Bulletin Articles
“Did the Lord start any denominations?”
Categories: Christ's church, denominations, Study the WordIf you go up to any religious person that belongs to a denomination, and ask them who started the church they belong to, chances are they will say, “The Lord, of course!” The problem is, other than the church that Jesus purchased with His own blood (Matt. 16:18; Acts 20:28), all other religious sects were started by somebody or body of people. You can google the follow information to verify it, but her is a short list of religious groups when they started and who started them.
The Baptist church – started in 1607 by John Smyth.
The church of England – started in 1534 by Henry VIII.
The Jehovah Witnesses – started in 1874 by Charles Russell.
The Lutheran church – started in 1530 by Martin Luther.
The Mennonite church – started in 1525 by a group of folks.
The Methodist church – started in 1729 by John Wesley.
The Christian Science – started in 1879 by Mary Baker Eddy.
The Christian church – started in 1859 by a group of folks.
The Free-will Baptist – started 1780 by Benjamin Randall.
The Assembly of God – started in 1914 by Roger Williams.
The Presbyterian church – started in 1535 by John Calvin.
The Holiness church – started in 1907 by Howard Hoople.
The Mormon church – started in 1830 by Joseph Smith Jr.
The Nazarene church – started in 1895 by P.F. Bresee.
The Church of God – started in 1880 by D.S. Warner.
The Pentecostal Holiness – started in 1898 by a group.
The Plymouth brethren – started in 1829 by a group.
The Salvation Army – started in 1865 by William Booth.
The Seventh-Day Adventist – started in 1846 by Ellen G. White.
The Unitarians – started in 16th Century, by Faustus, Scoinus.
The Quakers – started in 16:50 by George Fox.
(Chart information copied).
The church you read about in the Bible was not a denomination, if wasn’t in part – it was complete. It was prophesied about by Isaiah (Isa. 2:2-3). This was fulfilled when Jesus Christ came and died on the cross. Prior to His death, the kingdom to come, was proclaimed (Matt. 3:2; 4:17; 6:10; etc.).
After Christ died and resurrected, the church/kingdom was now present (Acts 2:47; Col. 1:13). This church belongs to Christ of which He is the only head (Eph. 1:22-23). This makes sense since not only is He the builder, but He has all the authority (Matt. 28:18). It is wrong on so many levels to have religious groups claiming to be Christ’s church, when they have been started by some man built upon doctrines from man. Whereas the Lord’s church abides solely in His doctrine (II Jn. 9). Logic tells you, if all those religious sects belong to Christ then they were all started by Christ and teach the same things. But we know that’s not the case.
Chuck
