keeping the other foot on the side of being connected with a denomination.
I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
-Revelation 3:15-16
I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.
-John 10:14-16
For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
-Romans 15:4-6
like-minded (adj): having a like disposition or purpose
disposition (adj): manner in which things or the parts of a complex body are placed or arranged; order; method; distribution; arrangement; tendency; temperance; consitution of the mind; inclination
(See 'like-minded' & 'disposition', American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828, retrieved Mar 20, 2020, [webstersdictionary1828.com])
If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, Fulfil ye my joy, that
-Philippians 2:1-4
(See Hartford Institute for Religion Research, "Nondenominational & Independent Congregations," retrieved Mar 19, 2020, [hirr.hartsem.edu/cong/nondenom.html])
Furthermore, claiming to be non-denominational is, for the most part, a denomination of itself, which can be proven by the fact that they must call themselves "Non-Denominational." Why would someone have to declare to be non-denominational if denominations are not part of the church? The fact that they declare themselves to be "non-denominational" is not only an acknowledgment of denominations, but also a declaration to be separate from those denominations, which is what every other denomination claims (i.e. they all believe they are separate from one another), nor do they denounce the legitimacy of denominations in any sense, and therefore "non-denominational" has become a denomination of itself.
Those of us who have been born again in Christ, saved by His grace through repentance and faith, are all together laborers that build up the church spiritually, not as a building made with the hands of men. We should take caution about how we build upon that foundation because all of us will be held accountable to the Lord Jesus Christ.
For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building. According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
-1 Corinthians 3:9-11
conform (v): to make like, in external appearance; to reduce to a likeness or correspondence in manners, opinions or moral qualities
(See 'conform', American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828, retrieved Mar 24, 2020, [webstersdictionary1828.com])
And
-Romans 12:2
Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
-2 Corinthians 6:14-18
Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father. And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life. These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
-1 John 2:24-28
