A question directed at believers from a non-believer.?

Question

If the Christian god is a personal god, why is there so much disagreement amongst his followers? There are many Christian sects and denominations and all of them claim to be Christian and, at bottom, followers of Yahweh. However, they all disagree with one another. There is even extensive disagreement with members within the same denomination regarding what they believe god does and does not want...

Granted, the bible may be inspired by god, even if it was not directly written by god, so there is room in the written word for human error and misunderstanding. However, if you are in direct contact with god, why is he/she telling you something different than your fellow followers of Christ?

Why is Yahweh, the personal god, so unclear and seemingly contradictory?

Many of you seem to be missing the point.

If you are in a personal relationship with god, why are there so many inconsistencies regarding what god wants?

I've granted you that the written word is open to interpretation and may be misconstrued. However, it is not disengenuous of me to ask why two people who follow the same deity and are purportedly in contact with the same deity still disagree with one another regarding said deities wishes.

Answer 1

The minor differences are usually blown out of proportion by those who do not know them very well. To say the denomination all disagree with one another is a stretch. I've been a member of five different denominations and have been fairly comfortable in them. They just emphasize different aspects of the Word of God that other denominations may minimize as trivial.

This tells me that some denominations receive more information about a doctrine than another denomination may receive. Listening to several different preachers talk about the same subject will often give you a fuller sense of the subject. The contradictions will usually seen to be minor and you could decide yourself what you want to do with them.

God Himself is not contradictory, nor is His message unclear. The problem is that people pay more attention to the leaders of the denomination rather than paying attention to the Book itself, thuse continuing the denominational differences.

Answer 2

After reading the answers here, I just had to chime in despite being agnostic, myself.

The reason for the disparity between and within Christian denominations is because Jesus didn't write anything down and didn't leave direct and explicit instructions for founding his church. As God, one has to wonder why Jesus didn't foresee the disastrous consequences of his Christianity established by interpretation instead of instruction.

The early Christians had many factions that disagreed on many fundamental points. This is why Emperor Constantine convened the Council of Nicea. He wanted to unite the factions under one doctrine so that he could then make Christianity the state religion of the Roman Empire. Western, pagan-influenced members of the council carried the day; incorporating pagan ideas and themes into doctrine. Some of these include the virgin birth, the trinity and resurrection.

This led to a major schism: the Eastern Orthodox Church went it's own way and other, minor, sects also parted ways. However, after becoming the official state religion of the Roman Empire, in 326 A.D. (one year after the Council of Nicea), the Roman Catholic Church enjoyed a huge advantage which vaulted it to its position as the world's largest religion.

Corruption and abuses (such as indulgences) set in as the Roman Catholic Church consolidated its grip on power. The Dark Ages ensued and held Europe in its clutches for centuries.

The Protestant Reformation (aided by the new Gutenberg Printing Press), led by Martin Luther, was a response to the entrenched corruption in the Catholic church. This new schism was a bloody one with Christians killing Christians for many years.

As the Church lost its grip on power, denominations proliferated, the Dark Ages faded and the Enlightenment reasserted man's curiosity and creativity.

For a divinely inspired scripture, the Bible leaves a lot to interpretation. The Catholic church's claim to authority, for instance, is weak and self-serving. No other denomination has an indisputable claim to authority, either. This situation will permit even more denominations to emerge in the future. As the Bible becomes more and more outdated, these denominations are certain to emerge.

Who knows, perhaps one of them will dethrone the Catholic Church.

:-)
.

Answer 3

Yes unfortunately many Christians do give Christianity a confusing and sometimes negative image. One thing all true Christians have in common and should always remember and stick to is that we have a special belief and a personal relationship with Christ Jesus. We believe Jesus is a live and within us always. And even the more mediocre belivers feel and have a deep respect and love of him. To pray and stay close to him is the most important thing in Christianity. And to worship and teach each other as a group in our Church's. There should be very little difference between our denominations. I believe my church, the Catholic church, is the one our lord turned over the keys of his kingdom on earth to Peter the rock as the first human Shepard. But that does not say all other Christian church's do not love and worship our lord any more than me or any Catholic. It boils down to the love, worship and service to Christ and inviting other's that don't know him a chance to know him. Amen

Answer 4

Think about it this way. How many Republicans are there and how many of them disagree with what's going on in Washington?? IF there weren't disagreements between people even people who believe the same thing life would be pretty stale and routine. I'm sure that there is the same among people who don't believe and who believe in other religions. It's human nature to have disagreements even among those who believe the same basic principals. Think about how much you and your friends disagree about different issues yet you have the common bond of friendship keeping you together it's the same principal. You all believe the same basic principal but you can disagree with the way that it's carried out. Isn't that the premise behind the political conventions and caucuses?? To see where people who believe in the same basic idea are different and yet the same??

Answer 5

You're exaggerating Christian "differences". We all agree on the same fundamental, important issues. Get real. Every human concludes slightly differently from each other on every topic.

Our personal relationship does bring us to a common path but does not inject some perfect interpretation of every Bible passage.

You're missing the important aspect of Christianity either for no logical reason or because you expect God to communicate with you or someone in a 100% perfectly and complete way. He has chose not to do that. He has chose to give us the basics and see who loves him for him. Let God be God, Christians be Christians, and submit to the wonderful plan he has for you personally in Jesus Christ - TODAY!

Answer 6

I cannot give you a solid theoligical answer, becuase that's one a lot of pastors, preists and doctors-of-theology are working on. I'm just a kid with an over-read brain.

