Recently, I was asked a very insightful question. Why do we have so many denominations?

On the one hand, it’s a simple answer. On the other hand, it’s complicated.

Let’s see if I can make the complicated simple to understand. In doing so, please note this is a broad overview and is in no way comprehensive. Yet, I hope to show you how we arrived at the state of things today.

I love history. I’m an avid reader of it. In Bible College and at Dallas Theological Seminary, I excelled in Early Church history. It’s where I became convinced that too many pastors and theologians are trying to understand and interpret the Bible based on our 21st-century lives. 

While that’s an important component of the rise of denominations, history also plays a significant role.

Let’s get into it…

For nearly the first 1,000 years of church history, there was only one church and it was headed collectively by regional bishops. The roles of the bishops were many. Among them was protecting the faith from false teachings and doctrines and ensuring the priests did the same as they ministered within their churches. It’s been a highly successful system.

Around the early to mid-900s, something began to change. The Bishop of Rome began to exert more influence and following.  At least three major things arose that caused a break between the bishops in the East and those in the West under the Bishop of Rome (aka, the Pope).

• A new doctrine called purgatory that had never existed in all of Biblical history prior.
• A new interpretation of the Eucharist.
• The declaration of the Pope as the head of the Church who was infallible.

Of course, there are other new doctrines introduced as well. Still, these three were on top of them, which led to the breakup (aka known as the Great Schism of 1054) of the ancient church and gave rise to the prominence of the Eastern Church (today they are known as the Orthodox) and the Western Church (i.e., the Catholic Church).

Left virtually unchanged since that time in terms of doctrine, the Orthodox have lived rather quietly due to persecution in the Middle Ages forward even up until more modern times.

From around 1,000 to 1,500, the Catholic Church became just as much a governmental institution as a religious one. It used doctrine to wield substantial control, influence, power, wealth, and military might over Europe.

By the 1500s, a small number of priests began questioning many of the church’s practices. Among them was Martin Luther. Questioning the Pope and the Catholic Church was akin to heresy. The church sought to stamp them out through inquisitions and threats of capital punishment. 

All it did was create more protests throughout parts of Europe. Hence, the word Protestant (i.e., “Protestor.”)

Around the same time the fire of the Reformation began burning, a new development rose in England. King Henry VII wanted an annulment from his wife Catherine as she seemed incapable of giving him a male heir. They had a daughter, Princess Mary. (Let’s avoid the politics and science of this issue of which their time was unaware). The Pope refused him, so Henry beheaded Catherine for treason and broke from the Catholic Church.

He formed the Church of England and married Anne Boleyn, a protestant. She too failed to give him a male heir. Their daughter Princess Elizabeth, was raised a protestant.

Now, I’m not going to dive into all the details for brevity’s sake. Suffice it to say there were untold thousands of protestants in England. When Henry died, Mary, a staunch Catholic, ascended to the throne. She made Protestantism illegal, hence her nickname, “Bloody Mary.” Still, she couldn’t find it in her heart to kill her half-sister Elizabeth.

On November 17, 1558, Queen Mary likely died of cancer at 42 years old. 

Elizabeth ascended to the throne and declared the Monarch as the head of a new Church of England. It became known as the Episcopal Church. When the Protestants returned, they observed a church that appeared Catholic in ritual despite being Protestant in theology. To them, it was unacceptable. They fled to the new world, some of which were on the Mayflower. They signed the Mayflower Compact as a covenant with God regarding how they would worship Him when they arrived in the new world.

Soon after, England established 13 colonies in North America. If you study the 1700s and early 1800s, you’ll notice the theological dividing lines.

• New England was dominated by Puritans (today they would most resemble conservative Presbyterians).
• Pennsylvania was a transition colony. William Penn envisioned a more religiously tolerant society and a bit of everything could be found. Chief among the religious groups were Quakers.
• Maryland was staunchly Catholic.
• The southern colonies were almost entirely Anabaptists.

Before the Revolution, you would also find Anglican Churches in virtually every colony since it was the official state church.

In the 1800s, John Wesley led a new form of Protestantism that became known as Methodism. Many call this period the Second Great Awakening. Over the last 150 years, it has experienced all kinds of new doctrinal outcomes that led to groups such as the Seventh Day Adventists.

The 1900s saw even more radical changes with the establishment of Pentecostalism and the Charismatic movement. Note, that this form of worship had never been seen before in church history.

Over the last one hundred years, the Protestant movement has splintered into approximately 1,900 denominations. All claiming to be the only true church, with differing doctrines and fighting with one another over their theological distinctions.

It begs a question… If these Christian denominations can’t agree, how can any one of them be right?

Needless to say, I don’t think this is what our Lord had in mind. 

Please don’t hear me saying that I condemn any Bible-believing and practicing Protestant church. Far from it. Many love the Lord. They seek Him and proclaim Jesus of Nazareth as Lord and Savior. The challenge for me was I felt empty in virtually every church I was in over the years, and there have been quite a few.

Something seemed off to me. There had to be more to the Christian life than going to church on Sunday morning and maybe a small group (if that) during the week. Who was carrying each other’s burdens, giving praise and thanks during both the good and difficult times together, and living the Christian life with one another instead of in isolation?

I felt far and distant from the Lord, yet the Church was supposed to be the place that helped me draw closer to Him.

As I’ve intently studied this issue over the last 25 years, I realized only one church wasn’t created out of division, rebellion, confusion, or “doctrinal distinctiveness.” It was the Orthodox Church. 

Okay, I digress a bit. The point of this post was to provide you with a high-level overview of how we got so many denominations. I hope I was successful in helping you see it.

Blessings to you,

Father Don