9.23.10

The following question was found online. It is from the viewpoint of someone who does not believe in God, and is looking for questions that cannot be answered in order to justify his/her belief that there is no God. You can hear the lack of trust in God in the question. The viewpoint of my answer is from total trust in God. Each answer is a quick overview – not a detailed explanation! God is a God of truth, and the Bible is full of answers…

If so many Christians believe different things, then how can I believe anything?

In the forum where I found this question, there is a deeper meaning than what you just might read in the question alone. Hidden within the question is the idea that an absolute truth cannot exist – a concept very popular in our post-modern world. Basically, since there are so many ‘variations’ of Christianity, then it is obvious one belief cannot be correct. When a person has developed this mindset, and uses this question as an excuse to not investigate the truth, then they are taking a very lazy way out of knowing what to believe.

In John 14:6, Jesus emphatically states: “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Later on, when Jesus is standing before Pilate, Pilate begins questioning the truth, and Jesus answers him “I came into this world to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” – John 18:37.
Jesus makes it clear: there is absolute truth, and it is found in Him!

Now we fast-forward to 2010; what has happened to the church? The first part of the question is true: Christianity is very divided in beliefs, but this fact should not lead us to not believe anything. Let’s take a closer look at the church (this is an incredibly brief overview!)…

The church was ‘born’ in Acts 2 at the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. On the first day of the church, Acts 2:41 says three thousand were added to their number. These people, under the leadership of Peter and the apostles, took the message of Jesus Christ throughout the world, “and the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” – Acts 2:47

At this point, the church is completely one. In fact, the word Catholic simply means ‘Universal.’ Maintaining unity becomes increasingly difficult when the church is spread out all over the world. There are main ‘hubs’ for the church, in cities like Rome, Jerusalem, and Alexandria, but these are all far away from each other. For this reason, the church becomes susceptible to many localized beliefs; gnosticism is the largest threat to challenge the very words of Jesus. Adding fuel to the fire is the Roman Emperor Constantine; he makes Christianity the official religion of Rome in 312AD, and people who were stuck in idol worship can easily pull some of their pagan practices into the church. So the church responds with gatherings of leadership to produce creeds, such as the Nicene Creed. During this time, the bishop of Rome rises in power to the point where he is looked to as the supreme leader of the church: the pope. The New Testament text now becomes canonized, but the voice of the church speaks louder than the voice of the scripture. So everything is in unison…

What happens when church leaders disagree on a creed? It happened in 1054AD, and the first church split occurs, forming the Roman Catholic church of the west and the Orthodox church of the east. The split ultimately came down to the power of the western church controlling the church in the east, and this power was not going to extend to the east any more.

The church continued as two parts until 1517, when Martin Luther posted his 95 theses on the door of the Wittenberg chapel. By the decision-making of the church, the church had become far removed from the text of the Bible. Luther desired to reform the church and get back to the Bible, but the reformation didn’t change the Roman Catholic church, instead the reformation was the birth of Protestant Christianity – apart from Roman Catholicism. Only a few years later, in 1534, the King Henry VIII of England would separate his nation from Roman Catholicism because of a divorce, and the Anglican church is born.

After this time, branches of Protestant Christianity are quickly formed based on varying interpretations of the Biblical text. The proper function and meaning of baptism is a huge topic; the function and meaning of the Eucharist (Lord’s Supper) is also enormous. The sovereignty of God versus the free will of man becomes a major topic. And the list can go on and on…

It is easy to get caught up and confused in the intricacies of Christian belief. It is easy to see the fighting that has occurred between Christians, and the fighting has been over things the outside world does not understand, so it can seem pretty ridiculous. It is easy to see when Christians do not act in love the way they are supposed to, because unfortunately sin can infiltrate the church just as it permeates the world around the church.

To look at all of this information, and miss the constant through it all would be sad. Here is the constant: Jesus Christ is still Lord. Jesus still died on the cross and rose from the dead so we could have a relationship with God. Jesus is still the way, the truth, and the life. Jesus still loves you.

What should be the standard for our belief? The people who follow Jesus, which is the church? Or Jesus himself?

I will continue to place my faith and trust in the one who willingly died for me – knowing that I was a sinner! I will place my faith and trust in Jesus Christ.