Question 68 – Why are there so many denominations?

It is indeed true that there are numerous Christian denominations and churches that perceive things differently. This divergence in perspectives on divine matters often leads to confusing misunderstandings and disputes, which is truly disheartening. At the outset, however, I must confess that I do not have a completely satisfactory answer to this question. Nevertheless, I will attempt to present some thoughts that might shed more light on it.

1) Historical Context

When examining the reasons for the existence of many churches, we must begin with a certain historical context and the development of Christianity. It is important to remember that church history, with all its nuances, is a field that people study for many years. It is not possible to capture all the details and essential facts in a few lines without resorting to many generalizations and simplifications. It is also true that Catholic historians will interpret history quite differently than those who come from the perspective of the Protestant Reformation. I view history through the lens of the Protestant Reformation.

The first Christians led challenging lives. Jesus' followers were immediately persecuted, not only by Roman emperors but also by the Jews themselves. Their properties were confiscated, they were tortured, imprisoned, thrown to wild beasts in amphitheaters, burned alive, or crucified. However, Satan's attempt to destroy the flourishing Church of God through violence and terror failed. Paradoxically, this persecution led to the opposite effect—the expansion of the Church. When open battle did not succeed, Satan devised a new strategy—to infiltrate the Church in an effort to divert Christians from divine truths. A blatant lie is easily recognized, but when mixed into a cocktail of truth, it becomes much more insidious.

After the year 300 A.D., persecution subsided and a dramatic reversal occurred—Christianity became the state religion of Rome. From the perspective of Christians at the time, this may have seemed like a great victory (or relief). However, through the lens of history, we can see that this union of state power and Christianity had very detrimental consequences for the purity of God's gospel. Over time, Christianity adopted many practices and rituals with pagan undertones, thereby gradually becoming deformed.

Nonetheless, God promised that His Church (I emphasize this is not a formal organization) would never be destroyed by Satan. Hence, not all Christians succumbed to this deception and pressure. Many continued to trust in God and His Word. We can say that in every era, God had His faithful followers who held onto His truth. For centuries, with varying intensity, they called for the reform of the Church and a return to biblical truths. However, they were systematically silenced and eliminated. The Bible was also banned for a long time, keeping the populace in ignorance and captive to false teachings and superstitions.

The deep corruption, greed, and the evident drift of the medieval Church from the Bible culminated in what is known as the Reformation. Reformers often did not wish to establish new churches; instead, they desired to cleanse the existing Church of the layers of falsehoods and corruption. Starting with John Wycliffe, through Jan Hus, and up to Martin Luther or John Calvin, these reformers were oppressed and persecuted by Rome. The contemporary Roman Catholic Church, however, could not be reformed. Although it succeeded in partially cleansing itself of much moral evil, it did not relinquish its unbiblical dogmas. Countless individuals who perceived that they should rather obey God left this Church.

This is one of the fundamental reasons for the existence of many Protestant churches. Throughout the Reformation, several Protestant movements emerged. Followers of Luther embraced his purified understanding, and thus the "Lutherans" were born. The problem, however, was that they did not continue developing further and instead became "frozen" in one place. They did not carry forward the Reformation that Luther himself began. After him, other reformers came, continuing to reveal suppressed divine truths (e.g., Calvin). But upon his death, his followers too "preserved" the achieved knowledge, leading to the formation of the Reformed Church.

As new reformers came and revealed more of the truths suppressed for centuries, their followers often stagnated around this knowledge. And since they too were not perfect, their understanding was often burdened with various unbiblical aspects (such as elitism and a lack of humility toward others), which, combined with human sinfulness, brought about different tensions and misunderstandings.

It is impossible to describe the history of the Reformation in detail here, but hopefully, this provides at least a partial understanding of the origins of many Christian churches. Hence, we may conclude that there is a varying degree of true understanding of divine revelation among different churches. This does not mean that in a church with less understanding there cannot be genuine children of God whom the Lord uses and loves! God often works powerfully there too. Within the same church, there are frequently numerous individual local congregations that are very different from each other—some may be spiritually almost dead, while others host a vibrant fellowship of God's people.

