I need some opinions on Christianity?

Question

Is the reason there are so many denominations who point at each other and say: theyre not Christians! the Bible?

If the Bible, was a message from God, would it not be coherent? and not create so many differences in core understanding of the message?

Let me give you an example: Jesus is the son of God. Jesus is God, Jesus is not God or the son of God etc

Answer 1

Read this part of Revelation 5 and you deside who Jesus is.
Remember it is GOD who sits on the throne. It is Jesus who is the slain Lamb.

Revelation 5:
1 And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.

2 And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?

3 And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.

4 And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.

5 And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

6 And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.

7 And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne.

8 And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.

9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;

10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

11 And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;

12 Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.

13 And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.

14 And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever.
-----------------------------------

Answer 2

Good question...

I think it's important to recognize that it's not God's Word that's confusing, but the twist that we, as imperfect beings, put on it. Biblical interpretation can be viewed in at least two ways:

Exegesis - to draw out extracting what is in the text the way it was written; finding the true meaning and explain the passages of scripture from their context

Eisegesis - reading into a text what isn’t there; interpreting it by different rules than a consistent understanding from the Bible; using a presupposition to arrive at the meaning, by ignoring the language and culture it was used in

(Definitions courtesy of Calvary Chapel)

A great example of how exegesis and eisegesis create division in the church today can be seen in the interpretation of the role of women in the church.

- Exegesis looks at what women were doing in the church during the early church period: dressing inappropriately, creating scenes that took away from the glorification of God, etc. As a result, both Paul and Peter issued some stern words of advice for women concerning their activity within the church. However, this was all in context with what was going on at the time. Paul and Peter's message was that church is about gathering together for the worship of God.

- Eisegesis looks at the exact same situation and says that the Bible is anti-woman. The text is interpreted literally, regardless of the historical and cultural context in which Paul and Peter were writing, and arrives at the conclusion that God doesn't want women serving in His churches. There is no evidence for such a conclusion in the Bible. In the New Testament especially, there are a number of women that serve very important in roles in the development of the church. A couple that I've been learning a little about lately are Lois and Eunice, the grandmother and mother of Timothy. Without their influence on Timothy at a young age, Paul would not have had this "true son in the faith."

I believe that eisegesis has been a huge source of division within the church of today. Eisegesis is an entirely human process. It is not the Word of God that's infallible, but the mistakes that we make in accurately interpreting His Word that leads to division.

+ - + - + - + - +

However, not all division is bad. Something amazing happened in the book of Acts, between Paul and his good friend Barnabas. We read that the two had such a "sharp disagreement" that they parted ways and went elsewhere with their ministry. Despite the wedge driven between these two great missionaries, something amazing happened: God's Word was brought to new people, and more people came to know the one and only true God.

Such appears to be the case today, even with all the denominations within the church. Some people believe that baptism is of supreme importance in becoming Christians; others believe that speaking in tongues is the identification of the reception of the Spirit. In my non-denominational world, I believe that if you confess with your mouth and believe with your heart the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, then you'll be saved (Romans 10:9-10). Ultimately, that's all Christianity boils down to: belief in the Gospel message.

So let the divisions come...it's okay. As long as the Gospel of Christ is advanced through all the outermost parts of the world, may God ever be praised for His unfailing love.

Answer 3

That is a very good question. Each group believes that they are right and everyone else is wrong. I have seen the scriptures (although I cannot cite them) that say that anyone who believes different than this will not go to heaven…. If this is true, more than half the people in the world will be going to hell, not just atheists, but also Muslims, Buddhists, Hindu, Deists, and even some denominations of Christians. It is odd that when non-believers challenge Christian beliefs, many Christians will respond by citing verses in the Bible that tell them they will go to hell if they reject Christ. However, when you ask whether they really think that all of these other religions are really going to hell even if they are good people, they say that only God can judge and only God determines who goes to heaven, etc. Which is it? Is the Bible 100% true? Or is God the only one with the answers to all of our questions?

Answer 4

The divisions in Christianity have come about, not because of the Bible's difficulty and inconsistency, but because none of us have followed Jesus of Nazareth's teachings perfectly. No denomination--not even my own--is perfect. Yet the Gospel is true: Jesus was and is the Forgiver of all the times we've hurt anyone (including ourselves). And Christians can be amazingly united when we look beyond mere denominationalism to our shared relationship with God through His Son our Savior and King. Forms don't matter; liturgy doesn't matter; interpretation doesn't matter--all who trust Him are His children and each other's brothers and sisters.

Answer 5

Where in the Bible does it say Jesus is not God or the Son of God? The Bible is coherent but not all people listen to God.
God reveals his truth to those who love and seek the truth to those are given a gift of faith through faith comes revelation of God's truth and a realtionship with God.

