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

Question

10 points to best answer!

Answer 1

yep, I've wondered this,too. There are so many different reasons- some political- in the U.S., many churches split over slavery- just like churches are splitting over the idea of gay marriage today. God gave us all discernment- so that means there are as many ways to interpret the bible as there are people. Some of us are charismatic, and can get others to join us, thus new religions are born. I have to admit, when people start their own nondemoninational churches, I do think- gosh, don't we have enough?

For the record, other major faiths have several divisions, as well, so Christianity is in good company. Luckily, I think God is big enough for all of us- hooray for Universalism!

Answer 2

The Church has taught since the Canonization of Scripture that the Bible is the supreme rule of faith but some have confused that with meaning it is the sole rule of faith called "Sola Scriptura" such as the majority of Protestants.

Father Martin Luther did not agree with the subsequent modernist interpretation of his teaching and seemed to agree with Christ's Church in this regard .

Luther believed that Biblical understanding is a partnership between the scholar and the lay person and that it was to be taught in community instead of each person believing themselves to be a theologian. Here is what Fr. Martin Luther said:

"This one will not hear of Baptism, and that one denies the sacrament, another puts a world between this and the last day: some teach that Christ is not God, some say this, some say that: there are as many sects and creeds as there are heads. No yokel is so rude but when he has dreams and fancies, he thinks himself inspired by the Holy Ghost and must be a prophet" De Wette III, 61. quoted in O'Hare, THE FACTS ABOUT LUTHER, 208.

"Noblemen, townsmen, peasants, all classes understand the Evangelium better than I or St. Paul; they are now wise and think themselves more learned than all the ministers." Walch XIV, 1360. quoted in O'Hare, Ibid, 209.

"We concede -- as we must -- that so much of what they [the Catholic Church] say is true: that the papacy has God's word and the office of the apostles, and that we have received Holy Scriptures, Baptism, the Sacrament, and the pulpit from them. What would we know of these if it were not for them?" Sermon on the gospel of St. John, chaps. 14 - 16 (1537), in vol. 24 of LUTHER'S WORKS, St. Louis, Mo.: Concordia, 1961, 304

By the time Fr. Martin Luther made these quotes Ulrich Zwingli had already “thrown the baby out with the bathwater” by denying the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, essentially forbidding Christ from protestant worship. There were already schisms and vile disagreements over the most basic of Christian beliefs and the identity of Christianity was changing by these reformers on the whims of eisegesical whimsy and exegetical error. The fact is that Luther’s lamentations were prophetic, realizing that the Church had maintained Sacred Tradition and that his movement was sliding down a slippery slope of apostasy in exponentially increasing proportions.

The truth is, as Vatican II states that sacred Tradition and Sacred Scriptures flow from the same wellspring, which is Christ, they are unified and culminate to the same end. If one wishes to follow biblical teaching about the “rule of faith”, it is Scripture and apostolic tradition as interpreted by the living teaching authority of the Church from which comes the oral teaching of Jesus and the apostles and the authority of interpretation given to the Church.

In Christ

Answer 3

Everyone interprets the Bible differently. For a long time the Bible and other religious writings and knowledge were privy only to those few Cardinals who could read. With the advancement of society (think: the printing press, literacy among lower classes) people began to form their own opinions about the Bible. Some take it literally, some use the teachings to make the world a better place, and some even use it to oppress individuals.

Answer 4

At first it was not meant for Christianity to turn into all the different denominations we have today, but because people believe in some parts of the Bible and not others they choose a denomination with settings that they prefer. As for me, I find it pretty confusing. I just try to follow Jesus' example. I think that's what he originally intended.

Answer 5

When you do your own interpretations of the bible, old and new testaments, as so many have, it makes agreement very difficult. Consequently, if one group doesn't like the interpretations of another group, the splits begin. Ultimately they form not only their own churches but they create their own denominations as well. Many make new religious laws where none existed to maintain better control of their groups. It is to the point now that christianity is so varied in the many beliefs, rites and customs, its ridiculous.

Answer 6

There is a constant search for money and power by those who have the charisma to begin building a congregation and then a sect. New "Christian" Sects pop up constantly. Some make millions of dollars for their developer. Others fall apart in a year.

When any Shouter has enough in the congregation and the Bank they sometimes have a Bible printed to their specification, to make themselves richer and more powerful.

Answer 7

Diabolical Disorientation.

Answer 8

Because the Bible is an especially vague and highly interpetable document...or rather, collection of documents. There is something in it for just about everyone, from Catholic saints to Nazi supremacists.

When I was in High School, I did an English project using Bible to justify murder and genocide...using nothing but Biblical sources. It's scary what you can justify. (While the popular reaction wasn't particularly friendly, I did get an "A" on the essay.)

Answer 9

There was only one church until the 1500's and from there because of self interpretation of the bible, Christianity now has 3,500 denominations

Answer 10

Because many people focus on a few verses instead of the whole Bible. Almost anything can be proven when you take verses out of context.