MY answer, however, is the sort of metaphysical thing that as a non-believer, you'd have a hard time swallowing.

It's Satan.

Yep, there it is. My vaulted, great and powerful answer. So let me waste more time by expanding on the theme, shall we?

Personally, I believe that there's only two things anyone needs to believe: that there is a Creator God (I actually think of Him as the Uncreated. He was not made. He just...is.) and in Jesus Christ and all the doctrine attached (Sin, forgiveness, grace though faith, ect.) If you have those two things, and have done the rigamarole of getting saved, that's it. You can put a peroid on the requirements of God. I believe the rest of it is sort of an exploration. Yes, you believe in God...but who is He? Yes, you believe in Christ...but what does that mean? What does all of it mean? So you explore, and you think you find an answer, and another Christian finds another answer. Sometimes they're right, sometimes one or the other is wrong, and sometimes the only reason they contradict each other is because you think they do, and you haven't yet found the answer that bridges the two. But distilled down, the bedrock, the foundation, is Christ and God. As long as the foundation is there, you can build and tear down and build and tear down whatever you want. You're not supposed to build a concrete picture of God, because then you've got no more room for any further revelations from God. You're gaurenteed to be wrong about God, but God still wants you to try.

However, we've got a snake in the ointment. I'm not going into the full theology of Satan, but my belief is he's an angel (created being) that tried to take over from God (the Uncreated) and failed (Hamlet cannot overpower Shakespere. Creation cannot overpower Creator). Got expelled and got to wander the earth or cosmos (wherever the line is drawn) while spitefully resenting God for being God, and not him. And he tried (and tries) to take creation away from God...but the only creation that can hear him is Man (humanity) and the only power he's still got is the power to lie.

If you read the bible, every time Satan shows up, all he does is lie. He lies to Eve, he lies to Christ, he lies, he lies, he lies. And the first lie he tells is that he's got more power than that. He got humanity to join him in rebellion. God kicked out angels for rebellion. He can't forgive it in man without cause. Hence the whole Jesus thing.

So the Jesus thing can take humanity away from Satan all over again, simply by breaking his lies. And what better way to fight against something than to get it to fight itself. The lie that a point of theology is more important than Christ. The lie that a believer who lives well is better than a believer who lives poorly. A thousand lies, a thousand divisions, and Christians become too interested in converting each other to their point of view than going out of the church to wittness to the lost, thus consining more people to hell through that division. And that doesn't begin to mention the internal backbiting, the gossip, the DAMAGE Christians do to each other. I once commented to my mother that Satan doesn't NEED humans working for and believing in him. He's already got all the Christians he needs!

And of course, that exploration of God can be derailed by the simple belief that you're right. If you're right, you've no need to explore further. If you're right, you've no need to look at the opposing views with interest, only derision. If you're right, if you know what others seek, you shouldn't waste anymore time by learning, but should teach from the bastion of your knowledge. "I'm Right" cements views. "I'm right" stagnates views. "I'm Right" creates conflict and occupies minds.

It's probably not the answer you're looking for, but it's the best I've got.

Answer 7

The problem is never with God, it is with us.



the great majority of evangelical Christians believe in the following creed;
1. Belief in the Trinity: God the Father, Jesus, God the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
2. The virgin birth of Christ.
3. The death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.
4. Salvation through the grace of God, not works
5. Belief in judgment after death.
6. Belief that our eternal bodies will be in heaven or hell forever, based on our relationship with Jesus Christ.
7. Belief in the rapture of the Church of Jesus Christ, which can happen at any minute followed by the judgment seat of Christ and the marriage supper of the Lamb.
8. Belief in the tribulation/great tribulation which will begin with the appearance of the man of sin, the Antichrist.
9. Belief in the millennial reign of Jesus Christ for one thousand years from the mountain of God in Jerusalem.
10. Belief after the end of the millennial reign of Satan being cast alive into the lake of fire and the great white throne judgment.
11. eternity!

Answer 8

From a believer: I am a believer in Jesus Christ. I believe that because He did all that was necessary for me to escape sin, death & the power of the devil and to receive eternal life, God requires nothing more from me. I desire to serve God out of thanksgiving for this free gift, but there is one problem, God doesn't need anything from me. However, He has given me many gifts, so that I am able to turn that service & love toward my neighbor who does need things. There is not a chance that the Word of God concerning all these things is untrue. But if I had to answer the question, no, I wouldn't have any regrets--would I exist to have any anyway? My life would have been spent serving my neighbor, what would be regretful about that?

Answer 9

People see things differently, show 1000 people a picture and you'll have a 1000 different views. So it is with the word of God by the time the word moves from the front pew to the last pew in the church people have change the original to their view. The original has not changed just the peoples expression of the original word.

Answer 10

Jesus said that tares would be sown among the wheat. Wheat are believers. Tares look like wheat but aren't believers. Tares are sown by the Devil.

Jesus said that wolves in Sheep's clothing would come in, not sparing the flock (sheep/believers). They come in serving thier own bellies and some even serve 'that wicked one'. They come to cause discension among the believers in order to corrupt the cause of Christ Jesus.

This is the main reason why disagreemants occur.

On the other hand, many of the mainline denominations (before they were corrupted in our modern time) disagree on simple minor issues such as ritual and practice of faith and do not disagree on the Gospel itself :salvation by the grace of God (a free gift, not earned) through faith in (the finished work on the cross, bringing atonement of sins and redemption) Jesus Christ.