Answer 6

If the bible were the unerring word of god, it would be consistent in all aspects.

Consistency is not, in and of itself, proof. Any good book of fiction will be internally consistent.

The fact the bible is not internally consistent demonstrates that it has been tampered with, or the result of a hidge-podge of accounts strung together without much concern for it making much sense.

One can see this clearly in the Epistles of Paul, so useful to an emerging church hierarchy, but in contradiction with the teachings of Jesus in more than a few places (or indeed, guilty of inventing teachings and assigning them to the Jesus).

Some people like playing God, and some people convince themselves that their imagination -is- God.

Answer 7

People make the Bible more confusing than what it is. They try to go too in depth with it instead of seeing the simplicity of it. Jesus is the son of the Living God. He is part of the trinity therefore He is also God. I've NEVER read in the Bible where it says Jesus is not God or the son of God.

Answer 8

I think that the Bible IS coherent. It's just that people don't like what parts of it say, so they try to reinterpret it to give it a meaning that they do like.

In all fairness, not all people have the same level of either intelligence or education and this may cause come confusion as to how to best interpret the Bible.

Also, the Bible is not explicit on certain things, like predestination vs. free will, for example (probably because God thinks that it isn't all that important), and people tend to come up with different theories about these things. Human pride, and a desire to prove oneself right no matter what, causes people to assume bad things about people that they disagree with, and this causes divisions too.

---------------------------------
...Regardless of how closely various churches may agree with each other doctrinally, there still will never be two churches exactly alike. This is largely due to the fact that no two people are alike in every detail. Churches are made up of people. Thus, the combined individual personalities in a congregation, creates a distinct “congregational personality.” Sometimes people mistake differences in church personality as differences in belief or doctrine....
---------------------------------
... I believe one reason for so many churches is because people are ignorant of God's word. In Matthew 22.29, Jesus answered a question by saying to the people, You are wrong because you do not know the scriptures or the power of God. People are taught so many different things and they believe them because they do not know the Bible and what the Bible teaches. Even the Apostle Paul said that his life of sin before he became a Christian was done in ignorance and unbelief. (1 Timothy 1.13.) Ignorance is no excuse; God holds us responsible to know the truth. Jesus said You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. (John 8.32.) By knowing the truth, we can obey the truth. When we do not know what the Bible teaches, we can be led away into many false teachings.

Another reason there are so many churches is that there are people who do not teach God's word properly. The Bible warns us so many times of false teachers who would lead us into sin. (Matthew 24.24, 2 Thessalonians 2.9-12, 1 Timothy 4.1-3 and many other scriptures.) The Bible also warns us to handle the word of God carefully. 2 Timothy 2.15 says we are to: handle properly the word of God. This means it can be used in a wrong way if we are not careful. If a man tells you he is a driver and you let him drive your car, you will be in trouble if he does not drive properly. He can spoil your car and maybe kill you!

The number one reason there are so many churches is because people do not respect God's word. We respect the president, the chief, our fathers, but when God speaks, we don't listen! So many people ignore what God says and believe what they want to believe. But listen! The Bible says we are cursed if we add to God's word, take something away or change it in any way. (Revelation 22.18-19, Deuteronomy 4.2, 2 John 9.) Jesus said, In vain do they worship me who teach doctrines of men. (Mark 7.7.) The New Testament exhorts us to be diligent in trying to understand the truth that was delivered through Christ. (Jude 3.)

My friends, there are so many churches in the world, but God is not happy. These churches come from ignorance, false teaching, pride and other worldly reasons. Jesus prayed that all His disciples would be united even as God is one. (John 17.20-21.) The Bible teaches that Christ has only one body, (Ephesians 4.4,) which is the church. (Ephesians 1.22-23.) God has only one church. But the world is full of so many churches, and God is not happy....

Answer 9

What a wonderful question... One would think that there can only be one path to our Heavenly Father. And if people interprit the Bible differently and they all claim to be the "true" church, they can't all be right, are they all wrong. There is one church that is lead by Christ today. A church that has a living prophet on the earth and twelve apostles to guide this church in the latter days. You have questions, our Father has answers
James 1:5

Answer 10

If you look at the major orthodox denominations, you will see that they all just emphasize one or two points of orthodoxy differently. The essentials are the same it is just a difference in method or tradition and should not really tear us apart. The Bible is perfect it is humanity that is flawed.

Answer 11

The bible tells us to be of one mind. However, men are prideful and like to have things their own way. Adding to and taking away from what the bible says, men have tried to create God in their image. Hence the confusion.
So, it is not God who is incoherent, it is man's pride that makes Him appear so.
Just as Satan told Eve that she would be like God, he is still trying to convince man that it is possible.
We cannot blame God for the folly of man.