How has Christianity, a faith based on the teachings of one text (Bible) , divided into so many denominations?

Answer 1

There are tons of reasons for this. Here are just a few:

The Bible actually is comprised of several different books. A lot of them contradict each other. Also, different churches, from the very beginning, have accepted different books of the Bible as being the ones they believe. For example the Greek Orthodox church recognizes different books as being part of the Bible than the Catholic church. Gnostics especially recognize different books from the Catholic church. So they have different views on Christianity.

Like the book of Mary Magdalene (an apocryphal book that the Catholic church doesn't recognize as part of the Bible) has a totally different interpretation of Jesus' teachings than the books the Catholic Church does recognize. The book of Mary Magdalene tells it as though Jesus is more like the Buddha -- a person to respect and emulate, whose teachings are true, but not necessarily the son of God. This is the view that Gnostics and Catharists take on Jesus.

Like I said, the books also contradict each other. Like in one book of the New Testament, Jesus' last words on the cross are "Father forgive them, they know not what they do" while another states his last words are "Father why hast thou forsaken me?" -- you have to remember, most of the books were written by different people, some who were alive at the time of Jesus and others who weren't. So they have different stories about his life with different details because they have different perspectives. Lawyers deal with this kind of thing all the time: Different witnesses have completely different testimonies about the same crime which they both saw at the same time, even though both are telling what they believe to be the truth.

Then you have the Protestant Reformation. They all use the same books of the Bible as the Catholic church, except the view they take is different. Calvinists believe we don't have free will: God preordained all of existence and already knows who will go to heaven and who will not. This is very different from the Catholic Church's view that we have free will as to whether we come to God or not. Likewise, Lutherans take the view that we're redeemed not by what we do but by our faith in God, we get to heaven by our belief in God, not through whether we sin or not because faith in God means all sins are forgiven. Catholics don't take that view: They believe you must have faith in God but also live the life that God's commandments propose in order to get to heaven.

Then you have fundamentalism. Fundamentalists believe that every book of the Bible is to be taken literally, but not every Christian believes that. Some believe that parts of the New Testament are more metaphorical than literal in their intent (specifically how Jesus tended to make his points using parables and metaphors). As you can imagine, they view Christianity way differently than fundamentalists.

I'm really only scratching the surface here, but basically it's like this: If you gave twenty people a copy of Moby Dick, they could each have their own reasons for liking it and their own way of liking it. Now imagine it's an entire collection of books read by billions of people -- they're going to have different ideas.

Answer 2

Because people are too interested in pursuing their own ideas or desires, and use the Bible to promote their particular point of view rather than taking the teaching as a whole and trying to apply it.

The Bible is NOT a book of answers. It's a history of the growing relationship between human beings and God. It's not a book of answers - it's more a "how to" book for finding answers, and what may be MY answer may not be yours, and many people are not open enough to accept that. They want there to be ONE answer - their answer, of course - and anyone else with any other answer is a heretic.

God is infinite - how can any human think he or she can fully understand everything there is to know about God? Nonsense.

The Bible is a tool to help guide us to God. But it's like a signpost that points the way. Really helpful - but at some point you have to take the trip - you have to leave the signpost behind and head out to find God. If you lose the way - you can always go back to the signpost for a refresher course.

But the signpost is not the destination.

Answer 3

There were as many religious "groups" in the times that Jesus walked the earth as there is now. There are as many cult like religions now as there were then. This includes many claiming they follow Christs teachings, but insist on their interpretations of them, and you as an individual with the brain God gave you, are not to use your own mind.

Jesus was a uniter, not a divider. He also elevated the status of women, that was ignored as well. The religions that teach the false belief that men are superior to women are all wrong.

In the beginning God said that "satan would fall benieth the heel of a woman" (Genisis) men have had their snoots full of resentment ever since. Unfortunately satan's fall may take some time as women in todays world are imitating the worst habits of the male leaders of past and present. Power corrupts, and is an equal opportunity destroyer.

I don't believe that God inspired a book about Him, retired to His Kingdom to wait and see who shows up. Perhaps the reason there are so many denominations is that most talk about God, few talk WITH God.?

Answer 4

Some prefer to follow lies. 1 Cor. 1:10 said that in true Christianity, there would be NO divisions, and that all Christians would be of the same mind and in the same line of thought.

To show how some have strayed from the Bible's true teachings, consider this:

Who is the true God? Some will say Jesus is God the Son or even God himself. But the Bible says God's name is Jehovah. (Ps. 83:18) At John 17:3, Jesus called his Father the ONLY true God.

Is God a trinity? Some say he is. But there is no mention of that word in the Bible. Also, there is NOT ONE scripture in the Bible that says or even remotely implies that God is made up of 3 co-equal, co-eternal "persons."

Do Christians go to war? Some professed Christians do. But Jesus said at John 13:34, 35 that love would be an identifying mark of true Christianity. He also told his followers to love their enemies and to pray for those persecuting them. It's hard to do that if you are learning how to kill them.

There is more, but I'll stop there. There is only one way to practice what the Bible teaches. However, some prefer to go there own way.

Answer 5

The Bible can be interpreted in various ways, according to what the reader WANTS it to say. Also, parts of it were mistranslated and some books are still missing, so it's not the whole story. Therefore, many people come up with their own explanations, fill in their own gaps, and viola! A new religion is born.

Answer 6

even though you have many denominations they are based on ...one faith,...the many denominations ...are churches who are based on that part of the faith they believe strongly..like baptist..or pentecostals believe on the outpouring of the spirit and speaking in tongues...In all honesty there is but a few ..like 3 ...other so called denominations ..like Jehovahs witnesses..are not actually called denominations..they are false teachers and false prophets..and then we would have a whole discussion about false religions

Answer 7

there are a number of distinctive interpretations of the Bible, and the ecu non secular Wars known that Christians could create their very own denominations. as a result, distinctive interpretations save on with distinctive denominations.

Answer 8

Evolution of thought, beliefs and knowledge. God gave people free will so that they have the ability to interpret information as they see fit. Besides, it sells more bibles.

Answer 9

Because, none of it's real. Someone made it up to begin with, and people are still making it up, as they go along. That's the only reason we know anything about religion. We made the sh*t up. And ,no, I'm not an Atheist.

Answer 10

Interpretation and personal preference