Are denominations beneficial?

[Peds nurse]

Colossians 3:15-"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace."

Do all the different denominations help or hinder this verse?

[dio9]

[Replying to post 1 by Peds nurse]

hinder. Can you imagine back in 1517 they fought wars over what the correct thought and practice of Christianity was to be.

[Divine Insight]

Colossians 3:15-"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace."

Do all the different denominations help or hinder this verse?

The Roman Catholic Church certainly tried to create a single "Body of Christ". But that didn't seem to work very well. There was even disagreements between different factions of Catholicism not to mention the entire Protestant movement.

When I was a Christian my greatest antagonists were other Christians who had wildly different ideas of what Christ, God, and the Bible stood for. And that was back when I accepted that Christ was the Son of God and that he was the sacrificial lamb of God to pay for the sins of man.

Even having accepted those core Christian principles I still found that my greatest antagonists were other Christians. They didn't care for my views on Jesus. My Jesus was too forgiving for them. They demanded a far more strict Jesus and demanding Jesus.

Of course, today I no longer believe that Jesus was the Son of God at all. But that's a whole other story.

[Youkilledkenny]

[Replying to post 1 by Peds nurse]

Ambiguousness abounds in Christianity. Because of this, anyone can make any claim and believe they are right and no one else is. Many can even cite references to support this claim.
People have done (and continue to do) terrible things in the name of Christ. And they likely believe they are justified. SO any denomination can make most any claim and justify it if they try hard enough.

Going beyond that, anything that claims to be 'the truth' that includes people making this claim that can't all agree on things dilute the power of said message. In other words, the more a house divides upon itself the less likely, to me, it appears to be 'the truth'.

In that regards the more segregations it has the less I trust it. I would think most people from the outside would see it the same way.

[postroad]

Colossians 3:15-"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace."

Do all the different denominations help or hinder this verse?

Denominations are proof that Jesus was not the originator of the New Covenant as he claimed.

Jeremiah 32:38-40New International Version (NIV)

38 They will be my people, and I will be their God. 39 I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me and that all will then go well for them and for their children after them. 40 I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me.

.

[JehovahsWitness]

[Replying to post 1 by Peds nurse]

I believe this is refering to the true religion (Jehovah's Witnesses) and the hundreds of thousands of true Christian congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses around the world that are united, not to different denominations. No matter which JW congregation you are in or what language one speaks we are all one united brotherhood just as the bible says.

[benchwarmer]

[Replying to post 1 by Peds nurse]

I believe this is refering to the true religion (Jehovah's Witnesses)

I can tell you that when I was a Christian, statements like this only fed the animosity I felt for some other denominations. Fallible humans, boldly claiming they follow the 'true religion' does nothing but cast even more doubt on those who make such claims.

Humble peace makers who were more interested in mending the body of Christ rather than claiming their particular flavor was 'the one true religion' were the ones who gained my respect regardless of denomination.

Now statements like this just add fuel to the fire when debunking the religion as a whole.

On topic to the OP, I would hope that scripture would be used to build bridges between denominations (i.e. help). Though we've just seen a glaring example where burning bridges seems to be the order of the day.

Hope you have a wonderful day Peds, one of my favorite bridge builders on this forum.

[JehovahsWitness]

[Replying to post 7 by benchwarmer]

And I should care because ...?

I was not put on this earth to say what people want to hear, I will say what I believe to be true and truth will appeal to those that love truth. There are countless people that see the conflict and disaccord in so-called Christian religions, while at the same time they claim that all christians religions are pleasing to God. This not only makes God appear incapable of keeping his own house in order but conflicts with scripture which states there are those that claim to be Christians but will be classified as "workers of lawlessness".

There can be no harmony between true and false religion. Only those, like by far the majority of atheists with whom I have spoken, that believe that true religion cannot possibly exist in the first place and that there is no such thing as a "false religion", attempt to negate this fundamental biblical truth.

JW

[Elijah John]

[Replying to post 7 by benchwarmer]

And I should care because ...?

I was not put on this earth to say what people want to hear, I will say what I believe to be true and truth will appeal to those that love truth. There are countless people that see the conflict and disaccord in so-called Christian religions, while at the same time they claim that all christians religions are pleasing to God. This not only makes God appear incapable of keeping his own house in order but conflicts with scripture which states there are those that claim to be Christians but will be classified as "workers of lawlessness".

There can be no harmony between true and false religion. Only those, like by far the majority of atheists with whom I have spoken, that believe that true religion cannot possibly exist in the first place and that there is no such thing as a "false religion", attempt to negate this fundamental biblical truth.

JW

A bit of hubris in your statements perhaps? What if it can be demonstrated that Jehovah's Witness are in error about any aspect of the Bible, of that the Bible itself contains errors, or that the leaders of the JW organiztion have been wrong in their predictions, etc.

What happens to your "true religion" then?

Don't you think it's best to avoid such claims in the first place?

And by claiming your's is the "only true" religion, are you implying that other religions or denominations are false?

Again, the word "hubris" comes to mind.

[Elijah John]

No matter which JW congregation you are in or what language one speaks we are all one united brotherhood just as the bible says.

Roman Catholics make the same assertion, and that claim is true for RCs as well. How is your oberservation here proof of anything other than denominational cohesion?