From:  (Nigel B. Mitchell)
Newsgroups: aus.religion.christian
Subject: Re: Where did all the different denoninations come from?
Date: Sat, 26 Sep 1998 00:39:30 GMT

John Leister wrote in message <360BACCA.DADA8310>...

>>God is one but why did Christianity take on so many forms. Where,
>>when, and why did the early church change and why did we end up with
>>so many different denominations, each claiming that they are right and
>>that they are the way to God.?

On Sat, 26 Sep 1998 09:19:56 +1000, "Darren R Middleton"
<> wrote:

>G'day John,

>without hashing up Church History I will say, if any Church claims to be
>the *only* way to God then it is a cult. (full stop;)

I agree with Darren's answer, but I would add that from the
earliest days of the Church described in the Acts of the Apostles
and inferred from the letters of Paul, there were different
'denominations' within the Church. 

There were different geographical Churches - the recipients of
Paul's letters, and the churches alluded to in the book of
Revelation. These churches had different forms of oversight, and
different emphases in their ministry and Christian life.

There were churches that followed different leaders - 1
Corinthians 1:12.

There were believers who knew only the teachings of John the
Baptist - Acts 18:25, 19:1-5.

There was a 'circumcision party' which promoted the idea that
male le converts to Christianity should be circumcised. -
Galatians 12:2

Aside from these specific instances, we can infer a number of
issues about which the early Church debated, from the answers
that are given to these issues in the letters of Paul and others,
for example -

should Christians eat meat from Gentile butchers, when there is a
high likelihood that such meat would have been used in idol
worship? - 1 Cor 8:8-13

Should Christians keep festival days? - Romans 14:5-6

Is the second coming of Jesus immanent? - 2 Peter 3:1-10

There has never been a time when all Christians believed the same
things, worshipped the same way, or livedthe same way. This is
because the Holy Spirit, who leads us into all truth, gives
different gifts and different understandings to each of us,
according to our needs. 

(1 John 5:1-12 NRSV)  Everyone who believes that Jesus is the
Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the parent
loves the child. By this we know that we love the children of
God, when we love God and obey his commandments.  For the love of
God is this, that we obey his commandments. And his commandments
are not burdensome,  for whatever is born of God conquers the
world. And this is the victory that conquers the world, our
faith.  Who is it that conquers the world but the one who
believes that Jesus is the Son of God?  This is the one who came
by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the water only but
with the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one that
testifies, for the Spirit is the truth.  There are three that
testify:  the Spirit and the water and the blood, and these three
agree.  If we receive human testimony, the testimony of God is
greater; for this is the testimony of God that he has testified
to his Son.  Those who believe in the Son of God have the
testimony in their hearts. Those who do not believe in God have
made him a liar by not believing in the testimony that God has
given concerning his Son.  And this is the testimony: God gave us
eternal life, and this life is in his Son.  Whoever has the Son
has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have
life.

In short, the answer to your question "Where did all the
different denoninations come from?" is - the Holy Spirit. 

Cheers

N+

Nigel B. Mitchell

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