One question that tends to cross the minds of many people involves the reason why there are so many different denominations of Christianity. It all revolves around two things: the relationship between the individual with the principle of sin, and the relationship between the individual with God. At the heart of these two things is the relationship between the humanity and the divinity of Jesus with His Father in heaven.
When Jesus walked among his disciples, they were not clear about these things. This is why their focus was on who would hold the most power in the kingdom of God. Even after Jesus was resurrected, it was asked of him if he would now restore the kingdom to Israel. It wasn’t until the day of Pentecost (which was 50 days after Passover, and was a commemoration of the giving of the Ten Commandments) that the eyes of their understanding were opened, and they saw the truth of the matter.
It was this ability to see that empowered them to love God, and one another, in fulfillment of the law. And, it was their love for one another that empowered them to “turn the world upside down.” It’s interesting that Jesus was never accused of this. Paul makes note of this love for the brethren that existed in the Church at Ephesus.
But as time went on, a change came. Something happened to cause the Church to lose its first love, and the Church at Ephesus was particularly called out in the book of Revelation over it. That something had to do with people acknowledging others as being more superior than themselves. This made a place for the establishment of a clerical hierarchy within the Christian religion. The Bible calls those who advocated this false sense of humility, Nicolaitans.
As people lost love, they consequently lost the understanding of the relationships between themselves, sin, Jesus, and the Father. This made a way for alternative explanations of these subjects, which led to the formation of factions within the body of believers throughout the Roman Empire. In the beginning of the fourth century, the Roman Emperor Constantine associated himself with Christianity, and used his state authority to call together an ecumenical conference in the year 325. Out of that came a creed that defined what it meant to be a Christian, and those who opposed it were deemed enemies of the state. This was the beginning of what is now known as the Roman Catholic church.
Another thing Constantine did during his reign was to move the capital of the Roman Empire to a city in Turkey that he named after himself, Constantinople (now Istanbul). In the proceeding centuries, another Christian religious hierarchy would develop in the Eastern Roman Empire, also known as the Byzantine Empire. By the eleventh century, the Vatican recognized this other hierarchy as something that needed to be addressed, so the pope sent dignitaries with a letter essentially saying that there wasn’t enough room on this planet for two separate structures, and that they needed to acknowledge the pope as the true head of the organization. The eastern organization responded with something akin to telling the pope to take a long walk off a short plank. This marked an event in the year 1054 that is known as The Great Schism. This produced what is now known as the Eastern, Russian, and Greek Orthodox churches. By the end of the century, the Vatican had attempted to rectify this separation by sending an army to Jerusalem (which was in Byzantine territory), and liberate it from the Muslims in a public relations disaster that is now known as the Crusades, but that is another subject.
Throughout the Middle Ages, there were those who attempted to introduce reforms to return the Roman Catholic church back to the divine model that Jesus gave, or assembled as a separate body. Most of those people were denounced as insane if not executed for heresy, as were my ancestors. It wasn’t until the 16th century that a reform lead out by Martin Luther was able to succeed as a result of the German princes unwillingness to prosecute Martin. This is where the term Protestant came from.
From there, other western European countries became Protestant which produced separate denominations such as the Anglican church of England, and the Presbyterian church of Scotland. Around this same time, the Bible started to become mass produced, and the United States was founded. These things, coupled with the freedom of conscience, gave birth to a multitude of different congregations and denominations based on different people’s conclusions from reading the Bible.
Regardless of how many different bodies of professed believers there are, Jesus broke it down to only two, as he knew all this was bound to happen, and spoke of it in a parable.
“The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.” Matthew 13:24-30.
When asked about the interpretation of this, he said,
”He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.” Matthew 13:37-43.
The preachers of this world may warn their flocks about this harvest coming to pass someday. My point in publishing this however, is to testify that someday has come.
