Some estimates claim there are 45,000+ different Christian denominations globally. This number of denominations is often used by atheists as proof that Christianity is false because Christians can’t agree on what is true.
Some estimates claim there are 2.5 billion Christians globally. I would contend that if you interviewed each of them about their full list of beliefs, you would wonder if there really are not 2.5 billion different versions of Christianity.
I do not find this to be a problem. God is an infinite being. Human beings have finite minds. God has to communicate with us in our “language.” God communicated to humankind in their “language.” The Scriptures were written for us but were written to others who had different “languages. It takes hard work in understanding their “language” to truly understand what God was trying to communicate. The reason I put “language” in quotes is that I believe this encompasses more than just Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. It encompasses the original recipient’s worldview, culture, literature and science. Understanding what God is communicating for all cultures and all ages is difficult when God did not communicate to us in our culture.
This is why I think churches must be careful in what they define as “negotiable” and “non-negotiable” and they should hold the “non-negotiables” tightly and the “negotiables” lightly.
This is also why I think it is fine to have many denominations because even the “negotiables” can be important to cohesiveness in a specific local gathering. For example, what you believe about communion drives how you practice it within a church, but it should not divide who we consider to be a true citizen of the kingdom. of Jesus.
In the early history of the church, apostolic leaders developed over geographical regions of the church. These leaders received their understanding of Christianity from the oral traditions, written letters and biographies handed down from Jesus’ original disciples, Paul and the church leaders who knew Jesus or his disciples. There was no New Testament. The Roman empire was ruled from Rome and the churches were persecuted.
The Roman Emperor Constantine began to favor Christianity in 312 AD and convened the First Council of Nicaea in 325, which produced the statement of Christian belief known as the Nicene Creed. This version of the creed ended the Holy Spirit clause with just, “We believe in the Holy Spirit.” At the Second Council of Constantinople in 381, “who proceeds from the Father” was added.
Over the next 700 years, there were still regional apostolic leaders guiding their regional churches in doctrine and these leaders interacted with each other with their different beliefs. Beyond the doctrinal differences, there were power struggles among the leaders and there was a move to centralized apostolic leadership.
In 1045 AD, the great schism between the church of the West and the church of the East happened. The church in the West centralized the apostolic leadership in the leader of Rome (Pope). The church in the East continued the regional apostolic leadership in the eastern regions.
There were many beliefs that diverged between the church of the East and the church of the West, but only one of them affected the Nicene Creed. This is known as the filioque clause.
Here is how https://www.gotquestions.org/ describes this difference.
What is the filioque clause / filioque controversy?
The filioque clause was, and still is, a controversy in the church in relation to the Holy Spirit. The question is, “from whom did the Holy Spirit proceed, the Father, or the Father and the Son?” The word filioque means “and son” in Latin. It is referred to as the “filioque clause” because the phrase “and son” was added to the Nicene Creed, indicating that the Holy Spirit proceeded from the Father “and Son.” There was so much contention over this issue that it eventually led to the split between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches in A. D. 1054. The two churches are still not in agreement on the filioque clause.
John 14:26 tells us, “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name…” John 15:26 tells us, “When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, He will testify about me.” See also John 14:16 and Philippians 1:19. These Scriptures seem to indicate that the Spirit is sent out by both the Father and the Son. The essential matter in the filioque clause is a desire to protect the deity of the Holy Spirit. The Bible clearly teaches that the Holy Spirit is God (Acts 5:3-4). Those who oppose the filioque clause object because they believe the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son makes the Holy Spirit “subservient” to the Father and Son. Those who uphold the filioque clause believe that the Holy Spirit proceeding from both the Father and the Son does not impact the Spirit being equally God with the Father and the Son.
The filioque clause controversy likely involves an aspect of God’s person that we will never be able to fully grasp. God, who is an infinite being, is ultimately incomprehensible to our finite human minds. The Holy Spirit is God, and He was sent by God as Jesus Christ’s “replacement” here on earth. The question of whether the Holy Spirit was sent by the Father, or by the Father and the Son, likely cannot be decisively answered, nor does it absolutely need to be. The filioque clause will perhaps have to remain a controversy.
We can hold all of our beliefs so tightly that we exclude everyone outside our group from being included as citizens of the kingdom of Jesus.
We can hold all of our beliefs so lightly that there are no core beliefs of the citizens of the kingdom of Jesus. This would be a fragile kingdom.
I propose that we clearly define “non-negotiable” beliefs that define orthodoxy and hold these tightly as defining those as core kingdom beliefs.
I propose that we clearly define “negotiable” beliefs that define the foundation of orthopraxy expressed in local/regional /denominational expressions of the catholic (universal) church.
First posted May 3, 2021
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