by whew4 on May 6th, 2009

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With all the different Churches in the world today, can they all be sanctioned by the Lord?

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Answers. 14 helpful answers below.

by edndori on May 6th, 2009
God is not the author of confusion.
He will never establish more than one church, and does not sanction an that he has not established.
All others are counterfeits sold to men by the adversary.
And his purpose in doing so is to sow confusion and lead good people astray.
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- One would wonder why more than one ekklesia was established by Paul... and that none of those are anything similar to the CoJCoLDS.
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  by Martureo on May 7th, 2009
- >ekklesia<? You are inventing words, misspelling them, or not speaking English. None of those makes for good communications.
  .
  If you are talking about multiple congregations of the saints, don't get that confused with the Church, of which each congregation was a part. But there was only one church under the guidance of God, just as it is today.
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  Very little is known about the internal organization of the Church anciently. All we know is that the society it served is quite different from ours today in many ways. Small wonder if the structure is different to meet different conditions. However, the message, the purpose, and the head of the church are all the same.
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  by edndori on May 7th, 2009
- Ekklesia or Ecclesia is the Greek word for "church" used in the New Testament. (Ecclesiastes comes from this)
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  <<None of those makes for good communications.>> Wait, "none of those MAKES"? Good job!
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  The word "church" in the NT (e.g. Church of Phillipi, Church of Ephesus...) is ekklesia. We would use the word "congregation" today. The word you are looking for is "organization" or "institution."
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  Claiming there is "only one church under the guidance of God, just as it is today" is an empty and arrogant statement.
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  Actual quite a bit is known as it is recorded both in the NT and from outside sources. You are right to say that it is very different than "the one true church" today.
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  And no, "the message, the purpose, and the head of the Church" are NOT the same. If they were there would be no prophet.
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  by Martureo on May 7th, 2009
- Jesus spoke of establishing his Church (singular). There was only one, of which all the congregations of the saints were a part.
  It is the same way today. Isn't contradicting Jesus rather arrogant?
  .
  All through the Bible there were prophets, right up to the end.
  If you have none today, and God does not change, doesn't that tell you anything?!?
  .
  And of course we disagree. But we knew that when we started, didn't we?
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  by edndori on May 7th, 2009
- Yes, you are right he started his Church (singular). Yes there was only one of which all the congregations were a part. And it is the same today (but not in the way LDS say it). This Church of today is known as the Holy catholic (lowercase) Church. The LDS doesn't have a monopoly on it.
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  Yes, there are prophets throughout the Bible. But who was the prophet in the early church? Answer, there was none! So if there wasn't one after John the Baptist then why do you have one today?
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  Yep.
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  by Martureo on May 7th, 2009
- Since we speak English (or Pidgin in my case) on a day-to-day basis, I read the question as stated in English. No hint to go to the meaning of some dead language.
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  The English word "church" can refer to a single congregation, a single place of worship (and the congregation which meet therein), a single sect, a single denomination, or the body of all Christians.
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  I read "church" in this question to mean a sect (The Roman Catholic Church, The Baptist Church, The Church of England,etc) since it seems reasonable that all congregations within the same sect should be unified in the faith.
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  by laie_techie on May 7th, 2009
- Jesus himself, besides being the Son of God, the Christ, and our Savior, was also the greatest prophet of all.
  And the apostles were also prophets. In fact the book placed last in the Bible is one huge prophecy, and is called just that in Revelation 22:10 & 18.
  Since he received a prophecy, John was obviously a prophet.
  .
  Today, with the size of the church made one prophet sufficient at its beginning, and modern communications and travel keep it sufficient now that the church is world wide.
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  by edndori on May 7th, 2009
- laie_techie, I think you have it about right, though I wouldn't go quite so far as to consider all Christians a single church.
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  by edndori on May 7th, 2009
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by Martureo on May 7th, 2009
Yes, they CAN. Mormons will tell you that ALL the protestant churches are contrastly different from each other and "a house divided against iself cannot stand." But the truth is that 97% of doctrine from all these churches ARE THE SAME. The differences are minor and concern less significant parts of the Gospel.

"Sanctioned by the Lord" is also a sticky term. The churches spoken of in Revelation where all told by God that they had problems and were not perfect, but did he "disown them"? No.

What God is most concerned about is the faithfulness and purity of each congregation and more importantly each believer. With that being said I don't think that God "sanctions" one church over another, more important is the relationship between each person and Christ.

