How has Christianity, a faith based on the teachings of a single text (the Bible), divided into so many denomi
144167
Well, it's not only the Bible, after all.  The first division was between Catholic and the first protestant, Martin Luther, creating the Lutherans, and protestantism generally.  That was not only about the Bible, but about practices of the Catholic Church which Luther protested.  Then some denominations were created to argue that the Bible should be the only source of truth for christians, some on administrative lines, like whether or not there should be bishops, and so on.  You know the Church of England's story; that was not about the Bible, but about the authority of the Pope to tell Henry he could not have a divorce.  Henry then said, in effect, OK, I'll be my own pope, and so it goes.
171160
That's why it's called "faith"; you never know conclusively. To truly understand the bible, one would have to be an expert in Hebrew and Aramaic of the ancient times for the old testament, and then master 1st and 2nd century Greek to understand the new testament. To top it all off, you would have to have a thorough understanding of the cultures and traditions of the times that the various books were written in. Then you might actually approach what the original authors intended.\n\nOur understanding of the bible is dependent on our society and culture, the faith community we grow up in, and our own backgrounds and habits. Nobody lives in a vacuum, so all these things have an effect. A good example is the constant exhortations against the rich and the wealthy in the bible, but how little that is discussed in our country, because our nation likes material prosperity, and doesn't want it questioned. \n\nIn the end, however, one makes the choice to believe. One decides to believe that God will work our our salvation as we read this ancient and imprefectly translated book, and make our way through a life that has more mystery than most are willing to concede. And that's what faith is about.
148194
There have been thousands of different versions of the Bible.\nMany books have been edited or dropped over the centuries \nWhat we now call the Bible was asssembled many years after the events described
877013
True, and it is what I've been saying all along. When I was a Christian, I still didn't believe in the letters of Paul. Was it not the prophets of the ancient times that brought laws and the word of G-d through revelation (ie. a burning bush, the direct voice of G-d)? Then years later, the "new" testament is revealed through letters and secondary sources written by people who weren't even there.  Another great point, thanks for the question.
1139981
I'm of the christian faith. I live in the bible belt of the United States, though I've rarely been inside a church.... I put effort into my religion every day, every second of every day, and have done so since I was 4 or 5, am not even sure of my age when I began to seek God....since that time I've read and studied my bible( nearly every home in the bible belt has several bibles at the least); however, since gaining internet access 4 years ago, I've extended my research to studying the origins of christianity (which originates in Judaism; big DUH but the statement make s my line of thought flow more smoothly:)... and have found the books of the Bible ( especially the new testament) to be the best documented piece of ancient literature yet found and Judaism to be non polluted/diluted by other ancient religions...the Bible was penned by 40 different authors from many different social backgrounds and over 1500 years worth of writing; and all of those writings don't conflict in any way.. the bible can be argued with ( though all arguments so far can be traced to mistranslation of original language or ignorance of cultural context) but not proven false.... in a nutshell,there is no physical/scientific evidence to disprove either Judaism or its culmination,Christianity... Shalom v'shalom
380186
This is one of the realizations that I came upon after studying what I believe, and not what I was taught to believe. I'm 18 years old, and I have (as of a year ago) quit the Roman Catholic religion. I no longer believe in any religion because religion is just a set of beliefs that have changed over time. Throughout the thousands of years that man has existed, can someone actually say that every sin has not been committed? By this, I mean that if every sin has been committed, then the bible has been changed (because that is a sin). For every letter of the bible that is changed, one month of a person's portion of food will be taken away from them in heaven (food being the Tree of Life's fruit). It is absurd to follow a belief system that is outdated, sexist, prejudiced, close-minded, and just plain fallible. The Bible was "inspired" by God, not written. And since then, there have been many changes/compromises. I am thankful to say that I worship God without a religion to restrain me. Ethics, morals, and faith are my guiding stars. I can only hope that more people realize what I have realized.
181719
The root of christianity is what Paul taught. It is scary how today's christians will quote Paul and Paul's rules to the church more than Jesus'. Jesus came to fulfill the "Law" not to change it. No where does Jesus call himself a "God" He refers to Himself as the "Son of Man" and reveers the "Father" God.Paul deifies Christ and defines the trinity.\nYou would think If such a thing as the trinity existed, Jesus would have told His diciples the truth of it. Paul walked the earth the same time as Jesus,He was present at the stoning of Stephen, He pursecuted early christians in the name of the Sanhedrian  His conversion would have been as prevalent had Jesus changed his heart while Jesus had been alive, but with Jesus having been crucified Paul conviently makes up laws for christians subverting the faith and deceiving the world
532529
bible is a history of faiths, that's all.
