Christians say theirs is the only 'true' religion, but of 1500 or so denominations which is the 'true' one?

Question

(1500 is a low-ball estimate based on American Christian denominations only, worldwide the number may be MUCH higher! While an agnostic myself, I strongly agree with most of what "Christ" allegedly taught, but am baffled that His followers have so much to disagree about among each other! )

http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_deno.htm

Rod C... You doubt 1500 denominations when I even provided you a link showing it? Which of them is "imaginary"?

Answer 1

You answered your own question. I don't believe there to be any RIGHT religion. But people can't handle not being able to say that someone else is wrong. For some reason, hate is deep rooted. Although I have noticed that the more stubbornly closed minded religious you are, the less intelligent you seem to be. Interesting.

Answer 2

Denominations indeed. Schism galore , amongst Christians. I'm Jewish (although non-practicing) , but I know a lot of people who are (nominally at least) Christian (Roman Catholic) and they tend to believe, if pressed, that Catholicism is (or was) the first "true Church", and all the others which arose after the Protestant Reformation are .... sort of.... misguided.... or "lost brethren", I guess. I do know that devout Catholics believe the Roman Church is the only "true" way to "salvation".

Personally I don't believe any religion is the "true" religion. How can mankind know it ??? For that matter, Jews could go even a step further and say the other two major world religions today (Christianity -- all branches and types of it, and Islam) are merely later "imitations" or "adaptations" of Judaism. (I feel that would be an arrogant thing to say, and I"m not actually expressing that as MY personal belief, I'm just noting the possibility...).

Answer 3

The different denominations have some doctrinal differences. The divisions usually result because of mans own understanding and judmental attitudes.

Many of the different denominations are Christian. It only has to be founded on the Rock, that is the Lord Jesus Christ, and His Word. The Lord Jesus Christ is the Son of the Living God and He was born of the seed of the Woman, defeated the Serpent deception. He shed His own blood for the remission of our sins. He raised from the dead victorious over death & hell. That the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life, through faith in Christ Jesus. It is a gift and not of works, lest anyone boast.

The disagreement is just tares in the churches. Jesus hated the false doctrines sneeking into the 7 churches in Revelation. At the end of the age, God is going to separate the tares from the wheat. The Wheat is the Word of God and the tares are the false doctrines and slanders. If you are in a church where there are a few false teachings, just shine your light in the dark corners with the Word of God.

Any church that has added to Gods Holy Bible, with a supposedly better book is adding to Gods Word, because their book takes away from Gods Saving Grace and the Cross and the Diety of Jesus Christ. A good test if a church is truly Christian is questioning about Jesus dieing on the cross for the remission of our sins. Is that sufficient for salvation? Is Jesus Christ the Only Begotten Son of God? Does the religion tell you to go after other gods. Does the church tell you the Holy Spirit doesn't give gifts in the church today?

Answer 4

I think many Christians would agree with you, that it is crazy there are so many denominations, which teach very different things. This seems contrary to a belief in a merciful, kind, and loving God, because if more than one is correct it would mean God has no problem with leading his people astray or confusing them, and would also make God a god of confussion. However, I do believe that most people do join a particular denomination because they believe it is the correct one, with God's seal of approval. That is why there exists so much dispute and anger amongst many of them. I think it is important to believe in what you are following, and do so wholeheartedly, but at the same time we should respect that others believe exactly as we do, but in slightly different terms.

The reason there does exist so much variance is because mankind is imperfect, and therefore religion has morphed through time/since the death of Christ and his apostles.

Answer 5

The "true Christian church" lies in its teachings. If a church teaches the Nicene Creed with no additions or deletions, it is a true church.

The Nicene Creed

We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, light from light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary
and became truly human.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father [and the Son],
who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
We believe in one holy universal and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Answer 6

Hey - if you want to follow Christ come and join my church. I'm training to be a vicar at the moment and I'd love to have a group of people who are up for just following Jesus and avoiding church politics.

However as you probably don't want to come all the way to the UK to do this may I suggest reading "Blue Like Jazz" it's by a guy who sounds just like you - or check out his church - Imago Dei (it means "image of God") in New York if you're ever in that part of the world.
Or there's always Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell and Mars Hill Community Church - also very into the things you're talking about. There's a lot of people who think like you who are trying to live it out.

Answer 7

The true faith is the one in harmony with Scripture. You are allowed to say "I don't know" (for we will learn for a long time, so we don't know it all now) but you are not allowed to change your mind. Under these simple and self evident rules, we can be confident that none of the major "Religions" qualifies. Most people want the appearance without the reality. As Romans says, the name of the Almighty is blasphemed among the nations because of you (His "followers")

Answer 8

I don't believe any religion is "true". In the midst of those religions are people who actually have a "relationship" with the Lord. It's about the relationship not the religion. I do believe that certain religions teach and adhere to more scripture, which enables a majority of that religion to have that relationship.

Answer 9

According to the Bible, God told Adam and Eve not to eat the forbidden fruit. Instead they listened to the words of a snake (which we now understand to have some relationship with the Devil). God's judgement on mankind was to live in separation from him. People would henceforth be born, suffer and die without knowing him and without innately knowing his rules, and the consequences for human society have been horrific, as anyone who listens to the news knows.

All this shows that God's way of loving one's neighbour is the best way, but living according to self-interest produces conflict and suffering.

Now by his love and mercy, God has revealed something of himself to us. He has not revealed everything, only what we really need to know to turn away from living for ourselves and to instead turn to him and follow his ways. He has told us that if we do this he will forgive our past ways and will accept us as his. To able to do this and still remain true to his own character, God required the sacrifice of his own Son, born on earth as the man Jesus Christ.

Now with this background in mind, why do Christ's followers disagree amongst each other? Simply because we still live in a fallen world, a world marked by selfishness, and, significantly, a world in which our direct communication with God has been severed. We don't know everything, and sometimes we try and answer questions to which God has not given us a clear answer. Some people think A, some think B. Sometimes, people let their pride get in their way and disagreements become divisions.

Other times, people who still call themselves Christians have not really responded properly to God's offer of forgiveness and have not trully turned away from their self-directed way of life. People like that come up with their own ideas and interpretations of the Bible which when held to careful scrutiny can be shown to be false.

I hope this answers your question.

Answer 10

I agree with chef bob.....


true Christianity is not a denomination.
true Christianity is not a religion.
true Christianity is not a sect.
true Christianity is ONE person having
a PERSONAL relationship with our
Savior, Jesus Christ, who is God.
that is what Christianity is.
an assembly of these folks is called a church....
not a denomination,
not a religion,
not a sect.