(I do however believe that there are Churches and congregation that the Lord is quite disappointed in.)
Comments
- The "churches" in Revelation were actually *congregations* of the same Church.
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  For your percentages, remember that humans and chimpanzees share over 99% of the same genome. See what a difference that 1% can make!
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  by laie_techie on May 7th, 2009
- But those "congregations" had completely different issues effecting them. Each "church" had different heretical teachers, different cultures, ethnicities and sometimes different governing authorities. I would wager that many churches didn't know of the other churches that existed at the same time, and had no clue as to their leadership, meeting style or non-essential doctrinal differences. So saying that they were the same "church" is correct, but only if you are referring to the catholic church, or the universal church.
  __
  Yes, but minor non-essential doctrinal differences are just that, minor and non-essential. Quite a bit different than "contradictory doctrines" and "warring sects" lead you to believe. So, solely looking at percentages there is little difference. But when one examines more closely the loose terms for diversity within the faith are found to be lacking and quite deceptive.
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  by Martureo on May 11th, 2009
- One Apostle - John - was writing to all seven. This tells me that the seven congregations were, in fact, under the same hierarchy leading back to the Apostles.
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  Local culture even plays a role in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints today. I'm sure that the drinking of kawa was never an issue for the Rocky Mountain LdS. In Hawaii, it seems like only the Bishoprics and Stake Presidencies were suit coats to church. But doctrinally we are the same. We all report to the same General Authorities.
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  by laie_techie on May 11th, 2009
- ALL SEVEN! Whoa, all seven... Man, he had all of the churches under his thumb! Get real, it is foolish to think that every conregation in the Western Mediterrenean was always in direct or even indirect contact with one apostle. They were one in Christ, but many more differences existed than you would like to imagine.
  _____
  Yep, I'm sure it does. Like what shade of black tie is most appropriate for the surrounding culture. But you are again imposing modern things onto ancient congregations.
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  by Martureo on May 12th, 2009
- Kawa ceremonies easily go back to the 3rd century A.D. - definitely not modern.
  -
  I'll have you know I don't own a black tie /or/ a suit coat.
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  by laie_techie on May 12th, 2009
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by mdoyle on May 6th, 2009
“Many will say to me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and expel demons in your name, and perform many powerful works in your name?’ And yet then I will confess to them: I never knew YOU! Get away from me, YOU workers of lawlessness.” - Matthew 7: 22, 23

Many people ask this question. It takes a little bit of logical reasoning to answer that. IF there is a God, would it not be prudent to ask him? Would it not also be good to do what he ACTUALLY wants and not what we THINK he wants? Many simply make decisions based on what others tell them, or on what they think is right. But in truth, just as you would ask your employer what he expects of you on the job - you must ask the same thing of God. The Bible is very clear that there would be many who claim to follow God, but are not really. So, how can one know for sure?

Is there any reason to believe that some religions are wrong? We can again look to the Bible for answers. The Bible warns that there will be many ‘false prophets’ or false religions (Matthew 24:11). 2 Peter 2:1 tells us these false prophets would even be found among those claiming to follow Christianity. Is it no wonder then that there are so many supposed Christian religions today? While some may believe that all those who follow Christianity follow the same God, the fact is that the various ‘Christian’ religions are dissimilar in many of their teachings and practices. Some teach hellfire, the trinity, and immortality of the soul as doctrines, while others do not. Nearly all allow and even encourage their followers to vote, go to war, or become heavily involved in other secular activities. Some are seclusionists, such as the Amish, while others are nearly indistinguishable from the nonbelievers around them. Some dance with snakes and speak in tongues. Others play musical instruments and sing, while some hold solemn, respectful gatherings. The differences are stark. So, can they all be the true religion? Do you think God would allow such confusion to exist among his true worshipers? The Apostle Paul, one of the most prolific inspired writers of the Bible, had this to say about the matter at 1 Corinthians 1:10: “I exhort you, brothers, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that you should all speak in agreement, and that there should not be divisions among you, but that you may be fitly united in the same mind and in the same line of thought.” Clearly then, not all of the Bible based religions today can be considered the true religion, because, as Paul wrote, the true religion should be completely united in words, deeds, and thoughts.

See the following 3 part article for a discussion:
http://magnifyjehovah.com/index.php/2009/04/20/is-there-one-true-religion-part-1/
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by Wide Awake @ has closing date woo hoo on May 6th, 2009
Yes.

Frankly, if you spend your time making life better for other people, I don't care what you call your God or your church. As long as that includes ALL other people - no picking and choosing based on gender, orientation, race, skin color, national origin, etc.
Comments
- To the DR person(s), I would point them to Huston Smith's excellent books on the subject, from the 1950s onward, which basically say the same thing.
  
  And that you learn hwo to discern between an "unhelpful answer" and a DIFFERENCE OF OPINION.
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  by Wide Awake @ has closing date woo hoo on May 7th, 2009
- Do you agree with Moral Relativity?
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  by laie_techie on May 7th, 2009
- .
  Again off topic and doesn't answer the question.
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  by Mister IT is trying to Liahona outta here on May 7th, 2009
- WAP, you’re right that God will sanction any truly good deeds performed, regardless of the person doing them. However, that doesn’t really pertain to a *church*; it pertains to the individuals that belong to that church (or even no church at all).
  