230912
I read through your paper and I must admit that it must have been difficult to cram so much into something so little. Theological debate can go on and on. Just the history of Christianity can even be volumes. \n\nNow, I don't know where you stand with God, I just know that one thing you failed to mention was (well I guess you touched on it a little) was the fact that Christianity is spiritual, hence, "God is Spirit, and His worshippers must worship in spirit and truth." (John 4:24) Ones own relationship with Jesus Christ cannot be by or through the intellect. There's where faith come in. With all do respect, your presentation was accurate, however, we MUST remember that we cannot bring God down to OUR level, we must assend to HIS level through the Holy Spirit and the only way the Truth can be discovered is by faith alone. Good job, and God bless you.
802311
Christianity is a faith based belief system.  Secularists want it to be translated into their evidence based belief system and it really can't be to their satisfaction.  Of course it seems that since there's no evidence computers can fly together out of nothing one should be able to conclude that the much more complex universe couldn't have either, but that point seems lost on them.
575223
Sure looks that way, don't it?  I mean, the Christians even include the entire Jewish Bible in their own, along with considering the divinity of Jesus in the light of old testament prophecies which he fulfilled.  He did indeed sound like something of a reformer, but the one who actually said it was no longer necessary to follow the old Jewish law was Saul of Tarsus aka Saint Paul.  That was after Jesus had died and gone to heaven.
921138
Wow where did you get this information? Christianity is called Christianity because of the followers of Christ that would be those called Christians. Where did you ever get he was against religious laws? He said that not one jot or title shall pass away until he returns. Jesus came to fufill the law not to destroy it. god is the same yesterday today and tommorow although mans relationship to God does change.
1082446
The bible is 99% pure, however there still exist copyist errors which you most definitely have pointed out.  The first is a numbering copyist error and the second, one of the daughters is actually Merab.  However the christian faith does not rest on tiny pieces of data like these examples.  All of the questionable material of the bible has absolutely no impact on the doctrine of Christianity--they are all very minute details such as the ones you have pointed out.  The other 'supposed' contradictions out there commit several logical fallacies such as quoting out of context and juxtaposition, and do not look at hebrew or greek colloquialisms
224249
1. Father\n2. Mother\n3. Son\n4. Daughter\n5. Son's Wife (Daughter-in-law)\n\nAnd division is required when you separate the light from the dark or the truth from lies.  It doesn't appear that in this scripture it is allegoric.  He usually started off by telling when he was using a parable to make a point.  He was just using this example of division because it was commonplace for a son to take a wife and have her live with his family (not vice versa).  He was saying that the truth of the Lord will separate the believers and the non-believers, even in their own immediate families.\n\nResponse:  Read the entire text around your verses, not just one verse of your picking or choosing to distort.  The only allegory I see is the one you are creating.  Clearly none exist in the text you quoted.  It's pretty cut and dry.
711004
A cult of Christianity is a group of people, which claiming to be Christian, embraces a particular doctrine system taught by an individual leader, group of leaders, or organization, which (system) denies  one or more of the central doctrines of the Christian Faith as taught in the sixty-six books of the Bible
1162534
Of course it's rediculous. The pastors of the different churches have to make some excuse as to why there are over 600,000 different christian denominations though. Those pastors of the churches wanted to be able to "guide" what their following believed in. Only by proclaming the bible is perfect, and themsevles, the pastors the most educated (supposedly), were the best ones who could interpret the scriptures to what they "really meant". This is why so many christian believes change all the time throught history. Also why those believes are the most popular of the day. If the pastors weren't the sole interpreter of the scriptures they wouldn't be payed so much. \n\nIronlicly you'll never find the word "bible" in the scriptures either. The word mean a collection of books. \nMost christians will scite Rev 22:19 to you. They fail to realize that the "book" the scriptures is talking about is the book of revelation, not the bible. John (who wrote revelations) hadn't even written the Gospel of John yet when he wrote revelations. According to christian doctrine then the book of John would not be allowed. Of course christians also don't realize that the bible was not put together for several hundred years after the apostles died. \nThere is a like scripture in Deuteronomy 4:2 "ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the lord your God which I command you".\n\nIf christians interpreted this the same way as they did revelations all books, revelations, everything would end after Moses. Of course they don't interrept it that way, that would be rediculous.
535552
I'm a bit rusty on langauge arts, but here goes nothing:\n\nMany of C.S. Lewis' writings allude to the Bible, and have gained popularity among church groups because of this.