Contrary to popular belief the bible is not clear cut and well defined. Everything in the bible is up to interpretation. Except maybe the verse that says something along the lines of 'if I twist your nose it will bleed' (I can't recall the exact verse or exact wording). Due to interpretation of so much of the bible sects splinter off of denominations which splintered off the Catholic church which was the reformed church of Rome that was a cobbling together of 'countless' churches which all had their dogma and even had their versions of holy script from which they read. The Bible itself is only a thin shadow of what it could be. The 66/68 accepted books of the bible are picked out of slightly over 600 sacred writing which early Christians possessed per 'church'. Another problem of interpretation stems from the lack of full coverage of much of the biblical history: --> EXAMPLE: Noah's flood. Genesis barely mentions the reason why the flood took place. Enoch and the book of Enoch goes into great detail as to why God decided to the flood the earth. Once you read the book of Enoch a lot comes into clarity and we can seriously begin to consider the real reasons why God flooded the earth. the bible says because men were 'wicked' Enoch points out it has much more too do with God's perfect creation (Adam and Eve - humanity) had become corrupted by the Fallen angles who's offspring (Nephilim - not giants that is a Greek addition in the bible but mix breeds of human and 'angels'). Thus the line about Noah being perfect in his generations and the heavy use of genealogies makes more sense - there are present to clearly demonstrate that a line of humans were 'pure' and not half-breeds or Nephilim. Thus we have the biblical account of the flood - a very partial account which leaves much to the imagination and the interpretation of the reader. Due to the incompleteness sects and denominations can become sorely argumentative of the real meaning behind the Flood of Noah and that leads to break-ups. --> END EXAMPLE. Due to many inconsistencies of translation of the original Hebrew in which the stories of the OT were handed down for many generations orally before they were written down, due to the Greeks and Roman influences (their Gods and Titan Myths) and due to later myth-translations and even purposeful changing of meaning and words in the bible - the bible has become a keystone of debate. Christians usually blindly belief that the Bible is an incorruptible 'perfect' text - as such their interpretation of that text can not be wrong. Any contrary interpretation is therefore imperfect (wrong) and can not be part of 'true Christianity'. the 'fix' is for groups to break off and become their own denomination or sect. Mind all denominations hail from the Catholic Church - the Church of Rome - during the reformation and for centuries thereafter all heretics (those Christians who opposed the papal seat) where killed or forced to recant and to be absorbed by the Catholic Church. It isn't until the Protestant Reformation (16th century, usually considered marked by Martin Luther's activities in 1517.) That Christianity started splintering. By then the early Christian churches (pre-roman organization of Christianity) were a thing of the past - most of the older books that where once considered sacred by early Christians were either lost of condemned by the Catholic church and the bible, its thin shell - was used to spark the break aways from the Catholic Church. 1000 years of Roman Catholic superiority has left us with their doctrines and their interpretations which the protestants being left with only 66 books out of hundreds can see inconstancies and flaws but are subject to the same need to interpret the scripture - thus even inside of the protestant churches much 'debate' can be raised over minor verses which depending on interpretation can lead to sects breaking away.

Generally a religion with the same denomination would not have different beliefs. It could only or may only come about through different interpretations and therefore different practices by people in leadership positions. Yes, I believe they should practise the same beliefs and morals.

It depends on who is defining the Church's beliefs. If you ignore complicated rhetorical constructions which try to justify the change, you will also observe that the beliefs of a particular Church can also change with time. Of course, none of them will admit it usually, or they will say that they changed something in the "directives" for instance, but nothing in the basic beliefs. Moreover, it is important to differenciate between the openly proclaimed beliefs and moral of a particular Church, and the openly proclaimed beliefs and moral of some of its members, even if those members have a representative function inside the Church. A very common example are the teachings of Paul the Apostle, which are in many points very different from those of Jesus, according to the Bible texts. Here again, you must probably first took off the glasses of Christian rhetoric to realize this.

Not necessarily, as long as the fundamental belief in God is there, the rest is up to individual reasoning. Just because it's written doesn't make it true, God would want us to reason things out and seperate the truth from the fallacy, not blindly follow anything that's been written in a book over the last 2000 years.

One denomination does not have different beliefs. That is what makes it a denomination. However the people in that denomination have free will, freedom of choice. Some mistakenly use this free will to pick and choose what beliefs are easy to life with and which are too difficult. Cafeteria style dining means to pick and choose what food to take from a cafeteria line. The term "Cafeteria Christians" refers to people who view Christianity like a cafeteria where one picks and chooses only those beliefs that appeal to them and reject a genuine interpretation of Christian doctrine and the teachings of Jesus. The term "Cafeteria Catholics" is similar. It is used to describe people who dissent from certain teachings of the Catholic Church while maintaining an outward identity as Catholics. In Los Angeles in 1987, Pope John Paul II said: "It has to be noted that there is a tendency on the part of some Catholics to be selective in their adherence to the Church's moral teaching. It is sometimes claimed that dissent from the magisterium is totally compatible with being a "good Catholic," and poses no obstacle to the reception of the Sacraments. This is a grave error that challenges the teaching of the Bishops in the United States and elsewhere." Heresy is the obstinate denial after Baptism of a truth which must be believed with divine and Catholic faith. "Cafeteria Catholics" in denial of certain truths are in danger of committing heresy. With love in Christ.

Differences in belief come from thinking that a book is the word of God. Books can have different interpretations. The Original Word of God that Jesus was sowing (Luke 8:11) was not a book. His Original word could not be misinterpreted, and it would bring everyone to the same conclusion. Click on my avatar for more info on the Orignal Gospel and the Orignal Word of God.

Long ago, there were fewer denominations and sects. Over time, people withing a church developed opposing viewpoints and split off and formed their own version of the same denomination. Today, there are many variations of Baptists, Catholics, etc. Another possible answer to your question is that there are many people attending church who are hypocritical. The pretend to be "good Southern Baptists," but they'll say things about people they don't like that are flat-out forbidden by biblical law. No, they are not right in doing so, and they are exposing themselves as "convenient believers," not true believers. But this is not a perfect world, and we are going to run into people like this in any religion. The best we can do is to pray to God to reach these people and change their hearts while we continue to put up with them for the common good. When you see people acting against their religion, pray for them. There is power in prayer. Maybe, who knows, they might feel the influence of God brought on by your prayers and make a change for the better!