  Make sense?
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  by the Otter on May 10th, 2009
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by kitten on May 12th, 2009
God is not the author of confusion. So lets not confuse each other.
But the truth is that 97% of doctrine from all these churches ARE THE SAME.
So we'll spending our time judging each other on the 3%.
By this are we being Jesus's disciples?

Jhn 13:35 By this shall all [men] know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
Comments
- I like that.
  ;-)
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  by philosopher-saint on May 24th, 2009
- purr!
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  by kitten on May 24th, 2009
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by laie_techie on May 7th, 2009
Our God is not a god of confusion. A house divided against itself cannot stand.

God sanctions truth, and all Christian Churches I know of have at least some truth. However, there are differences between these Churches (or they wouldn't be separate Churches). God cannot sanction two contradictory doctrines.
Comments
- Differences do not necessarily mean contradictory. In fact 97% of doctrine taught at Evangelical churches is the same.
  .
  And what do you have to say about the 180+ different denominations of Mormonism? One would figure that the One True Restored Church would bring clarity.
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  by Martureo on May 7th, 2009
- You are right that not all differences are contradictory, but in cases where doctrine / dogma is contradictory between two groups, at most one is correct on that issue.
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  In my answer, I did not say which denominations have the most truth or which are in the most error. I neither promoted nor demoted Mormonism. I even paraphrased from the Bible.
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  Why would the sects within Mormonism be any different than the sects of any other denomination? God cannot sanction contradictory doctrine.
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  There are so many sects within so many denominations because people can't agree.
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  by laie_techie on May 7th, 2009
- >There are so many sects within so many denominations because people can't agree<
  .
  Indeed - just like the nearly 200 splinter groups that have resulted from the Latter Day Saint movement, approximately 100 still active.
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  So how is it that the Latter Day Saint movement is ANY different than the so-call "Apostate" Biblical Churches?
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  Frankly, I see no different at all except the concept of unity with diversity appears to be anathema to Mormonism.
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  by Mister IT is trying to Liahona outta here on May 7th, 2009
- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does not hold any other sect within the Latter Day Saint Movement in special regard on this topic: they all differ from the LdS Church on at least one major issue, so either we are correct on one such issue, they are right on that issue, or *both* are wrong.
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  by laie_techie on May 9th, 2009
- We are right and they are wrong... because!
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  I'd say that based on JS prophecy and doctrinal consistancy, the RLDS (or CoC if you prefer) are more orthodox than the Utah LDS church.
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  by Martureo on May 11th, 2009
- .
  And I would only add to Martureo's superb comments that big key to the splits within the LDS Movement wasn't so much DOCTRINE or even application of doctrine but over which "Living Prophet" was the TRUE one.
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  In fact, were one to look strictly at fidelity to LDS Scripture, a convincing argument could be made that the FLDS Churches are more orthodox than the LDS Church is.
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  Frankly, were either Joseph Smith or Brigham Young to step out of a Time Machine right now I think that they would endorse the FLDS movement and renounce all others as apostate.
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  And I'm not the first to make this observation.
  .
  So where did this doctrinal INfidelity come from in the LDS Church?
  .
  Answer: From the Living Prophets that followed Joseph Smith and Brigham Young.
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  by Mister IT is trying to Liahona outta here on May 11th, 2009
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by Shawn on May 6th, 2009
All the different churches within Christiainty and all the religions within the world all put simply to the fact that they are created by and sanctioned by man.
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- Christ was a man.
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  by Martureo on May 7th, 2009
- +6 anti-troll pts.
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  by Wide Awake @ has closing date woo hoo on May 7th, 2009
- I'm not a troll, I was just pointing out the weakness of her broadstroked argument. She made an unfounded statement, I refuted it.
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  by Martureo on May 7th, 2009
- Shawn's broad brush paints a truth about at least some (hopefully the minority) churches.
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  I don't agree with this answer 100%, so I just gave enough points to reset it to 0.
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  by laie_techie on May 7th, 2009
- Actually this answer is off topic and doesn't answer the question.
  .
  I always find it amusing that the AB atheists think nothing of spamming the religious sections but SO bent if a religious person "intrudes" into the atheist section.
  .
  I believe that's called a "Double Standard".
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  by Mister IT is trying to Liahona outta here on May 7th, 2009
- #1 Not an atheist
  
  #2 I could care less if you entered the atheist section; I say either side that whines about such being done are babies.
  
  #3 It's pretty much on point, not only does the vast differences point to the obvious fact that they all can't be sanctioned by the same supposed "Lord" of the book BUT it also points to evidence that each one is merely created by man.
  
