Christian Denominations and their Founders

Have you ever wondered who founded your Church? Better yet, your Denomination? The number of splits in Christian Denominations since 1517 A.D. goes over 20,000. Just think about that for a moment. There is over 20,000 Christian Denominations all which came from the original split by Luther in 1517. All claim to be inspired by Scripture alone and therefore separated from other churches in order to teach what they believed was the truth. "Sola Scriptura" meaning "Scripture Alone" was not believed even by Ancient Jews. The Word of God was not only in written form but also orally spread through tradition. Even the eunuch in Acts 8:26-40 needed help with interpreting what he read so that he didn't interpret it incorrectly. 

How do we know if ours is the right Church? How do you?

Judaism has many different writings explaining Jewish laws their traditions and culture. So does Catholicism. Judaism has always had written and oral traditions of their beliefs. The same goes for Catholicism. The Catholic Church is an extension of Judaism. This is how Jesus wanted it to be as he himself was Jewish. He left his Church to Peter and positioned him as the main leader of his Church on earth. Peter was to train, teach and spread the Gospel which at the time, was done by word of mouth until it was written. This was all Jewish tradition.

The Old Testament books were written way before Jesus’ Incarnation, and all of the New Testament books were written roughly by the end of the first century A.D. However, the Bible as a whole was not officially put together until the late fourth century by the Catholic Church. This process concluded in 382 as the Council of Rome, under the leadership of Pope Damasus, promulgated the 73-book scriptural canon. The biblical canon was evaluated again and accepted by the councils of Hippo (393) and Carthage (397), and then determinedly re established by the ecumenical Council of Florence in 1442 A.D. The Council of Trent solemnly set on this exact canon in 1546 A.D., when it came under attack by the first Protestant leaders, including Martin Luther.

Why did the church split into so many different denominations from Catholicism? Was the Catholic Church the only Church present for the first 1500 years since Jesus’ time? How do we know that Catholicism was original in Ancient Christianity?

Let's go back to the earliest mention of the name ‘Catholic’. The earliest mention is by an early Christian writer at around 107 A.D. This writer was a student of the Apostle John. His name was Ignatius of Antioch. Ignatius lived in the times of the Apostles from around 35 A.D. to 107 A.D. and these are his words in one of his letters 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’ is in the writings of Polycarp, who was another student of the Apostle John and the bishop of Smyrna. He used the word 'Catholic' multiple times. Like Ignatius, Polycarp suffered a martyr’s death in a coliseum in 155 A.D. In Martyrdom of Polycarp, which was written at the time of Polycarp’s death, it says, 

“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.

Let's keep in mind that this wasn't far from the ascension of Jesus. This was written shortly after. The Apostle John had passed away in the year 100 A.D. which makes it true and proven because no Christian in this time, refuted this teaching. It is a matter of Protestants not accepting these teachings and writings as a form of additional wisdom just because it isn't explicitly in the Bible. Remember that even Luther believed this after the reformation. Here I am including a list of early christian writers and their writings that historically show the word Catholic mentioned and used for over 1000 years before the reformation and even before the reign of Constantine:

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

We know that the original texts were not written in English. They were written in Ancient Greek. The root of the word Catholic is ‘according to the whole’ or ‘universal’. One Church, not many. Catholic comes from the Greek word katholikos. This is a combination of two words, kata (meaning concerning), and holos (meaning whole). The word church comes from the Greek word ecclesia, which means “the whole body of the faithful.” When Jerome translated the scriptures into Latin, the word was later Latinized to the word Catholicus. The phrase kath oles is written in Luke 4:14; Luke 23:5; Acts 9:31; Acts 9:42; Acts 10:37.

The word church was used by Jesus twice in the Gospels, both times in the book of Matthew. He said,

“I will build my Church” Matthew 16:18

He didn’t say “churches” as though he built subdivisions, nor implied that it would be an invisible church made up of clashing groups. He was building a visible, and recognizable Church. This was shown when he appointed Peter to lead it in his absence. In Matthew 18:17, Jesus said that if one brother offends another they were to take it to “the Church.” Notice the detail “the” which refers to a specific entity. He wasn't speaking of “churches”. He spoke of one visible and recognizable Church which is expected to have a recognizable leadership and universal authority.

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, then why did so many split into other religions? One main reason is because of Martin Luther’s teaching of ‘Sola Scriptura’. But what does the Bible say about the Scriptures being interpreted by individuals?

Right before Jesus was crucified, he prayed not only for the universality of the Church but for a 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

Let's please remember that when you are taught or told that the reason Luther broke off from the Catholic Church was because of corruption and that this meant that the Church must no longer be the TRUE Church, step back and think again of what is being said. This is dangerous thinking. There could be corruption and evil people within the Church and still be the one Jesus instituted. Mankind has free will. We are fallen in nature. Church leaders haven’t always been the faithful witnesses Jesus Christ calls them to be and their actions do not make Jesus a liar.

"God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?" Numbers 23:19

When Jesus instituted the Church in Matthew 16:18, he was clear that "the gates of hell shall not prevail against it”.

So tell me, why didn’t Luther just reform the Church itself and change those things he was in disagreement with instead of splitting away 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.