Artilce on Denominations:
THE IDEA OF DENOMINATIONS
[/align]The religious diversity of the American colonies"though largely within the Puritan tradition"called for a new understanding of the church. We may call it the denominational theory of the church. The use of the word
denomination to describe a religious group came into vogue about 1740 during the early years of the Evangelical Revival led by John Wesley and George Whitefield. But the theory itself was hammered out a century before by a group of radical Puritan leaders in England and America.
[/align]
[/align]Denominationalism, as originally designed, is the opposite of sectarianism. A sect claims the authority of Christ for itself alone. It believes that it is the true body of Christ; all truth belongs to it and to no other religion. So by definition a sect is exclusive.
[/align]
[/align]The word
denomination by contrast was an inclusive term. It implied that the Christian group called or
denominated by a particular name was but one member of a larger group"the church"to which all denominations belong.
[/align]
[/align]The denominational theory of the church, then, insists that the true church cannot be identified with any single ecclesiastical structure. No denomination claims to represent the whole church of Christ. Each simply constitutes a different form"in worship and organization"of the larger life of the church.
[/align]
[/align]The Reformers had planted the seeds of the denominational theory of the church when they insisted that the true church can never be identified in any exclusive sense with a particular institution. The true succession is not of bishops but of believers. Luther insisted that some institutional expression "in a place and in the things and activities of the world" was inevitable; but "in this life the church is not properly understood in terms of all this." The outward forms of the church, said Luther, ought to give the Word of God free course in the world, not block its power to save.
[/align]
[/align]In a similar way, Calvin in the preface to his
Institutes indicated that it is impossible to draw precise boundaries to the Church of Christ. No one can determine with precision who is numbered among the elect of God.
[/align]
[/align]The Reformers, however, never followed this lead. When religious dissent arose within a particular area, they tried to suppress it. They were still convinced that only one religion could exist in one region.
[/align]
[/align]The real architects of the denominational theory of the church were the seventeenth-century Independents (Congregationalists) who represented the minority voice at the Westminster Assembly (1642"1649). The majority at the Assembly held to Presbyterian principles and expressed these convictions classically in the Westminster Confession of Faith and in the Westminster Larger and Shorter Catechisms.
[/align]
[/align]The Independents, however, who held to congregational principles, were keenly aware of the dangers of "dividing the godly Protestant party" in England so they looked for some way to express Christian unity even when Christians did not agree.
[/align]
[/align]These Dissenting Brethren of Westminster articulated the denominational theory of the church in several fundamental truths:
[/align]
[/align]First, considering man"s inability to always see the truth clearly, differences of opinion about the outward form of the church are inevitable.
[/align]
[/align]Second, even though these differences do not involve fundamentals of the faith, they are not matters of indifference. Every Christian is obligated to practice what he believes the Bible teaches.
[/align]
[/align]Third, since, no church has a final and full grasp of divine truth, the true Church of Christ can never be fully represented by any single ecclesiastical structure.
[/align]
[/align]Finally, the mere fact of separation does not of itself constitute schism. It is possible to be divided at many points and still be united in Christ.
[/align]
[/align]Thus, the denominational theory of the church looked for Christian unity in some inward religious experience"and allowed diversity in the outward expressions of that personal faith.
[/align]
[/align]This tolerant attitude was not born of doctrinal indifference. The Independent had no intention of extending Christian unity to all religious professions. The identity of the "one true church" was restricted to those who shared a common understanding of the core of the Christian faith.
[/align]
[/align]This denominational view of the church found only limited acceptance in England where the Church of England retained a favored position, even after the Act of Toleration in 1689 recognized the rights of Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Baptists, and Quakers to worship freely. In the English colonies of America, however, the denominational theory gained increasing acceptance. It seemed to be God"s answer for the multiplying faiths in the New World.
[/align]
[/align]Few advocates of the denominational view of the church in the seventeenth century envisioned the hundreds of Christian groups included under the umbrella today. They had no intention of reducing the basic beliefs of Christianity to a general feeling of religious sincerity. But they could not control the future. They simply knew that the traditional bigotry and bloodshed in the name of Christ was not the way forward.
[/align]
[/align]In the end, then, the denominational form of the church has marked the recent centuries of Christian history, not because it is ideal, but because it is better than any alternative the years have offered.
[/align]
[/align]Shelley, Bruce L.:
Church History in Plain Language. Updated 2nd ed. Dallas, Tex. : Word Pub., 1995, S. 306
[/align][/align][/align]
Denominations