  #3A Odd to have a supposed religion that claims a spirit that guides them into truth and yet it doesn't matter how sincere each believer is they still come to different conclusions of said "truth" while bashing one another as lacking that truth.
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  by Shawn on May 8th, 2009
- 1) Wonderful. It seemed from your generous use of the ambiguous "all" and the unfounded statement you made that you were an atheist.
  What do you identify yourself as BTW?
  3)You have given no evidence and your assumed "facts" are not obvious.
  3a)Who the heck are you bashing here?
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  by Martureo on May 8th, 2009
- Thanks for your contribution Martureo, the minute you present some maybe i'll bother if you can't accept the obvious.
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  by Shawn on May 8th, 2009
- The minute I present what? You are the one who claimed something and now refuse to back any of it up.
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  by Martureo on May 9th, 2009
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by autumn leaves on May 6th, 2009
NO!!
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- And your answer is based on?
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  by Martureo on May 7th, 2009
- i base my answer on what the bible says. jesus own words on the matter were: ""go in through the narrow gate; because broad and spacious is the road leading off into destruction, and many are the ones going in through it; whereas narrow is the gate and cramped the road leading off into life, and few are the ones finding it." (matthew 7:13,14)many have been told by their religious leaders that it doesn't matter what their religion is, that there are many roads leading to God. this scripture teaches otherwise.
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  by autumn leaves on May 7th, 2009
- I hate to say it but you didn't answer the question. You've answered a question you thought was being asked, which is a little pedantic.
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  by Martureo on May 7th, 2009
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by philosopher-saint on May 24th, 2009
imho, whether or not some benevolent God (who is aware of and concerned for our lives) actually exists doesn't really matter. It's the influence of this concept on our daily behaviour that can make some difference in the world. Unfortunately, both positive and otherwise. What does denomination matter?
;-)
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by Dave2222 on May 13th, 2009
Defies logic. Jesus say on this rock I will build MY church (one) Study different religions and many have their own God. How many Gods are there? Even the Mormon President said our God isn't the God of the bible so who is he, can only be the god created by Smith.
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- Actually he said we do not worship the "traditional" Jesus that the Orthodox Christians worship. We worship the Jesus that appeared to Joseph Smith in 1820. Which is the same Jesus of the Bible...Later
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  by whew4 on October 13th, 2009
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by tonsofun on May 24th, 2009
Its a franchise where in everyone pays in faith to use Gods name and in exchange they pay tribute.
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by whew4 on October 13th, 2009
There are two powers of influence in this world. One from GOD (Elohim), and the other is of course from Satan.

Both powers oppose each other. God, however, only deals with truth, and always dispenses that truth in one way and one way only. Satan, on the other hand will use as much truth, mixed with false doctrines as a means to deceive all he can.

Therefore, if all Churches do not teach exactly the same doctrines which Christ taught, and do not hold fast to the same principles, we know they are out of step with the Lord.

For instance, in our case today, there are 40,000 different Orthodox Christian Churches in the world. All of them have some doctrines which agree somewhat, but for the most part they all have conflicting doctrines and beliefs, that are specific only to them and none else.

Since there is no complete unity among all Churches we can only try to establish some kind of a pattern by which God's Church may be recognized.

1.4000+ years God has always called living Prophets when He has wanted to communicate with mankind.

2.God always has a specific assignment for each of His Prophets to perform in their lifetime.

3.God has never spoken to an individual, except in answer to prayer.

4.When Jesus Christ came to earth, he setup a Church for those living at that time. But he told the Apostles they would be killed,(Matt.10;22) and Paul and others prophesied that the Church would suffer from Apostasy.

They also prophesied that God would send Jesus Christ again to restore all things.(Acts 3;19-21) Which means, according to the pattern set forth by the scriptures, He must first call a living Prophet. Which he did when he appeared to Joseph Smith beginning in 1820.

5.Daniel told us approximately when that Church would be restored. (Dan.2;44)

And today the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the result of that fulfilled Prophecy.

If anyone here can show their Church, better fits the Lords pattern, I would like to see how they stack up against all other Churches...Later
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by Amorphous Blob on October 13th, 2009
God doesn't care about the outward form of your devotion (as long as it doesn't involve ripping the hearts out of prisoners of war like the Aztec priests did), only seeks to draw you near and be known as the Allness.
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by Mister IT is trying to Liahona outta here on May 7th, 2009
LOL.

I must say that the fastest way to get DR'd on AB and get strong push back seems to be to answer this question! Wow!

Now I'll sit back and wait for the DRs to roll in since I've now answered the question.

It's very amusing - and a little sad to see.
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- I agree with your observation.
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  by laie_techie on May 9th, 2009
- .
  The amount of vitriol on BOTH sides is pretty stunning!
  .
  ;-)
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  by Mister IT is trying to Liahona outta here on May 11th, 2009
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