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Christianity, the
Cults and Other Religions:
Groups
Within the Christian Tradition
---------------------------------------The New Testament church had nothing like
today's 'denominations'. There was just 'the church', as distinct
from 'the world' of non-Christian society. The church, however,
soon took on a style far removed from its early simplicity. In
particular, it developed along two separate lines which came
in time to be known as the Roman Catholic Church and the
Eastern Orthodox Church.
The
Roman Catholic Church
In the early centuries of the Christian era, Christianity
quickly became unbalanced. This was in part through neglect of
the Scriptures. Also, the conversion of the Emperor Constantine
early in the 4th century made Christianity the official religion
of the Roman Empire instead of a persecuted minority-faith. As
a result, many embraced the religion in a loose way without having
a personal experience of faith in Christ.
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The church soon modelled itself
on the civil setup of the Empire, with Rome as its base and the leader of
the church there assuming leadership of the church worldwide. As time
passed, elements of pagan religion came on board. Altars were set up in
church buildings, with a mediating priesthood to offer sacrifices on them.
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Supper presented in the New Testament. The bread and wine were
seen as magically transformed into Christ's very body and blood
when the priest spoke the words, 'This is my body…blood.'
The priest would then offer this 'sacrifice' on the altar.
Having in practice forsaken the Bible as the sole authority
in matters of doctrine and practice, the church put tradition
on an equal footing alongside it. On this basis, virtually any
belief could be justified, given time, and the church promulgated
such unbiblical doctrines as infant baptism, Mary's perpetual
virginity, prayer to the saints, purgatory, indulgences and the
infallibility of the Pope when speaking in his official capacity
on matters of doctrine and practice.
This system persisted during the Mediaeval period (the 'Middle
Ages') in Europe. Church and state were effectively one, with
every person considered to be a Christian, and with religious
failures punished in the civil courts. It was known as Christendom.
The church was 'Roman' because its headquarters were in Rome,
and 'Catholic' (meaning 'universal') because it embraced the
whole of society.
Not until the 16th century was there a major reaction. This
was the Reformation, led by Martin Luther and John Calvin.
Many major RC doctrines were set aside as unscriptural and attempts
were made to bring church life and doctrine more into line with
the Bible's teaching. Christians who embraced this return to
a more biblical faith became known as Protestants.
Since then, further subdivisions have appeared within Protestantism.
The Roman Catholic Church, however, has continued largely unchanged
in its doctrine and practice. To this day it regards non-Catholics
as an inferior type of Christian. At one time it labelled them
'heretics', though now it prefers the term 'separated brethren'.
The
Eastern Orthodox Church
At the time when Roman Catholicism was establishing itself
as the 'universal' church in Western Europe, Christians living
further east adopted some differences of emphasis. They saw Constantinople
(Istanbul), rather than Rome, as the church's base and the leader
of the church there—the Patriarch—as their head.
In due course this split became official, leaving the Roman
Catholic Church in the west of Europe and the Eastern
Orthodox Church in the east.
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An icon in the Eastern
Orthodox tradition:
The Trinity' by Andrei Rublev |
The Eastern church followed the same route as
the RC Church in adopting a high degree of ritual and many unbiblical
doctrines. It took a similar line, too, in its joining with the state. This
joining later became the buttress for 'national' churches like the Greek
Orthodox Church, the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Russian Orthodox
Church. In more recent times, churches of other
types have gained a foothold in those countries, but there has never been
any major challenge to Eastern Orthodox Christianity matching the scale of
the Reformation in the west. |
Other
'state churches'
At the Reformation, while there was a welcome return to more
scriptural church standards, no-one thought to abolish the link
between church and state. In western Europe, for instance, Germany
severed its link with Catholicism and simply joined itself instead
with the Lutheran Church that emerged from Martin Luther's
teachings and leadership. The Lutheran Church also became the
state church in Scandinavia.
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Martin Luther
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In England, King Henry VIII fell
out with the Pope and took the English church away from Rome. He established
the Church of England, with himself as its head. With the monarch as leader
of both church and state, the 'state church' system simply continued under a
different name.
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Today, the links between church
and state in most countries are weaker. But the basic link remains. It is
seen in England, for example, in the role of the Prime Minister in helping
select the Archbishop of Canterbury, in coronations taking place in an
Anglican church service, and in the participation of the Anglican clergy in
military events like the annual Service of Remembrance. In this respect we
say that the Church of England is the 'established' church. In most
countries today, however—the United States of America, for example—there is
no 'state church' and civil and religious aspects of life are kept separate.
Free churches
Since the Reformation there has been growing freedom for
Christians of many different persuasions to practice their faith unopposed.
Many denominations and loose groupings have emerged outside the state
churches, and these are called the 'free churches'—free, that is, from state
links and state control.
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John Wesley,
founder of the Methodist Church
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Examples of 'free church' denominations would
be the Methodist Church, the Baptist Church, the Salvation Army and the Elim
Pentecostal Church. They all have different emphases, but all claim to
adhere to the basics of Christianity as revealed in the New Testament.
Other groups are less structured, preferring to exist without
the constraints of a denominational setup.
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churches' that have sprung up in large numbers since the early 1970s. Some
of them are in informal networks like New Frontiers International, while
others remain independent, with only a small number of local connections.
The advantage of this position is freedom to order themselves on the
biblical model without outside interference while enjoying the advantage of
the checks and balances provided by their voluntary connections.
All the above, from the RC Church to the 'new churches', see
themselves as within the parameters of genuine Christianity. But they
represent a wide range of doctrinal views and church practice, and there is
no guarantee that 'membership' of any one of them ensures a personal faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ—which is how the New Testament presents real
Christianity.
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