Conclusively, simplifying conclusions are not possible here.

2) Sin

One of the most likely reasons for disunity among Christian churches is sin and our carnal nature. It is very unfortunate, but sometimes Christians cannot get along simply because they are proud, want things to be under their control, and so forth. This really is a "burden" on us Christians. Despite this, the Bible itself anticipates this situation. There is a widespread and false notion that the Church must be perfect and the people in it must be holy. Yes, that is a sort of goal toward which we are to strive. No church (nor the people comprising it) is perfect.

Essentially, the entire Bible is a record of how God used imperfect individuals, gradually transforming them with His influence. It does not shy away from recording the great falls of mighty men of God, or the nation of Israel itself.

Israel, God's chosen people, fell away from God many times. Yet, it never ceased to be His people. This falling away brought many dire consequences and inconveniences, yet God continually showed mercy. Similarly, it is with His imperfect Church. The New Testament is partly composed of apostolic letters, which often respond to false teachings and practices that infiltrated the local congregations of that time.

Therefore, if I were to seek a perfect church, I would not find it, for even the Bible does not know of such a church. And anyway—if I were to discover a perfect church, it would cease to be perfect the moment I became a part of it...

3) Question of Scriptural Authority

This reason is very closely related to the question we addressed in the section on the Bible—why are there so many interpretations of the Bible? All churches refer to the Bible, but many of them do not even "glance" at it during worship services, to speak hyperbolically. For the first Christians, God's word was binding and the only main source of knowledge and Christian practice. However, many churches approach the Bible with an attitude that it is not their main source, or they diminish the seriousness of its words with statements like "it is merely symbolic," "we can't take it literally," or even assertions that the Bible's authors made numerous errors and did not understand some fundamental doctrines at all.

Churches and liberal theologians who think in this way have deviated from the purity of biblical teaching and are becoming false teachers, against whom the Bible warns.

The Apostle Paul wrote in one epistle: "For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths." (2 Timothy 4:3–4)

Those who do not like the radical following of the Lord Jesus, sanctification of their lives, and love for others often distort the biblical message according to their pleasure or fashionable trends of the time. They replace this teaching with their own doctrines, a philosophy of tolerance, or even their own experiences.

4) Adherence to the Non-essential

Many churches are almost identical in their confession and differ mainly only by name and location. Nevertheless, misunderstandings can still arise even here. It is often due to some prioritizing doctrine A, while others prioritize doctrine B, even though both sides agree that A and B are correct.

5) Not All Are Christians

It is crucial to recognize that many "churches" are not churches in the biblical sense of the word. These are often sects and religious organizations that distort biblical truths to such an extent that they miss the fundamental revealed truths upon which true Christian churches agree (e.g., Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, etc.). If we were to remove these entities from our theoretical list, the situation would be somewhat clearer...

The Other Side of the Coin

It is essential to understand, in connection with this problem, that the existence of many different churches is largely a biblical concept! However, I am not referring to disunity, rivalry, and various elitism stemming from our sinful nature. I am speaking about the fact that even in the early church era, there were actually countless "Christian churches." The apostles wrote to the church in Rome, Colossae, Corinth, Ephesus, or even to the church in a specific house. These churches were not completely identical, but they were church congregations that shared a common faith in the Lord Jesus Christ in the most essential aspects. There was no formal church, but independent and autonomous congregations. From this perspective, the criticism of Christianity in connection with the existence of many churches is unwarranted.

There are numerous congregations across different denominations that cooperate exemplarily, respect each other, and share a common faith in the Lord Jesus. Personally, I would have no hesitation in joining many other churches that adhere to biblical revelation in their confession. And that is simply because there are no significant differences among our local congregations. As people, we often have a tendency to categorize and become anxious when we cannot have control over the situation. I perceive something similar regarding churches. We would like to have clarity about which church is this way... and that church is that way..., but that is not the case.

Summation

The existence of many different Christian churches is essentially a biblical reality. However, due to human sinfulness, individual denominations and churches have often become instruments for disunity and elitism, which are no longer according to God's will.