Christian Denominations & Their Founders

Who started your Church and when?

The total number of splits in Christian Denominations goes upwards in the 20,000s. Just think about that for a moment. Over 20,000 Christian Denominations all coming from the original split by Luther in 1517. One reason is Martin Luther’s teaching of ‘Sola Scriptura’ 'Scripture Alone'. All of the above mentioned denominations claim to be inspired by Scripture alone and therefore separated from other churches in order to teach what they believed was the truth. Sola Scripura was not believed even by the Ancient Jews as the Word of God was not only written but also oral. Even the eunuch in Acts 8:26-40 needed help with interpreting so that he didn't interpret incorrectly.

But what does the Bible say about the Scriptures being interpreted by individuals?

'First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by the impulse of man, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God...' 'But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies.' 2 Peter 1:20-21; 2:1

In Peter 2:10 Peter describes these false teachers as “despising authority,” and then, in 3:16, he tells us they “twist the scriptures to their own destruction.” The context of Peter’s letter leaves no room to doubt that he is condemning the private interpretation of Scripture, the foundation of the Protestant movement.

How do you know yours is the right Church?

Just as Judaism has many different writings which explain the Jewish laws, traditions and cultures, so does Catholicism. Judaism had both written and oral traditions and beliefs and the same goes for Catholicism. The Catholic Church is an extension of Judaism just as Jesus wanted it to be. He was Jewish and left the Church to Peter as the main leader of his Church on earth. Peter was to train, teach and spread the Gospel and at the time, all was done by word of mouth. That is until everything started being written. The Bible was then compiled and canonized by the Catholic Church in the year 393 A.D. The earliest known complete list of the 27 books of the New Testament is found in a letter written by Athanasius, a 4th-century bishop of Alexandria, dated to 367 AD. The 27-book New Testament was first formally canonized during the councils of Hippo (393) and Carthage (397) in North Africa.

Since Catholicism, why did the church split into so many different denominations? Was Catholicism the only Church for the first 1500 years since Jesus’ time? How do we know that Catholicism was really the original religion in Ancient Christianity.

The earliest mention of the name ‘Catholic’ was by an early Christian writer around the year 1107 A.D. This writer was a direct disciple/student of the Apostle John and his name was Ignatius of Antioch. Ignatius lived in the times of the Apostles at around A.D. 35 to 107 and this is what he wrote about the authority of the Catholic Church,

“See that you all follow the bishop, even as Jesus Christ does the Father, and the presbytery as you would the apostles; and reverence the deacons, as being the institution of God. Let no man do anything connected with the Church without the bishop. Let that be deemed a proper Eucharist, which is administered either by the bishop, or by one to whom he has entrusted it. Wherever the bishop shall appear, there let the multitude of the people also be; even as wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church.” —Letter to the Smyrnaeans, Ch 8

Another early mention of the word ‘catholic’ was in the writings of Polycarp, who was the bishop of Smyrna, who used the word multiple times. Polycarp was a disciple of the apostle John as well as Ignatius, just as John was a disciple of Jesus. Like Ignatius, Polycarp suffered the martyr’s death in a coliseum in A.D. 155. In the Martyrdom of Polycarp, written at the time of Polycarp’s death, it is written,

“The Church of God that sojourns in Smyrna, to the Church of God that sojourns in Philomelium, and to all the dioceses of the holy and Catholic Church in every place” Epistle of the Church at Smyrna, preface

This is still shortly after the ascension of Jesus. The Apostle John had just passed away in the year 100 A.D. making this true and proven. It is a matter of why Protestants do not accept these teachings and writings. This was still believed by Luther even after the reformation. Here is a list of early christian writers and writings that historically shows the word Catholic mentioned and used for over 1000 years before the reformation:

The Muratorian Canon

Tertullian

Cyprian of Carthage

Council of Nicaea I

Cyril of Jerusalem

The Apostles’ Creed

Council of Constantinople I

Augustine

Vincent of Lerins

Council of Chalcedon

As you should already be aware, the original texts were not written in English. They were in Ancient Greek. The Greek root of the word Catholic is simply ‘according to the whole’ or ‘universal’. One Church, not many. Catholic comes from the Greek katholikos, the combination of two words, kata (concerning), and holos (whole). The word church comes from the Greek ecclesia, which means “those called out.” This was later Latinized to Catholicus when the Scriptures were first translated. The prepositional phrase “throughout all” (kath oles) appears in Luke 4:14; Luke 23:5; Acts 9:31; Acts 9:42; Acts 10:37.

Jesus used the word church twice in the Gospels, both in Matthew. He said, “I will build my Church” (Matt. 16:18). He didn’t say “churches” as though he were building subdivisions, nor did he imply that it would be an invisible church made up of competing groups. He was going to build a visible, recognizable Church, as shown by the fact that he appointed Peter to lead it in his absence. And in Matthew 18:17, Jesus said that if one brother offends another they were to take it to “the Church.” Notice the article “the” referring to a specific entity. Not “churches” but one visible, recognizable Church that can be expected to have a recognizable leadership with universal authority. (c.f. catholic.com)

Jesus left us the Church to which he gave the authority to bind and to loose in Matthew 16:19; 18:18)—the Catholic Church, which is the pillar and foundation of the truth 1 Tim. 3:15.

If this was the only Church in ancient Christianism as we see in the early writings, then why did so many split into other religions after Martin Luther's reformation?

Just before he was crucified, Jesus prayed not only for the universality and catholicity of the Church but for its visible unity: “That they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you sent me. The glory which you have given me I have given to them that they may be one, just as we are one; I in them and you in me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that you sent me” (John 17:21-23).

So please remember that when you are taught that the reason Luther broke off from the Catholic Church was because of corruption and that means the Church must no longer be the TRUE Church, think again. There could be corruption and evil people in the Church and still be Jesus’ instituted Church. Why do I say that? Because people have free will and fallen natures, and also because Church leaders haven’t always been the faithful witnesses Jesus Christ calls them to be and because Jesus doesn’t lie. “God is not a man that he should lie” and when he instituted the Church in Matthew 16:18, he clearly said that ``the gates of hell shall not prevail against it”. So you tell me, why didn’t Luther just reform the Church he was in disagreement with instead of splitting from it knowing it was instituted by Christ? The early Church understood Jesus’ words. What good was an invisible, theoretical, impractical unity? For the world to see a catholic unity, the oneness of the Church must be a visible, real, and physical reality.